Pestvidéki Ásványbánya Vállalat

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In the 10th century AD, a Hungarian delegation visited the court of Byzantine Emperor Constantinos Porphyrogenetos (Konstantin VII, “The purple-born”). He writes in his De administrando imperio (On the administration of the empire, written between 947-952): “In the old days the people of the Turks (Tourkoi, the Byzantine name for the Magyars) acquired a territory in the region that they named after their first leader (Levedi) Levédia. They were not called Turks at the time, but “sabartoi asphaloi”, for some reason or another. The Turks consisted of seven tribes… They lived together with the Khazars for three years… When war broke out between the Turks and the Petchenegs, who were then called Kangars, the army of the Turks suffered defeat, and broke into two. One part moved towards the East, and settled near Persia. These tribes are called sabartoi asphaloi to this day. The other part, led by their leader Levedi, moved west and settled in a place called Etel Küzü (Etelköz)… named after the nearby river… (Etel or Etil, now the River Volga), but still regularly sends delegations to those who stayed behind in the Caucasus region near Persia”.

There is still no consensus on the precise meaning of “sabartoi asphaloi”. Sabartoi has been interpreted by some historians to mean Sabirs. The meaning of asphaloi has not been satisfactorily explained to this day. According to some, in the Byzantine Greek language it meant “great” or “powerful”; according to others, it meant “white”.

This splitting up in two halves must have happened a long time ago, because they were mentioned as Sapires even before the birth of Christ; later on, up to the 14th century, they were known as Savards. Their homeland was referred to as Zapaortene by Justin and Pliny the Younger (61-c. 112), while other ancient historical sources call them “Sabirs”, an ethnic group that is sometimes called “Hunut” by Turks and Arabs.

Ptolemy (c. 90-168) refers to them as the tribe of Svardeni or Savari, and also Materi (Magyar). Priskos Rhetor mentions a Sabirou people about 460 A.D., who were driven from their homeland by the Avars; later Jordanes in the 6th century includes the Savaris, Zakarias Rhetor (455-after 536) the Sabirs among the Hun tribes.

Thephanes the Confessor (c. 758/760 - 817/818) relates that the Aspharus (Sabirs) left the confederation in 650, after the death of Kubrat and conquered Bulgaria; their rule lasted for hundred years under the reigns of Princes Asparuk, Tervel, Tovirom and Sevar. Their rule over Bulgaria is corroborated by the grave goods ornamented in palmetto style, also material proof of the Sabir-Magyar coexistence. The Hungarian chronicles unequivocally preserve this alliance with names such as Zoard, Soba-Moger, Dentu-Moger and Dentia.

In 1870, in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Kristóf (Christopher) Lukácsy published his important work The Ancestors of the Hungarians, their Ancient Names and their Dwelling Places (A magyarok őselei, hajdankori nevei és lakhelyei), a scholarly work written with great circumspection, basing his historical work on original sources,

The Romans gave the name Savaria to the capital of the province Pannonia Superior; the present-day successor of this town is Szombathely (in German Steinamanger), and about 15 km from it is situated the settlement of Szabar, the Szabar Creek and Szabar Mount, and a little further away in County Zala, a place with the name Zala-Szabar. Therefore, prior to Roman rule, this area must have been settled by Sabar (Sabir) tribes; these appellations could only have been derived from them. These Sabir tribes could only have migrated into Transdanubia during the Scythian occupation of the Carpathian Basin (4-1 c. B.C.) It is conceivable that of all the Hungarian tribes taking part in the occupation of the Carpathian Basin, four tribes were Sabir-Magyars. – B: 0942, 1078, 1138, 1230, 1020, 7617, T: 7456, 7617.→Priskos Rhetor; Ancestral peoples, Dentu-Moger; Migration period; Scythians; Szombathely; Sándor, Count Róbert.

According to 10th century Arab historian, Ibn Fậdhlan, the “…head monarch could rule only 40 years. Beyond this period, but a single day, he was to be killed by the people and nobility, because they believed that his mind has weakened and his insight was not stable”. However, this practice among ancient Hungarians has yet to be proven.

The heathen nobility, following ancient customs, conspired to murder King István I (St Stephen) of Hungary (997-1038). According to some historians, the khagan (Reigning Prince) of the Hungarians, Álmos, had to die, because he still represented the deity of the former country, its earth and fertility. According to the ancient faith, his magical power, upon returning to the deity, would multiply in the cosmic center of the heavens and under the protection of the true heavenly father, it would pour forth without limit, perpetually, throughout the centuries on his successors and on the people he ruled.

After the Magyars had settled in their new country in the Carpathian Basin, Khagan Árpád received the power by obtaining the grass, water and land. The fertility of the new country was identified with his personal well-being. He became the absolute lord and commander of all the Magyar peoples, who owed unconditional obedience and aliegence to him. Should they sever the connections with the royal house, it would undermine their own well being as well. – B: 1151, 1020, T: 7682.→Álmos; Árpád.

On 24 April 1326, the feast day of St George, King Károly I (Charles Robert, 1307-1342) commemorated the birth of his son by founding in Hungary the St George Heroes’ Order. Later, King Lajos I (Louis the Great, 1342-1382) expanded it. This was the first Knightly Order in Hungary and it was founded to protect the King, homeland and Church. The rules were laid down in a document in the Cathedral of Esztergom; the 50 members wore their emblem consisting of a red cross on a white background. According to some opinions, King Zsigmond (Sigismund of Luxembourg) (1387-1437) reorganized the Order and named it the Order of St. George, the Dragon Slayer, whose very valuable golden necklace was worn with pride by almost every one of Europe’s rulers and dignitaries. In the spring of 1992, the Order was reactivated in Hungary under the name of The Brotherly Society of The Knights of St George. A silver double cross in a red field, enclosed in a triangular shield, was worn on the left breast on a black robe. Their leader was the Governor of the Order. – B: 1230, 1153, 1020, T: 7671.

The custom of fire lighting on St John’s Eve or Midsummer's Eve (Szent Iván Éj) in the 16th century was widespread all over the Carpathian Basin. The preacher Miklós (Nicholas) Telegdi wrote, in 1577, about the St. John’s Eve fire as approved by the Church. Two centuries later, a Church historian, Inchofer, mentioned that, while the Hungarians had already celebrated the feast of John the Baptist in the 11th century, it had deteriorated into a pagan superstition: “we lay the fire in a quadrangular form: in one corner, handsome old men are sitting; in the second corner, beautiful old women; in the third, handsome young boys and in the fourth, beautiful unmarried maidens”. The fire was fed from thatch straw and branches while the groups sang to each other. Meanwhile, all the girls and boys, alone or together, jumped over the fire, while the elderly women smoked in the fire sweet smelling plants and flowers, and then used them as medicines. The purpose of jumping was partly purification, partly to determine which girl would become a bride at the next carnival. The summer solstice is the beginning of the autumn Sun god religion cycle. The most important parts of this festival are the singing of the couples, the fire dance and the rite of jumping over the fire. Today, this custom is in decline, but it can still be found in Göcsej, in County Somogy among the Palóc people and in the Csángó parts in eastern Transylvania. – B: 1134, 1020, T: 7882.→Telegdi, Miklós.