The area of Budapest was inhabited by Celts 2000 years ago. Later, in the 1st century AD, these areas belonged to the Roman Empire. The area was called Pannonia. The ruins of one of the Roman military cities have been preserved: the baths, the villas, the ruins of the amphitheatre can be found in the 3rd district. In the 5th century the Huns occupied this area. Some linguists believe that BUDA (the western part of Budapest) was named after the leader of Buda, who was the brother of Attila the Great. After the Huns, the area was conquered in the 9th century (around 896 to be precise) by the Hungarian tribes, who were pagan, wandering, savage Asians. By this time, the Hungarians had been migrating for centuries from the centre of (now) Russia (or, according to other scholars, even further east, from near China).
Sometimes they camped, pitched their tents (called "yurts") in optimal areas, raised livestock. They did a lot of fighting on their journey, the women were also very warlike, famously good on horseback, shooting arrows backwards at enemies while galloping.
They also made good contacts on their journey: they lived with many peoples for a time, learning the techniques of fishing and hunting and growing crops. Our language (with Asian roots) has thus become very unique and special.
So, around 896, the nomadic Hungarian tribes found what is now Hungary, and because the climate, the land and the abundance of water made it an ideal place, they expelled the Old Slavs and lived with the remaining tribes for a while. It was during this time that many Slavic words such as bárány (=polish baran, lamb) or galamb (=polish gołąb, pigeon) , etc., were added to our vocabulary.
Some scholars believe that the names BUDA and PESZT were also formed at this time, from Slavic words. The name BUDA is derived from the Old Slavic word "WODA", because the settling Hungarians met these Slavic peoples when they moved into the area. These Slavic tribes had already noticed that there were plenty of springs and running water in the Buda area, so they probably called this part the "water area part", hence the word BUDA. Buda, in the hilly western part of the city, has always been the seat of the ruler and the military centre, as the area was more easily visible from the hills. These linguists think that the word PESZT is also of Old Slavic origin: it may have come from the word PIEC (kemece), because in the area of today's Pest there were already small villages and simple family houses at that time, as the Pest area is flat - it was always easier to build here. And the symbol of the family house, the home, is the furnace, or PIEC. The Hungarian tribes fought with the surrounding peoples for a while, and then Stephen I (or Saint Stephen) made the country a Catholic country. To be continued! :)
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