In 1935, Hungarian Laszlo Almasy encountered a tribe in living along Nile in Egypt and Sudan who called themselves Magyarab and claimed Hungarian ancestry.
According to the Magyarabs - a word that means the tribe of Magyars in Nubian - a unit of Hungarians in the Ottoman army was fighting in southern Egypt, in the 16th Century. Some or all of the unit remained and intermarried with local women. The Magyarabs now have a Middle Eastern appearance and no longer speak the Hungarian but they still take great pride in their ancestry. Their leader, Ibrahim el-Magyar is highly respected amongst the Madjarabs even today.
A few days ago the Africa Research Institute (ARI) in Geneva announced that it had found an what is possibly an offshoot of the Magyarabs – this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A team led by anthropologist Gabor Varga discovered the Madjari in tiny village called Halitu in the north-western region of the country. The tribe had lived in a completely secluded area and rarely moved out of its well protected village according to Dr. Varga.
EDIT: Sadly the news about the Congo Magyarabs was subsequently shown to be a hoax. I still find the idea of a Hungarian descendant tribe in Egypt and Sudan quite fascinating though.
Until mid week I had never heard of the Magyarabs (or Madjarabs). I can thank Redwine for drawing my attention to their existence. Now to see if a link can be demonstrated between the residents of Liqian and the Roman Empire.
According to the Magyarabs - a word that means the tribe of Magyars in Nubian - a unit of Hungarians in the Ottoman army was fighting in southern Egypt, in the 16th Century. Some or all of the unit remained and intermarried with local women. The Magyarabs now have a Middle Eastern appearance and no longer speak the Hungarian but they still take great pride in their ancestry. Their leader, Ibrahim el-Magyar is highly respected amongst the Madjarabs even today.
A few days ago the Africa Research Institute (ARI) in Geneva announced that it had found an what is possibly an offshoot of the Magyarabs – this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A team led by anthropologist Gabor Varga discovered the Madjari in tiny village called Halitu in the north-western region of the country. The tribe had lived in a completely secluded area and rarely moved out of its well protected village according to Dr. Varga.
EDIT: Sadly the news about the Congo Magyarabs was subsequently shown to be a hoax. I still find the idea of a Hungarian descendant tribe in Egypt and Sudan quite fascinating though.
Until mid week I had never heard of the Magyarabs (or Madjarabs). I can thank Redwine for drawing my attention to their existence. Now to see if a link can be demonstrated between the residents of Liqian and the Roman Empire.
