Samo founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to Fredegarius, the only contemporary source, Samo was a Frankish merchant who unified several Slavic tribes against robber raids and violence by nearby settled Avars, showing such bravery and command skills in battle that he was elected "King of the Slavs". In 631, Samo successfully defended his realm against the Frankish Kingdom in the three-day Battle of Wogastisburg.
Alleged mural of Samo in a Moravian rotunda
The Avar settlement area in the Carpathian Basin from the 7th to the 9th century, according to Éva Garam
The Slavs or Slavic people are a group of peoples who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southeastern Europe, though there is a large Slavic minority scattered across the Baltic states, Northern Asia, and Central Asia, and a substantial Slavic diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe, and Northern Europe.
Terracotta tile from the 6th–7th century AD found in Vinica, North Macedonia, depicting a battle scene between the Bulgars and Slavs, with the Latin inscription BOLGAR and SCLAVIGI
Slavic tribes from the 7th to 9th centuries AD in Europe
Seal from the pan-Slavic Congress held in Prague, 1848
The "Zbruch Idol" preserved at the Kraków Archaeological Museum
