The name of Croatia derives from Medieval Latin . Itself a derivation of North-West Slavic ''*Xrovat-'', by liquid metathesis from Common Slavic period ''*Xorvat'', from proposed Proto-Slavic ''*Xъrvátъ'' which possibly comes from Old Persian ''*xaraxwat-'', the root word being a 3rd-century Scytho-Sarmatian form attested in the Tanais Tablets as Χοροάθος (''Khoroáthos'', alternate forms comprise ''Khoróatos'' and ''Khoroúathos''). The origin of the name is uncertain but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym ''*xъrvatъ'' is of the variable stem, attested in the Baška tablet in style zvъnъmirъ kralъ xrъvatъskъ ("Zvonimir, Croatian king"). Although it was archaeologically confirmed that the ethnonym ''Croatorum'' is mentioned in a church inscription found in Bijaći near Trogir dated to the end of the 8th or early 9th century, the presumably oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir inscription found near Benkovac, where Duke Branimir is styled ''Dux Cruatorvm'', likely dated between 879 and 892, during his rule. The Latin term ''Chroatorum'' is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir I of Croatia, dated to 852 in a 1568 copy of a lost original, but it's not certain if the original was indeed older than the Branimir inscription.