Magyar tribes


The Magyar tribes or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians lived, until these clans from the region of Ural Mountains invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.

Etymology

The ethnonym of the Hungarian tribal alliance is uncertain. According to one view, following Anonymus's description, the federation was called "Hetumoger" , though the word "Magyar" possibly comes from the name of the most prominent Hungarian tribe, called Megyer. The tribal name "Megyer" became "Magyar" referring to the Hungarian people as a whole. Written sources called Magyars "Hungarians" before the conquest of the Carpathian Basin when they still lived on the Steppes of Eastern Europe. The English term "Hungarian" is a derivative of the Latin "Ungri" or "Ungari" forms.

History

According to András Róna-Tas the locality in which the Hungarians, the Manicha-Er group, emerged was between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, the Magyars embarked upon their independent existence and the early period of the proto-Hungarian language began.
Around 830 AD, when Álmos was about 10 years old, the seven related tribes formed a confederation in Etelköz,
called "Hétmagyar". Their leaders, the Seven chieftains of the Magyars, besides Álmos, included Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba and Töhötöm, who took a blood oath, swearing eternal loyalty to Álmos. Presumably, the Magyar tribes consisted of 108 clans.
The confederation of the tribes was probably led by two high princes: the kende and the gyula. The high princes were either elected by the leaders of the tribes or appointed by the Khagan of the Khazars who had been exerting influence over the Magyars.
Around 862 AD the seven tribes separated from the Khazars.
Before 881 AD three Turkic tribes rebelled against the rule of the Khagan of the Khazars, but they were suppressed. After their defeat they left the Khazar Empire and voluntarily joined the Hétmagyar confederation. The three tribes were organised into one tribe, called Kabar, and later they played the roles of vanguard and rear guard during the joint military actions of the confederation.
The joining of the three tribes to the previous seven created the On-ogur, one of the possible origins for the name Hungarian.

Social organization

The Hungarian social structure was of Turkic origin.