I thought that the Bulgarians were intially tribes of a Turkic origin much like the Cumans that fought their way through southern Russia and Ukraine until settleing around the Danube.

I also thought that the first true Slavic nation was the Moravian empire that was later subjigated by Karl der Grosse although I could well be wrong.

Thanks Adrian for clearing up the origin of the word Slav. I'm finding that despite my Czech origin I know very little about slavic history.