Seven chieftains of the Magyars

The Seven chieftains of the Magyar tribes in the Chronicon Pictum

The chieftains. Detail from Árpád Feszty's cyclorama titled the Arrival of the Hungarians.

The Seven chieftains of the Magyars (or Hungarians) were the leaders of the seven tribes of the Hungarians at the time of their arrival in the Carpathian Basin in AD 895. Constantine VII, emperor of the Byzantine Empire names the seven tribes in his De Administrando Imperio, a list that can be verified with names of Hungarian settlements. The names of the chieftains, however, are not precisely known, as the chronicles include contradictory lists, some of which have been found to be false.

Chieftains[]

Constantine VII does not give the names of the chieftains of the Hungarian tribes, but describes some aspects of the leadership.

According to Anonymus[]

A Hungarian chronicler known as Anonymus, author of Gesta Hungarorum, names the seven chieftains as:

Álmos, father of Árpád
Előd, father of Szabolcs
Ond, father of
Kend (Kond, Kund), father of Korcán (Kurszán) and Kaplon
Tas, father of Lél (Lehel)
Huba
Tétény (Töhötöm), father of Horka

Most probably all persons on this list were real and significant personalities, but the list, as that of the seven chieftains who started the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, is certainly false.^[1] Constantine VII names Tas as a grandson of Árpád. The relations of the early Hungarian leaders are subject of debate between historians.

According to Simon of Kéza[]

Hungarian chronicler Simon of Kéza names seven captains who led seven tribes:

Árpád, son of Álmos, who was the son of Előd, who was the son of Ügyek
Szabolcs
Gyula
Künd, father of Kusid and Kupian
Lél
Vérbulcsú ("Blood-Bulcsú"), whose name's origin is that "his father was killed by Germans in the ", and for revenge, "he drank the blood of some, like wine".

This list, having more legendary elements, is even less credible than that of Anonymus: only Árpád and Szabolcs match the time of the conquest.

Statues[]

In Budapest, Hungary, the Heroes' Square, better known as Hősök tere, has a representation of the different chieftains at the base of the column. At the base of the column is a group of seven mounted figures representing the Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarian people into the Carpathian basin. In the front is Árpád, considered the founder of the Hungarian nation. Behind him are the chieftains Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Töhötöm (Tétény). Little survives in the historical record about these individuals and both their costumes and their horses are considered to be more fanciful than historically accurate.

Statues of the Seven Chieftains on the Hősök tere (Heroes' Square) in Budapest, Hungary
Left side view of some of the statues of the Seven chieftains of the Magyars
Side view of two of the seven statues of the Seven chieftains of the Magyars. Left: Huba. Right: Tas
Tas, a Magyar chieftain
Árpád leading the other chieftains
Árpád's left profile