In a previous post I discussed the survival of the Sarmatian legacy in the Ossetian people, who escaped the destruction of their kingdom by sheltering in the mountain valleys of the Caucasus. There was also a second group of Alans that chose to flee west to Hungary following the Mongol destruction of Alania. Although they have assimilated into Hungarian society, their descendants, the Jász, continue to pride themselves on their Iranian origins and unique identity within Hungary. Much like their Ossetian cousins, their story is one of flight and survival in the face of annihilation.
The Westward Flight
As the Mongols overran the Eurasian steppe, they crushed two major states, the Kingdom of Alania and the Khanate of Cumania. The Cuman Khan Kotyan fled west, and some Alans chose to join him rather than migrate to the Caucasus. In 1239, they found a lifeline. King Béla IV of Hungary offered to settle them within his kingdom in return for military service against the Mongols. Despite strong objections from the Hungarian nobility and sections of the church, Kotyan agreed and entered Hungary with his Cumans and their Alan allies.
Two Worlds Collide
When the Cumans and the Alans entered Hungary, they officially converted to Catholicism (the Alans may have already been Orthodox Christians). However, the conflict between the nomadic newcomers and the sedentary Hungarian population caused conflicts with the nobility. The Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241 exacerbated these tensions, especially among nobles who accused the Cumans of being Mongol collaborators. This ugly series of events culminated in Kotyan’s murder in 1241. In revenge, the Cumans and their Alan allies looted their way through Hungary, crossed into Bulgaria and then devastated the modern Croatian region of Srem.
A Second Chance
In 1241, the Mongols defeated the Hungarian royal army at Mohi and devastated the kingdom. Béla was forced to flee to Dalmatia to the city of Traù, where he stayed until the Mongol withdrawal. In 1246, Béla was faced with the task of rebuilding his shattered kingdom. In need of troops, he re-invited the Cumans and Alans to settle where he had promised them, in the regions around Szolnok and Heves in Central Hungary.
Both tribes eventually adopted the Hungarian ethnonyms of Jász and Kun. The Jász assimilated in a couple of centuries. There is only one existing record of their language, which consists of word lists pertaining to herding and horsemanship. They retained their special status and privileges for several centuries afterward, despite their assimilation into Hungarian society. The Cumans lived under similar arrangements, preserving their language at least in liturgical contexts, possibly as late as the 19th century. Several versions Lord’s Prayer in Cuman attest to the late survival of the language, although it is unclear if it was used in everyday contexts by the time these copies of the prayers were written.
The Jász And Kun Today
Today, both groups are indistinguishable from the general Hungarian population, and the Kun are not a recognized as a separate ethnicity anymore. Their descendants have preserved some words from Cuman language in their dialects. The Jász, on the other hand, have lost their language but maintained their Iranian identity. Like their Ossetian cousins, they have shown a remarkable resilience in the face of adversity and provide continuity with long-disappeared groups.