Hungarians in the Volga region Considering that the Volga-Kama region has been the meeting place of so many diverse peoples throughout its long history, from animist Finno-Ugrians, nomadic Iranian Scythian tribes, Nordic Varangians, Turkic Bolgars, Nogays, Gregorian Armenians, Arabic Sufi missionaries, Persians, Jewish Khazars, Kipchaks, Mongols and Slavs, is it any wonder that the Middle Volga region displays such an rich abundance of culture? Yet another ethnic group that once called the Volga-Kama region home was the Hungarians. The Hungarians originated to the east of the Ural Mountains where their closest linguistic relatives are the Ob-Ugrians (Hanti and Mansi). Although much remains mysterious about their migrations, around the 4th and 5th centuries, Hungarians crossed the Ural Mountains and ended up in the region of modern day Bashkortostan. While one group of Hungarians continued to the south-west, adopting a nomadic way of life, and eventually (conventionally dated at 896) ending up in the Carpathian Basin, many Hungarians remained in the Volga-Kama region. Numerous Hungarian gravesites have since been discovered throughout Bashkortostan. Hungarians in Europe preserved the memory of where they had come from and in 1235, a Hungarian friar, Friar Julian, set out on an expedition to the east with a group of Dominican missionaries to find the Hungarians who had been left behind. Upon arriving in the capital of Volga Bulgaria, he was told that Hungarians could be found two days to the east. Indeed, in Bashkiria Friar Julian found a community of Hungarians who, despite being separated for 300-400 years, still spoke Hungarian and with whom he could communicate. Friar Julian called the region Magna Magyar (Great Hungary). The Mongol invasion of the Volga-Ural region, which happened only shortly afterwards, had tragic consequences for this community of eastern Hungarians. Those who survived were assimilated by people who would become the Bashkirs. What legacy did Hungarians leave on Middle Volga history? There are many toponyms in Bashkortostan that are probably of Hungarian origin (Magas, Mart, Ar, Bisz, Izes). Linguistic evidence shows that Hungarians had contacts with the Volga Bulgarians, who were arriving in the Volga-Ural region from the south around 670 AD. The Hungarian language has about two hundred words that are of Bulgar-Turkic origin. Hungarians also had extensive trade contacts with Udmurts. The Hungarian words for silver and bread (ezüst and kenyér, respectively) come from Udmurt. Furthermore, traditional Hungarian music, which uses the pentatonic scale, is said to most closely resemble Mari music.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 04:58:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015