the Picts

Kings and kingdoms

The early history of Pictland is unclear. In later periods multiple kings existed, ruling over separate kingdoms, with one king, sometimes two, more or less dominating their lesser neighbours.[22] De Situ Albanie, a late document, the Pictish Chronicle, the Duan Albanach, along with Irish legends, have been used to argue the existence of seven Pictish kingdoms. These are as follows; those in bold are known to have had kings, or are otherwise attested in the Pictish period:

Cait, or Cat, situated in modern Caithness and Sutherland
Ce, situated in modern Mar and Buchan
Circinn, perhaps situated in modern Angus and the Mearns[23]
Fib, the modern Fife, known to this day as 'the Kingdom of Fife'
Fidach, location unknown, but possibly near Inverness[24][25][26]
Fotla, modern Atholl (Ath-Fotla)[27]
Fortriu, cognate with the Verturiones of the Romans; recently shown to be centered around Moray[28]

More small kingdoms may have existed. Some evidence suggests that a Pictish kingdom also existed in Orkney.[29] De Situ Albanie is not the most reliable of sources, and the number of kingdoms, one for each of the seven sons of Cruithne, the eponymous founder of the Picts, may well be grounds enough for disbelief.[30] Regardless of the exact number of kingdoms and their names, the Pictish nation was not a united one.