župan

…lines, each headed by a župan (chieftain). In this part of the Adriatic littoral, from the time of the arrival of the Slavs up to the 10th century, these local magnates often were brought into unstable and shifting alliances with other larger states, particularly with Bulgaria, Venice, and Byzantium. Between…

… were grouped locally under a župan, or chieftain. With kinship and locality playing such a pivotal role in social organization, sustained collaboration within larger groups was difficult. Several župani might, on occasion, unite under a veliki župan, or grand chieftain, who for a short time would succeed in establishing control…