Tell me your name, and I will tell you who you are! NAMES OF SETTLEMENTS ARE PERSONAL NAMES!
Most of the gentry lived on Rye Island.
The Golden Garden still offers countless treasures. Its rich history, traditions and priceless heritage have so far quietly bowed heads before the noisy world. One generation is lost: in an ever-accelerating world, the elderly have no opportunity to pass on their ancient knowledge. The crafts passed down from father to son, the stories inherited on winter evenings, are forgotten. Habits are unified and roots are loosened.
In our series, we set out to explore Rye Island. Our first companion is ethnologist Iván Nagy, curator of the Rye Island Museum in Dunaszerdahely.
- From what sources can we learn about the oldest history of Rye Island?
- Historians work with three types of sources. Written sources, relics, and the so-called spiritual traditions help him get a clear picture of the history of a people or territory. However, no written sources are available about the oldest history of Rye Island, and artefacts unearthed by archaeologists are rare. Thus, with the help of archeology, it is not possible to clearly map which peoples lived in Rye Island, which ethnicities have followed each other in time. Settlement names of Rye Island however, prove to be much more eloquent: they provide a solid basis for learning about our past.
- So what can be revealed solely by the names of our settlements?
- A locality carries a lot of information in its name: it can tell a lot about when it was created, who founded it, who owned it, or just who its inhabitants were. We can deduct a lot from the naming method itself. That is because a settlement can be named in different ways. The oldest settlement names are mere personal names which marked a settlement per se, without prefixes or suffixes. Naming settlements after persons is typical for Hungarian heritage. It dates back to the nomadic era, when an area was identified after its owner. This also means, that our ancestors did not go somewhere, but always to someone! We can also make conclusions regarding the AGE OF A SETTLEMENT from its name. Settlements, derived from the names of the seven Hungarian tribes, such as Keszi, Kürt, Nyék or Megyer, are highly probable to have been established around the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries as after this period the tribal system fell apart.
- Which other Rye Island settlements have ancient Hungarian origin?
- Settlements named after mere personal names also include (Hegy)Éte, Hodos or (Nagy)Abony. In fact, all settlements around Dunaszerdahely, with the exception of those containing the word Udvarnok, originate from personal names. Moreover, personal names also occur in large numbers in the region in derived forms. Some examples are Bacsfa, Balázsfa or Budafa. The name of Tejed means a smaller estate of the genus Tej. They also owned Tejfalu. The case of Nyékvárkony, which in fact consists of two settlements, is also interesting. The word várkony means avar, preserving the memory of a nomadic people in East Asia, who lived in the Carpathian Basin in the 6th-8th century. They must have been the residents of the early Várkony. The inclusion of the Nyék tribal name in the aforementioned village name suggests, that a part of the given tribe settled down next to the village inhabited by the descendants of former Avars.
- What legacy did our conquering ancestors leave us?
- The oldest settlement names on Rye Island are of Hungarian origin, each and every one! The Hungarian origin of place names suggests that our ancestors appeared here in extremely large numbers around the times of the conquest. The whole settlement structure is very old, and their names urge us to drive the conclusion that they are - even within the whole Carpathian Basin - the oldest of all Hungarian settlements. Because the people living in this region were loyal to their roots, they considered themselves descendants of the conquering Hungarians. As a reward, the king exempted them from paying taxes. Instead, in times of war, they owed military service to the ruler. They developed into a strong middle nobility who were proud of their origins even in the early 20th century. Almost all inhabitants of Hodos for instance were noblemen, so there noblemen served noblemen. These privileges and the habits built on them, were alive until about a hundred years ago. Very few people know, but in the northwestern part of the Carpathian Basin, most of the gentry lived exactly on Rye Island!
- We can conclude then, that an unparalleled number of Hungarian conquerers settled on Rye Island. What was so attractive to them in this region?
- As our conquering ancestors were engaged in nomadic animal husbandry, they looked for a land which provided enough food for their animals. In the area embraced by the Danube branches, they had enough water and rich pasture. In addition, the proximity of the western border is not a negligible aspect either: they started their expeditions from the strong hinterland formed on Rye Island.
