Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HISTORY
Although Budapest has only formally existed since 1873, when the twin cities of Buda
and Pest were united together, the city has loomed large in European history. Besieged
and invaded by Roman legions, Turkic nomads, Nazi stormtroopers and Soviet tanks,
it retains a strong identity of its own and remains “Janus faced”, looking both east and
west.Whatfollowsisthebriefestsketchofacomplexandfascinatingpast(formoreon
which see History, politics and society ) .
In 35 BC the Danube Basin was conquered by the Romans and subsequently incorporated
within their empire as the province of Pannonia, whose northern half was governed from the
townof Aquincum onthewestbankoftheDanube.Ruinsofacamp,villas,bathsandanam-
phitheatre can still be seen today in Óbuda and Rómaifürdo. Roman rule lasted until 430 AD,
when Pannonia was ceded to Attila the Hun . Attila's planned assault on Rome was aver-
ted by his death on his wedding night, and thereafter Pannonia was carved up by Germanic
tribes until they were ousted by the Turkic-speaking Avars , who were in turn assailed by the
Bulgars, another warlike race from the Eurasian steppes. Golden torques and other treasures
from Hun, Goth and Avar burial sites - now on display in the National Museum - suggest
that they were quite sophisticated rather than mere “barbarians”.
The coming of the Magyars
The most significant of the invaders from the east were the Magyars , who stamped their lan-
guage and identity on Hungary. Their origins lie in the Finno-Ugric peoples who dwelt in the
snowy forests between the Volga and the Urals, where today two Siberian peoples still speak
languages that are the closest linguistic relatives to Hungarian; along with Finnish, Turkish
and Mongolian, these languages make up the Altaic family. Many of these Magyars migrated
south, where they eventually became vassals of the Khazar empire and mingled with the Bul-
gars as both peoples moved westwards to escape the marauding Petchenegs.
In 895 or 896 AD, seven Magyar tribes led by Árpád entered the Carpathian Basin and
spread out across the plain, in what Hungarians call the “ landtaking ” ( honfoglalás ). They
settled here, though they remained raiders for the next seventy years, striking terror as far
afield as France (where people thought them to be Huns), until a series of defeats persuaded
them to settle for assimilating their gains. The runic-style writing the Magyar tribes used is
increasingly visible today - often used by hardline nationalists to underline their Hungarian-
ness. According to the medieval chronicler, known today simply as Anonymous, the clan of
Árpád settled on Csepel-sziget, and it was Árpád's brother, Buda, who purportedly gave his
name to the west bank of the new settlement.
 
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