 According to Porphyrogenitus , In Levedia , the Magyars " were seven clans , but they had never had over them a prince either native or foreign , but there were among them ' voivodes ' " , or chiefs . Although the exact meaning of the term the emperor used ( <unk> ) cannot be exactly determined , scholars have traditionally considered the Magyar " clans " or " tribes " as ethnic and territorial units . In the Hungarian chronicles , references to " seven leading persons " or " seven captains " denote the existence of seven Magyar tribes . 
