High Prince Álmos
Encyclopedia
Álmos (c. 820 – c. 895), the first Grand Prince of the Magyars
(after 854 – c. 895). The Gesta Hungarorum
("The Deeds of the Hungarians") records that his father was Ügyek
, while the Chronicon Pictum
(the "Vienna Illuminated Chronicle") mentions his father as Előd
(the son of Ügyek); his mother was Emese
.
chronicle
recounts the story of his birth as follows: "his pregnant mother had seen a divine vision in her dream of a Turul
bird, as it were flying over her and getting her with child; and a spring seemed to rise from her womb and many great kings originated from her loins, although they would multiply not in their own lands". The legend is often given as an explanation for the name Álmos, which is derived from the Hungarian word for "dream."
by the leaders of the Hétmagyar
, the confederation of the seven Magyar tribes, but the De Administrando Imperio
states that the office was created by the Khagan
of the Khazars
, and that it was not Álmos, but his son Árpád
, who became the first Grand Prince. Modern historians usually follow the tradition that Álmos was the first Grand Prince in the second half of the 850s. It is unclear whether Álmos became the kende
(spiritual leader) of the confederation or its gyula (military leader.)
At that time, the Magyar tribes were living under Khazar
supremacy.
Before 862, the seven Magyar tribes, living in the area they called Etelköz
, seceded from the Khazars; afterwards, they were exacting tribute from the neighbouring Slavic
tribes and they fought occasionally as mercenaries
on behalf of King Carloman of Bavaria
, King Arnulf I of Germany
and King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia
. The Hétmagyar confederation was strengthened when three tribes of the Kabar
s, who had rebelled against the Khazars, joined them before 881.
In the spring of 895, the Magyar tribes
attacked the Bulgarian Empire
allied with the Byzantine emperor, Leo VI the Wise
and defeated Emperor Simeon I of Bulgaria
obliging him to conclude peace with the Byzantine Empire
. The Emperor Simeon entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs, who were the eastern neighbours of the Hétmagyar, and he made an attack against the Magyar troops. At the Battle of Southern Buh
, the Emperor Simeon defeated the Magyar army; and shortly afterwards, the Pechenegs attacked and pillaged their territories. The Magyar tribes were obliged to leave Etelköz and invade the Carpathian Basin where they settled down (Honfoglalás
).
Álmos' death was probably caused by either assassination or human sacrifice
because of the catastrophic defeats during the wars with the Bulgarian Empire and the Pechenegs.
( IYI ), descendant of Attila and his son Irnik
, through Kubrat
and his son Bat-Bayan
Bezmer, great-grandson of Tat-Ugek, senior son of Gabdullah Shilki, he was raised to the Baltavar throne in 895 and died in 925. Almysh officially converted the Volga Bulgars to a Muslim state. Almysh's senior son Arbat, as a leader of the Kara-Bulgars, seceded and led a confederation of tribes (Magyar, Bashkort, Onogur, Sabir, Khazar) to the Carpathian Basin.
This theory fails to explain, however, how the Magyars came to dominate, and how were they able to impose their language.
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Grand Prince of the Magyars
Grand Prince was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the tenth century.-The title:...
(after 854 – c. 895). The Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum
Gesta Hungarorum is a record of early Hungarian history by an unknown author who describes himself as Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii , but is generally cited as Anonymus...
("The Deeds of the Hungarians") records that his father was Ügyek
Ügyek
Ügyek , also known as Ugek, was the legendary father of Álmos, the first High Prince of the Magyars...
, while the Chronicon Pictum
Chronicon Pictum
The Chronicon Pictum Pictum, Chronica Picta or Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum) is a medieval illustrated chronicle from the Kingdom of Hungary from the fourteenth century...
(the "Vienna Illuminated Chronicle") mentions his father as Előd
Előd
Előd was – according to chronicler Anonymus – one of the seven chieftains of the Magyars , who led the Hungarians to the Carpathian Basin in 895. Előd was the chieftain of the Hungarian tribe of the Nyék....
(the son of Ügyek); his mother was Emese
Emese
Emese is a feminine Hungarian name. The name originates from an ancient Uralic word eme, meaning mother; it is a commonly-used girls' name in Hungary today. In Hungarian historical mythology, Emese, daughter of Prince Önedbelia of Dentümoger, was the mother of High Prince Álmos and thus the...
.
Birth
The medievalMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
recounts the story of his birth as follows: "his pregnant mother had seen a divine vision in her dream of a Turul
Turul
The Turul is the most important bird in the origin myth of the Magyars .It is a divine messenger, and perches on top of the tree of life along with the other spirits of unborn children in the form of birds...
bird, as it were flying over her and getting her with child; and a spring seemed to rise from her womb and many great kings originated from her loins, although they would multiply not in their own lands". The legend is often given as an explanation for the name Álmos, which is derived from the Hungarian word for "dream."
Grand Prince of the Magyars
According to the medieval chronicles, Álmos was proclaimed Grand Prince of the MagyarsGrand Prince of the Magyars
Grand Prince was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the tenth century.-The title:...
by the leaders of the Hétmagyar
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...
, the confederation of the seven Magyar tribes, but the De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio
De Administrando Imperio is the Latin title of a Greek work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is...
states that the office was created by the Khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...
of the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
, and that it was not Álmos, but his son Árpád
Árpád
Árpád was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians . Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Hungarian tribes and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301...
, who became the first Grand Prince. Modern historians usually follow the tradition that Álmos was the first Grand Prince in the second half of the 850s. It is unclear whether Álmos became the kende
Kende
The kende was one of the kings of the dual-monarchy of the early Magyars, along with the gyula or war-chief. The function of the kende is believed to have been a religious one. At the time of the Magyar migration to Pannonia, the Kende was named Kurszán...
(spiritual leader) of the confederation or its gyula (military leader.)
At that time, the Magyar tribes were living under Khazar
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
supremacy.
Before 862, the seven Magyar tribes, living in the area they called Etelköz
Hungarian prehistory
Hungarian prehistory refers to the prehistoric Magyars, from the time when they separated from Common Ugric until their invasion of the Carpathian basin in the late 9th century...
, seceded from the Khazars; afterwards, they were exacting tribute from the neighbouring Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
tribes and they fought occasionally as mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
on behalf of King Carloman of Bavaria
Carloman of Bavaria
Carloman was the eldest son of Louis the German, king of East Francia , and Hemma, daughter of the count Welf...
, King Arnulf I of Germany
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
and King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia
Svatopluk I
Svatopluk I or Zwentibald I was the greatest ruler of Moravia that attained its maximum territorial expansion in his reign . His career had already started in the 860s, when he governed a principality, the location of which is still a matter of debate among historians, within Moravia under the...
. The Hétmagyar confederation was strengthened when three tribes of the Kabar
Kabar
The Khavars or erroneously Kabars were Khazarians, therefore Turkic people who joined to the Magyars in the 8th century.- History :...
s, who had rebelled against the Khazars, joined them before 881.
In the spring of 895, the Magyar tribes
Magyar tribes
The Magyar tribes were the fundamental political units whose framework the Hungarians lived within, until these clans from Asia, more accurately from the region of Ural Mountains, invaded the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary.The locality in which the Hungarians, the...
attacked the Bulgarian Empire
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
allied with the Byzantine emperor, Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, surnamed the Wise or the Philosopher , was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty , he was very well-read, leading to his surname...
and defeated Emperor Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe...
obliging him to conclude peace with the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The Emperor Simeon entered into an alliance with the Pechenegs, who were the eastern neighbours of the Hétmagyar, and he made an attack against the Magyar troops. At the Battle of Southern Buh
Battle of Southern Buh
The Battle of Southern Buh occurred near the banks of the so called river, in modern Ukraine. The result was a great Bulgarian victory which forced the Magyars to leave forever the steppes of southern Ukraine and to establish the Kingdom of Hungary a hundred years later.- Origins of the conflict...
, the Emperor Simeon defeated the Magyar army; and shortly afterwards, the Pechenegs attacked and pillaged their territories. The Magyar tribes were obliged to leave Etelköz and invade the Carpathian Basin where they settled down (Honfoglalás
Hungarian prehistory
Hungarian prehistory refers to the prehistoric Magyars, from the time when they separated from Common Ugric until their invasion of the Carpathian basin in the late 9th century...
).
Álmos' death was probably caused by either assassination or human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
because of the catastrophic defeats during the wars with the Bulgarian Empire and the Pechenegs.
Alternative theory
According to Ibn Fadlan, the two names Álmos and Almysh are the same. It refers to the same person: Almysh, the Baltavar (ruler) of the Volga-Bulgars, member of the Dulo DynastyDulo clan
The Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo was the name of the ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars.This was the clan of Kubrat who founded Old Great Bulgaria, and his sons Batbayan, Kuber and Asparuh, the latter of which founded Danube Bulgaria....
( IYI ), descendant of Attila and his son Irnik
Ernakh
Ernakh or Ernac was the 3rd son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons. Ernakh is considered to have succeeded Dengizich king of Akatziroi and reigned from 469 AD to 503 AD over the Huns who roamed a substantial part of the...
, through Kubrat
Kubrat
Kubrat or Kurt was a Bulgar ruler credited with establishing the confederation of Old Great Bulgaria in 632. He is said to have achieved this by conquering the Avars and uniting all the Bulgar tribes under one rule....
and his son Bat-Bayan
Batbayan of Bulgaria
Batbayan was the eldest son of Khagan Kubrat. After Kubrat, Batbayan ruled from Poltava the lands north of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea....
Bezmer, great-grandson of Tat-Ugek, senior son of Gabdullah Shilki, he was raised to the Baltavar throne in 895 and died in 925. Almysh officially converted the Volga Bulgars to a Muslim state. Almysh's senior son Arbat, as a leader of the Kara-Bulgars, seceded and led a confederation of tribes (Magyar, Bashkort, Onogur, Sabir, Khazar) to the Carpathian Basin.
This theory fails to explain, however, how the Magyars came to dominate, and how were they able to impose their language.
External links
- Arpad
- Western Hun Khans diagram
- Western Hun Dynasties
- Djagfar_Tarihi about Almysh and his senior son Arbat
- Ibn Fadlan’s Journey to Russia: A Tenth Century Traveller from Baghdad to the Volga River Issue 67 April 2010 by Richard Frye - Review by Tam Hussain
- Sabir timeline
- Ибн Фадлан - Пътешествие до Волжска България(Л.-М. Бораджиева, превод от арабски Г. Наумов, ИК "Аргес", София, 1992)
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