Wallachia's history as a country is very short, only completely independent for roughly 70 years by 1400. However, the western half had been part of the Roman Empire many years before, and then was heavily influenced by the Byzantines. During the age of Migrations before Rome fell the area was occupied by the Goths and Sarmatians, who conducted much trade with the Romans. Later the area was part of the First Bulgarian Empire and then fell under Pecheneg rule until 1091 when the Cumans defeated them. After this a period of disorganization and minor voivodiates dominated by the Kingdom of Hungary followed until 1241 and the Mongolian invasion, during which a direct mongol rule is probable but not known to be true. Then in 1272 a record shows that Litovio, a powerful local ruler in Wallachia