Kabar

Not to be confused with Kabard or KA-BAR.

For the village in Yemen, see Kabar, Yemen.

The Khavars (Greek: Κάβαροι) or erroneously Kabars were Khazarians, therefore Turkic people who joined to the Magyars (Hungarians) in the 8^th century.

History

They consisted of three Khazar tribes who rebelled against the Khazar Khaganate some time in the ninth century; the rebellion was notable enough to be described in Constantine Porphyrogenitus's work De Administrando Imperio. Subsequently the Khavars were expelled from the Khazar Khaganate and sought refuge by joining the Magyar tribal confederacy called Hét-Magyar (meaning "seven" Hungarians). The three Khavar tribes accompanied the Magyar invasion of Pannonia and the subsequent formation of the Principality of Hungary in the late 9th century.

Around 833 the Hungarian tribal confederacy was living in Levedia, between the Don and the Dnieper rivers, within the clientele of the Khazar empire. Toward 850 or 860, driven from Levedia by the Pechenegs, they entered Atelkuzu (Etelköz). The Magyars reached the Danube river basin around 880. Shortly afterward, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI, being then at war with Simeon, the Bulgarian czar, called the Hungarians to his aid. The Magyars, led by Árpád, crossed the Danube and put Bulgaria to fire and the sword. But the Bulgarians then appealed to the Pechenegs, now masters of the steppe, who attacked the Hungarians in the rear and forced them to take refuge in the mountains of Transylvania. At that moment, Arnulf, king of Germania, at war with the Slav ruler Svatopluk, king of Great Moravia, decided like the Byzantine to appeal to the Hungarians. The Hungarians came in haste and overcame Svatopluk, who disappeared in the conflict (895). Great Moravia collapsed, and the Hungarians took up permanent abode in Hungary (907).

• The origin of the name Hungary is believed to originate from the Utigur Bulgar tribal confederacy named On-Ogur, (meaning "ten" Ogurs) (comparable to Tokuz-Oguz (meaning "nine" Oguz)), who ruled the territory of Hungary prior to the arrival of the Magyars.

Many Khavars settled in the Bihar region of the later Kingdom of Hungary and Transylvania. Some historian believe that the character recorded by Gesta Hungarorum as lord Marot and his grandson Menumorut, dux of Biharia, were of Khavar descent^{[citation needed]}. One of the names on the Kievian Letter is "Kiabar", which may suggest that Khavars settled in Kiev as well. At least some Khavars were Jewish; others may have been Christians, Muslims or shamanists.

The presence of a Turkic aristocracy among the Hungarians could explain the Byzantine protocol by which, in the exchange of ambassadors under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Hungarian rulers were always referred to as "Princes of the Turks".

The Khavars eventually assimilated into the general Hungarian population, leaving scattered remains and some cultural and linguistic imprints. Some scholars^{[citation needed]} believe that the Székely are their descendants.

A Khavar inscription

An interesting relic of these Khavar people was explored in (Transylvania, today Romania) in the 20^th century CE called Alsószentmihály Rovas inscription. It was transcribed by the archaeologist-historian Gábor Vékony. According to the transcription, the meaing of the two-row isncription is the following: (first row) "His mansion is famous." and (second row) "Jüedi Kür Karaite." or "Jüedi Kür the Karaite." See more details: Inscription in Khazarian Rovas script and RovasPedia.

See also

• Khazars
• Magyars
• Arpad Dynasty
• Khalyzians
• Bulgars
• Pechenegs
• Avars
• Turkic peoples

References

• Róna-Tas, András (1996): A honfoglaló magyar nép. Bevezetés a korai magyar történelem ismeretébe [The conquering Hungarian nation. Introduction to the knowledge of the early Hungarian history]. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, ISBN 963 506 106 4
• Khavars in the Rovaspedia