Magyar News, 1993. szeptember-1994. augusztus (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1994-05-01 / 9. szám
COUSINS IN UNEXPECTED PLACES In a previous issue I promised to give a more detailed account of the B lack Hungarians who live along the Nile river in Africa. Then I mentioned, that there were two delegates from this group of people, who participated at the convention of the World Federation of Hungarians in Budapest. The existence of the Black Hungarians came to my attention after WWII when there was an international effort to build a dam on the Nile and also to save the ancient historical treasures that would be flooded after the Aswan Dam would be built. Naturally the Hungarians got involved in the process and spent time in the surrounding area. They returned to Hungary telling the stories about the Black Hungarians living in the southern part of Egypt, and along the border in Sudan. It sounded strange but it was true. Later I found out that this wasn’t new information. It was known already in the early 1900s. But it wasn’t till 1935 that László Almassy gave account of meeting these people. Almassy was an engineer in charge of testing the vehicles of the Stayer Company under desert conditions. He published a book in 1937 about his experiments and also mentioned the Black Hungarians. Recently, Ildikó Hanko traveled along the Nile and visited these Hungarian relatives. These people refer to themselves as “Magyar” or“Magyarab.” Their setdements and customs are very different to the Arab or Nubian neighbors. The houses, like in a Hungarian village, are orderly and whitewashed. The pots and pans are scrubbed shining clean. The color of the people vary from dark to light, and the facial features have a pronounced character of the Hungarians. There are about 7,000 members of this Magyarab group. They are settled along the southern border of Egypt at the edge of the Nubian Desert. The names of the villages are Qatta, Ibrim, Kati, Inéiba and Tushka. Before building the Aswan Dam there was an island in the Nile. It was called Jerizat ul Magyarab. The people of the island had to be evacuated because of the rising water level, and eventually forming Lake Nasser. From here the people were relocated to the other Magyar places. How did the Magyars get to the Nubian Desert? Well, it happened a long time ago, close to 500 years ago. That would be about twenty generations ago. As we know, in 1526 the Hungarians were defeated by the Turks at Mohács. This was followed by a Turkish occupation of a sizable part of the country. This occupation lasted for one and a half century. It was typical of the Turks to round up the male population, especially the youth, and turn them into soldiers under their rule and make them fight in faraway places. As the Turks advanced in southern Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, they took prisoners. The Ottoman Empire was also advancing on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and down the Nile in Egypt. This is where the Hungarians were transferred. Page 6 By 1517 the Turkish forces conquered the Aswan Desert and by 1550 they were expanding south into Nubia. Then, as the situation changed the Hungarians were left to fend on their own. The effort to get back to Hungary without a military support system turned out to be a task bordering the impossible. After they came to this conclusion, the Magyar soldiers settled down. Naturally they were in need of caring women, so they manried the local Nubians. In their lifestyle they adhered to traditions and they believe that Abraham Magyar was the founding father. This is one more place in the world where you could find Hungarians. Joseph F. Balogh AAA Judy M. Tucker Banking Officer Fleet Bank 382-5785 Pamela K. Revak 7100 KINGS HIGHWAY EAST, FAIRFIELD, CT NEAR MILLER BUCK Attorney at Law COMPLETE BANKING SERVICE 1275 Post Road, Suite 212 Fairfield, Connecticut ö Ja «*_ ESTATE, TRUST AND LU ERA®V.P. REALTY INC. TAXATION SERVICES, INCLUDING TAX RETURN PREPARATION MARGARET FENVESI Office: 203-268-8645 • Home: 203-924-8472 Magyarul Beszélünk 259-9578 5802 MAIN ST. • TRUMBULL, CT 06611 Each office independently owned and operálod ERA* REAL ESTAlE
