Magyars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Magyars are the majority inhabitants of Hungary, while other groups of inhabitants lived or still live in Hungary as well. In English they are usually called Hungarians, except in some historical texts. Since 1918-1920, Magyars have become minority inhabitants of Romania (2 million), Slovakia (520.500), the Czech Republic (14.600), Yugoslavia (400.000) now Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Ukraine (170.000).

The Magyar leader Árpád is believed to have led the Hungarians into the Carpathian Basin in 896; Hungarian settlement in the area became blessed by the Pope by the crowning of Stephen I the Saint (Szent István) in 1001 when the leaders accepted Christianity. The centuries between the Magyars arriving from the eastern European plains and the consolidation of the Hungarian Kingdom in 1001 were dominated by pillaging campaigns across Europe, from Dania (Denmark) to the Hispanic peninsula (Spain).

Origin of the word "Hungary"

One opinion is that Hungary (similar words are used in most western European languages) received its name from the similar semi-nomadic tribe: the Huns, who lived some 400 years earlier in the same territory, but had similarities in they way of life and warfare. In ancient times and in the middle ages such false identifications (Huns=Hungarians) often occurred in history and literature.

Others believe that the name derives from the Bulgarian: Ungur, Onogur (Slavic: Vengry; German: Ungarn), meaning "ten tribes".

A very unprobable explanation is that the term came from the occupation of the fortress of Hung (in modern-day northern Hungary), the Hungarian word for "castle" being "vár" and the locative "of" being expressed using the suffix "i," making "Hungvári" "those of the Hung castle."

Magyar is today simply the Hungarian word for Hungarian. In English and many other languages, however, Magyar is used instead of Hungarian in certain (mainly historical) contexts, usually to distinguish ethnic Hungarians (i.e. the Magyars) from the other nationalities living in the Hungarian kingdom.

Still, Hun names like Attila, Ildiko are popular among Hungarians, and forms derived from Hungaria are used like in the racetrack Hungaroring (mostly due to the strong English language pressure in tourism and international matters).

An equivalent use in English would be using Britannia, Hibernia and Erin besides the Anglo-Saxon words.

Origin of Magyar people

By one of Hungarian legends, the Hungarians were descendants of Magor, the son of Nimrod of the Hebrew Bible. Together with his brother Hun, patriarch of the Hun race, they set out on a hunting trip chasing an elusive white stag for many weeks. They eventually found themselves far from home, and decided to settle down where they were, the Crimean peninsula. There, they blended with the Turkic and proto-Mongolian races. In around 400 AD, the Hun tribes decided to leave the sheltered peninsula for more conquest and land, eventually finding themselves in the Hungarian plain. 400 years later, the Hungarians followed their Hun brethren whom they found living peaceably in modern-day Transylvania. After a short war of conquest, the Hungarians, led by Árpád, settled in the Hungarian plain, from where they lashed out at their neighbors until 1000 AD when St. Stephen, king of Hungary, applied to the Vatican for official nationhood and protection.

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyars.
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