The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1985-06-01 / 6. szám
GALÉRIA HUNGARICA THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF THE ANCIENT MAGYARS Controversy rages in academe over the origins of the ancient Magyars. This scholarly debate is going on between those who support the Finno-Ugrian “school of thought”, the Hun-Mongol connection, and other conceptions. Each side argues their point with the presentation of corroborative evidence comprising history, linguistics, archaeology, mythology, paleography, and toponymy. The consequence of this professorial disagreement is that we Hungarian- Americans still do not know for certain where our ancestors came from and, because academic researchers have yet to unearth irrefutable evidence meeting the criteria of modern historiography, it can be assumed that they, too, do not know for sure. However, a relatively new ingredient has been injected into the mystery. It is the advocacy of the “Orientalist” or “Sumerian” origins of the Magyars, which subject area, if dug into by us bewildered Hungarian-Americans, reveals some surprising things about our ancient kinfolk. The Finno-Ugrian Conception, which was first introduced by non-Hungarian professors during the terroristic wake of the Austro-Russian defeat of the Hungarian War of Independence (1848-1849) and under the generous auspices of the House of Habsburg, and which has ever since that time been widely accepted as a positive fact, is now being exposed to serious question because, the Sumerians claim, their evidence indicates that the Magyars, as a people, existed as far back in time as 3000 B.C.! The Sumerians have also found evidence indicating that the original habitat of the early Magyars may have been within that region of the Near East which is bounded by the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Indus rivers (Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Anatolia, etc.)! Incidentally, they even found the site of a town in Syria called “Arpad”! Farmers for the most part, the ancient Magyars intermingled and intermarried for about 2000 years with the stockbreeding Kush people. This ethnical fusion resulted in the emergence of a highly organized society of Magyar-Kush, who not only tilled the soil and raised livestock, but also were superb horsemen and June, 1985 great warriors. But, when their homeland became over-crowded with refugees fleeing from the rampaging Egyptians and from the bloody upheavals in India, and when this problem was further exacerbated by Semitic and Turkish incursions, the Magyar-Kush were forced to emigrate North to the Caucasus. From there, some of the Magyar-Kush tribes settled near the shores of the Caspian Sea. If this is really what happened, as claimed by those advocating the “Sumerian Conception”, in that case it can be assumed that, when the Magyars, who had remained in what is now Russia, finally moved westward into the Carpathian Basin to establish a nation of their own (Hungary), they must have been warmly welcomed by fellow Magyars! Another surprising revelation about the ancient Magyars, is how those, who remained in what is now Russia for centuries, occupied themselves. Up to about the 5th Century A.D., the Magyar tribes had nomaded all over that vast territory and had penetrated as far North as the Baltic and the Ukrainian steppes, and had fought fierce battles with a considerable number of tribes to become dominant among them. Then, between the 5th and 9th Centuries A.D., a strange empire came into existence only to fade away into oblivion because of internal dissention and invasions by the Rus, the Kumans, the Pechenegs, the Mongols, and others. This unusual empire, founded by a people of Turkish stock, was “Khazaria”, which extended at the peak of its power in a semi-circular arc from the shores of the Caspian Sea to the Baltic. The Khan of Khazaria was the absolute ruler over more than 30 different kinds of peoples within his huge empire, each of whom was obliged to pay tribute to him, including the Magyars. The Magyars, however, profited a great deal from this arrangement by becoming employed as the Khan’s “tax collectors”, bodyguards, mercenaries, and agents. Moreover, as the Khazars were famous craftsmen and traders, Magyar troops accompanied their caravans of trade goods throughout the Mediterranean region, the Near East, and the Middle East! But, then, the Khan of Khazaria made a fatal mistake in judgment. For politicodiplomatic reasons, he first decided to embrace Islam and then decided to reject it. Then, he proceeded to toy with the idea of adopting Christianity as the official religion of his realm. Then, all of a sudden, he decided to convert himself and all of his Khazar people to Judaism. The Magyars had become guardians of a Jewish empire! The Khan’s decision to adopt Judaism triggered rebellion, not only throughout his empire, but also among his own people. With the armed assistance of the Magyars, however, he was able to contain it for awhile. But, when the Tus and other peoples realized that the Khazar Empire was being weakened from within, they launched a long series of attacks from several fronts. This spelled the coming end of the Khazar empire. Aware that they were serving a “loser”, the Magyars, around 830 A.D. or so, began inching their way towards the Carpathian Basin, while fighting a rear-guard action against the fierce Pechenegs. This exodus involved only seven out of the original ten tribes (“Ten Arrows”) that had moved into the Caucusas. Three had remained behind and were eventually assimiliated into Finno-Ugrian societies. However, by the time they got to Etelköz (“Country Between Rivers”), the Magyars no longer consisted of seven tribes. For they were joined by three tribes of Khazars, called the “Kabars”, who eventually, under the Arpad dynasty, settled in the region of the “Puszta”! The search for the origins of the Magyars is a fascinating subject to read about. A few books recommended are “The Ancient History of the Hungarian Peoples” (three volumes) and “The Early Hungarians” by Tibor E. Barath; “The Hungarians Cross the Carpathians” by Stephen Dienes; “The Thirteenth Tribe” by Arthur Koestler, which deals with the history of the Khazar Empire; and, if you would really like to dig into the relationship between the early Magyars and the Khazars, track down a copy of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’s “De Administrado Imperio”, written about 950 A.D., and translated, edited, and published in 1967. If dipping into these sources of reference will wet your appetite for more, try pursuing the following concontinuea on page 14 Page 13
