Magyars

Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. In English they are sometimes called Hungarians.

Ethnic affiliations and origins of the Hungarian people

The origin of the Hungarians (more correctly Magyars) is partly disputed. The most widely accepted Finno-Ugric theory from the late 18th century is based primarily on linguistic and ethnographical arguments, while it is criticised by some as relying too much on linguistics. There are also other theories stating that the Magyars are descendants of Scythians, Huns, Turks, Avars , and/or Sumerians. These are primarily based on medieval legends – whose authenticity and scientific reliability is strongly questionable – and non-systematic linguistic similarities. Most scholars therefore dismiss these claims as mere speculation.

Related Topics:
Scythians - Huns - Turks - Avars - Sumer

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The following section shows the Finno-Ugric theory of the origin of modern Hungarian people. For some other theories see Hungarian prehistory.

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Finno-Ugric is a group of related languages, which does not mean that the peoples currently speaking those languages are equally related. Same holds true, for example, for Indo-European languages. The Ugric Hungarian language is about as distantly related to Finnic languages like Finnish and Estonian as, e.g., European German language is related to Hindi and Nepali.

Related Topics:
Finnic - Hindi - Nepali

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East of the Ural mountains (before the 4th century AD)

According to this theory, in the 4th millennium BC, some of the earliest settlements of the Finno-Ugric-speaking peoples were situated east of the Ural Mountains, where they hunted and fished. From there, the Ugrians, i.e., the ancestors of the Magyars, were settled in the wood-steppe parts of western Siberia (i.e. to the east of the Urals) – from c. 2000 BC. onwards at least. Their settlements were identical with the north-western part of the Andronovo Culture. Some more advanced tribes coming from the southern steppes taught them how to do agriculture, breed cattle and produce bronze objects. Around 1500, they started to breed horses and horse riding became one of their typical activities.

Related Topics:
Finno-Ugric - Ural Mountains - Hunted - Fished - Wood-steppe - Siberia - Andronovo Culture - Bronze - Horse

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Due to climatic changes in the early 1st millennium BC, the Ugrian subgroup known as the Ob-Ugrians – until then living more in the north - moved to the lower Ob river, while the Ugrian subgroup being the ancestor of the proto-Magyars remained in the south and became nomadic herdsmen. From the definitive departure of the Ob-Ugrians (around 500 BC), the ancestors of present-day Magyars can be considered a separate ethnic group – the proto-Magyars. During the following centuries, the proto-Magyars still lived in the wood-steppes and steppes southeast of the Ural Mountains, and they were immediate neighbours of and were strongly influenced by the ancient Sarmatians.

Related Topics:
Ob-Ugrians - Ob - Nomadic - 500 BC - Sarmatians

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Bashkiria and the Khazar khaganate (4th century – c. 830 AD)

In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Proto-Magyars moved to the west of the Ural Mountains to the area between the southern Ural Mountains and the Volga river (Bashkiria).

Related Topics:
Volga - Bashkiria

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In the early 8th century, a part of the proto-Magyars moved to the Don river (to a territory between the Volga, the Don and the Donets), a territory later called Levedia. The descendants of those proto-Magyars who stayed in Bashkiria were seen in Bashkiria as late as in 1241.

Related Topics:
Don - Donets - 1241

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Indeed, many historical references related both the Magyars (Hungarians) and the Bashkirs as two branches of the same nation. However, modern Bashkirs are quite different from their original stock, largely decimated during the Mongol invasion (13th century), and assimilated into Turkic peoples.

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The proto-Magyars around the Don river were subordinates of the Khazar khaganate. Their neighbours were the archaeological Saltov Culture, i.e. Bulgars (Proto-Bulgarians, descendants of the Onogurs) and the Alans, from whom they learned gardening, elements of cattle breeding and of agriculture. The Bulgars and Magyars shared a long-lasting relationship in Khazaria, either by alliance or rivalry. The system of 2 rulers (later known as kende and gyula) is also thought to be a major inheritance from the Khazars. Tradition holds that the Magyars were organized in a confederacy of seven tribes called Jen?, Kér, Keszi, Kürt-Gyarmat, Megyer (Magyar), Nyék, and Tarján.

Related Topics:
Khazar - Khaganate - Saltov Culture - Bulgars - Onogurs - Alans - Khazaria - Kende - Gyula

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Etelköz (c. 830 – c. 895)

Around 830, a civil war broke out in the Khazar khaganate. As a result, three Kabar tribes out of the Khazars joined the Proto-Magyars and they moved to what the Magyars call the Etelköz, i.e. the territory between the Carpathians and the Dnjepr river (today's Ukraine). Around 854, the Proto-Magyars had to face a first attack by the Pechenegs. (According to other sources, the reason for the departure of the Proto-Magyars to Etelköz was the attack of the Pechenegs.) Both the Kabars and earlier the Bulgars may have taught the Magyars their Turkic languages; according to the Finno-Ugric theory, this is used to account for at least 300 Turkic words and names still in modern Hungarian. The new neighbours of the Proto-Magyars were the Vikings and the eastern Slavs. Archaeological findings suggest that the Proto-Magyars entered into intense interaction with both groups. From 862 onwards, the proto-Magyars (already referred to as the Ungri) along with their allies, the Kabars, started a series of looting raids from the Etelköz to the Carpathian Basin -- mostly against the Eastern Frankish Empire (Germany) and Great Moravia, but also against the Balaton principality and Bulgaria.

Related Topics:
830 - Kabar - Etelköz - Carpathians - Dnjepr - Ukraine - 854 - Pechenegs - Bulgars - Turkic languages - Vikings - Slavs - 862 - Eastern Frankish Empire - Germany - Great Moravia - Balaton principality - Bulgaria

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Entering the Carpathian Basin (after 895)

In 895/896, probably under the leadership of Árpád, a part of them crossed the Carpathians to enter the Carpathian basin. The tribe called Magyars (Megyer) was the leading tribe of the Magyar alliance that conquered the center of the basin. At the same time (c. 895), the proto-Magyars in Etelköz were attacked by Bulgaria (due to the involvement of the proto-Magyars in the Bulgaro-Byzantine war of 894-896), and then by their old enemies, the Pechenegs. It is uncertain whether or not those conflicts were the cause of the Magyar departure from Etelköz.

Related Topics:
895 - 896 - Árpád - Carpathians - Carpathian basin - Bulgaria - Byzantine

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In the Carpathian Basin, the Magyars initially occupied the Great Moravian territory at the upper/middle Tisza river – a scarcely populated territory, where, according to Arabian sources, Great Moravia used to send its criminals, and where the Roman Empire had settled the Iazyges centuries earlier. From there, they intensified their looting raids all over continental Europe. In 900, they moved from the upper Tisza river to Transdanubia (Pannonia), which later became the core of the arising Hungarian state. Their allies, the Kabars, probably led by Kursan, probably settled in the region around Bihar. Upon entering the Carpathian basin, the Magyars found a largely Slavic population there, such as the Bulgarians, Slovaks, Slovenians, Croats etc., and minor remnants of the Avars (in the southwest). Influenced by the Slavic population of this territory, the Magyars gradually changed their pastoral way of life to an agricultural one, and borrowed hundreds of Slavic words. See History of Hungary for a continuation, and Hungary before the Magyars for the background.

Related Topics:
Tisza - Roman Empire - Iazyges - 900 - Pannonia - Kursan - Bihar - Bulgarians - Slovaks - Slovenians - Croats - Avars - History of Hungary - Hungary before the Magyars

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Many of the "proto-Magyars", however, remained to the north of the Carpathians after 895/896, as archaeological findings e.g. in Polish Przemysl suggest. They seem to have joined the other Magyars in 900. There is also a consistent Hungarian population in Transylvania that is historically not related to the Magyars led by Árpád: the Székelys, the main ethnic component of the Hungarian minority in Romania. They are fully acknowledged as Magyars. The Székely people's origin, and in particular the time of their settlement in Transylvania, is a matter of historical controversy; see Székely for details.

Related Topics:
Przemysl - Transylvania - Székely

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