Hungarian prehistory 1143010 224772557 2008-07-10T10:23:52Z 87.1.47.165 /* Emese's dream */ {{Cleanup|date=June 2008}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2008}} "'''Hungarian prehistory'''" ({{lang-hu|magyar őstörténet}}) is a specific period in the history of the [[Hungarian people]]. It typically refers to the time starting from when the Magyars were considered a people separate and identifiable from other Ugric speakers (1000-500 BC) up until their occupation and settlement of the [[Pannonian plain]] around [[896]] AD ({{lang-hu|Honfoglalás}}). The events that occurred between the ''Honfoglalás'' ("occupation of our country") and the coronation of [[Stephen I of Hungary|St. Stephen]] (1000/1001 AD) are also included by some historians as part of Hungarian prehistory.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | last = Kristó | first = Gyula (editor) | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század) ''(Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History - 9-14th centuries)''| publisher = Akadémiai Kiadó | date = 1994 | location = Budapest | page = 435| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 05 6722 9}}</ref> The terms "proto-history", "ancient history", and "early history" are also used by different sources to describe this same period of Hungarian history.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} [[Image:Hungarian tresure Galgoci.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The "Tree of Life" on an ancient Magyar sabertache ''(tarsoly)'' plate]] ==The formation of the Magyars== ===Emergence from the Ugric speakers=== The Hungarian language is an [[Ugric languages|Ugric language]] and belongs to the group of [[Finno-Ugric languages]], a grouping in the family of [[Uralic languages]].<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 435}}</ref><ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | last = Kristó | first = Gyula | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = A Kárpát-medence és a magyarság régmultja (1301-ig) ''(The ancient history of the Carpathian Basin and the Hungarians - till 1301)'' | publisher = Szegedi Középkorász Műhely | date = 1993 | location = Szeged | pages = 41-43| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 04 2914 4}}</ref> The Finno-Ugric languages separated within the Uralic languages before 4000 BC and the community of the [[Finno-Permic languages|Finno-Permic]] and Ugric languages ended before 2000 BC.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 43}}</ref> The formation of the Hungarian language (between 1000 BC and 500 BC) can be localised to the southern regions of the [[Ural Mountains]].<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 437}}</ref> [[Climate change]]s around 1300 BC resulted in the northward expansion of the [[steppe]]s which compelled several groups within the proto-Ugric people to turn to the [[nomadic]] lifestyle.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 57}}</ref> This change was strengthened by the several proto-Iranian groups living south of them who had been practising [[nomad#pastoral nomads|pastoral nomadism]].<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 57}}</ref> Following a further climate change around 800 BC that caused the expansion of the [[taiga]], the nomadic proto-Ugric groups had to move southward; thus they separated from the ancestors of the [[Khanty people|Khanty]] and [[Mansi]] peoples.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | pages = 56-57}}</ref> ===Ethnonym=== The origin of the "Magyar" expression (the self-definition of the Hungarians) could prove the period when the separation of the proto-Hungarians and the groups speaking proto-[[Ob-Ugric languages]] took place, but there are several theories on its origins; the word is composed of two parts: ''magy'' and ''ar''.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 58}}</ref> Words similar to the ''magy'' element of the word are also used by the Khanty and Mansi peoples (referring to one of their groups ''(mos)'' or to themselves ''(mansi)'' respectively) which suggest that it is of Ugric origin and it possibly means "those who speak".<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | pages = 58-59}}</ref> The ''ar'' element of the world may be either of Ugric or [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] origin and it probably means "man".<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 59}}</ref> Nevertheless, the Magyars (Hungarians) in the Arabic sources are mentioned as ''magyar'', ''baškir'', ''turk'', in the Greek as ''hun'', ''ungr'', ''turk'', ''savard'', in the Latin ''ung'', ''hungr'', ''pannon'', ''avar'', ''hun'', ''turk'', ''agaren'', in the Slavic as ''ugr'', ''peon''.<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | last = Kristó | first = Gyula | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Hungarian History in the Ninth Century| publisher = Szegedi Középkorász Műhely | date = 1996 | location = Szeged | page = 57| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 482 113 8}}</ref> ===The Hungarian ''Urheimat''=== The Hungarian ''[[Urheimat]]'' (Hungarian: ''magyar őshaza'') is the theoretical original homeland of the Magyars. The term ''urheimat'' comes from linguistics and tends to be reserved for discussion about language origin. One view states that the Magyar ''Urheimat'' is the same as the Ugric language group's ''urheimat'' on the western side of the Urals.<ref>"The locality in which the Magyars, i.e. the ''Manycha-Er'' group, emerged was between the Volga and the Ural Mountains." {{cite book| first=András | last=Róna-Tas |year=1999|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |pages=319}}</ref> Another view claims that the ''urheimat'' is roughly the same area as [[Yugra]] to the east of the Urals, where the [[Khanty]] and [[Mansi]] live today. Another point of view is that the ''urheimat'' concept is outdated since the development of a people is continuous. <ref>"'Urheimats', then, should denote those major stages in the formation of a people which brought about significant change to the life of the members of the group... such changes may include a splinter group peeling off from the main community, the beginning of interaction with another people, the change of community life style, or a major migration." {{cite book| first=András | last=Róna-Tas |year=1999|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |pages=315}}</ref> The view of Magyar prehistory officially propagated in the 19th century by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy derives Hungarians ultimately from Yugra, although according to Russian documents the Ob-Ugrians fled to the east from the [[Komi peoples|Komi]] and the Russians in the 12th century. Yugra also tends to be identified as the Ob-Ugric language ''urheimat'' and not the earlier Ugric period. The western side of the Urals in the vicinity of the [[Kama river]] is considered to be the Ugric language ''urheimat''.<ref>"The Ugrian ''Urheimat'' was located in the Ural region, primarly on the western side. However, Ugrian splinter groups are known to have resided to the east of the Urals, too, by the time which the Magyars must have dwelt in the Volga-Kama region..." {{cite book| first=András | last=Róna-Tas |year=1999|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |pages=319}}</ref> It is believed that the Magyars emerged from this western Ural ''Urheimat'' based upon early language influence from Permic peoples.<ref>{{cite book| first=András | last=Róna-Tas |year=1999|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |pages=319}}</ref> One of the consensus views is that the Magyar ''urheimat'' is somewhere in the steppe zone south of the Ural mountains. Another view, based upon the idea of early Ugrian and Turkic connections places the Magyars to the east of the Urals. The time when the proto-Magyars moved westwards from the regions east of the Ural Mountains and settled down in [[Bashkortostan|Bashkiria]] (around the region where the [[Kama River]] joins the [[Volga River|Volga]]) is still under debate.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 63}}</ref> Their movement may have been caused by the [[Migration Period|migrations]] of people in the 4th century AD, but it may have also connected to the appearance of a new archaeological culture (Kushnarenkovo culture) in the region in the 6th century AD.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 63}}</ref> ===Hungarian legends on their origins=== ====The Legend of the Wondrous Hind==== [[Image:FeherSzarvas-ChroniconPictum.jpg|thumb|100px|left|The Hunt of the Wondrous Hind ([[Chronicon Pictum]])]] The legend of the origins of the Magyars were recorded by [[Simon of Kéza]] in the ''[[Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum]]'' ("The Deeds of the Huns and Hungarians").<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 153}}</ref> According to the legend, two brothers, [[Hunor and Magor]] were on a hunting trip when a white hind appeared before them; the hind were enticing them to the [[moorland]]s of the ''[[Sea of Azov|Mæotis]]'' (the Sea of Azov) where it disappeared, but the brothers settled down there.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 153}}</ref> Six years after, the two brothers went for a new hunting and they met the wives of Bular's sons and two daughters of Prince Dula of the [[Alans]]; Hunor and Magor persuaded the girls and carried them off to be their brides.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 153}}</ref> Thus, as the legend records, Hunor and one of Prince Dula's daughters became the ancestors of the [[Huns]], while Magor and her sister became the ancestors of the Magyars.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 153}}</ref> The legend is usually interpreted as a remembrance of the Magyars' previous connections with the [[Onogurs]] (Hunor), the [[Bulgars]] (Bular) and the Alans.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 153}}</ref> ====Emese's dream==== According to the legend, recorded in the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' and in the [[Chronicon Pictum]] ("Illustrated Chronicle"), the mother of Grand Prince Álmos (called [[Emese]] by the ''Gesta Hungarorum'') saw a dream of a [[Turul]] bird "that flew over her and got her with child; she saw her womb as the source of many great kings, but they would multiply in foreign lands".<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 693}}</ref> Modern scholars pointed out that the chronicles reserved the [[Árpáds]]'s tradition of their [[totem]]istic descendence.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 693}}</ref> The legend also suggests that Álmos must have been the spiritual leader ''(kende)'' of the Magyar tribal federation.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | last = Kristó | first = Gyula | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Magyar honfoglalás - honfoglaló magyarok ''("The Hungarians' Occupation of their Country - The Hungarians occupying their Country")''| publisher = Kossuth Könyvkiadó | date = 1996 | location = | page = 65| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 09 3836 7}}</ref> ==Migrations== Very specific areas are named and connected with the migration of the Magyars from an original homeland area to modern day Hungary. Each area is detailed below. ===Magna Hungaria=== [[Image:Kamarivermap.png|thumb|250px|right|Map illustrating the confluence of the Volga and the Kama (the territory whereabout ''Magna Hungaria'' lay).]] Magna Hungaria (literally "Great Hungary") was an area settled by the Magyars. In 1235, [[Friar Julian]] located this land directly east of the capital of [[Volga Bulgaria]]. One theory states that the Magyars moved to this area from a northerly urheimat before migrating further to the southwest. "The Hungarian tribes joined with by the tribe ''Megyer'' &ndash; as readable by Istvan Fodor &ndash; presumably moved to the south, then west from the Bashkirian ''Magna Hungaria'', crossing the Volga, and dwelled in the area of the river Don." In Bashkiria, in the territory of the Kama river, Hungarian gravesites confirm the Hungarians' ancestors' dwelling here. A significant burial place used between 850 and 920 AD is Bolshie Tigani with 150 graves in the Volga-Kama territory. Linguistic researches and [[toponym]]s suggest that in the Volga-Kama region, the proto-Magyars came into contact with the [[Volga Bulgarians]], who were migrating northward following the 670s.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 63}}</ref> It must have been in this region that Magyars would have become most known for the stockherding, equestrian type of nomadic existence.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} The proto-Magyars organised themselves into [[tribes]] probably in the region, because the name of one of their tribes ''(Gyarmat)'' reserved as a clan's name among the [[Bashkirs]].<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 65}}</ref> The name of several [[Magyar tribes]] is of [[Oghur]] origin.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 241, 303}}</ref> The proto-Magyars were separated into two groups between 750 and 830; and afterwards, the two groups existed separately: one of them stayed in ''Magna Hungaria'' until the 1240s, while the other group (the ancestors of the future Hungarians) moved southwards.<ref name='Ancient History'>{{cite book | page = 65}}</ref> ===The Don-Kuban area=== There is no name for this Caucasian area the early Magyars were to have lived in and the evidence for habitation appears tenuous<ref>"The arguments advanced in favour of this theory are few and not convincing. ... As most of the peoples whose names have been borne by the Hungarians lived ... in the Kuban-region, we are entitled to suppose that the Hungarians themselves lived in the same territory. ... The names in question are ... Ungroi, Sabartoi and Turkoi. Evidence is available that each of these three peoples occupied the Kuban-region. In the case of none of them it is necessary to suppose that contact with Hungarians took place in the Caucasian country."<br />{{Citation|first=Denis|last=Sinor|title=The Outlines of Hungarian Prehistory|url=http://www.kroraina.com/hungar/ds_ohp.html|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>, but most scholars seem to agree that the Magyars lived there prior to Levedia<ref>"The question now arises, from where did the Hungarians migrate to Levedia? The answer given to this question is practically unanimous: the Hungarians migrated to Levedia from a country centred around the river Kuban, and bordered by the Caucasus, the Azov and Black seas and the Don."<br />{{Citation|first=Denis|last=Sinor|title=The Outlines of Hungarian Prehistory|url=http://www.kroraina.com/hungar/ds_ohp.html|accessdate=2007-12-29}}</ref>. It is generally referred to as the Don-Kuban area or the Caucasian homeland. Xenophon, Prokopios (490-562 AD), Agathias (536-582 AD), Protector Menandros (6th century), Joshua the Stylite (6th century), the Chronicle of Edessa, Joannes Ephesinus (6th century) and especially the Armenian authors Agathangelos, Phaustos Byzantios and Lazar of Farp, mention the Huns and Hungarians dwelling there. The Armenian ruler St. Gregory "the Illuminator" (Gregor Lusavoritch) mentions the Hungarians' ancestors there in his ecclesiastic works. Kornél Bakay (1996) finds significance in the fact that "the old name Sabir of the Hungarians leads us into the Caucasus... the ancient Hungarians came into being from two ethnicities; the Hungarian speaking Sabir-Huns, and the Turkish speaking Onogur Turks" (it is now known that the language of the Huns was also Onogur Turkish). The group who broke away in the Caucasus are the Savard Hungarians, to whom the monk Julianus traveled, before nearing [[Magna Hungaria]]. (Their location here is Majar, where Samuel Turkoly attracted attention in 1825). ===Levedia=== Byzantine emperor [[Constantine VII|Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]], writing in ''[[De administrando imperio]]'', names a place where the early Magyars lived. He called it "Levedia" after Magyar voivode [[Lebedias]].<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | last = Tóth | first = Sándor László | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Levediától a Kárpát-medencéig ''("From Levedia to the Carpathian Basin")''| publisher = Szegedi Középkorász Műhely | date = 1998 | location = Szeged | page = 41| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 482 175 8}}</ref> Constantine reports that this land has a river flowing through it called Chidmas or Chingilous, but scholars have been unsuccessful in identifying which river these names refer to. The most widely accepted theory identifies the ''Chidmas'' with the Kodyma River and the ''Chingilous'' with the [[Inhul]] River ([[tributaries]] of the [[Southern Bug]] River).<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 407}}</ref> According to the Emperor's work, the Magyars struggled together with the Khazars, which is interpreted that the Magyar tribes were under Khazar suzerainty.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 132}}</ref> The length of the period when the Magyar tribes belonged to the Khazar empire is under debate. If the early Hungarians were in Levedia &ndash; in the neighborhood of [[Bulgar]]ians and [[Khazars]] &ndash; it is possible that they lived there only "three years" altogether, as Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote. Some modern authors suggest a 300-year-long period.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 132}}</ref> The Khazar suzerainty over the Magyars may have started around 840 when references to a people distinct from the Khazars disappeared from the written sources.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 47}}</ref> Around 850, the [[Pechenegs]], who had suffered a defeat from the Khazars, invaded Levedia and defeated the Magyars who, lead by the "Voivode" Lebedias, were obliged to flee westwards. A group of the Magyars fled over the [[Caucasus Mountains]] and settled down there. The latter's descendants lived in the region until the 13th century.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 51}}</ref> Doubt has been cast upon the existence of Levedia. For example, András Róna-Tas doesn't believe Levedia was a real place, instead seeing the story as an Árpádian legitimizing explanation for a regime change.{{Quote|"The appearance of a new dynasty always brought about a crisis of legitimacy. The new ruler ... needed to explain what happened to the previous clan... At that time, the legitimacy of power in the steppes meant being recognised by the Khazars. The part [in ''De administrando imperio''], which relates Levedi facing up to his incompetence, and recommending Álmos or Arpád instead of himself, lacks even the smallest fragment of credibility."|András Róna-Tas<ref>{{Citation|last=Róna-Tas|first=András|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages|pages=417-418}}</ref>}} ===Etelköz=== [[Image:HetVezer-ChroniconPictum.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The Seven Chieftains of the Conquest ([[Chronicon Pictum]])]] Following their defeat from the Pechenegs, the seven Magyar tribes ''(Hétmagyar)'' that moved westwards settled down on the territory that the Byzantine emperor calls ''Etelküzü'' (or ''Etel'' and ''Küzü'').<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 41}}</ref> The territory was located around the [[Dnieper River|Dnieper]], Southern Bug, [[Dniester]], [[Prut]] and [[Siret River|Siret]] Rivers.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 203}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, as the Emperor Constantine ''Porphyrogenitus'' recorded, the Khagan of the Khazars sent envoys to the "Voivode" Lebedius and suggested him that he should be elevated to grand prince, but Lebedias rejected the Khagan's proposal and proposed another "voivode", [[High Prince Álmos|Álmos]] or his son, [[Árpád]] instead of himself; the Khagan accepted his offer.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 58}}</ref> Although, the Byzantine Emperor recorded that the heads of the seven Magyar tribes preferred Árpád, but modern authors usually follow the theory that his father, Álmos was proclaimed the first [[Grand Prince of the Magyars]] (''megas Turkias arkhon'' in the ''De Administrando Imperio'').<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 40}}</ref> [[Ahmad ibn Rustah]] mentiones that the nominal leader of the tribal federation ''Hétmagyar'' was styled ''kende'', but its military leader was the ''gyula''.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 99}}</ref> {{Quote|''The Magyars are a reace of Turks and their leader rides out with 20,000 horsemen and this king is called'' k.nd.h ''and this name denotes their king, for the name of the man who is actually king over them is'' ĝ.l.h ''and all the Magyars accept the orders of their'' ĝ.l.h ''in the matter of war and defence and the like.|Ahmad ib Rustah<ref name='László'>|{{Citation | last = László | first = Gyula | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Magyars - Their life and Civilisation | publisher = Corvina | date = 1996 | location = Budapest| pages = 193-194| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 13 4226 3}}</ref>}} His record suggests that the leadership of the Magyar tribal federation was divided between a [[kende|spiritual ruler]] and an [[gyula|administrative and military leader]] – similar to the [[Khazars#Khazar kingship|practise]] the Khazars had been following.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 69-70}}</ref><ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 109-110}}</ref> In the Khagan empire, the holder of the third dignity (following its military leader) was styled [[kündür]] which suggests that the Khagan granted this title to the head of the Magyar tribal federation.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 70}}</ref> In 860-861, Magyar soldiers attacked [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Saint Cyril]], who was travelling to the Khagan, around [[Chersonesos]] that had been captured by the Khazars, but Saint Cyril could calm them down.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 72}}</ref> The ''Hétmagyar'' federation seceded from the Khazar empire around 862.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 74}}</ref> The ''Annales Bertiniani'' recorded at the year 862, that the Magyars ''(Ungri)'' pillaged [[East Francia]]: <ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 73}}</ref>{{Quote|''enemies, proviously unknown for the nations, called'' Ungri'', devastate his'' /[[Louis the German]]'s/ ''country.|Annales Bertiniani<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 133}}</ref>}} [[Muslim]] geographers recorded that the head of the Magyar tribal federation lead 20,000 soldiers when attacked the neighboring [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] tribes and they sold their captives to the Byzantine Empire.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 83}}</ref> They also mentioned that the Magyars were "were wealthy and strikingly rich due to the trading."<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 83}}</ref> The ''Hétmagyar'' federation even was strengthened when the three tribes of the [[Kabar]]s who, had rebelled against the Khazars, joined it before 881. The joining of the Kabars to the Magyars was recorded by Constantine ''Porphyrogenitus'': {{Quote|''The so-called'' Kabaroi ''were of the race of the Chazars. Now, it fell out that a secession was made by them to their government, and when a civil war broke out their first government prevailed, and some of them were slain, but others escaped and came and settled with the Turks in the land of the Pechenegs, and they made friends with one another, and were called 'Kabaroi'.|De Administrando Imperio<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 149}}</ref>}} Thenceforward, the Kabars were regarded as military auxiliaries of the Magyars and they provided the advance and rear guards to their hosts.<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | last = Kristó | first = Gyula | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Hungarian History in the Ninth Century| publisher = Szegedi Középkorász Műhely | date = 1996 | location = Szeged | page = 149| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 482 113 8}}</ref> In 881, the Magyars and the Kabars invaded East Francia, and they fought two battles, the former ''(Ungari)'' at ''Wenia'' (probably [[Vienna]]) and the latter ''(Cowari)'' at ''Culmite'' (Kulmberg or Kollmitz in Austria).<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 145-148}}</ref> The ''[[Annales Fuldenses]]'' recorded at the year 892, that King [[Arnulf of Carinthia|Arnulf of East Francia]] invaded [[Great Moravia]] and the Magyars joined to his troops.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 148}}</ref> Two years later, in 894, the Magyars invaded [[Pannonia]] allied themselves with King [[Svatopluk I]] of Great Moravia.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 104}}</ref><ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 149-151}}</ref> ===First records on the Magyars=== {{seealso|Sources for Hungarian prehistory}} [[Image:Hungarian migration.png|thumb|300px|Migration of the [[Hungarians]]]] The Magyar tribes appeared in the written sources in the 830s and the sources suggest that they were living north of the [[Black Sea]] at that time.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | last = Tóth | first = Sándor László | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Levediától a Kárpát-medencéig ''("From Levedia to the Carpathian Basin")''| publisher = Szegedi Középkorász Műhely | date = 1998 | location = Szeged | page = 30| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 482 175 8}}</ref> The following records are usually connected to the Magyars, although some of the authors do not accept the identification of the people mentioned in the sources with them.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 31}}</ref> *The [[Byzantine]] author who continued [[George Hamartolus|Georgius Monachus]]' work records that the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] sought the alliance of a [[pagan]] people (called Ungri, Turc and Hun in the source) when the former inhabitants of [[Macedonia (theme)|Macedonia theme]], whom the [[Bulgarians]] had carried off as captives over the [[Danube#Geography#Sectioning|Lower Danube]], rebelled against the Bulgarians, but the rebels defeated the pagans and could return to the [[Byzantine Empire]] (around 837).<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 30-31}}</ref> *The ''[[Annales Bertiniani]]'' mentiones at the year 839 that the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Theophilos (emperor)|Teophilos]] sent the [[Rus' (people)|Rus]] delegates who had visited [[Constantinople]] to the Emperor [[Louis the Pious]] and asked the Emperor to assist them in returning to their country because the road they had used when visiting Constantinople became dangerous because of "barbarian and wild peoples".<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 32-33}}</ref> *The Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine VII|Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]] records in his work ''[[De Administrando Imperio]]'' ("On Administering the Empire") that the [[Khagan]] and the [[Bek]] of the [[Khazars]] asked the Emperor Teophilos to have the fortress of [[Sarkel]] built for them.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 34}}</ref> The record is connected to the Magyars on the basis that the new fortress must have become necessary because of the appearance of a new enemy of the Khazars, and other people cannot be taken into account at that time.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | pages = 34-35}}</ref> *[[Ahmad ibn Rustah]] mentiones in the 10th century that "earlier, the Khazars entrenched themselves against the attacks of the Magyars and other peoples".<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 35}}</ref> ===Hungarian tradition of the migrations=== ====Dentumoger==== The ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'' ("The Deeds of the Hungarians") names a place called ''Dentumoger'' where the ancient Magyars lived before migrating to the [[Carpathian Basin]]. The name is used synonymously with Scythia. {{Quote|''So the Hungarians...traced their origin to the Scythian people, whom in their own language they call Dentumoger. And that land became overcrowded with the multitude of people born there''...|Anonymous<ref>"de gente scithica, que per ydioma suum proprium dentumoger dicitur (,) duxit originem"<br />{{Citation|title=Gesta Hungarorum|url=http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Gesta_Hungarorum#De_electione_almi_ducis|accessdate =2007-12-28}}</ref>}} According to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', the ancient Magyars migrated directly from ''Dentumoger'' to the Carpathian Basin following a path from the Middle Volga region to Susdal to Kiev.<ref>"Anonymus describes the route that lead from Dentumoger to Hungary as follows: the Volga, Susdal, Kiev, Vladimir, Galizia. There is no question here of any migration towards the Kuban-region, or the Black Sea; quite plainly Anonymus makes the Hungarians come direct from the territory which later authors call ''Magna Hungaria'' or ''Bascardia''."<br />{{Citation|first=Denis|last=Sinor|title=The Outlines of Hungarian Prehistory|url=http://www.kroraina.com/hungar/ds_ohp.html|accessdate=2007-12-28}}</ref> Both the interpretation and the localisation of ''Dentumoger'' is uncertain. The first part of the expression ''(Dentu)'' may contain the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]]'s [[Scythian languages#Alanic|Alanic]] name ''(Den)'' with the ancient Hungarian [[diminutive]] [[suffix]] ''(tü)''; and therefore it may refer to the [[Seversky Donets|Donets]] ("Small Don") River.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 166}}</ref> The expression's second part ''(moger)'' contains an ancient form of the word "Magyar".<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 166}}</ref> ====The Legend of the White Horse==== The [[Chronicon Pictum]] reserved the most complete version of the legend according to which the heads of the Magyar tribes sent "a big horse with a saddle gilded with gold from Arabia and a gilded rein" to Svatopluk and they asked soil, grass and water in exchange.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 215}}</ref> Svatopluk was delighted at the presents and told their envoys that they could take as much as they wanted. When Grand Prince Árpád was informed on Svatopluk's answer, he sent again envoys to him with the next message: {{Quote|''Árpád, together with his people, tells you that not to stay anymore on the land that has been bought, because your land has been bought for the horse, your grass for the rein and your water for the saddle. And you transferred your land, grass and water for a price simple, because of your penury and eagerness.|Chronicon Pictum<ref>{{Citation| last = Bollók | first = János (translator) | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Képes Krónika (Illuminated Chronicle)| publisher = Osiris Kiadó | date = 2004 | location = | page = 28| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 963 389 785 3}}</ref>}} The legend probably reserved the memory of an alliance made by King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia and the Magyars following pagan customs.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 166}}</ref> The ''Gesta Hungarorum'' connects the events of the legend to ''Dux'' [[Salan]], an alleged ruler between the [[Danube]] and the [[Tisza]] Rivers, in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 166, 591}}</ref> ==The "Conquest of our Country" ''(Honfoglalás)''== [[Image:Honfoglalas.gif|thumb|300px|The conquest]] ===Prelude=== The theories on the reasons of the invasion of the Magyars into the Carpathian Basin can be divided into three groups:<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 169-170}}</ref> *Based on the later chroniclers' tradition and the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', some scholars think that the invasion was an intended military operation with the clear purpose of occupying the territory and the Magyars had surveyed their future country during their former campaigns in the region. *Interim theories suggest that the Magyars, threatened by the Petchenegs, had been planning to conquer the territory protected by the [[Carpathian Mountains]], but their plans were disturbed by the Pechenegs' sudden attack against Etelköz. *Based on the contemporary or nearly contemporary sources, the historians' third group pointed out that the Magyars' invasion was an involuntary military action that was enforced by the joint attack of the Pechenegs and the Bulgarians against them. ====Movements on the Steppe==== Muslim historians recorded that in 893, [[Ismail Samani|Isma'il ibn Ahmad]], the [[Samanid]] amir of [[Transoxiana]] made a successful military campaign against the [[Karluks]], a Turkic tribe who had to move northward and expelled the [[Oghuz Turks]] from their dwellings; thus, the latter were obliged to move westward and they attacked the Pechenegs.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 178}}</ref> Therefore, the Samanid amir's action launched a series of movements of the peoples on the [[Eurasian Steppe]] and these movements put the Pechenegs under pressure.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 178}}</ref> As Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions in his work: {{Quote|''Originally, the Pechenegs had their dwelling on the river Atil'' /the Volga/ ''and likewise on the river Geich'' /the river [[Ural River|Ural]]/'', having common frontiers with the Chazars and the so-called Uzes. 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, which the so-called Uzes have occupied till this day. The Pechenegs fled and wandered round, casting about for a place for their settlement.|De Administrando Imperio<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 182}}</ref>}} ====The Kabars and the Szeklers==== The late-medieval historian [[Johannes Aventinus|Aventinus]] mentiones that King Arnulf promised to the Magyars, in 892, that they would keep all the territories they would occupy if they gave him military assistance against Great Moravia.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 104}}</ref> Both the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' and the ''Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum'' refers to the tradition that the [[Székely|Szeklers]], who had probably joined to the tribal federation in Etelköz, had already settled down in the Carpathian Basin when the Magyar tribes invaded the territory.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 105-106}}</ref> {{Quote|''When they'' /the Szeklers/ ''got to know that the Hungarians were returning once more to Pannonia, they hurried to meet them in Ruthenia and together they conquered the region of Pannonia.|Illuminated Chronicle<ref name='László'>{{Citation| pages = 187-188}}</ref>}} Based on the above-mentioned primary sources, some modern historians claim that some tribes of the ''Hétmagyar'' federation may have expanded their dwellings to parts of the Carphatian Basin east of the [[Hron|Garam River]], since they had been intervening in the wars of the local powers occasionally from 861.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 266}}</ref><ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 107}}</ref> Following the nomadic traditions, the Szeklers and the Kabars, who joined to the tribal federation ''Hétmagyar'' after its formation, had to go before the Magyar armies in wars; therefore, they must have been the first who invaded the territory and settled down there around 893 - provided that the theory is valid.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 106-108}}</ref> ====Alliance with the Byzantine Empire==== Following 883, a [[Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars#Simeon I’s imperial ambitions|war]] broke out between the Byzantine and the Bulgarian Empires; the tzar [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]] invaded the territories of Thracia and his troops destroyed the Byzantine armies.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 112}}</ref> The Byzantine Emperor [[Leo VI the Wise]] sent envoys to the Magyars and his envoys signed an agreement with the heads of the Hétmagyar federation, Árpád and [[Kurszán]] against the Bulgarian Empire.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 113}}</ref> The Byzantine fleet delivered the Magyar troops over the Danube to the Bulgarian Empire, and the Magyars defeated the Bulgarians in three battles (at the Danube, [[Silistra]] and [[Preslav]]).<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 114, 116}}</ref> The tzar Simeon had to flee to a fortress ''(Mundraga)''.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 115}}</ref> Following their victories, the Magyars commenced to return to Etelköz.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 116}}</ref> According to the Rus' annals, the Magyars {{Quote|''defeated the Bulgars, Simeon hardly escaped in Silistria.<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 185}}</ref>}} ====The Pechenegs' intervention==== The tzar Simeon made an alliance with the Pechenegs who were seeking for new territories threatened by the Oghuz Turks.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 118}}</ref> The tzar lead his armies against the Magyars and he defeated them at the a [[Battle of Southern Buh|decisive battle]].<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 116}}</ref> In the meantime, the Pechenegs invaded the dwellings of the Magyars in Etelköz and pillaged the territory that was nearly unprotected because the Magyar troops were far away, in Bulgaria.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 121}}</ref> Following their decisive defeat from the Bulgarians and the invasion of the Pechenegs, the Magyars were obliged to flee from their dwellings in Etelköz and they invaded the Carpathian Basin around 896.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 266}}</ref><ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 123}}</ref> Constantine Porphyrogenitus summarizes these events (referring to the Magyars as "Turks") in his work as follows: {{Quote|''when the Turks had gone off on a military expedition, the Pechenegs with Simenon came against the Turks and completely destroyed their families and miserably expelled thence the Turks who were guarding their country. When the Turks came back and found their country thus desolate and utterly ruined, they settled in the land where they live today.|De Administrando Imperio<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 187}}</ref>}} The abbot [[Regino of Prüm]] also relates that the Magyars {{Quote|''were expelled from their own dwelling places by the neighboring peoples, called Pechenegs.|Chronicon<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 187}}</ref>}} ===The conquest of the Carpathian Basin=== [[Image:Magyarok-Bejovetele-ChroniconPictum.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The invasion of the Magyars ([[Chronicon Pictum]])]] The Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin can be divided into the following two (or three) phases:<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 193-194}}</ref> *The occupation of the eastern parts of the territory (around 896). *The occupation of [[Pannonia]] and the western parts of the Carpathian Basin (900-902). ====The Carpathian Basin at the time of the Magyar invasion==== At the time of the Magyar invasion, the Carpathian Basin was divided among several powers, because following the collapse of the [[Eurasian Avars|Avar Empire]] around 800, the neighboring powers occupied only parts of its territory.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 87}}</ref> *The region of [[Transdanubia]] (Pannonia) and the western parts of [[Slavonia]] belonged to East Francia.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 87}}</ref> The Slavic population of the province was governed by dukes appointed by the king with a seat in [[Blatnograd]] (today ''Zalavár'').<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 199}}</ref> *The territories north of the Danube belonged to [[Great Moravia|Moravia]], but the expansion of the Moravian territories is still under debate.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 199}}</ref> *Transylvania and some regions east of the Danube were occupied by the Bulgarians around 803.<ref name='Tóth'>{{cite book | page = 200}}</ref> *Some medieval sources suggest the existence of another [[Great Moravia#alternate theories|Moravia]] ("Great Moravia") in the southern parts of the Carpathian Basin.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 90}}</ref> ====The occupation of the eastern parts==== Following their catastrophic defeats from the Pechenegs and the Bulgarians, the Magyars were forced to migrate to new pastures; therefore, their all population moved to [[Transylvania]], the territory of the Carpathian Basin over the mountains bordering on their dwellings.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 123}}</ref><ref name='Fines'>{{cite book | last = Fine, Jr. | first = John V. A. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Early Medieval Balkans - A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century| publisher = The University of Michigan Press | date = 1994 | location = | page = 139| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0 472 08149 7}}</ref> Around their invasion, the Magyars probably killed their spiritual leader, the Grand Prince Álmos following a similar Khazar tradition that prescribed the murder of the Khagans (as a human sacrifice) in case of disasters affecting the people.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 130}}</ref> The fourteenth century chronicle compilation briefly says: {{Quote|''Álmos was killed in Transylvania, for he was not allowed to enter Pannonia.|Chronicon Pictum<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 189}}</ref>}} Therefore, the Hungarian tradition connects the events of the invasion (''Honfoglalás'') to his son and successor, Grand Prince Árpád.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 266}}</ref> The contemporary sources, however, emphasize the role Kurszán played during the invasion, which suggest that he was the military leader of the federation.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | page = 386}}</ref><ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | last = Bóna | first = István | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = A magyarok és Európa a 9-10. században ''("The Hungarians and Europe in the 9th-10th centuries")'' | publisher = História - MTA Történettudományi Intézete | date = 2000 | location = Budapest | pages = 28-29| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 9 63 8312 67 X}}</ref> As the Transylvanian plateaus and the valleys of the rivers could not supply the people and their cattle with sufficient provisions, the Magyars invaded the [[Great Hungarian Plain]] and they could occupy the territories of the Carpathian Basin east of the Danube and the Garam Rivers probably without facing any severe resistance.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 130}}</ref><ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | pages = 27}}</ref> In case a "Great Moravia" existed in the southern parts of the Carpathian Basin, the Magyars occupied its territories during their invasion and they may have also occupied the southern territories of Transylvania that had been occupied by the Bulgarians.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 130-132}}</ref> The first legend of Saint Naum relates that the Magyars occupied the Moravian land{{Quote|''and devastated it. Those'' /of the Moravians/ ''not captured by the Magyars, ran to the Bulgars. And their depopulated land remained in the hand of the Magyars.''|First Legend of St. Naum<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 193}}</ref>}} ====The first campaign against Italy==== The Magyars must have been engaged with their internal affairs after the conquest of the eastern parts of the Carpathian Basin, because they did not intervene in the internal struggles of (the northern) Moravia.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 135}}</ref> The fourteenth century chronicle compilation relates that the Magyars {{Quote|''had a rest in Transylvania, and let their beasts have a rest.|Chronicon Pictum<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 191}}</ref>}} But in 899, they invaded the northern regions of Italy.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | pages = 136}}</ref> They pillaged the countryside around [[Treviso]], [[Vicenza]], [[Verona]], [[Brescia]], [[Bergamo]] and [[Milan]] and when they were informed that King [[Berengar I of Italy]] gathered an army against them, they pretended to be fleeing and they defeated the king's army at the [[Battle of Brenta]] (24 September 899).<ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | pages = 31}}</ref> Following their victory, they took [[Vercelli]] and [[Modena]], then laid siege to [[Venice]] where they were defeated, and afterwards they left Italy.<ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | pages = 32}}</ref> The Annales Fuldenses says that they {{Quote|''returned on the same route they had come devastating a great part of Pannonia.|Annales Fuldenses<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 199}}</ref>}} ====The second phase of the conquest==== When the Emperor [[Arnulf of Carinthia|Arnulf I]] died (8 December 899), the Magyars sent envoys to his successor, King [[Louis the Child]] of East Francia.<ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | pages = 33}}</ref> This mission intended, under the pretext of concluding a treaty, to reconnoitre the land to be occupied (''i.e.'', Pannonia).<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | page = 199}}</ref> The Hungarians started a war with the Moravians, occupying a part of their land between the Garam and [[Morava River|Morava]] rivers; then they unexpectedly crossed the Danube, attacked the land of their allies and, meeting with hardly any resistance, seized Pannonia.<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | page = 199}}</ref> A detailed account was left about this event by bishop [[Liutprand of Cremona]] who relates that one year after Arnulf's death and his son's coronation (in 900) the Magyars {{Quote|''gathering a very great army, demand for themselves the people of the Moravians that King Arnulf has subjugated through their valour; they occupy the frontiers of the Bavarians, too <ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 200}}</ref>}} The Hungarians stopped neither at the river Morava nor at the western border of Pannonia, but penetrated deeply into the territory of Bavaria, spreading devastation and destruction as far as the [[Enns River]].<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | page = 200}}</ref> Although [[Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria]] defeated them at a battle near [[Linz]], but his victory had no effect on the successes of the Magyars in the Carpathian Basin.<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | page = 201}}</ref><ref name='Bóna'>{{cite book | pages = 33}}</ref> Thus, in 900 the territory of the Carpathian Basin west of the Garam-Danube line was drawn under Magyar control, and that completed the conquest.<ref name='Ninth Century'>{{cite book | page = 201}}</ref> The Magyars endeavoured to expand their suzereinity also over the territories of Carantania in 901, but Margrave Ratold defeated them.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 141}}</ref> In 902, they lead a campaign against the northern Moravia and defeated the Moravians whose country annihilated.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 141}}</ref> ===Consequences=== The ''Honfoglalás'' may be qualify from several points of view.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 141}}</ref> *Concentrating only on its substance, independently of its consequences, the conquest was purely a change of the pastures of a nomadic people which had happened often before. Nevertheless, during the next centuries, it became obvious that the Magyars (Hungarians) managed to found a country, because they were forced to adopt the European traditions.<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 266}}</ref><ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 141}}</ref> *The arrival of the Hungarians drove a non-Slavic wedge between the West Slavs and South Slavs; this was a factor contributing to the triumph of Latin over Slavic among the West Slavs.<ref name='Fines'>{{cite book | page = 139</ref> *The arrival of the Pechenegs, split the Magyars from the Khazars with whom they had close ties. This had the effect of greatly weakening the Khazars as a Steppe power; eventually in 965 they were destroyed by [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev]].<ref name='Fines'>{{cite book | page = 139</ref> ===The ''Honfoglalás'' and the Hungarian chronicles=== ====''Gesta Hungarorum''==== The [[Gesta Hungarorum|anonymous]] author of the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' wrote his romantic work on the ''Honfoglalás'' around 1210 (''i.e.'', 315 years after the events); therefore, he composed his work from ''almost'' nothing, using his imagination.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 124}}</ref> He does not mention the name of the important historical personalities of the second half of the 9th century (''e.g.'', Svatopluk, [[Braslav of Pannonia|Braslav]], Arnulf I, tzar Simeon), and romantic heroes created by him appear as characters in his work.<ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 124}}</ref> Some examples of his creative imagination follow:<ref name='Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon'>{{cite book | pages = 50, 266}}</ref><ref name='Kristó'>{{cite book | page = 124-125}}</ref> *He says that the Magyars crossed the Carpathian Mountains and the first settlement they occupied in the Carpathian Basin was [[Mukachevo|Munkács]] (today ''Mukachevo'' in [[Ukraine]]) that they named taking into account the fatiguing road on which they reached it, ''i.e.'', the Hungarian word ''munka'' (a loanword from a Slavic language) means "work". *He names some opponents of the Magyars (Ménmarót, Salan, Gyalu, Galád and Zobor), but these personalities are not mentioned in contemporary sources and most of them are named after [[toponymy|toponyms]]. *The events of his own age are reflected in his work, ''e.g.'', he mentions Galád's "Cuman, Bulgarian and Vlach" troops, although the [[Cumans]] appeared in Europe in the 11th century and the [[Vlachs]] ([[Romanians]]) must have arrived to the Carpathian Basin only in the 12th century, but these people founded and organised the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] in the 1180s. ====''Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum''==== It was the chronicler Simon of Kéza (court priest of King Ladislas IV of Hungary) who attempted to elaborate in detail the relationship between the Huns and the Hungarians in his chronicle written around 1283.<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 71}}</ref> In his work, first among Hungarian historians, he records the legend of the origin of the Hungarians (the Myth of the Wondrous Hind), which suggest that the Huns (or the Hungarians) descended from two brothers.<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| page = 71}}</ref> In his view, the Conquest becomes in fact a second conquest, and he emphasizes that this second conquest was executed by the same people; that is to say the two peoples are not simply related, but identical.<ref name='Ninth Century'> |{{Citation| pages = 71-72}}</ref> ==Historiography== The first major scholarly foray into Hungarian prehistory was made by Johann Eberhard Fisher (1697-1771) with his statement (1768), that "the language of Estonians, Finnish, Lapps, Permis, Vots, Cheremis, Mordvins, Chuvash and Hungarians is common". All these nations lived "in born wildness and crassness in the near past", to his mind. August Ludwig Schölzer (1735-1809) brought Fischer's work into notoriety in his work published in 1771 stating, that "only the Hungarians have no history of their own". The Hungarian theologian and astronomer [[János Sajnovics]], after observing the passing of Venus before the sun on the island of Vardö, wrote a linguistic essay about the Hungarian-Lapp relationship. Then the jurist Antal Reguly collected folksongs from the land of Voguls. On the basis of these early forays, in 1870 in Budapest the Finno-Ugric theory of ethnogenesis was established with the support of the Academy in Vienna and proclaimed as fact with only the barest of linguistic support as evidence. The biggest proponent of this theory in the 19th century was the Saxon from Szepes, Pal Hunfalvy (Hunsdorfer), making common cause with Joseph Budenz. Opposing Hunfalvy, for the cause of proving Hungarians' "Turkish" roots, stood Ármin Vámbery, among many others. He stressed that "the base, the core of the Hungarian language and nation is Turkish, and where a bit of Finno-ugrian sparses can be found are secondary, sojourner elements". Gyula Laszlo criticized the "Finno-Ugric" concept of prehistory: "If linguistics wouldn't draw the attention of the explorers to the Ob-Ugrians, they would never search for the Hungarians' ancestors' relatives there by themselves... The language separates our human being, and our beliefs bind us..." ==Alternate theories== ===Land conquest in two waves theory=== A theory reiterated in recent decades by Hungarian archeologist Gyula László<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|title=Hungary - Origins of the Magyars|publisher=''Encyclopædia Britannica''|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-261332/Hungary#411153.hook|accessdate=2008-02-27}}</ref>. He has argued that the Magyars arrived in two separate waves, centuries apart, a notion which is still controversial. Some evidence: The Primary Russian Chronicle, attributed by some to Nestor, recalls that the Magyars undertook two Ingressions of Hungary, first under the name of "White Ugrians", during the time when the Avars occupied the country, and then a second during the reign of the Grand Duke Oleg. Archaeologists of the Rippl-Rónai Museum from Kaposvár (Hungary) have made a sensational discovery near Bodrog-Alsóbű - Temető-dűlő, Somogy County, in 1999. The research-workers dug up a pottery piece that was long-ago part of an ancient furnace bellows, having on its edge a Székely-Magyar type runic text of 4 letters in Hungarian language ("funák" = "they would blow", or maybe: "they were blowing"?). As scientist Gábor Vékony said, this writing monument may be dated as being made between 864 and 873 A.D., so less 23 years before the arrival of the Hungarians (Magyars) led by Árpád in the Carpathian basin. ===Other alternate theories=== Many other theories have appeared beside "Finno-Ugrianism". *Some of them don't even consider how different the Hungarians are compared with all other European nations, but concentrating on the '''indigenous natives''', proclaim that "the Hungarians, getting the start of any others, dwelled in the Carpathian Basin" (Adorján Magyar, Lajos Marjalaki Kiss). *István Kiszely and some other scholars looked for an ethnic ''urheimat'' and traced the seed of the Magyars to today's Eastern [[Turkestan]], specifically, the northern and western edges of the [[Gobi Desert]], the [[Jungar]] Basin and the confines of the [[Taklamakan Desert]]. In this area, between the 9th and 8th centuries BC, was established the [[Hun]] ([[Xiongnu]]) empire. Among the members of this Xiongnu tribal confederation were Turkic, Altaic and Iranian groups, as well the ethnic groups that later, under the name [[Onogur]] (Turkish: "Ten Arrows"), constituted the [[Bulgars]] and several other steppe peoples, probably also leaving their name in the form of "''Hungary''"<ref>''The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia'' - p. 176 - by René Grousset''</ref>. The migration of the Hungarians' ancestors from Central Asia started with the later Onogur nation seceding from the second Turkic federation to move west, and it continued until the conquest of [[Pannonia]]. *The idea of the '''Egyptian origin''' of Hungarians, published in the 3 volume book of Tibor Barath (1973), appears written in newer phrasing: "Most of the Eastern nations, so the Hungarians arrived not from Mesopotamia, but from the closer Egyptian culture era to the lands of Europe". *Geza Kun stood for the '''Etruscan-Hungarian relationship''', and to the mind of Ferenc Zajti, "the ancient Scythian-Hun nation gave birth to the Hungarians". *The alleged '''Sumerian-Hungarian relationship''' has had numerous representatives and followers (Ida Bobula, Viktor Padányi, Ferenc Badiny Jós, Kalman Gosztonyi, Sandor Csőke, Andras Zakar, Mrs. Hary etc. <!-- who? -->). The origin of this assertion was explained by Ida Bobula this way: "When in the middle of the 19th century, under the debris of Mesopotamia the first written memories, the tile-table notched cuneiform and hieroglyphic text began to turn up, professionals recognized that those against the Assyrian-Babylonian texts were written in a non-Semitic structured language." The language proved to be agglutinatively structured. The pioneer orientalists [[Julius Oppert]], Rawlinson, and [[Archibald Sayce]] spoke of the ancient Scythian and Turanian languages. The French scientist Lenormant declared that the language of these "artificers of writing" is closest to Hungarian. ===Speculations on mythic origins=== [[Image:Turul avatás 05-10-22-Bp-XII-szobor1.JPG|thumb|right|Mythic Totem of Hungarians, the Turul]] The Legend of the White Stag suggests the unification of the Magyars with certain tribes of [[Huns]] and [[Alans]]<ref>''The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat'' by Paul Lendvai - 2003 - p. 14</ref>. An early version of this story was found in a document taken from the Hungarian Royal Library when it was captured by the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and re-published under the title ''"Tarihi Üngürüs"'' (History of the Hungarians), now in the [[Topkapi Museum]] of [[Istanbul]]. The document starts with Tana, perhaps the same as the Sumerian [[Etana]] of the city of [[Kish]] son of "Arwium", son of "Mashda", according to a very few authors such as F. Hamori and T. R. Michels. The [[Kushan]] Scythians also had an ancestor called Kush-Tana. In the Sumerian account, Etana of Kish was the first king who 'stabilised all the nations'. Some feel that Etana of Kish corresponds to the Biblical [[Cush]] or his son, [[Nimrod]]<ref>''Nimrod - Darkness in the Cradle of Civilization'' p. 331 by Steven Merrill - 2004</ref>. In the Hungarian account, Tana's son is called Menrot, whose twin sons, ''Magor'' and ''Hunor'' dwelled by the Sea of Azov in the years following the flood, and took wives from the [[Alans]]<ref>''Five Eleventh Century Hungarian Kings: Their Policies and Their Relations'' p. ix, x, by Z. J. Kosztolnyik - 1981</ref><ref> ''Magyar mythologia'' p. 146, by Arnold Ipolyi - 1854</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=a72xT1YubqAC&pg=PA14&dq=menroth&lr=&as_brr=3&sig=YytSti_xbHmT6Kl1q9PvdtD-7XU ''Gesta Hungarorum'']</ref>. Another version of this legend found in the ''[[Chronicon Pictum|Kepes Kronika]]'' makes Magor and Hunor the sons of [[Japheth]] rather than of Nimrod, equating Magor with [[Magog]]. Nimrod the hunter, founder of Erech, is more plausibly identified by [[David Rohl]] with [[Enmerkar]], founder of [[Uruk]] (Sum. ''kar''=hunter). The mother of the twin sons in the Hungarian version is Eneth, Enech or Eneh, who is the wife of either Menrot (Nimrod) or of Japheth. If she is to be equated with the Sumerian goddess [[Inanna]]<ref>[http://hargita.awardspace.com/hogyvolt/vajken.html Hargita]</ref>, she may have originally been the wife of both men, and a great many others beside. The Sumerian legends of "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta" describe vividly how the powerful Inanna, something of a kingmaker in her time, abandoned the king of Aratta, who is called '''Ensuhkeshdanna''', and awarded the kingship of Erech to Enmerkar. Another argument sometimes used to link the Sumerians (who called their language ''Emegir'') with the Magyars, involves the hereditary caste among the [[Medes]] and later Persians known as "Magi"<ref>e.g. [http://hargita.awardspace.com/hogyvolt/mezopoen.html "The Ancient Identity of Hungarians"], a typical synopsis of such speculations.</ref>. According to the Hungarian legend of the ''Turul'' (a mythical bird which corresponds to the Sumerian "Dugud"), Ügyek, the descendant of king Magog and a royal leader of the land of Scythia, married the daughter of Ened-Belia, whose name was Emeshe (a word that means "priestess" in Sumerian language<ref>''Selected Hungarian Legends'' By Albert Wass, p. 41; ISBN 978-0879340063</ref>). From her was born their first son Álmos. Álmos, who was Árpád's father, is said to be a descendant of Attila the Hun<ref>''Attila: The Barbarian King Who Challenged Rome'' p. 309 by John Man</ref><ref>''The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526'' - p. 19 by Pál Engel</ref>. ==Notes== <references/> ==References== *Bakay Kornél (1997, 1998): Őstörténetünk régészeti forrásai. I. P. 302; II. P. 336. Miskolci Bölcsész Egyesület. Miskolc. *Bakay Kornél (2000): Az Árpádok országa. Kőszeg. P. 512. *Encyclopaedia Hungarica (1992, 1994, 1996) I-III. Főszerkesztő: Bagossy László. Hungarian Ethnic Lexicon Foundation. Calgary. P. 778, 786, 888. *Kiszely István (1979): Rassengeschichte von Ungarn. In: Schwidetzky, Ilse ed.: Rassengeschichte der Menschheit. R. Oldenburg Verlag. München-Wien. Pp. 1-50. *Kiszely István (1992): Honnan jöttünk? Elméletek a magyarság őshazájáról. Új Mandátum Könyvkiadó. Budapest. P. 460. *Kiszely István (1996): A magyarság őstörténete. Mit adott a magyarság a világnak. Püski Kiadó, Budapest. I-II. P. 860. *Kiszely István (2000, 2002, 2004): A magyarok eredete és ősi kultúrája. Püski Kiadó. Budapest. I-II. P. 1500. *Kiszely István (2004): A magyar ember. Püski Kiadó. Budapest. I-II. P. 980. *László Gyula (1999): Múltunkról utódainknak. I. A magyar föld és a magyar nép őstörténete. P. 573; II. Magyarok honfoglalása &ndash; Árpád népe Pp. 574-1036. Püski Kiadó. Budapest. *{{cite book|first=Ándras|last=Róna-Tas|title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History|date=1996|year=1999|publisher=CEU Press|isbn=9639116483}} ==See also== *[[Sources for Hungarian prehistory]] *[[Kummagyaria]] ==External links== *[http://istvandr.kiszely.hu Hungarian Prehistory] [[Category:History of Hungary]] [[eo:Prahistorio de la hungaroj]] [[hu:Magyar őstörténet]] [[nl:Magna Hungaria]] [[ru:Предыстория венгров]] [[sr:Магна Хунгарија]] [[tt:Böyek Macarstan]]