The Hungarians' own ethnonym to denote themselves in the Early Middle Ages is uncertain. Theexonym "Hungarian" is thought to be derived from Oghur-TurkicOnoğur (literally "Ten Arrows" or "Ten Tribes"). Another possible explanation comes from the Russian word "Yugra" (Югра). It may refer to the Hungarians during a time when they dwelt on theAsian Steppe, before their conquest of the Carpathian Basin.[26]
In the Hungarian language, the Hungarian people name themselves as "Magyar".[27] "Magyar" possibly derived from the name of the most prominentHungarian tribe, the "Megyer". The tribal name "Megyer" became "Magyar" in reference to the Hungarian people as a whole.[29][30][31]
The obscure namekerel orkeral, found in the 13th-century workThe Secret History of the Mongols, possibly referred to Hungarians and derived from the Hungarian titlekirály ('king').[37]
The historical Latin phrase "Natio Hungarica" ("Hungarian nation") had a wider and political meaning because it once referred to all nobles of theKingdom of Hungary, regardless of their ethnicity or mother tongue.[38]
The origin of Hungarians, the place and time of theirethnogenesis, has been a matter of debate. Due to the classification of the Hungarian language in theUgric family, they are sometimes considered anUgric people who originated in theSouthern Urals orWestern Siberia. However, Fóthi et al. 2022 suggests that the conquering Hungarians originated from three distinct regions on theEurasian steppe: theLake Baikal-Altai Mountains, spanning present-day northwesternMongolia and southernSiberia, the Southern Urals-Western Siberia and theBlack Sea-Northern Caucasus.[39] Meanwhile, Neparáczki et al. 2018 proposes that over a third of the Hungarian conquerors' maternal lineages derive fromInner Asia, centred in present-day eastern Mongolia and southeastern Siberia, while the remainder is derived from thePontic-Caspian Steppe.[40]
"Hungarian pre-history", i.e. the history of the "ancient Hungarians" before their arrival in theCarpathian basin at the end of the 9th century, is thus a "tenuous construct", based on linguistics, analogies in folklore, archaeology and subsequent written evidence. In the 21st century, historians have argued that "Hungarians" did not exist as a discrete ethnic group or people for centuries before their settlement in the Carpathian basin. Instead, the formation of the people with its distinct identity was a process. According to this view, Hungarians as a people emerged by the 9th century, subsequently incorporating other, ethnically and linguistically divergent, peoples.[41]
During the 4th millennium BC, theUralic-speaking peoples who were living in the central and southern regions east of theUral Mountains split up. Some dispersed towards the west and northwest and came into contact withTurkic andIranian speakers who were spreading northwards.[42] From at least 2000 BC onwards, theUgric-speakers became distinguished from the rest of the Uralic community, of which the ancestors of the Magyars, being located farther south, were the most numerous. Judging by evidence from burial mounds and settlement sites, they interacted with theIndo-IranianAndronovo culture and Baikal-Altai Asian cultures.[43]
In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Hungarians moved to the west of the Ural Mountains, to the area between the southern Ural Mountains and theVolga River, known as Bashkiria (Bashkortostan) andPerm Krai. In the early 8th century, some of the Hungarians moved to theDon River, to an area between the Volga, Don and theSeversky Donets rivers.[44] Meanwhile, the descendants of those Hungarians who stayed in Bashkiria remained there as late as 1241.
The Hungarians around the Don River were subordinates of theKhazarKhaganate. Their neighbours were the archaeologicalSaltov culture, i.e.Bulgars (Proto-Bulgarians,Onogurs) and theAlans, from whom they learned gardening, elements of cattle breeding and of agriculture. Tradition holds that the Hungarians were organized in a confederacy ofseven tribes:Jenő,Kér,Keszi,Kürt-Gyarmat,Megyer,Nyék, andTarján.
Around 830, a rebellion broke out in the Khazar khaganate. As a result, threeKabar tribes[45] of the Khazars joined the Hungarians and moved to what the Hungarians call theEtelköz, the territory between theCarpathians and theDnieper River. The Hungarians faced their first attack by thePechenegs around 854.[44] The new neighbours of the Hungarians were theVarangians and the easternSlavs. From 862 onwards, the Hungarians (already referred to as theUngri) along with their allies, the Kabars, started a series of looting raids from the Etelköz into the Carpathian Basin, mostly against theEastern Frankish Empire (Germany) andGreat Moravia, but also against theBalaton principality andBulgaria.[46]
The Hungarians arrived in theCarpathian Basin, a geographically unified but politically divided land, after acquiring thorough local knowledge of the area from the 860s onwards.[47][48][49][50][51][52]
After the end of theAvar Kaganate (c. 822), theEastern Franks asserted their influence inTransdanubia, theBulgarians to a small extent in the SouthernTransylvania and the interior regions housed the surviving Avar population in their stateless state.[48][53] The downfall of the Avar Khaganate at the beginning of the 9th century did not mean the extinction of the Avar population, contemporary written sources report surviving Avar groups.[49] According to the archaeological evidence, the Avar population survived the time of theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.[48][51]
In 862, PrinceRastislav of Moravia rebelled against theFranks, and after hiring Hungarian troops, won his independence; this was the first time that Hungarians expeditionary troops entered the Carpathian Basin.[54][55] In 862, ArchbishopHincmar of Reims records the campaign of unknown enemies called "Ungri", giving the first mention of the Hungarians inWestern Europe. In 881, the Hungarian forces fought together with the Kabars in theVienna Basin.[54][56] According to historian György Szabados and archeologist Miklós Béla Szőke, a group of Hungarians were already living in the Carpathian Basin at that time, so they could quickly intervene in the events of theCarolingian Empire.[47][48][49][53][56] The number of recorded battles increased from the end of the 9th century.[53] In the late Avar period, a part of Hungarians was already present in the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century, this has been supported by genetic and archaeological research, because there are graves in which Avar descendants are buried in Hungarian clothes.[57][56] An important segment of this Avar era Hungarians is that theHungarian county system of KingSaint Stephen I may be largely based on the power centers formed during the Avar period.[57] According to some genetic studies, there is a genetic continuity from theBronze Age, a continuous migration of theSteppe peoples from east of the Carpathian Basin.[58]
The Hungarians took possession of theCarpathian Basin in a pre-planned manner, with a long move-in between 862 and 895.[47][48][61][50][51][53][56][52] This is confirmed by the archaeological findings, in the 10th-century Hungarian cemeteries, the graves of women, children and elderly people are located next to the warriors, they were buried according to the same traditions, wore the same style of ornaments, and belonged to the same anthropological group.The Hungarian military events of the following years prove that the Hungarian population that settled in the Carpathian Basin was not a weakened population without a significant military power.[51] Other theories assert that the move of the Hungarians was forced or at least hastened by the joint attacks ofPechenegs andBulgarians.[51][62] According to eleventh-century tradition, the road taken by the Hungarians under PrinceÁlmos took them first to Transylvania in 895. This is supported by an eleventh-century Russian tradition that the Hungarians moved to the Carpathian Basin by way ofKiev.[63] PrinceÁlmos, the sacred leader of the Hungarian Great Principality died before he could reachPannonia, he was sacrificed in Transylvania.[54][64]
In 895/896, under the leadership ofÁrpád, some Hungarians crossed theCarpathians and entered theCarpathian Basin. The tribe calledMegyer was the leading tribe of the Hungarian alliance that conquered the centre of the basin. At the same time (c. 895), due to their involvement in the 894–896Bulgaro-Byzantine war, Hungarians in Etelköz were attacked by Bulgaria and then by their old enemies the Pechenegs. TheBulgarians won the decisivebattle of Southern Buh. It is uncertain whether or not those conflicts contributed to the Hungarian departure from Etelköz.
From the upperTisza region of the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarians intensified their campaigns across continental Europe. In 900, they moved from the upper Tisza river toTransdanubia, which later became the core of the arising Hungarian state. By 902, the borders were pushed to theSouth-Moravian Carpathians and thePrincipality of Moravia collapsed.[65] At the time of the Hungarian migration, the land was inhabited only by a sparse population of Slavs, numbering about 200,000,[44] who were either assimilated or enslaved by the Hungarians.[44]
Archaeological findings (e.g. in thePolish city ofPrzemyśl) suggest that many Hungarians remained to the north of the Carpathians after 895/896.[66] There is also a consistent Hungarian population in Transylvania, theSzékelys, who comprise 40% of theHungarians in Romania.[67][68] The Székely people's origin, and in particular the time of their settlement in Transylvania, is a matter of historical controversy.
ThePope approved Hungarian settlement in the area when their leaders converted toChristianity, andStephen I (Szent István, or Saint Stephen) was crowned King of Hungary in 1001. The century between the arrival of the Hungarians from the eastern European plains and the consolidation of theKingdom of Hungary in 1001 was dominated by pillaging campaigns across Europe, from Dania (Denmark) to theIberian Peninsula (contemporarySpain andPortugal).[citation needed] After the acceptance of the nation into Christian Europe under Stephen I, Hungary served as a bulwark against further invasions from the east and south, especially by the Turks.
At this time, the Hungarian nation numbered around 400,000 people.[44]
Estimated ethnic maps of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1495 (before Ottoman rule) and in 1784 (decades after Ottoman rule) by theHungarian Academy of Sciences, based on research from Hungarian scholars. Hungarians are depicted in orange, the ethnic pattern of Hungary changed due to the centuries long wars and migration movements. The date 1495 is based on a nationwide registry conducted in the Kingdom of Hungary by commission of the royal treasury. The 1495 map shows the estimated absolute or relative linguistic majority of the local population based on the family names of taxpayers recorded in national or domanial registers, the linguistic analysis of the names of geographic objects and on various scholarly sources. The date 1784 is based a census ofJoseph II. The 1784 map show the estimate of linguistic majorities at settlement level on the basis of ecclesiastical registers, gazetteers and monographs, which also contained contemporary language and religious data.[71][72][73][74]
TheMagyarab people are a small Magyar (Hungarian) community living withinNubia, along theNile inSudan andEgypt.[75][76] They have distant Hungarian ancestors who intermarried with locals.[77] TheOttoman Empire had to recruit troops from conquered Christian people, most notably through thedevşirme system, a special "tribute in blood", by which theJanissary corps was primarily staffed. In this system, Christian youths were taken, or children where kidnapped during Ottoman raids, primarily from the Balkan provinces, then converted to Islam and drafted into Ottoman service. The Hungarian population experienced the recruitment of its people under the Ottoman regime. The Hungarians who were relocated from Hungary to the banks of the Nile were soldiers in theOttoman army, brought there by Sultan Selim to serve as border guards. These groups of Hungarians ended up in Egypt-Sudan after retiring from military service, concluding their army careers there.[78]
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman conquest turnedKingdom of Hungary into a battlefield. According to Hungarian historiography, the ethnic pattern of Hungary changed significantly due to the centuries long wars. During the Ottoman occupation, thePrincipality of Transylvania maintained the continuity of Hungarian statehood. The Habsburg–Wallachian military campaigns between 1599 and 1604, and Ottoman–Tatar military campaigns between 1657 and 1661 were destructive for the Hungarians living in the region and the Hungarian settlements connecting the Hungarian ethnic blocks of thePartium andSzékely Land suffered the most extensive destruction. Between theBattle of Mohács in 1526 and the suppression ofRákóczi's War of Independence in 1711, the Hungarian and Catholic dominated population structure of the Late Medieval Kingdom of Hungary was broken up, in Transylvania the Romanians became majority and the Hungarians became a minority population, and in the more sheltered mountainous regions, the Romanian population steadily grew, benefiting from additional immigration from Wallachia and Moldavia.[71][79][80][81]
The first accurate measurements of the population of the Kingdom of Hungary including ethnic composition were carried out in 1850–51. There is a debate among Hungarian and non-Hungarian (especiallySlovak andRomanian) historians about the possible changes in the ethnic structure of the region throughout history. According to Hungarian historians, the proportion of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin was at an almost constant 80% during theMiddle Ages.[82] The Hungarian population began to decrease only at the time of theOttoman conquest, reaching as low as around 39% by the end of the 18th century.[72][73]
The decline of the Hungarians was due to the constant wars, Ottoman raids, famines, and plagues during the 150 years of Ottoman rule. The main zones of war were the territories inhabited by the Hungarians, so the death toll depleted them at a much higher rate than among other nationalities.[72][73] In the 18th century, their proportion declined further because of the influx of new settlers from Europe, especially Slovaks,Serbs andGermans.[83] In 1715 (after the Ottoman occupation), theSouthern Great Plain was nearly uninhabited but now has 1.3 million inhabitants, nearly all of them Hungarians. As a consequence, having also the Habsburg colonization policies, the country underwent a great change in ethnic composition as its population more than tripled to 8 million between 1720 and 1787, while only 39% of its people were Hungarians, who lived primarily in the centre of the country.[84]
Traditional Hungarian costumes from Jassic- Cuman area, 1822Traditional clothing in Hungary, around late 18th century and early 19th century
In the 19th century, the proportion of Hungarians in the Kingdom of Hungary rose gradually, reaching over 50% by 1900 due to higher natural growth andMagyarization. Between 1787 and 1910 the number of ethnic Hungarians rose from 2.3 million to 10.2 million, accompanied by the resettlement of theGreat Hungarian Plain andDélvidék by mainlyRoman Catholic Hungarian settlers from the northern and western counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. Spontaneous assimilation was an important factor, especially among the German and Jewish minorities and the citizens of the bigger towns. On the other hand, about 1.5 million people (about two-thirds non-Hungarian) left theKingdom of Hungary between 1890–1910 to escape frompoverty.[85]
Magyars (Hungarians) in Hungary, 1890 censusTheTreaty of Trianon: Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its land and 3.3 million people of Hungarian ethnicity.
The years 1918 to 1920 were a turning point in the Hungarians' history. By theTreaty of Trianon, the Kingdom had been cut into several parts, leaving only a quarter of its original size. One-third of the Hungarians became minorities in the neighbouring countries.[86] During the remainder of the 20th century, the Hungarians population of Hungary grew from 7.1 million (1920) to around 10.4 million (1980), despite losses during theSecond World War and the wave of emigration after the attemptedrevolution in 1956.
The number of Hungarians in the neighbouring countries tended to remain the same or slightly decreased, mostly due to assimilation (sometimes forced; seeSlovakization andRomanianization)[87][88][89] and to emigration to Hungary (in the 1990s, especially fromTransylvania andVojvodina). After the"baby boom" of the 1950s (Ratkó era), a serious demographic crisis began to develop in Hungary and its neighbours.[90] The Hungarian population reached its maximum in 1980, then began to decline.[90]
For historical reasons (seeTreaty of Trianon), significant Hungarian minority populations can be found in the surrounding countries, most of them inRomania (inTransylvania),Slovakia, andSerbia (inVojvodina). Sizable minorities live also inUkraine (inTranscarpathia),Croatia (primarilySlavonia), andAustria (inBurgenland). Slovenia is also host to a number of ethnic Hungarians, and Hungarian language has an official status in parts of thePrekmurje region. Today more than two million ethnic Hungarians live in nearby countries.[91]
There wasa referendum in Hungary in December 2004 on whether to grant Hungariancitizenship to Hungarians living outside Hungary's borders (i.e. without requiring a permanent residence in Hungary). The referendum failed due to insufficientvoter turnout. On 26 May 2010, Hungary's Parliament passed a bill granting dual citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living outside of Hungary. Some neighboring countries with sizable Hungarian minorities expressed concerns over the legislation.[92]
The place of origin for the regional groups of Hungarians in the conquest period, according to Kinga Éry.Population structure of Uralic-speaking populations inferred from ADMIXTURE analysis on autosomal SNPs in Eurasian context. Ugric-ancestry is represented by theKhanty andMansi people.
Modern Hungarians stand out as linguistically isolated in Europe, despite their genetic similarity to the surrounding populations. The population of theCarpathian Basin has the common European gene-pool which formed in theBronze Age through the admixture of three sources:Western Hunter-Gatherers, who were the first Homo sapiens appearing inPaleolithic Europe,Neolithic farmers originating fromAnatolia, andYamnaya steppe migrants that arrived in thelate Neolithic to early Bronze Age. This common European gene pool in the Carpathian Basin, has been overlaid by migration waves originating from the east since theIron Age.[93] According to genetic studies, the Carpathian Basin was continuously inhabited from at least the Bronze Age.[94][93] There is a genetic continuity from theBronze Age, a continuous migration of theSteppe folks from east to the Carpathian Basin.[95][93] The foundational population of the Carpathian Basin carrying the common European gene pool remained in a significant majority throughout the migratory periods in the Carpathian Basin.[93] During the 9th century BC, smaller groups of pre-Scythians (Cimmerians) of the Mezőcsát culture appeared. The classicScythian culture spread across theGreat Hungarian Plain between the 7th–6th century BC, their genetic data represent the genetic profile of the local European population. TheSarmatians arrived in multiple waves from 50 BC, leaving a significant archaeological heritage behind, the examined Sarmatian individuals genetically also belong to the genetic legacy of the local European population. Various groups of Asian origin settled in the Carpathian Basin, such asHuns,Avars,Hungarian conquerors,Pechenegs,Jazyg people, andCumans. The military leadership of the European Huns descended from the Asian Huns (Xiongnus), while the majority of them consisted of subjugated Germanic and Sarmatian populations. The most significant influx of genes from Asia occurred during the Avar period, arriving in multiple waves. The ruling elite of the Avars originated from theRouran Khaganate in Mongolia, but a significant portion of the masses they brought in consisted of mixed-origin populations that had emerged in thePontic-Caspian steppe during the Hunnic era.[93] Foundation of theHungarian state is connected to theHungarian conquerors, who arrived from the Pontic steppes as a confederation ofseven tribes.[96][97] According to genetic study, the proto-Ugric groups were part of theScytho-Siberian societies in the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age steppe-forest zone in the northern Kazakhstan region, near of theMezhovskaya culture territory. The ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors lived in thesteppe zone during theBronze Age together with theMansis. During theIron Age, the Mansis migrated northward, while the ancestor of Hungarian conquerors remained at the steppe-forest zone and admixed with theSarmatians. Later the ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors admixed with theHuns, this admixture happened before the arrival of the Huns to the Volga region in 370. The Huns integrated local tribes east of the Urals, among them Sarmatians and the ancestors of the Hungarian conquerors.[98][93] The Hungarians arrived in the frame of a strong centralized steppe-empire under the leadership of Grand PrinceÁlmos and his sonÁrpád, they became founders of theÁrpád dynasty, the Hungarian ruling dynasty and the Hungarian state. TheÁrpád dynasty claimed to be a direct descendant of the great Hun leaderAttila.[99][96][97] The elite of the conquering Hungarians established the Hungarian state, genetic studies revealed, the conqueror elite in both sexes has approximately 30% Eastern Eurasian components, while the commoner population appears to have carried the overlaid local European gene pool from previous eastern immigrations.[93] In medievalHungary, a legend developed based on foreign and Hungarian medieval chronicles that the Hungarians, and theSzékely ethnic group in particular, are descended from the Huns. The basic premise of theHungarian medieval chronicle tradition was that the Huns, i.e. the Hungarians coming out twice fromScythia, the guiding principle was the Hun-Hungarian continuity.[100] The 20th century mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns.[101] However, the archaeogenetics studies revealed the Hun heritage of theHungarian conquerors, it was a significant Hun-Hungarian mixing around 300 AD, and the remaining Huns were integrated into the conquering Hungarians.[98][102][103][58] The genomic analyses of theHungarian royal Árpád family members are in line with the reported conquering Hungarian-Hun origin of the dynasty in harmony with their Y-chromosomal phylogenetic connections.[104] According to the growing archaeological evidence that theAvar population lived through the period of theHungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The Carpathian Basin was demonstrably not empty when the Hungarian conquerors led by Árpád arrived. The conquering Hungarians mixed to varying degrees on individual level with the Avar population living in the Carpathian Basin, but they had Avar genetic heritage as well.[94] According to Endre Neparáczki, it is no longer possible to narrow down the Hungarian population of the Carpathian Basin only of people of Árpád.[94] Following the devastations caused by theMongol andTurkish invasions, settlers from other parts of Europe played a significant role in establishing the modern genetic makeup of the Carpathian Basin.[93]
Archeological mtDNA haplogroups show a similarity between Hungarians and Turkic-speaking Tatars andBashkirs, while another study found a link between theMansi and Bashkirs, suggesting that the Bashkirs are a mixture of Turkic, Ugric and Indo-European contributions. The homeland of ancient Hungarians is around theUral Mountains, and the Hungarian affinities with theKarayakupovo culture is widely accepted among researchers.[114][115] A full genome study found that the Bashkirs display, next to their high European ancestry, also affinity to both Uralic-speaking populations of Northern Asia, as well as Inner Asian Turkic groups, "pointing to a mismatch of their cultural background and genetic ancestry and an intricacy of the historic interface between Turkic and Uralic populations".[116]
The homeland of the proto-Uralic peoples may have been close to Southern Siberia, among forest cultures in the Altai-Sayan region and may be linked to an ancestry maximized in the earlyTarim mummies. The arrival of the Indo-EuropeanAfanasievo culture and Northeast Asian tribes may have caused the dispersal and expansion of proto-Uralic languages along theSeima-Turbino cultural area.[117]
Neparáczki et al. argues, based on archeogenetic results, that the historical Hungarian Conquerors were mostly a mixture of Central Asian Steppe groups, Slavic, and Germanic tribes, and this composite people evolved between 400 and 1000 AD.[118][119] According to Neparáczki: "From all recent and archaic populations tested theVolga Tatars show the smallest genetic distance to the entire Conqueror population" and "a direct genetic relation of the Conquerors toOnogur-Bulgar ancestors of these groups is very feasible."[120] Genetic data found high affinity between Magyar conquerors, the historicalBulgars, and modern day Turkic-speaking peoples in the Volga region, suggesting a possible language shifted from an Uralic (Ugric) to Turkic languages.[121]
Hunnish origin or influences on Hungarians andSzékelys have always been a matter of debate among scholars. InHungary, a legend developed based on medieval chronicles that the Hungarians, and theSzékely ethnic group in particular, are descended from the Huns. However, mainstream scholarship dismisses a close connection between the Hungarians and Huns.[122][123][124] A genetic study published inScientific Reports in November 2019 led by Neparáczki Endre had examined the remains of three males from three separate 5th century Hunnic cemeteries in thePannonian Basin. They were found to be carrying the paternal haplogroupsQ1a2,R1b1a1b1a1a1 andR1a1a1b2a2. In modern Europe,Q1a2 is rare and has its highest frequency among theSzékelys. It is believed that conquering Magyars may have absorbed Avar, Hunnish and Xiongnu influences.[125]
Hungarian males possess a high frequency of haplogroup R1a-Z280 and a low frequency of haplogroup N-Tat, which is uncommon among most Uralic-speaking populations. Historical Magyar conquerors had around ~37.5%Haplogroup N-M231, as well as lower frequency ofHaplogroup C-M217 at 6.25% with the remainder beingHaplogroup R1a andHaplogroup Q-M242.[113] An analysis of Bashkir samples from theBurzyansky andAbzelilovsky districts of the Republic ofBashkortostan in theVolga-Ural region, revealed them to belong to the R1a subcladeR1a-SUR51, which is shared in significant amounts with the historical Magyars and the royal Hungarian lineage, and representing the closest kin to the HungarianÁrpád dynasty, whose ancestry is traced to 4500 years ago, in modern day NorthernAfghanistan.[126][127] In turn, R1a-SUR51's ancestral subclades R1a-Y2632 are found among theSaka population of theTien Shan, date: 427-422 BC.[128] In the case of the Southern Mansi males, the most frequent haplogroups were N1b-P43 (33%), N1c-L1034 (28%) and R1a-Z280 (19%). The Konda Mansi population shared common haplotypes within haplogroups R1a-Z280 or N-M46 with Hungarian speakers, which may suggest that the Hungarians were in contact with the Mansi people during their migration to the Carpathian Basin.[129]
According to a study by Pamjav, the Hungarian area ofBodrogköz which is suggested to be a population isolate, found R1a-M458 (20.4%), I2a1-P37 (19%), R1a-Z280 (14.3%), and E1b-M78 (10.2%). Various R1b-M343 subgroups accounted for 15% of the Bodrogköz population. Haplogroup N1c-Tat covered 6.2% of the lineages, but most of it belonged to the N1c-VL29 subgroup, which is more frequent amongBalto-Slavic speaking than Finno-Ugric speaking peoples. Other haplogroups had frequencies of less than 5%.[130] Among 100 Hungarian men, 90 of whom from theGreat Hungarian Plain, (includingCuman descendants fromKunság region) the following haplogroups and frequencies are obtained: 30% R1a, 15% R1b, 13% I2a1, 13% J2, 9% E1b1b1a, 8% I1, 3% G2, 3% J1, 3% I*, 1% E*, 1% F*, 1% K*. The 97Székelys belong to the following haplogroups: 20% R1b, 19% R1a, 17% I1, 11% J2, 10% J1, 8% E1b1b1a, 5% I2a1, 5% G2, 3% P*, 1% E*, 1% N.[131] It can be inferred that Szekelys have more significant German admixture. A study sampling 45Palóc from Budapest and northern Hungary, found 60% R1a, 13% R1b, 11% I, 9% E, 2% G, 2% J2.[132] A study estimating possible Inner Asian admixture among nearly 500 Hungarians based on paternal lineages only, estimated it at 5.1% in Hungary, at 7.4 inSzékelys and at 6.3% atCsángós.[133]
Modern Hungarians show relative close affinity to surrounding populations, but harbour a small "Siberian" component associated with Khanty/Mansi, as well as the Nganasan people, and argued to have arrived with the historical Magyars. Modern Hungarians formed from several historical population groupings, including the historical Magyars, assimilated Slavic and Germanic groups, as well as Central Asian Steppe tribes (presumably Turkic and Iranian tribes).[113][134][116][135][93][107]
The historical Magyar genome corresponds largely with the modernVolga Tatars andBashkirs, and can be modeled as ~50% Khanty/Mansi-like, ~35%Sarmatian-like, and ~15%Hun/Xiongnu-like. The admixture event is suggested to have taken place in the Southern Ural region at 643–431 BCE. Modern Hungarians were found to be admixed descendants of the historical Magyar conquerors with local Europeans, as 31 Hungarian samples could be modelled as two-way admixtures of "Conq_Asia_Core" and "EU_Core" in varying degrees.[113][134]
Ottomans, who occupied the central part of Hungary fromc. 1526 untilc. 1699, inevitably exerted an influence, as did the various nations (Germans/Banat Swabians, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and others) that resettled the depopulated central and southern territories of the kingdom (roughly present-day South Hungary,Vojvodina in Serbia andBanat in Romania) after their departure. Similar to other European countries,Armenian, andRoma ethnic minorities have been living in Hungary since the Middle Ages. Jews have been living in Hungary since the Roman era, as the archeological evidence of Jewish gravestones dating from this period demonstrates.
Kniezsa's (1938) view on the ethnic map of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century, based ontoponyms. Kniezsa's view has been criticized by many scholars, because of its non-compliance with later archaeological and onomastics research, but his map is still regularly cited in modern reliable sources. One of the most prominent critics of this map wasEmil Petrovici.[136]
Ethnic map of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1495 by theHungarian Academy of Sciences (Hungarians are depicted in orange)
The "Red Map",[137] based on the 1910 census. Regions with population density below 20 persons/km2 (52 persons/sq mi)[138] are left blank and the corresponding population is represented in the nearest region with population density above that limit. Red colour to mark Hungarians and light purple colour to mark Romanians.
Map of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1910, based on the Hungarian census of the same year. Hungarians are marked in dark green.
Ethnic map depicting the contemporary ethnic distribution of Hungarians across thePannonian Basin (also known and referred to as theCarpathian Basin). Legend:
Hungary proper where Hungarians are the ethnic majority people
Regions outside Hungary where there are notable ethnic Hungarian minorities
^Széchely, István (3 January 2023)."Mintha városok ürültek volna ki" [As if cities had been emptied].Székelyhon (in Hungarian). Retrieved24 January 2023.
^Discrimination in the EU in 2012(PDF).Special Eurobarometer (Report). 383.European Commission. November 2012. p. 233. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2 December 2012. Retrieved14 August 2013. The question asked was "Do you consider yourself to be...?" With a card showing: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, and Non-believer/Agnostic. Space was given for Other (SPONTANEOUS) and DK. Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu did not reach the 1% threshold.
^"Magyar".Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online. Retrieved5 October 2022.
^OED, s. v. "Ugrian": "Ugri, the name given by early Russian writers to a Finno-Ugric people dwelling east of the Ural Mountains".
^Köpeczi, Béla; Makkai, László; Mócsy, András; Kiralý, Béla K.; Kovrig, Bennett; Szász, Zoltán; Barta, Gábor (2001).Transylvania in the medieval Hungarian kingdom (896–1526) (Volume 1 of History of Transylvania ed.). New York: Social Science Monographs, University of Michigan, Columbia University Press, East European Monographs. pp. 415–416.ISBN0-88033-479-7.
^A MAGYAROK TÜRK MEGNEVEZÉSE BÍBORBANSZÜLETETT KONSTANTINOS DE ADMINISTRANDOIMPERIO CÍMÛ MUNKÁJÁBAN – Takács Zoltán Bálint, SAVARIAA VAS MEGYEI MÚZEUMOK ÉRTESÍTÕJE28 SZOMBATHELY, 2004, pp. 317–333[1]
^Róna-Tas, András (1999).Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages. p. 273.
^Nora Berend;Przemysław Urbańczyk; Przemysław Wiszewski (2013). "Hungarian 'pre-history' or 'ethnogenesis'?".Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300. Cambridge University Press. p. 62.
^Róna-Tas, András (1999).Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages. p. 96.
^abSudár, Balázs; Petek, Zsolt (2016).Magyar őstörténet 4 – Honfoglalás és megtelepedés [Hungarian Prehistory 4 - Conquest and Settlement](PDF). Helikon Kiadó, MTA BTK Magyar Őstörténeti Témacsoport (Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Hungarian Prehistory Research Team).ISBN978-963-227-755-4.
^abcdSzabados, György (May 2022)."Álmostól Szent Istvánig" [From Álmos to Saint Stephen].Rubicon (Hungarian Historical Information Dissemination) (in Hungarian).
^abcBóna, István (2001)."Conquest, Settlement, and Raids".History of Transylvania Volume I. From the Beginnings to 1606 - II. From Dacia to Erdőelve: Transylvania in the Period of the Great Migrations (271-896) - 7. Transylvania in the Period of the Hungarian Conquest and Foundation of a State. New York: Columbia University Press, (The Hungarian original by Institute of History Of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences).ISBN0-88033-479-7.
^Kosáry Domokos,Bevezetés a magyar történelem forrásaiba és irodalmába 1, p. 29
^Tóth, Sándor László (1998).Levédiától a Kárpát-medencéig [From Levedia to the Carpathian Basin] (in Hungarian). Szegedi Középkorász Műhely.ISBN963-482-175-8.
^Pálffy, Géza (2001)."The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary"(PDF).Hungarian Studies Review (in Hungarian).28 (1–2). Hungarian Studies Association of Canada, National Széchényi Library:109–132.
^Kovrig, Bennett (2000),Partitioned nation: Hungarian minorities in Central Europe, in: Michael Mandelbaum (ed.),The new European Diasporas: National Minorities and Conflict in Eastern Europe,New York City:Council on Foreign Relations Press, pp. 19–80.
^Raffay Ernő:A vajdaságoktól a birodalomig. Az újkori Románia története (From voivodeships to the empire. The modern history of Romania). Publishing houseJATE Kiadó, Szeged, 1989, pp. 155–156)
^Keyser, Christine; Zvénigorosky, Vincent; Gonzalez, Angéla; Fausser, Jean-Luc; Jagorel, Florence; Gérard, Patrice; Tsagaan, Turbat; Duchesne, Sylvie; Crubézy, Eric; Ludes, Bertrand (30 July 2020)."Genetic evidence suggests a sense of family, parity and conquest in the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia".Human Genetics.140 (2):349–359.doi:10.1007/s00439-020-02209-4.PMID32734383.S2CID253981964.East Eurasian R1a subclades R1a1a1b2a-Z94 and R1a1a1b2a2-Z2124 were a common element of the Hun, Avar and Hungarian Conqueror elite and very likely belonged to the branch that was observed in our Xiongnu samples. Moreover, haplogroups Q1a and N1a were also major components of these nomadic groups, reinforcing the view that Huns (and thus Avars and Hungarian invaders) might derive from the Xiongnu as was proposed until the eighteenth century but strongly disputed since.
^Varga, Gergely I B; Kristóf, Lilla Alida; Maár, Kitti; Kis, Luca; Schütz, Oszkár; Váradi, Orsolya; Kovács, Bence; Gînguță, Alexandra; Tihanyi, Balázs; Nagy, Péter L; Maróti, Zoltán; Nyerki, Emil; Török, Tibor; Neparáczki, Endre (January 2023). "The archaeogenomic validation of Saint Ladislaus' relic provides insights into the Árpád dynasty's genealogy".Journal of Genetics and Genomics = Yi Chuan Xue Bao.50 (1):58–61.doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2022.06.008.PMID35809778.
^Engel, Pál (2001). Ayton, Andrew (ed.).The realm of St. Stephen: a history of medieval Hungary, 895 - 1526. International library of historical studies. London: Tauris.ISBN978-1-86064-061-2.
^"J . SZŰCS: THEORETICAL ELEMENTS IN MASTER SIMON OF KÉZA'S GESTA HUNGARORUM (1282-1285)".Gesta Hungarorum. Central European University Press. pp. xxix–cii. 1 January 1999.doi:10.1515/9789633865699-005.ISBN978-963-386-569-9.
^Keyser et al. 2020, pp. 1, 8–9. "[O]ur findings confirmed that the Xiongnu had a strongly admixed mitochondrial and Y-chromosome gene pools and revealed a significant western component in the Xiongnu group studied.... [W]e propose Scytho-Siberians as ancestors of the Xiongnu and Huns as their descendants... [E]ast Eurasian R1a subclades R1a1a1b2a-Z94 and R1a1a1b2a2-Z2124 were a common element of the Hun, Avar and Hungarian Conqueror elite and very likely belonged to the branch that was observed in our Xiongnu samples. Moreover, haplogroups Q1a and N1a were also major components of these nomadic groups, reinforcing the view that Huns (and thus Avars and Hungarian invaders) might derive from the Xiongnu as was proposed until the eighteenth century but strongly disputed since... Some Xiongnu paternal and maternal haplotypes could be found in the gene pool of the Huns, the Avars, as well as Mongolian and Hungarian conquerors."
^Nagy, P.L.; Olasz, J.; Neparáczki, E.; et al. (2020). "Determination of the phylogenetic origins of the Árpád Dynasty based on Y chromosome sequencing of Béla the Third".European Journal of Human Genetics.29 (1):164–172.doi:10.1038/s41431-020-0683-z.PMC7809292.PMID32636469.
^Pamjav, Horolma; Fóthi, Á.; Fehér, T.; Fóthi, Erzsébet (1 August 2017). "A study of the Bodrogköz population in north-eastern Hungary by Y chromosomal haplotypes and haplogroups".Molecular Genetics and Genomics.292 (4):883–894.doi:10.1007/s00438-017-1319-z.PMID28409264.S2CID10107799.
^Csányi, B.; Bogácsi-Szabó, E.; Tömöry, Gy.; Czibula, Á.; Priskin, K.; Csõsz, A.; Mende, B.; Langó, P.; Csete, K.; Zsolnai, A.; Conant, E. K.; Downes, C. S.; Raskó, I. (July 2008). "Y-Chromosome Analysis of Ancient Hungarian and Two Modern Hungarian-Speaking Populations from the Carpathian Basin".Annals of Human Genetics.72 (4):519–534.doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2008.00440.x.PMID18373723.S2CID13217908.
^Bíró, András; Fehér, Tibor; Bárány, Gusztáv; Pamjav, Horolma (March 2015). "Testing Central and Inner Asian admixture among contemporary Hungarians".Forensic Science International: Genetics.15:121–126.doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2014.11.007.PMID25468443.
^abMaróti, Zoltán; Neparáczki, Endre; Schütz, Oszkár; Maár, Kitti; Varga, Gergely I. B.; Kovács, Bence; Kalmár, Tibor; Nyerki, Emil; Nagy, István; Latinovics, Dóra; Tihanyi, Balázs (20 January 2022). "Whole genome analysis sheds light on the genetic origin of Huns, Avars and conquering Hungarians".bioRxiv10.1101/2022.01.19.476915.
Korai Magyar Történeti Lexicon (9–14. század) (Encyclopedia of the Early Hungarian History (9th–14th Centuries)) Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó; 753.ISBN963-05-6722-9.
Szűcs, Jenő (1999). "Theoretical Elements in Master Simon of Kéza'sGesta Hungarorum (1282–1285)". In László Veszprémy; Frank Schaer (eds.).Simon of Kéza: Deeds of the Hungarians. Central European University Press. pp. xxix–cii.
Guglielmino, CR; De Silvestri, A; Beres, J (March 2000). "Probable ancestors of Hungarian ethnic groups: an admixture analysis".Annals of Human Genetics.64 (Pt 2):145–59.doi:10.1017/S0003480000008010.PMID11246468.
.jpg)
.png)
![Kniezsa's (1938) view on the ethnic map of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century, based on toponyms. Kniezsa's view has been criticized by many scholars, because of its non-compliance with later archaeological and onomastics research, but his map is still regularly cited in modern reliable sources. One of the most prominent critics of this map was Emil Petrovici.[136]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEthnic_map_of_11th_century.jpg)
![The "Red Map",[137] based on the 1910 census. Regions with population density below 20 persons/km2 (52 persons/sq mi)[138] are left blank and the corresponding population is represented in the nearest region with population density above that limit. Red colour to mark Hungarians and light purple colour to mark Romanians.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRedmap.jpg)
.JPG)
