Böszörmény

Böszörmény, also Izmaelita (Hysmaelita / Ishmaelites) or Szerecsen (Saracens), is a name for the Muslims who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 10-13th centuries. Some of the böszörmény probably joined the federation of the seven Magyar tribes during the 9th century, and later smaller groups of Muslims arrived in the Carpathian Basin. They were engaged in trading but some of them were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary. Their rights were gradually restricted from the 11th century on, and they were persuaded to accept baptism, following the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary. They disappeared (probably became Christian) by the end of the 13th century.

Their origins

Modern authors claim that several groups of Muslims migrated to the Carpathian Basin in the course of the 10th-12th centuries; therefore, the Muslims living in the Kingdom of Hungary were composed of various ethnic groups. Most of them must have arrived from Volga Bulgaria, but toponyms suggest that Muslim (káliz: khalyzians) people arrived also from Khwarezm; these latter (or part of them) may have formed one of the three tribes of the Kabars who joined the federation of the Magyar tribes in the 9th century.