At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Hungarians celebrated the «Millennium of the Homeland», i.e. the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarians’ arrival in the Danube basin. The fishermen’s bastion was built just in time for the Millennium of the Homeland. White stone with balustrades and a gallery of seven towers. They are like a symbol of the seven Magyar tribes that came to this land more than a thousand years ago. But where did they come from? Where is their distant homeland — in the Caucasus, Kuban, Volga, or still in the Kazakh steppes?
FAMOUS ANONYMOUS
«The Ungrian people, who surpassed everyone in martial labor, trace their origin back to the Scythians. The land of which was so filled with the multitude of peoples that had multiplied in it that it could neither feed nor accommodate them. Then the seven rulers decided to leave and try to occupy other lands, conquering them relentlessly. Then they decided to seek Pannonia, the land of King Attila, from whose lineage they came.» From Magister P. Notarius of King Bela’s book on the affairs of the Hungaro. The only copy of the manuscript of the ХІІІІ century «Deeds of the Hungarians» was discovered and published in Vienna after half a millennium. The author is a certain Master P., and as strange as it may sound, better known as Anonymous.
According to the Hungarian scientist Attila Türk, the Hungarian people were formed somewhere in the east, somewhere in the southern Urals, there is also information that it may be the north-western part of the present Kazakhstan. In favor of this version, corresponds and description of the way: many days went west through the desert lands, only then reached Etil, so called the Volga. Prince Almush or according to other chronicles his son Arpad led the caravan of many thousands. Nomads have passed on territory of present Russia to Kiev, and as testifies the medieval chronicler Anonymus, have grasped city, but all has ended with relative peace — Kiev citizens simply have imposed a tribute.
POINTS OF CONTACT
The question «Where exactly did the ancestors of the Hungarians come from?» was never answered by the chronicler Anonymous. Nor does another chronicle written around the same time. by Shimon Kezai. In his work it is said only about the kinship of the Hungarians and Huns and about the coming from the land of Scythians. It seems that by the Õ²²² century the history of the lost homeland becomes very topical. Historian Artem Ulunyan: «There is such a notion «Turanian curse», which is formalized in the form of poems. The essence is that the Hungarians left the place where they lived, and coming to a new place, on the one hand they lost their homeland, and on the other hand they found a new one». The ancient abode of nomads beckoned with opportunities — military alliances, missionary work, besides, it was a time of new threats — the Mongols. So Hungarian King Béla IV sent several monks to the Kipchak steppe to search for the ancestral homeland, the Great Hungary. Only one monk, after many adventures, reached the country of the Eastern Hungarians, who ate wolf meat and mare’s milk. Presumably, somewhere in the territory of modern Bashkiria and Western Kazakhstan. «Having learned that brother Julian was a Hungarian, they rejoiced a lot at his arrival: they took him around the houses and villages, diligently asked about the king and the kingdom of their Christian brothers. And everything that he wanted to tell them about faith and other things, they listened very attentively, because their language was completely Hungarian: they understood him and he understood them». Per. S. A. Anninsky, «Notices of Hungarian missionaries of XIII-XIV centuries about the Tatars and Eastern Europe» Most likely, in the XIII century the so-called Eastern Hungarians, and simply Kipchaks were a Turkic-speaking people. But the version about Fino-Ugric origin of the Western Hungarians is still considered the main one. Historian Vasily Tatishchev: «The author of the five-volume book «History of the Russian State» says that the ancestors of the Turks are Scythians, Finno-Ugric tribes, including part of the Germans, and some European peoples come from the Sarmatians». The linguistic connection of centuries and peoples is in languages and peoples. In Budapest today, if you ask for an «alma» at the bazaar, every seller will put apples, even small ones — «kichi» — kishi in Kazakh. Similar are the words «kerek» — I need, «alachon» — low, «balta» — hammer. In Hungarian my mother is Anja, in Kazakh — Ana, my mother is respectively Anjam, in Kazakh Anam, my father in Hungarians is Atja, in Kazakh — Ata. Accordingly, my father is atyam, atam. The search for a distant homeland has not stopped for centuries. In the ХІХ century Armenius Vambery crossed the great steppe as a dervish. The famous Hungarian Turkologist was looking for confirmation of his theory about the Turkic origin of the Saks, Scythians, Magyars, and was sure that the Hungarians came from the Caspian region. Ethnographer Aisha Mandoki: «After Vamberi, a scholar named Tot Tibur researched anthropology. He was in the Turgai region. this was during the Soviet era. Although he researched Hungarians, visited the Turgai land, but still Tot Tibur paid attention exactly to the kinship relations of these two peoples». The legends are similar: about the deer, brothers Madiyare and Aldiyare. Traditions, love for horses is also firmly planted in the genes. Speaking of DNA, research in a scientific laboratory revealed the greatest similarity between the genotypes of the Magyars from Turgai and the Hungarian group. Ethnographer Aisha Mandoki: «It was only in the 1980s that my husband Istvan Konyr Mandoki was able to do the research. Since he considered himself a Kipchak. In fact, he was from the Kipchak family. His ancestors were from the Great Kipchak land of Karsak. From childhood, his father said that being in Europe, we became Hungarians. But we are Kipchaks. Your homeland is Central Asia. Find the Kipchak people, your land, the land of our
NEAR AND FAR
The roads to Hungary seem to have never been overgrown with grass. The Scythian collection in the National Museum in Budapest is proof of that, with artifacts growing in number every year. There were several major stages of migration in the history of the Hungarians. The earliest Scythian artifacts date back to the 8th century BC. Then, in the 4th century AD, the Huns began to appear on the banks of the Danube. And in the middle of the V century Europe trembled under the weight of the hooves of Attila’s thousands of cavalry. Just at that time Pannonia became the center of the Hunnish Empire. In the Middle Ages Hungary was called the Kingdom of the Huns. Migration wave from the latter is considered to be the resettlement of 40000 Kipchaks led by Khan Kotyan, in the XIII century. But Hungary itself as a state was formed 4 centuries before that. And thanks to the resettlement of seven steppe tribes. They came, they saw, they stayed. Almusz of Attila’s family proclaimed his son Arpad the leader of the newcomers. The Grand Duke of the Turks, so he was called by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine. Arpad, though has inherited the paternal title, but some years, on Turkic traditions shared authority with co-ruler Kursan, and descendants of Kursan lived in ancient Budapest and, by the way, carried a surname KartEl — the senior el. Finding the homeland under military banners, raids on neighboring states, conquests — the information in chronicles is extremely scarce until the appearance on the historical scene of Arpad’s descendant — Vaik. His name translated from Turkic means hero, leader. At his baptism he took the name Istvan and became the first king of Hungary. Later, Istvan was recognized as a saint, and he is considered to be the creator of Hungarian statehood.