 The Hungarian army defeated the Bulgarians , but the latter hired the Pechenegs against them . The Bulgarians and Pechenegs simultaneously invaded the Hungarians ' territories in the western regions of the Pontic steppes in 895 or 896 . The destruction of their dwelling places by the Pechenegs forced the Hungarians to leave for a new homeland across the Carpathian Mountains towards the Pannonian Plain . 
