Hungarian engineers working in South America in the 1920’s reported being able to converse with local Indian workers in Hungarian! Following World War II, a Hungarian émigré, Móricz János began to research this phenomenon. He reportedly spoke Hungarian with the members of three tribes in Ecuador – the Cahari, the Mochica and the Puruha. He found other Hungarian-speakers in Peru and the Amazon region. The Cayapas, and the Salasacas (a variation on Zala-szaka, he said) use these words (among many others): “apa” for father, “aya” for mother, “nap” for sun, “kit” for two, “pille” for butterfly,etc. Names found among them that correspond to identical Hungarian names include Tanay, Mór, Béla, Uray, Zillahi, etc. One of their ancient settlements is called Pest.
Móricz did most of his research in Ecuador, whose capital is Quito, named after the ancient empire. According to Móricz, the name of the empire was originally Kitus, or „Két Ős”, i.e., „Two Ancestors”. (This may refer to the memory of Góg and Magóg, the mythical ancestors of the Hungarians.) The Anthropological and Geographical Institute of Quito has determined that the ancient native language exterminated by the Spaniards had been Hungarian.
What they did not exterminate, they Hispanicized. For example, Béla was changed to Buala, Turu-Puxa (Turul-puszta) to Turubamba, etc. It is interesting to remember that the Spanish ruling house was connected with the Hapsburgs at the time.
In 1970, Móricz launched from Ecuador a balsa wood raft, with a crew of four, directed by shortwave radio. The raft arrived off Australia in 159 days, proving that a cross-Pacific voyage was feasible even with such primitive craft. His assumption is that the Hungarian-speaking tribes arrived from the west. He considers Ecuador to have been the ancient home of the Hungarians. Extremely interesting, if true!
A Hungarian émigré geography professor living in Hawaii has compiled a list of 50 Hungarian-sounding geographical names in Hawaii. In the Pacific islands, he found many that correspond to place names along the Balaton in Hungary. Furthermore, he used maps to prove that in Indonesia, every fourth geographical name is Hungarian, and in the Indus Valley, every third name is Hungarian.
Quite eye-opening, isn’t it? Milyen nagyon kicsi (lehet) a világ!
P.S. Móricz’ findings have been attacked by descendents of the Spanish Conquistadores, and by the Rumanians, who claim that any correspondence with names in Transylvania proves that the ancient inhabitants of South America were Rumanian! (Transylvania has been under Rumanian jurisdiction only since 1920!)
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