The 1895 Hungarian Expedition of Count J. Zichy to the Caucasus and Central Asia

Introduction. The mid-to-late nineteenth century witnessed increased endeavors aimed at identifying ancestral lands of Hungarians, their initial habitats and migration routes. To facilitate these, over a dozen research expeditions across Eurasia were undertaken. A most prominent of the latter was the one organized by Count J. Zichy to the Caucasus and Central Asia in 1895. Goals. The article attempts a detailed insight into the expedition to pay closer attention to its previously overlooked aspects. So, the study shall duly seek to recognize certain prerequisites and objectives of the campaign, examine the preparation process, trace the course of the journey proper, specify the role of its leader, and outline some key results. Materials and methods. The analysis involves multiple sources, such as the published expeditionary report, a diary by the expedition member L. Szádecky-Kardoss, documents from the State Archive of Stavropol Krai articulating the Russian Government’s attitude to the travelers, and messages in the then periodicals. Results. The expedition organized by J. Zichy was to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the Hungarians’ arrival in the Middle Danube (1896). So, there were two main objectives. The first one was to obtain historical, archeological and linguistic evidence to confirm J. Zichy’s hypothesis Hungarians had come from the North Caucasus. The second one was to collect materials for an ethnographic section of the anniversary exhibition. The initiator, organizer, leader and sponsor of the journey was Count Jenő Zichy, a Hungarian landowner and politician. The expedition was attended by six more individuals, including linguist Gábor Bálint, archeologist Mόr Wosinsky, and historian Lajos Szádecky-Kardoss. From April to August of 1895, they moved through the whole North Caucasus — from Kuban to Dagestan, crossed over Transcaucasia (Georgia and Azerbaijan), voyaged to Central Asia (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). The Hungarian researchers used comprehensive methods of research: they would collect and investigate historical messages, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, linguistic and ethnographic data. On the way back they visited Moscow and St. Petersburg to explore libraries and archives, and J. Zichy was granted an audience with Emperor Nicholas II. Conclusions. J. Zichy and his companions did gather a large amount of interesting materials and compiled archaeological and ethnographic collections. However, the rapid movement and ban on any archaeological excavations made the latter fragmentary and incomplete enough. So, J. Zichy would organize two more expeditions in years to come, the latter’s routes to partially coincide with that of the first one. Still, he was never able to find evidence supporting his hypothesis about the Caucasian ancestral homeland of Hungarians. Despite this, the materials and collections gathered would by themselves pose a most valuable contribution to science.

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