Are Hungarians descendants of the Huns?

In China, there is an old saying that Hungarians are descendants of the Xiongnu. Zhang Taiyan's "A Study of the Beginning of the Xiongnu's Migration to Europe" and Liang Qichao's "The Method of Chinese Historical Research" both mentioned this. Today, many history researchers and enthusiasts have not completely abandoned this view and are still trying their best to find evidence that Hungarians are descendants of the Xiongnu.

The Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu in East Asia

The Roman Empire and the Hungarian Empire

Are they both surnamed Xiong? Is that the same thing? ▼

The fact that a Central European country is connected by blood with a nation in the Far East has aroused people's endless imagination. Although this statement has not been recognized by the academic community, it has a huge number of supporters among the people.

Budapest on the Danube

Their ancestors were actually the brave and warlike Huns on the grassland?

(Photo: shutterstock)▼

And not only in China, but also in Hungary and some West Asian countries, some people are keen to associate the Huns with ethnic groups such as Hungary. Is there any basis for this statement? How likely is it to be true?

The Faraway Northern Huns

Hungary and the Huns, including the nomadic Huns who once roamed across Europe and Asia, all have the same character "Hun". The pronunciations of the three are also similar, with the first syllable of Hungary and the Huns roughly pronounced as "hun", while the first syllable of the Huns is roughly pronounced as "xun".

To this day, the sound "hun" still means "people" in many ethnic groups in Central Asia and northern my country. This seems to add some credibility to the hypothesis that Hungarians and Xiongnu people are of the same origin.

The first person to link the Huns with the Xiongnu was Dejin.

That is, because the hieroglyphs of the two countries are similar

Sinologists who say that China originated from Egyptian colonization

(Photo: Shutterstock)▼

The Chinese are very familiar with the Xiongnu, a group that has lived in northern my country for thousands of years. It can be traced back to the legendary period when the Yellow Emperor chased the Xiongnu northward and expanded the living space for the Huaxia people. This Xiongnu was the name given to the Xiongnu by the people of the Central Plains in ancient times.

According to Wang Guowei, Guifang, Xunzhou, Hunzhou, Xianyun

They are all Xiongnu (this is still controversial in the academic community)

The current Tongwan City is the remains of the Xiongnu in China.

One concept that needs to be clarified is that the Xiongnu was never a nation. Rather, it was an ethnic alliance composed of different races and multiple ethnic groups speaking different languages. Modern archaeological research has shown that the Xiongnu had Mongoloids, Caucasoids, and a mixture of the two, the Turanoids. In terms of language, there were various branches of the Altaic language family, and some tribes even spoke Iranian languages.

Through constant annexation wars and tribal exchanges

The Xiongnu eventually became a "great nation of barbarians"

The cultural relics unearthed by archaeologists are also witnesses of the exchanges and interactions between different civilizations.

In terms of bloodline, the people with the most Xiongnu bloodline in the world are the northern Han people and the modern Mongolians. However, the Xiongnu bloodline of these two groups is also very rare, and basically comes from the Xiongnu ethnic group, that is, the Southern Xiongnu who later surrendered to the Eastern Han Dynasty. The whereabouts of the Northern Xiongnu remains a mystery.

The long-term war that the Han Dynasty fought with all its national strength still failed to eliminate the grassland regime

But the continued pressure also led to internal divisions among the Xiongnu (one of the reasons)

This is indeed a better result.

In 46 AD, the Xiongnu split into north and south for the last time. After that, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, and his successors seized this opportunity to win over and appease the Southern Xiongnu in the south of the desert, and to strike hard at the Northern Xiongnu. Under the joint attack of the Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu, and the Xianbei, the Northern Xiongnu gradually declined, and every war caused their population to drop significantly.

The Southern Xiongnu is the other side of the famous Zhaojun's journey to the frontier

It was also the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Liu Yuan who established the Former Zhao Dynasty, ushering in the era of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms.

The last time the Northern Xiongnu was mentioned in historical documents was in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of the Southern Xiongnu. "In the third year (91 AD), the Northern Chanyu was defeated by Geng Kui, the Right Guard, and fled to an unknown location." After the Battle of Jinwei Mountain, there was no more definite written record of the Northern Xiongnu.

As for where they went, there are some fragments in the Book of the Later Han. When commenting on the Han Dynasty's northern policy, Fan Ye said, "They fled to the land of Wusun." Wusun was the largest country in the Western Regions at the time, located in Central Asia east of Lake Balkhash.

Dou Xian fought this battle to redeem himself

As a result, they fought over 5,000 miles beyond the border. After that, the northern desert was deserted.

In commemoration, he also engraved the "Inscription on Mount Yanran"

In the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, there is a vague record about the remnants of the Northern Xiongnu. In the second year of the Yanguang reign of the Han Dynasty (123 AD), "the King of the Northern Huns, Hu Yan, often moved between Pulei and Qinhai, and ruled the Western Regions." That is to say, some Northern Xiongnu were still active between "Pulei" and "Qinhai" at that time.

Pulei was a small country in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty, and it can be determined that it was roughly located near Barkol in Xinjiang today. As for Qinhai, there is some controversy. Some people, such as Zhang Taiyan, believe that Qinhai refers to the "Great Qin Kingdom", that is, ancient Rome.

If the range is between Pu Lei and Ancient Rome

That is too vague a range, almost equivalent to no location▼

However, this inference is not realistic. The land closest to the east of ancient Rome was in Asia Minor. Not to mention the Kangju, Yancai and the countries on the southern Russian steppes in between. It would take at least half a year to travel from the Anatolian Peninsula to Balikun in Xinjiang by horse. So Qinhai is more likely to refer to Lake Bosten in Xinjiang, which is a more reasonable range.

This range is quite reasonable.

Barkol Grassland is also a place with abundant water and grass.

However, the seasons vary greatly, and it is one of the migratory pastures for nomadic peoples.

After the 2nd century, there is no record of the Northern Huns in historical documents. Perhaps they merged with other ethnic groups, or perhaps, as many people speculate, they continued to develop westward and created a new history.

The Huns suddenly appeared

In the 4th century AD, in the chaotic area of ​​the Central Asian steppes, a place unknown to both Eastern and Western civilizations, a powerful nomadic regime suddenly emerged. They called themselves "Huns."

From a Western perspective, the Hun "empire" has a strong presence

Moreover, this impact indirectly led to the fall of Rome, which is of great significance

The next time I feel this way will be when the Mongol Empire comes to Eastern Europe▼

In 372 AD, the Huns marched from the west of the Caspian Sea, bringing with them the Avars and other peoples from Central Asia, North Asia, and Eastern Europe, and defeated the nomadic Alans who were entrenched in the southern Russian steppes. Thus began their journey westwards like a whirlwind. In three years, they defeated the Sarmatians and Goths and invaded the heartland of Western civilization - the Roman Empire.

The Whip of God did not come suddenly (slide the picture below)▼

Under pressure from the Huns, the Visigoths sought refuge in the Roman Empire in 376. In the following decades, they caused chaos in the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, and both Constantinople and Rome were looted.

Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, described the situation by saying: "The Huns attacked the Alans, the Alans attacked the Goths, the Goths attacked the Taifali and Sarmatians, and the exile of the Goths also forced us who lived in the Balkans to leave our homeland."

About 80,000 Gothic refugees arrived at the Danube River, seeking asylum from the Eastern Roman Empire.

However, they then started a war with the Eastern Roman Empire.

This sentence shows that the westward advance of the Huns caused a series of chain reactions. Many Eastern nomadic peoples migrated westward together, causing great pressure on the Eastern and Western Roman Empires that had just been divided.

However, the nightmare had just begun.

Since 395, the Huns have focused their attention on the Eastern Roman Empire.

Rome, Danger

By 430 AD, the Huns had established a vast but short-lived empire in Europe. Later, under the leadership of Attila the Hun, the Hun Empire reached an unparalleled climax. Between the Volga River and the Carpathian Mountains, there was no more powerful king than Attila, and even the Eastern and Western Roman Empires were defeated by him.

Attila's multi-ethnic troops even invaded the core area of ​​the Roman Empire, the Apennine Peninsula, putting the entire Western Roman Empire under his terror.

Attila became the most formidable enemy of the Roman Empire

"He was born into this world to shake the nations"

At that time, Christianity was on the rise, and the threat of the Huns coincided with the Christian prophecy about the end of the world. The "punishment of God" in the Bible just catered to the panic of the European people at that time. People began to call Attila, the emperor from the East, "the scourge of God." They believed that Attila, the Hun king, was sent by God to punish them.

According to legend, Attila stopped his aggression because the Pope met with him and threatened him.

The Hun Empire was short-lived. After Attila's death in 453 AD, they were no longer a major threat to Rome. The Hun Empire was divided, and many ethnic groups that had originally submitted to the Hun Empire broke away from the main force. The Hun's system and regime disappeared in a short period of time.

However, the concept of Huns was preserved for a long time. More than 300 years after Attila's death, there were people who claimed to be his descendants. At the same time, the bloodline of the Huns was also largely preserved inside and outside the Carpathian Mountains.

This area is probably the historical area of ​​Hungary

It is the farthest point of the Eurasian steppe environment in Europe.

At the same time, this is also the key point for the conquerors to enter Europe▼

Hungary: I come from the East

Judging from the ancient Roman description of the Huns' appearance, the Hun nobles had obvious North Asian ethnic characteristics. The Roman writer Priscus described Attila as follows: "Short stature, broad chest, large head; small eyes, thin beard, full of gray; flat nose, tanned skin, showing evidence of his origin."

Sounds like Sakha people.

(Photo: wiki)▼

However, most of the Hun soldiers who fought against Europeans were white. Archaeologists have confirmed that the "Mongoloid" characteristics were mainly found among the members of the Hun nobles, while the middle and lower classes of the Huns were still mainly white.

It is now generally accepted that the Huns gradually became more "Caucasian" during their time in Europe, with historian Hyun Jin Kim noting that "the vast majority" of Attila's retinue and army appear to have been of European origin before the Battle of Chalons (451), while Attila himself appears to have had East Asian features.

The Battle of Chalons broke Attila's aura of invincibility

But the victorious Theodoric I

In this battle, he was killed by a Hun javelin.

That is to say, even if there was any connection between the Huns and the Xiongnu, the oriental genes in their culture and bloodline were completely washed away during the Huns' westward migration. Moreover, there is no evidence to show that there was any connection between the Huns and the Xiongnu.

The relationship between the Huns and Hungary is worth discussing. As early as the Middle Ages, Hungarian scholars claimed that Hungarians and Huns were related by blood. In the early Hungarian document Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum (1282–1285), the author claimed that the Huns and Hungarians were brother nations.

There are also Hungarians who believe that their ancestors are the Yugur people of Gansu.

The ancestors of the Yugur people were part of the Xiongnu tribal union.

However, this view has been denied by modern historians and archaeological researchers. From the shape of unearthed artifacts, the Huns have obvious characteristics of Eurasian steppe nomads, while Hungary is a Central European culture with only some characteristics of nomadic culture.

Compared to their neighbors, Hungary is indeed a country with a more oriental flavor. Their surnames are placed first and their given names are placed last. They wear traditional clothes suitable for riding and shooting, and their diet is also very similar to that of nomadic peoples. This seems to confirm the oriental ancestry of Hungarians.

The Magyar Knights were also quite good at fighting.

They conquered the Carpathian Basin and harassed Byzantium for a century

The language used by Hungarians is a member of the Ugric language family. This language originated in the Ural Mountains of Russia and is similar to Finnish. According to some modern scholars, the language used by the Huns may be a language between Turkic and Mongolian. Therefore, the ethnic relationship between the two may be very far apart.

In fact, the Hungarian people are the result of absorbing many nomadic peoples in history.

It cannot be said that "surname Xiong" means the descendants of Xiongnu

(The Seven Chiefs of Hungary's Heroes' Square, photo: shutterstock)▼

Based on the existing evidence, the most likely inference is that during the migration of the Huns from Central Asia to the west, they brought the Magyars from Eastern Europe, the ancestors of the Hungarians, to the area east of the Carpathian Mountains. After the collapse of the Hunnic Empire, the Magyars established their own regime in the area, forming today's Hungary.

In 1000, Saint Stephen was crowned the first King of Hungary

(Photo: shutterstock)▼

In short, according to existing archaeological discoveries, the Huns cannot be equated with the Xiongnu. Hungary can only be said to be related to the historical Huns, but it cannot be directly said that Hungarians are descendants of the Huns.

References:

1.https://infogalactic.com/info/Hungarian_prehistory

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huns#Relation_to_the_Xiongnu_and_other_peoples_called_Huns

3. Attila the Hun, Klaus Rosen

4.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_used_for_Germans#Hun_(pejorative)

5. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biographies of the Southern Xiongnu"

6. Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of the Western Regions

*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau

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NO.2013-Hungary and the Huns

Author: Narisu

Proofreading: Gu Hanying / Editor: Zhang Zhangzhang

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Source: Earth Knowledge Bureau