I was searching through Google News to see whether any English language media had reported anything about the whole March 15th thing here, and there really wasn’t a great deal, but I did notice a repeated misconception about who the Szekely are. At least two reports essentially equated the Szekely with the Hungarian population of Romania, which is definitely not my understanding of the situation. And given that I’m married to a Hungarian Romanian who is not a Szekely, I reckon my understanding is correct. So anyway, I thought I’d do a bit of research and try and fill in the gaps in my knowledge about who the Szekely are and let you know what I found out. After all, I did choose a Szekely themed URL for this site when I set it up, so I really ought to have a clue who they are.
The origins of the “Szeklers” (this is the German word for the group, and apparently seems to be the official English language version too, though I reckon outside of Hungary, Romania and ethnographic faculties of universities, there are about 3 native English speakers who have even heard of the Szekely) are not certain. Some say there are basically a subset of the Magyars who came to Europe from Central Asia however many hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Others that they are not originally Magyar, but from other places – they could be Turkish, Scythian or Hittite, for example. One thing that aids the Turkish theory is the fact that ancient Szekely writing is runic.
Anyway, what ended up happening is that the Szekelys, warriors like the Saxons, were assigned to the border regions of the Hungarian empire, with them basically lining the Eastern Carpathians (the Saxons took the Southern Carpathians). Transylvania for many years was known as the “union of three nations” – three areas ruled by the Saxons, the Szekely, and the Hungarian nobility. Anyway, what this means is that while there’s no obvious ethnic difference between the Szekely and the Hungarians, and they both speak the same language, and both are predominantly Roman Catholic, it is more or less considered these days that the Hungarian speakers of Harghita, Cavasna and part of Mures counties are the Szekely, and the Hungarian speakers in the rest of Transylvania – Cluj, Targu Mures, Maramures, Oradea, Timisoara etc are Hungarians (and not Szekely). The Szekelys in general seem much more traditional and have held on to their folk culture very successfully.
I also discovered that there is another group known as the “Szekelys of Bucovina” who were descended from a group of around 1000 Szekelys who fled Szekelyföld in 1764 after the Austrians massacred around 400 Szekelys at Madefalva (Siculeni in Romanian) a village about 5 km north of here. They ended up in Bucovina (the other side of the mountains from here). One of the villages there they named “Istensegíts” (God Help Us), which gives you a sense of their flight. Their population grew to about 13,000, but after Bucovina became Romania they felt increasingly isolated, and eventually under some deal between Hungary and Romania (in 1941? This isn’t clear to me) they were all evacuated and used by the Hungarians in an attempt to Magyarise the area of Vojvodina (now in Serbia) (ie they were settled there to change the demographics of the area). This was fairly shortlived as Hungary ceded control of the area in the Second World War, and they were once again forced to flee. They eventually settled in Tolna county in Hungary where they live to this day.
So there you go, some background and information about the Szekely, so that if ever you encounter an article like this one, you can feel informed enough to think to yourself "Actually it's not true to say Romania's ethnic Hungarians, also known as Szeklers," and feel all smug.
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Here in Hungary Szekely orgins are one of those fascinationg historical topics that get swamped in romantic nationalism. Some of the saner theories are that they were a Turkic tribe allied to the Hungarians (which managed to maintain a runic script but oddly, no other linguistic eveidence in their vocabulary.) Some Hungarian historians opine (which is basically what many of them prefer to footnoting) that the Szekely may have been remnants of Attila's Huns (who were mostly Turkic) who stayed behind. Another claim is that they were a part of the Huns that already spoke Hungarian (in which case they would have preserved radically different dialect lacking Alanic/Iranic terms such as "hid" and "vám" "kard". A possible etymology for the ethnic name is Eskil, which is an ancient name for the Dneister river.
Whatever the case, they make some fine pálinka and know what to do with wild mushrooms in the kitchen. I was married to one.
The Bukovina Szekelys still strongly maintain their identity in Tolna and also in the Budapest suburb of Erd. They are about the only folks in Hungary who still openly consume mamaliga.
There's even a Szekely newspaper which you can find here.
Fantastic post!
I have read that many Szekely are members of the old Unitarian (Socinian) church, and that most Hungarian / Rumanian Unitarians are Szekely.
Please tell me I've heard right.
I've also heard that the Szekely are regarded as a rough crowd.
My plan is to put together a Unitarian goon squad and go around doing anti-Trinitarian pogroms, in case you didn't guess.
I know the Unitarian church originated in Koloszvar/Cluj, John, so it seems unlikely that it would be a Szekely thing - more likely a non-Szekely Transylvanian Hungarian thing. Szekelys are mostly RC it seems, with a few Hungarian Reformed.
Just a single footnote ...
Hungarians int Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely) are szekelys too, however most of them doesn't identify himself as szekely. Targu Mures was called as Szekelyvasarhely, and was the largest szekely city, not the center of Szeklerland but the largest one.
The Hungarians, who call themselves Magyar, have an ancient traditional pre-Christian account of their origins according to which they were the descendents of Nimrod (also spelled as Nimrud), son of Cush; Nimrod and Eneth had two sons, Magor and Hunor; Magor was the ancestor of the Magyars, and Hunor was the ancestor of the Huns, thus symbolizing the common origins of the Huns and of the Magyars. Ancient Byzantine sources mention that the Magyars were also known as the Sabirs who originated from Northern Mesopotamia, which was referred to as Subir-ki by the Sumerians who also originated from this land. Numerous other ancient and medieval sources also refer to the Scythians, Huns, Avars, Medas, Sakas, Kushites, Elamites, Hettites,Parthians, and Magyars as identical people.
Independently from the various political regimes which have ruled over Hungary and which have imposed the current official version of the origins and history of the Hungarians, modern scientific and scholarly research has confirmed the Sumerian - Scythian - Hun - Avar - Saka - Meda - Elamite - Kushite - Parthian - Magyar ethno-linguistic relationship and continuity.
The Neolithic revolution: the invention of agriculture and animal domestication in the ancient Near East, the "Fertile Crescent" - the region between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Zagros mountains of Western Iran - by the peoples who formed the distinct (non-Semitic and non-Indo-European) ethno-linguistic group from which the Sumerians, the creators of the first civilization, originated.
Szekelys are the Huns, the twin brothers, sisters of the Hungarians, but actually in Uyghur land there are still Hephthalites, they look the same, a different branch of Huns. Their language has changed and most of them had to become muslim, some are still Buddhist, those who were strong enough to resist Chinese or Arabic influence and mixing.The were Manichaeists, but they were run down. At least they were able to carry Buddhism which is similar in many ways. Both Mani and Buddha, Buda were Parthians.Lhasa was part of the Parthian Empire too.Buda was born in Swat, now the place belongs to Nepal. Buddha went to India to teach, our people lived there too.Galilei was part of the Parthian Empire too, Jesus spoke the Alami language, a version of our language.
Turks were our relatives but only the ancient ones. They were run down by the arabs to, mixed , became Muslims.Some of the turkish people are still Turks by blood, they are white.
Szekelys guarded our land at the borders.They had priviliges for being such heros.They were very brave, we depended on them. There are no Romanian Szekelys, they wish. The Romanians are mixed people, slavs, and who knows what. Their languege is mostly slavic, and since they didn't have words for things, they used, learned Latin words, Albanian, Hungarian, Turkish....
The Hungarians took them as refugees, they put together a language for them. And the guests at the end kicked us out from our houses, lands, set in our culture(since they didn't have one) and have been trying to make it look like it is theirs. Hopefully Hungarians Szekelys die out( their number dramatically decrased in the last few decades,don't ask how). So noone would remember who they were, what they have created, and tell the truth.We still exist.So does truth.
I wrote the text above very fast, so it jumps around a little, but it tells you who they are. Why don't you just ask them?They know better then foreign encyclopedias.Since you are there, as i see.
We were in coalition with the Saxons, but being inside of Hungary. in Hungary. We let them in for different reasons, too long to explain when and why. The point is that they still lived in Our country. Most of the time they got along well enough. They didn't have an elite role, why would they in somebody else's country? But they had their freedom. The Habsburgs forced in more and more to weaken us, and other stangers too, like slavs. But many came before that... it is long, Istvan brought in many strangers, in the most recent research he didn't sell us out on purpose to the germans, he was captured. He tricked and betrayed Koppany, who was killed by the Germans, but then he came to his senses when they killed his father, but it was too late. He was then just a puppet.Coalition is a big word, then when our Transylvania was thrown to the Wlachians, they were so blood thirsty, because they were not in the coalition,. They were quite primitive, Saxos and Hungarians educated them, opened schools for them, printed books. Later they claimed that their best poets etc. were from Transylvania. I wonder why.
And look what they did with it, it looks like when in Budapest the communists put the Gypsies in national monument buildings.
The Parthians were not Iranians, They were us, and they were run down by the Sassanites who were persians, iranians, had no culture, they learned and took over ours.Our magis trained them, the first 7 persian kings were Parthians. The first 5 Roman Emperors were Etruscans, our people.Most of the great Greek artists, scientists philosophers came from Little Asia, were Parthians.....
Alami is not persian either.I know everybody tries to get a peace, everything is supposed to be Indo-european, but it is a time when truth comes out, there are also Indo-european archeologists, who want to know the truth, not to serve some fake fairy tale that puts them to a high position. Even if it is a lie. Germans failed to be the Huns, and the Iranians to be the Parthians, Accadians to have all the culture which is nothing else than stolen Sumer, etc...Atilla was not turk, he was Hun. You can call it romantic nationalism, but it is still better than a lie. And you will see soon that it is not that romantic. Just as much as religion is, faith. Our faith will show soon. it shouldn't be a competition, we didn't make it like that.We had been the nation of peace and tolerance for many thousand years. This killed us at the end. And look at the world now. it is upside down. The antichrist has come..
I have Hungarian ancestry and my last name is Szekely. I know little about my heritage and would like to know. I do that that my ancestors stole from the rich people of Hungary and gave it to the poor people. The King heard of this and made us noblity. if anyone knows something please send it to me at pinkpup_101@yahoo.com
Anonymous poster with last name Szekely - this sounds familiar. This is a story in my family as well - we have tried to learn more, even traveling to the region, but so much is difficult to confirm. We do know for a fact that there was considerable wealth in our Szekely family in the late 19th century and early 20th century, so that may lend credence to the nobility claim. Not sure, but interesting to see someone else has heard the same thing!
"Soj said...
There's even a Szekely newspaper which you can find here.
Fantastic post!"
whoa boy . that`s a iredentist magyar newspaper not szekely no szekely language there.whitch supports right wing extremism and paramilitary organizations. based on the already illegal Magyar Garda.. the szekely garda are openely antisemitic and antiromanian and they vandalize romanian roadsigns well they will soon go to jail for a long time. along with the guys from EMI. tschuss.
I see one anonymous poster who has an extreme lack of history and/or mental capacity.. let me help you. The Szekely are turcic. the hungarians are fino-ugric. the Huns are volga-turcic. in the eralier days they had typical asiatic features. now they are lost.consider the DNA markers made by scientist who relate the so called hungarians with mostly slavs,germanic people and latin peoples.(mostly romanian).it`s sad to find out that the hungarians are the most enthnicaly mixed people in eastern europe that`s why you guys like to deny this. and base your history on myths and theories instead of science and history.back to romanians. romanians are romanians not slavs. and they speak a latin language . you see it`s easy to tell that you are from hungary and have no basic history knowledge other than this ..i can clearly say that you are frustrated by your national origin.take your time and open a book written by other than some obscure biased writer who suffers from skizophrenia. and i can guarantee you that you won`t receive anymore humiliations when you will visit europe or romania for the first time. "Nem ,nem soha" sience-fiction is not histoty .
btw the last tribes who migrated into europe are the magyars and 500 years after the gypsies. so much for your glorious past.
interesting name Szekely . anyone of you who`s name is Olah interested in their romanian ancestry?
My name is SZEKELY...I love the origins of my name!! My husband was also SZEKELY...Born by blood, marriage or clan member SZEKELY IS ALWAYS SZEKELY!! And it IS pronounced Seh-Key people!! I am SICK to heart of the people who are trying to Americanize it and call themselves Zee-Kellys!!! KNOW YOUR NAME!!! KNOW YOUR ANCESTRY!!! I agree 100% with the anonymous poster several posts above mine! HE (or she...but I think HE) is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT on OUR origins!! The post just before mine, attempting to correct MY family member is the one incorrect!! Who better to know the family than the family itself?? Can I come to another land and tell you YOUR history and claim to know it better than you who are from your country? Of course NOT!! That would be ludicris and assumptive of me and show little intellect on my behalf. So PLEASE let us know OUR heritage because it is OURS!! And I also was raised hearing the old stories (HISTORIES!!) of how OUR people took from the rich to help the poor and were awarded nobility. THAT is why we are STILL such a noble people bowing knee ONLY before the Lord God Himself!! We may not have the riches in our generation but nobility is NOT something you can put a price tag on!!! I came to this world Violetta SZEKELY, I married Joseph SZEKELY, I live SZEKELY, raised my children SZEKELY, and will one day meet God...SZEKELY!!! Anyone wishing to correspond with me POSITIVELY may contact me at szekelysangel2@gmail.com And my brothers and sister PLEASE!! Know WHO you are!! Stand proudly for though it is not the definition for SZEKELY I feel OUR name is another way of saying "PROUD WARRIOR FAMILY...FOREVER"!!
Oooops!!I'm the one who wrote the above post..When I attempted to write the proper pronounciation of OUR name I am afraid my finger hit the WRONG key!! It is properly pronounced Seh-Keh (not Seh-Key as I had ACCIDENTLY typed in) I have seen people write th pronunciation as Say-Kay or SEE-Keh. But...it is NOT Zee-Kelly or even Szee-Kelly nor is it Szeck-a-lee. Ours is a PROUD name and we should honor OUR ancestors with pronouncing it after them.
we even have our own Székely Google :))
http://www.lamsza.com
"MDS analysis based on haplogroup frequency values, confirms that modern Hungarian and Szekler populations are genetically closely related, and similar to populations from Central Europe and the Balkans." http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/hungarians.html
Good post. A very interesting topic. My mother always said that the Székelys are the most Hungarian Hungarians. And she should know. Her ancestors lived in Székelyföld (the Székely land) for as long as anyone knows. Her family was Roman Catholic all the way back although my cousins who still live there are either Hungarian Reformed or Unitarian.
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