156-553: Ketel is a legendary Magyar tribal chieftain of perhaps Kabar origin, who lived at the end of the 9th century. He was the father of Alaptolma , and the first known ancestor of the Koppán clan. According to the medieval Gesta Hungarorum , the leader of the Magyars, Árpád , donated a large estate to Ketel along the Danube and Váh (Vág) rivers where he settled with his people. Today, Ketel
312-719: A Slavic name, while the name of Keszthely preserved the Latin word for fortress ( castellum ), with Slavic mediation. Besides the Slavs, the presence of a German-speaking population can be demonstrated, based on toponyms. For example, the Hungarians adopted the Germanized form of the name of the river Vulka (whose name is of Slavic origin) and the document known as the Conversion of the Bavarians and
468-514: A bill granting dual citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living outside of Hungary. Some neighboring countries with sizable Hungarian minorities expressed concerns over the legislation. Modern Hungarians stand out as linguistically isolated in Europe, despite their genetic similarity to the surrounding populations. The population of the Carpathian Basin has the common European gene-pool which formed in
624-552: A break of eleven years, the Hungarians returned to the Carpathian Basin in 892. They came to assist Arnulf of East Francia against Svatopluk I of Moravia. Widukind of Corvey and Liutprand of Cremona condemned the Frankish monarch for destroying the defense lines built along the empire's borders, because this also enabled the Hungarians to attack East Francia within a decade. Meanwhile Arnulf…could not overcome Sviatopolk, duke of
780-662: A confederation of seven tribes . According to genetic study, the proto-Ugric groups were part of the Scytho-Siberian societies in the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age steppe-forest zone in the northern Kazakhstan region, near of the Mezhovskaya culture territory. The ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors lived in the steppe zone during the Bronze Age together with the Mansis . During
936-517: A discrete ethnic group or people for centuries before their settlement in the Carpathian basin. Instead, the formation of the people with its distinct identity was a process. According to this view, Hungarians as a people emerged by the 9th century, subsequently incorporating other, ethnically and linguistically divergent, peoples. During the 4th millennium BC, the Uralic -speaking peoples who were living in
1092-712: A geographically unified but politically divided land, after acquiring thorough local knowledge of the area from the 860s onwards. After the end of the Avar Kaganate (c. 822), the Eastern Franks asserted their influence in Transdanubia , the Bulgarians to a small extent in the Southern Transylvania and the interior regions housed the surviving Avar population in their stateless state. According to one theory
1248-453: A grant of land, grass and water." When this message was delivered to the leader, he said with a smile: "Let them kill the horse with a wooden mallet, and throw the bridle on the field, and throw the golden saddle into the water of the Danube." To which the messenger replied: "And what loss will that be to them, lord? If you kill the horse, you will give food for their dogs; if you throw the bridle on
1404-447: A great deal of attention and training to archery on horse-back. A huge herd of horses, ponies and mares, follows them, to provide both food and milk and, at the same time, to give the impression of a multitude. Based on extant Hungarian chronicles, it is clear that more than one (occasionally extended) list existed of the peoples inhabiting the Carpathian Basin at the time of the Hungarian landtaking. Anonymus, for instance, first writes of
1560-587: A higher affinity with modern day Bashkirs and Volga Tatars as well as to two specimens of the Pazyryk culture , while their mtDNA has strong links to the populations of the Baraba region , Inner Asia , Eastern Europe , Northern Europe and Central Asia . Modern Hungarians also display genetic affinity with historical Sintashta samples. Archeological mtDNA haplogroups show a similarity between Hungarians and Turkic-speaking Tatars and Bashkirs , while another study found
1716-661: A joint attack by the Pechenegs and the Bulgarians forced the Hungarians' hand. Kristó, Tóth and the theory's other adherents refer to the unanimous testimony provided by the Annals of Fulda , Regino of Prüm and Porphyrogenitus on the connection between the Hungarians' conflict with the Bulgar-Pecheneg coalition and their withdrawal from the Pontic steppes. An intermediate theory proposes that
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#17328771669491872-403: A large number of Hungarians and have shaved their own heads according to their heathen customs and they have sent them against our Christians, overcoming them, leading some away as captives, killing others, while still others, imprisoned, perished of hunger and thirst. Porphyrogenitus mentions that the Hungarians dwelled in a territory that they called " Atelkouzou " until their invasion across
2028-719: A link between the Mansi and Bashkirs, suggesting that the Bashkirs are a mixture of Turkic, Ugric and Indo-European contributions. The homeland of ancient Hungarians is around the Ural Mountains , and the Hungarian affinities with the Karayakupovo culture is widely accepted among researchers. A full genome study found that the Bashkirs display, next to their high European ancestry, also affinity to both Uralic-speaking populations of Northern Asia, as well as Inner Asian Turkic groups, "pointing to
2184-482: A long period the Slavs settled beside the Danube, where the Hungarian and Bulgarian lands now lie. From among these Slavs, parties scattered throughout the country and were known by appropriate names, according to the places where they settled. (...) [T]he [Volkhi] attacked the Danubian Slavs, settled among them, and did them violence... The Magyars passed by Kyiv over the hill now called Hungarian and on arriving at
2340-489: A male buried with the skull and legs of his horse) are attributed to pre-conquest Hungarians. However, these tombs may date to the 10th century. The Hungarians were organized into seven tribes that formed a confederation. Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions this number. Anonymous seems to have preserved the Hungarian "Hetumoger" ("Seven Hungarians") denomination of the tribal confederation, although he writes of "seven leading persons" jointly bearing this name instead of
2496-681: A matter of debate among scholars. In Hungary , a legend developed based on medieval chronicles that the Hungarians, and the Székely ethnic group in particular, are descended from the Huns. However, mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns. A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in November 2019 led by Neparáczki Endre had examined the remains of three males from three separate 5th century Hunnic cemeteries in
2652-705: A member of the Uralic family , which originated either in the Oka-Volga region, the Southern Uralic, or Western Siberia. Recent linguistic data support an origin somewhere in Western Siberia. Ugric diverged from its relatives in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The ancient Ugrians are associated with the Mezhovskaya culture , and were influenced by the Iranian Sarmatians and Saka , as well as later Xiongnu . The Ugrians also display genetic affinities to
2808-569: A mismatch of their cultural background and genetic ancestry and an intricacy of the historic interface between Turkic and Uralic populations ". The homeland of the proto-Uralic peoples may have been close to Southern Siberia, among forest cultures in the Altai-Sayan region and may be linked to an ancestry maximized in the early Tarim mummies . The arrival of the Indo-European Afanasievo culture and Northeast Asian tribes may have caused
2964-699: A political organization. The Hetumoger confederation was strengthened by the arrival of the Kabars , who (according to Constantine) joined the Hungarians following their unsuccessful riot against the Khazar Khaganate . The Hungarians and the Kabars are mentioned in the longer version of the Annals of Salzburg , which relates that the Hungarians fought around Vienna , while the Kabars fought nearby at Culmite in 881. Madgearu proposes that Kavar groups were already settled in
3120-627: A pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862–895. Other theories assert that the Hungarians crossed the Carpathian Mountains following a joint attack by the Pechenegs and Bulgarians in 894 or 895. They first took control over the lowlands east of the river Danube and attacked and occupied Pannonia (the region to the west of the river) in 900. They exploited internal conflicts in Moravia and annihilated this state sometime between 902 and 906. The Hungarians strengthened their control over
3276-552: A sedentary (non-nomadic) way of life from the 8th century. The Avars' power was destroyed between 791 and 795 by Charlemagne , who occupied Transdanubia and attached it to his empire. Archaeological investigation of early medieval rural settlements at Balatonmagyaród , Nemeskér and other places in Transdanubia demonstrate that their main features did not change with the fall of the Avar Khaganate. New settlements appeared in
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#17328771669493432-885: A serious demographic crisis began to develop in Hungary and its neighbours. The Hungarian population reached its maximum in 1980, then began to decline. For historical reasons (see Treaty of Trianon ), significant Hungarian minority populations can be found in the surrounding countries, most of them in Romania (in Transylvania ), Slovakia , and Serbia (in Vojvodina ). Sizable minorities live also in Ukraine (in Transcarpathia ), Croatia (primarily Slavonia ), and Austria (in Burgenland ). Slovenia
3588-650: A small imperial troop. The Byzantines approached the Hungarians to hire them to fight the Bulgarians. Nicetas Sclerus, the Byzantine envoy, concluded a treaty with their leaders, Árpád and Kurszán (Kusan), and Byzantine ships transferred Hungarian warriors across the Lower Danube. The Hungarians invaded Bulgaria, forced Tzar Simeon to flee to the fortress of Dristra (now Silistra , Bulgaria) and plundered Preslav . An interpolation in Porphyrogenitus's work states that
3744-481: A smile, "In return for the gift let them have as much as they desire." ...Then [the Hungarians] sent another messenger to the leader and this was the message which he delivered: "Arpad and his people say to you that you may no longer stay upon the land which they bought of you, for with the horse they bought your earth, with the bridle the grass, and with the saddle the water. And you, in your need and avarice, made to them
3900-654: A study by Pamjav, the area of Bodrogköz suggested to be a population isolate found an elevated frequency of Haplogroup N: R1a-M458 (20.4%), I2a1-P37 (19%), R1a-Z280 (14.3%), and E1b-M78 (10.2%). Various R1b-M343 subgroups accounted for 15% of the Bodrogköz population. Haplogroup N1c-Tat covered 6.2% of the lineages, but most of it belonged to the N1c-VL29 subgroup, which is more frequent among Balto-Slavic speaking than Finno-Ugric speaking peoples. Other haplogroups had frequencies of less than 5%. Among 100 Hungarian men, 90 of whom from
4056-543: Is a genetic continuity from the Bronze Age , a continuous migration of the Steppe folks from east to the Carpathian Basin. Other studies point out that the Hungarian conqueror group and the local population started admixing only on the second half of the 10th century, and that research done of the first and second generation cemeteries in the Carpathian basin show uniparental lineages can be derived from Iron Age Sargat culture 's population, suggesting "only limited interaction with
4212-661: Is also host to a number of ethnic Hungarians, and Hungarian language has an official status in parts of the Prekmurje region. Today more than two million ethnic Hungarians live in nearby countries. There was a referendum in Hungary in December 2004 on whether to grant Hungarian citizenship to Hungarians living outside Hungary's borders (i.e. without requiring a permanent residence in Hungary). The referendum failed due to insufficient voter turnout . On 26 May 2010, Hungary's Parliament passed
4368-615: Is descended from previous peoples of the Carpathian Basin, and a large number of people survived to the 10th century from the previous Avar period. An important segment of this Avar era Hungarians is that the Hungarian county system of King Saint Stephen I may be largely based on the power centers formed during the Avar period. Based on DNA evidence, the Proto-Hungarians admixed with Sarmatians and Huns , this three genetic components appear in
4524-509: Is honoured as the legendary founder of the city of Komárom with his son, Alaptolma . This Hungarian biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hungarian people Hungarians , also known as Magyars ( / ˈ m æ ɡ j ɑː r z / MAG -yarz ; Hungarian : magyarok [ˈmɒɟɒrok] ), are a Central European nation and an ethnic group native to Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország ) and historical Hungarian lands (i.e. belonging to
4680-432: Is located in the regions on the northern Morava river , in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, Constantine Porphyrogenitus places "great Moravia, the unbaptized" somewhere in the regions beyond Belgrade and Sirmium ( Sremska Mitrovica , Serbia). His report supported further theories on Moravia's location . For instance, Kristó and Senga propose the existence of two Moravias (one in
4836-600: Is no trace of massacres and mass graves, it is believed to have been a peaceful transition for local residents in the Carpathian Basin. The Hungarian conquerors together with the Turkic-speaking Kabars integrated the Avars and Onogurs . In 862, Prince Rastislav of Moravia rebelled against the Franks , and after hiring Hungarian troops, won his independence; this was the first time that Hungarians expeditionary troops entered
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4992-487: Is possible that they became its ethnic majority. In the Early Middle Ages , the Hungarians had many names, including "Węgrzy" (Polish), "Ungherese" (Italian), "Ungar" (German), and "Hungarus". In the Hungarian language, the Hungarian people name themselves as "Magyar". "Magyar" possibly derived from the name of the most prominent Hungarian tribe , the "Megyer". The tribal name "Megyer" became "Magyar" in reference to
5148-538: Is uncommon among most Uralic-speaking populations. In the case of the Southern Mansi males, the most frequent haplogroups were N1b-P43 (33%), N1c-L1034 (28%) and R1a-Z280 (19%).The Konda Mansi population shared common haplotypes within haplogroups R1a-Z280 or N-M46 with Hungarian speakers, which may suggest that the Hungarians were in contact with the Mansi people during their migration to the Carpathian Basin. According to
5304-473: The Bronze Age through the admixture of three sources: Western Hunter-Gatherers , who were the first Homo sapiens appearing in Paleolithic Europe , Neolithic farmers originating from Anatolia , and Yamnaya steppe migrants that arrived in the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age. This common European gene pool in the Carpathian Basin, has been overlaid by migration waves originating from the east since
5460-684: The Burzyansky and Abzelilovsky districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the Volga-Ural region, revealed them to belong to the R1a subclade R1a-SUR51 , which is shared in significant amounts with the historical Magyars and the royal Hungarian lineage, and representing the closest kin to the Hungarian Árpád dynasty , whose ancestry is traced to 4500 years ago, in modern day Northern Afghanistan . In turn, R1a-SUR51's ancestral subclades R1a-Y2632 are found among
5616-447: The Carpathian Basin , a geographically unified but politically divided land, after acquiring thorough local knowledge of the area from the 860s onwards. After the end of the Avar Kaganate (c. 822), the Eastern Franks asserted their influence in Transdanubia , the Bulgarians to a small extent in the Southern Transylvania and the interior regions housed the surviving Avar population in their stateless state. The downfall of
5772-545: The Carpathian Basin . They occasionally hired Hungarian horsemen as soldiers. Therefore, the Hungarians who dwelt on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe east of the Carpathian Mountains were familiar with what would become their homeland when their conquest started. The Hungarian conquest started in the context of a "late or 'small' migration of peoples ". The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in
5928-530: The First Bulgarian Empire was also deeply involved in the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century. A late 10th-century Byzantine lexicon known as Suda adds that Krum of Bulgaria attacked the Avars from the southeast around 803. The Royal Frankish Annals narrates that the Abodrites inhabiting " Dacia on the Danube", most probably along the lower courses of the river Tisza, sought the assistance of
6084-596: The Franks against the Bulgars in 824. Bulgarian troops also invaded Pannonia, "expelled the Slavic chieftains and appointed Bulgar governors instead" in 827. An inscription at Provadia refers to a Bulgarian military leader named Onegavonais drowning in the Tisza around the same time. The emerging power of Moravia brought about a rapprochement between Bulgaria and East Francia in the 860s. King Arnulf of East Francia sent an embassy to
6240-911: The Great Hungarian Plain , (including Cuman descendants from Kunság region) the following haplogroups and frequencies are obtained: 30% R1a, 15% R1b, 13% I2a1, 13% J2, 9% E1b1b1a, 8% I1, 3% G2, 3% J1, 3% I*, 1% E*, 1% F*, 1% K*. The 97 Székelys belong to the following haplogroups: 20% R1b, 19% R1a, 17% I1, 11% J2, 10% J1, 8% E1b1b1a, 5% I2a1, 5% G2, 3% P*, 1% E*, 1% N. It can be inferred that Szekelys have more significant German admixture. A study sampling 45 Palóc from Budapest and northern Hungary, found 60% R1a, 13% R1b, 11% I, 9% E, 2% G, 2% J2. A study estimating possible Inner Asian admixture among nearly 500 Hungarians based on paternal lineages only, estimated it at 5.1% in Hungary, at 7.4 in Székelys and at 6.3% at Csángós . An analysis of Bashkir samples from
6396-564: The Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking ( Hungarian : honfoglalás , lit. 'taking/conquest of the homeland'), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10th century. Before the arrival of the Hungarians, three early medieval powers, the First Bulgarian Empire , East Francia , and Moravia , had fought each other for control of
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6552-570: The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin when the Hungarian conquerors lived on the steppes of Eastern Europe east of the Carpathian Mountains , written sources called the Hungarians: "Ungri" by Georgius Monachus in 837, "Ungri" by Annales Bertiniani in 862, and "Ungari" by the Annales ex Annalibus Iuvavensibus in 881. The Magyars/Hungarians probably belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance, and it
6708-447: The Hungarian diaspora ( Hungarian : magyar diaszpóra ). Furthermore, Hungarians can be divided into several subgroups according to local linguistic and cultural characteristics; subgroups with distinct identities include the Székelys (in eastern Transylvania as well as a few in Suceava County , Bukovina ), the Csángós (in Western Moldavia ), the Palóc , and the Matyó . The Hungarians' own ethnonym to denote themselves in
6864-583: The Illuminated Chronicle , the Hungarians "remained quietly in Erdelw and rested their herds" there after their crossing because of an attack by eagles. The Hungarian chronicles preserved two separate lists of the Hungarians' leaders at the time of the conquest. Anonymus mentions Álmos, Előd , Künd , Ónd, Tas, Huba and Tétény, while Simon of Kéza and the Illuminated Chronicle list Árpád, Szabolcs, Gyula, Örs, Künd, Lél and Vérbulcsú. Contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous sources make mention of Álmos (Constantine Porphyrogenitus), of Árpád ( Continuation of
7020-429: The Indo-Iranian Andronovo culture and Baikal-Altai Asian cultures. In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Hungarians were an "[e]thnically mixed people" who moved to the west of the Ural Mountains, to the area between the southern Ural Mountains and the Volga River , known as Bashkiria ( Bashkortostan ) and Perm Krai . In the early 8th century, some of the Hungarians moved to the Don River , to an area between
7176-410: The Iron Age , the Mansis migrated northward, while the ancestor of Hungarian conquerors remained at the steppe-forest zone and admixed with the Sarmatians . Later the ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors admixed with the Huns , this admixture happened before the arrival of the Huns to the Volga region in 370. The Huns integrated local tribes east of the Urals, among them Sarmatians and the ancestors of
7332-423: The Iron Age . According to genetic studies, the Carpathian Basin was continuously inhabited from at least the Bronze Age. There is a genetic continuity from the Bronze Age , a continuous migration of the Steppe folks from east to the Carpathian Basin. The foundational population of the Carpathian Basin carrying the common European gene pool remained in a significant majority throughout the migratory periods in
7488-413: The Pannonian Basin . They were found to be carrying the paternal haplogroups Q1a2 , R1b1a1b1a1a1 and R1a1a1b2a2 . In modern Europe, Q1a2 is rare and has its highest frequency among the Székelys . It is believed that conquering Magyars may have absorbed Avar, Hunnish and Xiongnu influences. Hungarian males possess a high frequency of haplogroup R1a-Z280 and a low frequency of haplogroup N-Tat, which
7644-458: The Pannonian Steppe and surrounding regions, giving rise to modern Hungarians and Hungarian culture . " Hungarian pre-history ", i.e. the history of the "ancient Hungarians" before their arrival in the Carpathian basin at the end of the 9th century, is thus a "tenuous construct", based on linguistics, analogies in folklore, archaeology and subsequent written evidence. In the 21st century, historians have argued that "Hungarians" did not exist as
7800-431: The Pazyryk culture people, the earliest Uralic-speakers can be associated with an Ancient Northern East Asian lineage maximized among modern Nganasans and a Bronze Age specimen from Krasnoyarsk in southern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk_Krai_BA; kra001). This type of ancestry later dispersed along the Seima-Turbino route westwards. They may also stood in contact with other Ancient Northeast Asians (partially linked to
7956-583: The Pazyryk culture . They arrived into Central Europe by the historical Magyar or Hungarian "conquerors", in the Hungarian landtaking . The historical Magyar conquerors were found to show significant affinity to modern Bashkirs , and stood also in contact with other Turkic peoples (presumably Oghuric speakers), Iranian peoples (especially Jaszic speakers), and Slavs . The historical Magyars created an alliance of steppe tribes, consisting of an Ugric/Magyar ruling class, and formerly Iranian but also Turkic (Oghuric) and Slavic speaking tribes, which conquered
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#17328771669498112-462: The Pechenegs around 854. The new neighbours of the Hungarians were the Varangians and the eastern Slavs . From 862 onwards, the Hungarians (already referred to as the Ungri ) along with their allies, the Kabars, started a series of looting raids from the Etelköz into the Carpathian Basin, mostly against the Eastern Frankish Empire (Germany) and Great Moravia , but also against the Balaton principality and Bulgaria . The Hungarians arrived in
8268-416: The Saka population of the Tien Shan , date: 427-422 BC. Historical Magyar conquerors had around ~37.5% Haplogroup N-M231 , as well as lower frequency of Haplogroup C-M217 at 6.25% with the remainder being Haplogroup R1a and Haplogroup Q-M242 . Modern Hungarians show relative close affinity to surrounding populations, but harbour a small "Siberian" component associated with Khanty/Mansi, as well as
8424-467: The Turkic people . The obscure name kerel or keral , found in the 13th-century work The Secret History of the Mongols , possibly referred to Hungarians and derived from the Hungarian title király 'king'. The historical Latin phrase " Natio Hungarica " ("Hungarian nation") had a wider and political meaning because it once referred to all nobles of the Kingdom of Hungary , regardless of their ethnicity or mother tongue. The origin of Hungarians,
8580-514: The Volga Tatars show the smallest genetic distance to the entire Conqueror population" and "a direct genetic relation of the Conquerors to Onogur - Bulgar ancestors of these groups is very feasible." Genetic data found high affinity between Magyar conquerors, the historical Bulgars , and modern day Turkic-speaking peoples in the Volga region, suggesting a possible language shifted from an Uralic (Ugric) to Turkic languages. Hunnish origin or influences on Hungarians and Székelys have always been
8736-446: The khagan asked Charlemagne to let his people settle in the region between Szombathely and Petronell in Pannonia. His petition was accepted in 805. The Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians lists the Avars among the peoples under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg around 870. According to Pohl, it "simply proved impossible to keep up an Avar identity after Avar institutions and
8892-417: The "Slavs, Bulgarians, Vlachs and the shepherds of the Romans " as inhabiting the territory, but later he refers to "a people called Kozar" and to the Székelys . Similarly, Simon of Kéza first lists the "Slavs, Greeks , Germans, Moravians and Vlachs", but later he adds that the Székelys also lived in the territory. According to Macartney, those lists were based on multiple sources and do not document
9048-416: The "double-conquest" ( kettős honfoglalás ) of the Carpathian basin. According to historian Bálint Csanád "Not one single element (of the original theory) is tenable" and that a "compelling piece of evidence is that a genuine similarity between the Avar- and Conquest-period skeletal material could only be demonstrated in 4.5% of the theoretically potential cases". The Continuation of the Chronicle by George
9204-427: The 11th century. Pribina died fighting the Moravians in 861, and his son Kocel inherited his estates. Kocel was succeeded around 876 by Arnulf , a natural son of Carloman , king of East Francia . Under his rule, Moravian troops interved into the conflict known as the " Wilhelminer War " and "laid waste from the Raab eastward" between 882 and 884, according to the Annals of Fulda . Moravia emerged in
9360-406: The 820s under its first known ruler, Mojmir I . His successor, Rastislav , developed Moravia's military strength. He promoted the proselytizing activities of the Byzantine brothers, Constantine and Methodius in an attempt to seek independence from East Francia. Moravia reached its "peak of importance" under Svatopluk I who expanded its frontiers in all directions. Moravia's core territory
9516-461: The 9th century. In the case of Doboka (Dăbâca), two pairs of bell-shaped pendants with analogues in sites in Austria, Bulgaria and Poland have been unearthed, but Florin Curta dates them to the 9th century, while Alexandru Madgearu to the period between 975 and 1050. Three main theories attempt to explain the reasons for the "Hungarian land-taking". One argues that it was an intended military operation, prearranged following previous raids, with
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#17328771669499672-405: The Avar Khaganate at the beginning of the 9th century did not mean the extinction of the Avar population, contemporary written sources report surviving Avar groups. According to the archaeological evidence, the Avar population survived the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin . In this power vacuum, the Hungarian conqueror elite took the system of the former Avar Kaganate, there
9828-411: The Avar period, arriving in multiple waves. The ruling elite of the Avars originated from the Rouran Khaganate in Mongolia, but a significant portion of the masses they brought in consisted of mixed-origin populations that had emerged in the Pontic-Caspian steppe during the Hunnic era. Foundation of the Hungarian state is connected to the Hungarian conquerors , who arrived from the Pontic steppes as
9984-493: The Bulgarians in 892 in order "to renew the former peace and to ask that they should not sell salt to the Moravians". The latter request suggests that the route from the salt mines of the eastern Carpathians to Moravia was controlled around that time by the Bulgarians. The anonymous author of the Gesta Hungarorum , instead of Svatopluk I of Moravia and other rulers known from contemporary sources, writes of personalities and polities that are not mentioned by chroniclers working at
10140-446: The Carantanians from around 870 lists Germanic place names in Pannonia, including Salapiugin ("bend of the Zala ") and Mosaburc ("fortress in the marshes"). The name of the Barca , Barót and other rivers could be either Turkic or Slavic in origin. According to Béla Miklós Szőke's theory, the detailed description of the Magyars by western contemporary sources and the immediate Hungarian intervention in local wars suggest that
10296-422: The Carpathian Basin by defeating the Bavarian army in a battle fought at Brezalauspurc on 4 July 907. They launched a series of campaigns to Western Europe between 899 and 955 and also targeted the Byzantine Empire between 943 and 971. However, they gradually settled in the basin and established a Christian monarchy, the Kingdom of Hungary , around 1000. The Hungarians arrived in the Carpathian Basin ,
10452-457: The Carpathian Basin. In 862, Archbishop Hincmar of Reims records the campaign of unknown enemies called "Ungri", giving the first mention of the Hungarians in Western Europe . In 881, the Hungarian forces fought together with the Kabars in the Vienna Basin . According to historian György Szabados and archeologist Miklós Béla Szőke, a group of Hungarians were already living in the Carpathian Basin at that time, so they could quickly intervene in
10608-427: The Carpathian Basin. During the 9th century BC, smaller groups of pre-Scythians ( Cimmerians ) of the Mezőcsát culture appeared. The classic Scythian culture spread across the Great Hungarian Plain between the 7th–6th century BC, their genetic data represent the genetic profile of the local European population. The Sarmatians arrived in multiple waves from 50 BC, leaving a significant archaeological heritage behind,
10764-401: The Carpathians in search of a new homeland. The memory of the destruction brought by the Pechenegs seems to have been preserved by the Hungarians. The Hungarian name of the Pechenegs (besenyő) corresponds to the old Hungarian word for eagle (bese) . Thus the 14th-century Hungarian chronicles' story of eagles compelling the Hungarians' ancestors to cross the Carpathians most probably refers to
10920-428: The Carpathians is also contested. Anonymus and Simon of Kéza have the invading Hungarians crossing the northeastern passes, while the Illuminated Chronicle writes of their arrival in Transylvania. Regino of Prüm states that the Hungarians "roamed the wildernesses of the Pannonians and the Avars and sought their daily food by hunting and fishing" following their arrival in the Carpathian Basin. Their advance towards
11076-450: The Carpathians. He adds that it was located in the territory where the rivers Barouch , Koubou , Troullos , Broutos and Seretos run. Although the identification of the first two rivers with the Dnieper and the Southern Bug is not unanimously accepted, the last three names without doubt refer to the rivers Dniester , Prut and Siret . In the wider region, at Subotsi on the river Adiamka, three graves (one of them belonging to
11232-639: The Chronicle by George the Monk and Constantine Porphyrogenitus), of Liountikas (Constantine Porphyrogenitus) and of Kurszán ( Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk ). According to the Illuminated Chronicle , Álmos , Árpád's father "could not enter Pannonia, for he was killed in Erdély". The episode implies that Álmos was the kende , the sacred ruler of the Hungarians, at the time of their destruction by
11388-478: The Danube seems to have stimulated Arnulf, who was crowned emperor to entrust Braslav (the ruler of the region between the rivers Drava and Sava ) with the defense of all Pannonia in 896. In 897 or 898 a civil war broke out between Mojmir II and Svatopluk II (two sons of the late Moravian ruler, Svatopluk I), in which Emperor Arnulf also intervened. There is no mention of the Hungarians' activities in those years. The next event recorded in connection with
11544-558: The Dnipro, they pitched camp. They were nomads like the Polovcians . Coming out of the east, they struggled across the great mountains and began to fight against the neighboring [Volokhi] and Slavs. For the Slavs had settled there first, but the [Volokhi] had seized the territory of the Slavs. The Magyars subsequently expelled the [Volkhi], took their land and settled among the Slavs, whom they reduced to submission. From that time this territory
11700-578: The Early Middle Ages is uncertain. The exonym "Hungarian" is thought to be derived from Oghur-Turkic On-Ogur (literally "Ten Arrows" or "Ten Tribes"). Another possible explanation comes from the Russian word " Yugra " (Югра). It may refer to the Hungarians during a time when they dwelt east of the southern Ural Mountains in Western Siberia before their conquest of the Carpathian Basin. Prior to
11856-680: The German 's realm in 862. Victor Spinei and other historians argue that Rastislav of Moravia , at war with Louis the German, hired Hungarians to invade East Francia . Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg clearly states in his letter of around 900 that the Moravians often allied with the Hungarians against the Germans. For many years [the Moravians] have in fact perpetrated the very crime of which they have only once falsely accused us. They themselves have taken in
12012-804: The German for the Mattsee Abbey may well attest that the Onogurs (another people of Turkic origin) were also present in the territory. The charter refers to the "Marches of the Wangars" (marcha uuangariourum) situated in the westernmost regions of the Carpathian Basin. The Wangar denomination seems to reflect the Slavic form of the Onogurs' ethnonym . The territories attached to the Frankish Empire were initially governed by royal officers and local chieftains. A Slavic prince named Pribina received large estates along
12168-408: The Hungarian conquerors. The Hungarians arrived in the frame of a strong centralized steppe-empire under the leadership of Grand Prince Álmos and his son Árpád , they became founders of the Árpád dynasty , the Hungarian ruling dynasty and the Hungarian state. The Árpád dynasty claimed to be a direct descendant of the great Hun leader Attila . The elite of the conquering Hungarians established
12324-417: The Hungarian historical tradition together point to an early occupation of the eastern territories of the Carpathian Basin by auxiliary troops of the Hungarian tribal confederation. The Annals of Fulda narrated in 894 that the Hungarians crossed the Danube into Pannonia where they "killed men and old women outright and carried off the young women alone with them like cattle to satisfy their lusts and reduced
12480-501: The Hungarian people as a whole. The Greek cognate of " Tourkia " ( Greek : Τουρκία ) was used by the scholar and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his De Administrando Imperio of c. AD 950, though in his use, "Turks" always referred to Magyars . This was a misnomer, as while the Magyars do have some Turkic genetic and cultural influence, including their historical social structure being of Turkic origin, they still are not widely considered as part of
12636-556: The Hungarian population of the Carpathian Basin only of people of Árpád. Following the devastations caused by the Mongol and Turkish invasions, settlers from other parts of Europe played a significant role in establishing the modern genetic makeup of the Carpathian Basin. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic language family . While early Ugric-speakers can be associated with an ancestry component maximized in modern-day Khanty / Mansi and historical Southern Siberian groups such as
12792-439: The Hungarian state, genetic studies revealed, the conqueror elite in both sexes has approximately 30% Eastern Eurasian components, while the commoner population appears to have carried the overlaid local European gene pool from previous eastern immigrations. In medieval Hungary , a legend developed based on foreign and Hungarian medieval chronicles that the Hungarians, and the Székely ethnic group in particular, are descended from
12948-512: The Hungarian state. The Árpád dynasty claimed to be a direct descendant of the great Hun leader Attila . Medieval Hungarian chronicles from the Hungarian royal court like the Gesta Hungarorum , Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum , Chronicon Pictum , Buda Chronicle , Chronica Hungarorum claimed that the Árpád dynasty and the Aba clan are the descendants of Attila. Árpád, Grand Prince of
13104-524: The Hungarians "claimed for themselves the nation of the Moravians, which King Arnulf had subdued with the aid of their might" at the coronation of Arnulf's son, Louis the Child in 900. The Annals of Grado relates that the Hungarians defeated the Moravians after their withdrawal from Italy. Thereafter the Hungarians and the Moravians made an alliance and jointly invaded Bavaria, according to Aventinus. However,
13260-566: The Hungarians became the masters of the Carpathian Basin by the occupation of Pannonia. The Primary Chronicle may also reflect the memory of this event when relating how the Hungarians expelled the "Volokhi" or "Volkhi" who had earlier subjugated the Slavs' homeland in Pannonia, according to scholars who identify the Volokhi and Volkhi as Franks. Other historians associate them either with Vlachs ( Romanians ), or with ancient Romans . Over
13416-522: The Hungarians had a prince named " Liountikas , son of Arpad" at that time, which suggests that he was the commander of the army, but he might have been mentioned in the war context by chance. Simultaneously with the Hungarian attack from the north, the Byzantines invaded Bulgaria from the south. Tzar Simeon sent envoys to the Byzantine Empire to propose a truce. At the same time, he sent an embassy to
13572-494: The Hungarians had already lived on the eastern territories of the Carpathian Basin since the middle of the 9th century. Regarding the right location of early Hungarian settlements, the Arabic geographer al-Jayhani (only snippets of his work survived in other Muslim authors' papers) in the 870s placed the Hungarians between the Don and Danube rivers. Szőke identifies al-Jayhani's Danube with
13728-581: The Hungarians had for decades been considering a westward move when the Bulgarian-Pecheneg attack accelerated their decision to leave the Pontic-Caspian steppe. For instance Róna-Tas argues, "[the] fact that, despite a series of unfortunate events, the Magyars managed to keep their heads above water goes to show that they were indeed ready to move on" when the Pechenegs attacked them. In fact, following
13884-545: The Hungarians is their raid against Italy in 899 and 900. The letter of Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg and his suffragans suggests that Emperor Arnulf incited them to attack King Berengar I of Italy . They routed the Italian troops on 2 September at the river Brenta in a great battle and plundered the region of Vercelli and Modena in the winter, but the doge of Venice , Pietro Tribuno , defeated them at Venice on 29 June 900. They returned from Italy when they learned of
14040-490: The Hungarians knew "nothing about fighting hand-to-hand in formation or taking besieged cities", but he underlines their archery skills. Remains indicate that composite bows were the Hungarians' most important weapons. In addition, slightly curved sabres were unearthed in many warrior tombs from the period. Regino of Prüm noted the Hungarians' preference for deceptions such as apparent retreat in battle. Contemporaneous writers also recounted their viciousness, represented by
14196-454: The Hungarians purchased their future homeland in the Carpathian Basin from Svatopluk for a white horse harnessed with gilded saddle and reins. Then [ Kusid ] came to the leader of the region who reigned after Attila and whose name was Zuatapolug, and saluted him in the name of his people [...]. On hearing this, Zuatapolug rejoiced greatly, for he thought that they were peasant people who would come and till his land; and so he dismissed
14352-687: The Hungarians were organized in a confederacy of seven tribes : Jenő , Kér , Keszi , Kürt-Gyarmat , Megyer , Nyék , and Tarján . Around 830, a rebellion broke out in the Khazar khaganate. As a result, three Kabar tribes of the Khazars joined the Hungarians and moved to what the Hungarians call the Etelköz , the territory between the Carpathians and the Dnieper River . The Hungarians faced their first attack by
14508-564: The Hungarians' history. By the Treaty of Trianon , the Kingdom had been cut into several parts, leaving only a quarter of its original size. One-third of the Hungarians became minorities in the neighbouring countries. During the remainder of the 20th century, the Hungarians population of Hungary grew from 7.1 million (1920) to around 10.4 million (1980), despite losses during the Second World War and
14664-451: The Hungarians, says in the Gesta Hungarorum : The land stretching between the Danube and the Tisza used to belong to my forefather, the mighty Attila. The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862 and 895. This is confirmed by the archaeological findings, in the 10th-century Hungarian cemeteries, the graves of women, children and elderly people are located next to
14820-506: The Huns. The basic premise of the Hungarian medieval chronicle tradition was that the Huns, i.e. the Hungarians coming out twice from Scythia , the guiding principle was the Hun-Hungarian continuity. The 20th century mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns. However, the archaeogenetics studies revealed the Hun heritage of the Hungarian conquerors , it
14976-587: The Kingdom of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 and are now parts of Hungary's seven neighbouring countries, Slovakia , Ukraine , Romania , Serbia , Croatia , Slovenia , and Austria . In addition, significant groups of people with Hungarian ancestry live in various other parts of the world, most of them in the United States , Canada , Germany , France , the United Kingdom , Chile , Brazil , Australia , and Argentina , and therefore constitute
15132-486: The Monk contains the earliest certain reference to the Hungarians. It states that Hungarian warriors intervened in a conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarians on the latter's behalf in the Lower Danube region in 836 or 837. The first known Hungarian raid in Central Europe was recorded in the Annals of St. Bertin , which writes of "enemies, called Hungarians, hitherto unknown" who ravaged King Louis
15288-415: The Moravians if they received the lands they were to occupy. Accordingly, Aventinus continues, the Hungarians took possession of "both Dacias on this side and beyond" the Tisza east of the rivers Danube and Garam already in 893. Indeed, the Hungarian chronicles unanimously state that the Székelys had already been present in the Carpathian Basin when the Hungarians moved in. Kristó argues that Aventinus and
15444-471: The Moravians…and – alas! – having dismantled those very well fortified barriers which…are called "closures" by the populace. Arnulf summoned to his aid the nation of the Hungarians, greedy, rash, ignorant of almighty God but well versed in every crime, avid only for murder and plunder. A late source, Aventinus adds that Kurszán (Cusala) , "king of the Hungarians" stipulated that his people would only fight
15600-549: The Nganasan people, and argued to have arrived with the historical Magyars. Modern Hungarians formed from several historical population groupings, including the historical Magyars, assimilated Slavic and Germanic groups, as well as Central Asian Steppe tribes (presumably Turkic and Iranian tribes). Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin , also known as
15756-754: The Pechenegs had their dwelling on the river [Volga] and likewise on the river [Ural] (…). But fifty years ago the so-called Uzes made common cause with the Chazars and joined battle with the Pechenegs and prevailed over them and expelled them from their country (…). The relationship between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire sharpened in 894, because Emperor Leo the Wise forced the Bulgarian merchants to leave Constantinople and settle in Thessaloniki . Subsequently, Tzar Simeon I of Bulgaria invaded Byzantine territories and defeated
15912-423: The Pechenegs to incite them against the Hungarians. He succeeded, and the Pechenegs broke into Hungarian territories from the east, forcing the Hungarian warriors to withdraw from Bulgaria. The Bulgarians, according to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, attacked and routed the Hungarians . The Pechenegs destroyed the Hungarians' dwelling places. Those who survived the double attack left the Pontic steppes and crossed
16068-517: The Pechenegs' attack. The Hungarians were (…) driven from their home (…) by a neighboring people called the Petchenegs, because they were superior to them in strength and number and because (…) their own country was not sufficient to accommodate their swelling numbers. After they had been forced to flee by the violence of the Petchenegs, they said goodbye to their homeland and set out to look for lands where they could live and establish settlements. [At]
16224-466: The Pechenegs, which caused his sacrifice. If his death was in fact the consequence of a ritual murder , his fate was similar to that of the Khazar khagans who were executed, according to Ibn Fadlan and al-Masudi, in the case of disasters affecting their whole people. The death of Arnulf released the Hungarians from their alliance with East Francia. On their way back from Italy they expanded their rule over Pannonia. According to Liutprand of Cremona ,
16380-434: The Pechenegs. The Bulgarians won the decisive battle of Southern Buh . It is uncertain whether or not those conflicts contributed to the Hungarian departure from Etelköz. From the upper Tisza region of the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarians intensified their campaigns across continental Europe. In 900, they moved from the upper Tisza river to Transdanubia , which later became the core of the arising Hungarian state. By 902,
16536-585: The Tisza plain within the Carpathian Basin around 881, which may have given rise to the anachronistic reference to Cumans in the Gesta Hungarorum at the time of the Hungarian conquest. The Hetumoger confederation was under a dual leadership, according to Ibn Rusta and Gardizi (two Muslim scholars from the 10th and 11th centuries, respectively, whose geographical books preserved texts from an earlier work written by Abu Abdallah al-Jayhani from Bukhara ). The Hungarians' nominal or sacred leader
16692-775: The Volga, Don and the Seversky Donets rivers. Meanwhile, the descendants of those Hungarians who stayed in Bashkiria remained there as late as 1241. The Hungarians around the Don River were subordinates of the Khazar Khaganate . Their neighbours were the archaeological Saltov culture , i.e. Bulgars (Proto-Bulgarians, Onogurs ) and the Alans , from whom they learned gardening, elements of cattle breeding and of agriculture. Tradition holds that
16848-503: The archaeological evidence, the Avar population survived the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. In this power vacuum, The Hungarian conqueror elite took the system of the former Avar Kaganate , there is no trace of massacres and mass graves, it is believed to have been a peaceful transition for local residents in the Carpathian Basin . Other scholars dismiss the continuity between late Avar and Hungarian Conquerors and/or
17004-571: The borders were pushed to the South-Moravian Carpathians and the Principality of Moravia collapsed. At the time of the Hungarian migration, the land was inhabited only by a sparse population of Slavs, numbering about 200,000, who were either assimilated or enslaved by the Hungarians. Archaeological findings (e.g. in the Polish city of Przemyśl ) suggest that many Hungarians remained to
17160-628: The central and southern regions of the Urals split up. Some dispersed towards the west and northwest and came into contact with Turkic and Iranian speakers who were spreading northwards. From at least 2000 BC onwards, the Ugric -speakers became distinguished from the rest of the Uralic community, of which the ancestors of the Magyars, being located farther south, were the most numerous. Judging by evidence from burial mounds and settlement sites, they interacted with
17316-419: The centre of the country. In the 19th century, the proportion of Hungarians in the Kingdom of Hungary rose gradually, reaching over 50% by 1900 due to higher natural growth and Magyarization . Between 1787 and 1910 the number of ethnic Hungarians rose from 2.3 million to 10.2 million, accompanied by the resettlement of the Great Hungarian Plain and Délvidék by mainly Roman Catholic Hungarian settlers from
17472-636: The consolidation of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1001 was dominated by pillaging campaigns across Europe, from Dania ( Denmark ) to the Iberian Peninsula (contemporary Spain and Portugal ). After the acceptance of the nation into Christian Europe under Stephen I, Hungary served as a bulwark against further invasions from the east and south, especially by the Turks. At this time, the Hungarian nation numbered around 400,000 people. The first accurate measurements of
17628-452: The contemporary Annals of Fulda only refers to Hungarians reaching the river Enns . One of the Hungarian contingents crossed the Danube and plundered the territories on the river's north bank, but Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria gathered troops and routed them between Passau and Krems an der Donau on 20 November 900. He had a strong fortress erected against them on the Enns. Nevertheless,
17784-403: The death of Emperor Arnulf at the end of 899. According to Anonymous, the Hungarians fought with Menumorut before conquering Gelou's Transylvania. Subsequently, the Hungarians turned against Salan , the ruler of the central territories, according to this narrative. In contrast with Anonymus, Simon of Kéza writes of the Hungarians' fight with Svatopluk following their arrival. According to
17940-468: The dispersal and expansion of proto-Uralic languages along the Seima-Turbino cultural area . Neparáczki et al. argues, based on archeogenetic results, that the historical Hungarian Conquerors were mostly a mixture of Central Asian Steppe groups, Slavic, and Germanic tribes, and this composite people evolved between 400 and 1000 AD. According to Neparáczki: "From all recent and archaic populations tested
18096-650: The end of the 9th century. For instance, he refers to Menumorut residing in the castle of Bihar (Biharia, Romania ), to Zobor "duke of Nitra by the grace of the Duke of the Czechs ", and to Gelou "a certain Vlach " ruling over Transylvania. According to historian Ryszard Grzesik, the reference to Gelou and his Vlachs evidences that the Vlachs had already settled in Transylvania by
18252-457: The ethnogenesis of Turkic and Mongolic peoples ) and Western Steppe Herders (Indo-European). Modern Hungarians are however genetically rather distant from their closest linguistic relatives ( Mansi and Khanty ), and more similar to the neighbouring non-Uralic neighbors. Modern Hungarians share a small but significant "Inner Asian/Siberian" component with other Uralic-speaking populations. The historical Hungarian conqueror YDNA variation had
18408-473: The events of the Carolingian Empire . The number of recorded battles increased from the end of the 9th century. In the late Avar period, a part of Hungarians was already present in the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century, this has been supported by genetic and archaeological research, because there are graves in which Avar descendants are buried in Hungarian clothes. The contemporary local population
18564-618: The examined Sarmatian individuals genetically also belong to the genetic legacy of the local European population. Various groups of Asian origin settled in the Carpathian Basin, such as Huns , Avars , Hungarian conquerors , Pechenegs , Jazyg people, and Cumans . The military leadership of the European Huns descended from the Asian Huns ( Xiongnus ), while the majority of them consisted of subjugated Germanic and Sarmatian populations. The most significant influx of genes from Asia occurred during
18720-402: The express purpose of occupying a new homeland. This view (expounded, for example, by Bakay and Padányi) mainly follows the narration of Anonymus and later Hungarian chronicles. The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862–895. This is confirmed by the archaeological findings, in the 10th century Hungarian cemeteries,
18876-470: The field, their men will find the gold of the bridle when they mow the hay; if you throw the saddle into the Danube, their fishermen will lay out the gold of the saddle upon the bank and carry it home. If they have earth, grass and water, they have all." Ismail Ibn Ahmed , the emir of Khorasan , raided "the land of the Turks" (the Karluks ) in 893. Later he caused a new movement of peoples who one by one invaded
19032-410: The former Kingdom of Hungary ) who share a common culture , history , ancestry , and language . The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic language family , alongside, most notably, Finnish and Estonian . There are an estimated 14.5 million ethnic Hungarians and their descendants worldwide, of whom 9.6 million live in today's Hungary. About 2 million Hungarians live in areas that were part of
19188-480: The former borderlands with cemeteries characterised by objects with clear analogues in contemporary Bavaria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moravia and other distant territories. A manor defended by timber walls (similar to noble courts of other parts of the Carolingian Empire) was unearthed at Zalaszabar . Avar groups who remained under the rule of their khagan were frequently attacked by Slav warriors. Therefore,
19344-711: The graves of the Hungarian conqueror elite of the 9th century. Based on the DNA in the Hungarian conqueror graves, the conquerors had eastern origin, but the vast majority of the Hungarian conquerors had European genome. The remains in cemeteries of the Hungarian commoners had fewer Eastern Asian ancestry than the remains in cemeteries of the Hungarian elite, which display around 1/3 Eastern ancestry. Commoners clustered with surrounding non-Hungarian groups, while elite remains clustered with modern day Volga Tatars and Bashkirs , who are regarded as turkified formerly Uralic/Ugric-speaking ethnicities. According to some genetic studies, there
19500-449: The graves of women, children and elderly people are located next to the warriors, they were buried according to the same traditions, wore the same style of ornaments, and belonged to the same anthropological group. The Hungarian military events of the following years prove that the Hungarian population that settled in the Carpathian Basin was not a weakened population without a significant military power. The opposite view maintains that
19656-415: The high claims of their tradition had failed." The growing number of archaeological evidence in Transdanubia also presumes Avar population in the Carpathian Basin at the eve of the 10th century. Archaeological findings suggesting that there is a substantial late Avar presence on the Great Hungarian Plain , but it is difficult to determine the proper chronology. A charter issued in 860 by King Louis
19812-670: The influx of new settlers from Europe, especially Slovaks, Serbs and Germans . In 1715 (after the Ottoman occupation), the Southern Great Plain was nearly uninhabited but now has 1.3 million inhabitants, nearly all of them Hungarians. As a consequence, having also the Habsburg colonization policies, the country underwent a great change in ethnic composition as its population more than tripled to 8 million between 1720 and 1787, while only 39% of its people were Hungarians, who lived primarily in
19968-735: The invitation of Leo, the Christ-loving and glorious emperor [the Hungarians] crossed over and fought Symeon and totally defeated him, (…) and they went back to their own county. (…) But after Symeon (…) sent to the Pechenegs and made an agreement with them to attack and destroy [the Hungarians] And when [the latter] had gone off on a military expedition, the Pechenegs with Symeon came against [them] and completely destroyed their families and miserably expelled thence [those] who were guarding their country. When [the Hungarians] came back and found their country thus desolate and utterly ruined, they settled in
20124-498: The joint attacks of Pechenegs and Bulgarians . According to eleventh-century tradition, the road taken by the Hungarians under Prince Álmos took them first to Transylvania in 895. This is supported by an eleventh-century Russian tradition that the Hungarians moved to the Carpathian Basin by way of Kiev . Prince Álmos , the sacred leader of the Hungarian Great Principality died before he could reach Pannonia , he
20280-605: The land where they live today (…). Passing through the kingdom of the Bessi and the Cumani Albi and Susdalia and the city named Kyo , they crossed the mountains and came into a region where they saw innumerable eagles; and because of the eagles they could not stay in that place, for the eagles came down from the trees like flies and devoured both their herds and their horses. For God intended that they should go down more quickly into Hungary. During three months they made their descent from
20436-569: The lands of their western neighbors in the Eurasian Steppe . Al-Masudi clearly connects the westward movement of the Pechenegs and the Hungarians to previous fights between the Karluks, Ouzes and Kimeks . Porphyrogenitus writes of a joint attack by the Khazars and Ouzes that compelled the Pechenegs to cross the Volga River sometime between 893 and 902 (most probably around 894). Originally,
20592-473: The local population of the Carpathian Basin". The foundation of the Hungarian state is connected to the Hungarian conquerors , who arrived from the Pontic steppes as a confederation of seven tribes. The Hungarians arrived in the frame of a strong centralized steppe-empire under the leadership of Grand Prince Álmos and his son Árpád , they became founders of the Árpád dynasty , the Hungarian ruling dynasty and
20748-437: The messenger graciously. [...] Then by a common resolve [the Hungarians] despatched the same messenger again to the said leader and sent to him for his land a big horse with a golden saddle adorned with the gold of Arabia and a golden bridle. Seeing it, the leader rejoiced all the more, thinking that they were sending gifts of homage in return for land. When therefore the messenger asked of him land, grass and water, he replied with
20904-576: The middle Danube region, as opposed to the previously assumed lower Danube region because, following al-Jayhani's description, the Christian Moravians were the western neighbors of the Magyars. The Carpathian Basin was controlled from the 560s by the Avars , a Turkic-speaking people. Upon their arrival in the region, they imposed their authority over the Gepids , who had dominated the territories east of
21060-427: The mountains, and they came to the boundaries of the kingdom of Hungary, that is to Erdelw [...]. The date of the Hungarian invasion varies according to the source. The earliest date (677) is preserved in the 14th-century versions of the "Hungarian Chronicle", while Anonymus gives the latest date (902). Contemporaneous sources suggest that the invasion followed the 894 Bulgarian-Byzantine war. The route taken across
21216-460: The north and other one in the south), while Boba, Bowlus and Eggers argue that Moravia's core territory is in the region of the southern Morava river , in present-day Serbia. The existence of a southern Moravian realm is not supported by artifacts, while strongholds unearthed at Mikulcice , Pohansko and other areas to the north of the middle Danube point at the existence of a power center in those regions. In addition to East Francia and Moravia,
21372-551: The north of the Carpathians after 895/896. There is also a consistent Hungarian population in Transylvania, the Székelys , who comprise 40% of the Hungarians in Romania . The Székely people's origin, and in particular the time of their settlement in Transylvania, is a matter of historical controversy. In 907, the Hungarians destroyed a Bavarian army in the Battle of Pressburg and laid
21528-399: The northern and western counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. Spontaneous assimilation was an important factor, especially among the German and Jewish minorities and the citizens of the bigger towns. On the other hand, about 1.5 million people (about two-thirds non-Hungarian) left the Kingdom of Hungary between 1890–1910 to escape from poverty . The years 1918 to 1920 were a turning point in
21684-407: The period of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin . The Carpathian Basin was demonstrably not empty when the Hungarian conquerors led by Árpád arrived. The conquering Hungarians mixed to varying degrees on individual level with the Avar population living in the Carpathian Basin, but they had Avar genetic heritage as well. According to Endre Neparáczki, it is no longer possible to narrow down
21840-496: The place and time of their ethnogenesis , has been a matter of debate. The Hungarian language is classified in the Ugric family , the range of the original Ugric people is predicted to have been east of the Ural Mountains , south of the forest zone and not far from the steppe. The relatedness of Hungarians with other Ugric peoples is confirmed by linguistic and genetic data, but modern Hungarians have also substantial admixture from local European populations. The Ugric languages are
21996-444: The population of the Kingdom of Hungary including ethnic composition were carried out in 1850–51. There is a debate among Hungarian and non-Hungarian (especially Slovak and Romanian ) historians about the possible changes in the ethnic structure of the region throughout history. The proportion of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin was at an almost constant 80% during the Middle Ages . The Hungarian population began to decrease only at
22152-402: The real ethnic conditions of the Carpathian Basin around 900. Ioan-Aurel Pop says that Simon of Kéza listed the peoples who inhabited the lands that the Hungarian conquered and the nearby territories. The Hungarians adopted the ancient ( Celtic , Dacian or Germanic ) names of the longest rivers in the Carpathian Basin from a Slavic-speaking population. For instance, the Hungarian names of
22308-403: The river Tisza . However, the Gepids survived up until the second half of the 9th century, according to a reference in the Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians to their groups dwelling in Lower Pannonia around 870. The Avars were initially nomadic horsemen, but both large cemeteries used by three or four generations and a growing number of settlements attest to their adoption of
22464-438: The river Zala around 840. He promoted the colonisation of his lands and also erected Mosaburg , a fortress in the marshes. Initially defended by timber walls, this "castle complex" (András Róna-Tas) became an administrative center. It was strengthened by drystone walls at the end of the century. Four churches surrounded by cemeteries were unearthed in and around the settlement. At least one of them continued to be used up to
22620-515: The rivers Danube (Duna) , Dráva , Garam , Maros , Olt , Száva , Tisza and Vág were borrowed from Slavs. The Hungarians also adopted a great number of hydronyms of Slavic origin, including Balaton ("swamp"), Beszterce ("swift river"), Túr (" aurochs ' stream") and Zagyva ("sooty river"). Place names of Slavic origin abound across the Carpathian Basin. For instance, Csongrád ("black fortress"), Nógrád ("new fortress"), Visegrád ("citadel") and other early medieval fortresses bore
22776-491: The slaughter of adult males in settlement raids. [The Hungarians] are armed with swords, body armor, bows and lances. Thus, in battles most of them bear double arms, carrying the lances high on their shoulders and holding the bows in their hands. They make use of both as need requires, but when pursued they use their bows to great advantage. Not only do they wear armor themselves, but the horses of their illustrious men are covered in front with iron or quilted material. They devote
22932-436: The territories of present-day Germany, France, and Italy open to Hungarian raids, which were fast and devastating. The Hungarians defeated the Imperial Army of Louis the Child , son of Arnulf of Carinthia and last legitimate descendant of the German branch of the house of Charlemagne , near Augsburg in 910. From 917 to 925, Hungarians raided through Basel , Alsace , Burgundy , Saxony , and Provence . Hungarian expansion
23088-461: The time of the Ottoman conquest, reaching as low as around 39% by the end of the 18th century. The decline of the Hungarians was due to the constant wars, Ottoman raids, famines, and plagues during the 150 years of Ottoman rule. The main zones of war were the territories inhabited by the Hungarians, so the death toll depleted them at a much higher rate than among other nationalities. In the 18th century, their proportion declined further because of
23244-417: The time the Gesta was completed, while the stories about Zobor and Menumorut preserved the memory of the Hungarians' fight against the Moravians. Translating Menumorut's name as "Great Moravian", Grzesik associates him with Svatopluk I and refutes the report of Menumorut's rule in Bihar. Early medieval fortresses were unearthed at Bihar and other places east of the Tisza, but none of them definitively date to
23400-432: The warriors, they were buried according to the same traditions, wore the same style of ornaments, and belonged to the same anthropological group. The Hungarian military events of the following years prove that the Hungarian population that settled in the Carpathian Basin was not a weakened population without a significant military power. Other theories assert that the move of the Hungarians was forced or at least hastened by
23556-407: The wave of emigration after the attempted revolution in 1956 . The number of Hungarians in the neighbouring countries tended to remain the same or slightly decreased, mostly due to assimilation (sometimes forced; see Slovakization and Romanianization ) and to emigration to Hungary (in the 1990s, especially from Transylvania and Vojvodina ). After the "baby boom" of the 1950s ( Ratkó era ),
23712-476: The whole" province "to desert". Although the annalist writes of this Hungarian attack after the passage narrating Svatopluk I's death, Györffy, Kristó, Róna-Tas and other historians suppose that the Hungarians invaded Pannonia in alliance with the Moravian monarch. They argue that the "Legend of the White Horse" in the Hungarian chronicles preserved the memory of a treaty the Hungarians had made with Svatopluk I according to pagan customs. The legend narrates that
23868-425: Was a significant Hun-Hungarian mixing around 300 AD, and the remaining Huns were integrated into the conquering Hungarians. The genomic analyses of the Hungarian royal Árpád family members are in line with the reported conquering Hungarian-Hun origin of the dynasty in harmony with their Y-chromosomal phylogenetic connections. According to the growing archaeological evidence that the Avar population lived through
24024-428: Was checked at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, ending their raids against Western Europe , but raids on the Balkan Peninsula continued until 970. The Pope approved Hungarian settlement in the area when their leaders converted to Christianity , and Stephen I ( Szent István , or Saint Stephen) was crowned King of Hungary in 1001. The century between the arrival of the Hungarians from the eastern European plains and
24180-442: Was sacrificed in Transylvania. In 895/896, under the leadership of Árpád , some Hungarians crossed the Carpathians and entered the Carpathian Basin . The tribe called Megyer was the leading tribe of the Hungarian alliance that conquered the centre of the basin. At the same time (c. 895), due to their involvement in the 894–896 Bulgaro-Byzantine war , Hungarians in Etelköz were attacked by Bulgaria and then by their old enemies
24336-570: Was styled kende , while their military commander bore the title gyula . The same authors add that the gyula commanded an army of 20,000 horsemen, but the reliability of this number is uncertain. Regino of Prüm and other contemporary authors portray the 9th-century Hungarians as nomadic warriors. Emperor Leo the Wise underlines the importance of horses to their military tactics. Analysis of horse skulls found in Hungarian warriors graves has not revealed any significant difference between these horses and Western breeds. Regino of Prüm states that
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