18 Oct 2005
Monika Kovacs monika_kovacs@hotmail.co.uk wrote:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I was reading about Magars on your website and I understand that they are Mongolian in origin.
I am Hungarian (we call ourselves Magyar) and – as you are probably aware my people originally come from East of the Urals.
I can’t help noticing how similar the two names are and geographically thousands of years ago the two nations would not have been that far from each other. Do you think there is a relation?Hope you can help my curiousity, I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Monika Kovacs
Dear Monica Kovas,
Thanks for the email. As you are struck with the similarity of the words Magar and Magyar so are many of us here in Nepal. This curiosity further led people here to establish Nepal-Hungary Friendship Association on 30 April 996 in Kathmandu. The Chairman of this Association is Mr. Tek Bahadur Thapa, former Secretary of Ministry of Home.
The objectives of the Association were to promote cultural, literary, sports, arts as well as youth programs to create congenial atmosphere among the peoples of both countries, conduct seminar, colloquium and lecture program to have better understanding of both countries, and to promote study to trace out the affinity between Magar ethnic group of Nepal and Magyar tribe of Hungary. This Association has published five volumes of Nepal-Hungary Friendship Association Bulletin so far.
Similarly it is known that a Hungary-Nepal Friendship Society was also established in Hungary on 2 July 1996. Mr. Elek Woynarovich and Mr. K. J. Baral (retired Inspector General of Police, Nepal) were both elected as honorable presidents. The Chairman, General Secretary was Mr. Ferenc Lovass and Sarolta Boda respectively. The address of this Society was BL Studio, 1054 Budapest, Garibaldi u. 7. 1/5a. Hungary. Tel 36-1-131-68-39, Fax 36-1-141-03-05. I understand that Mr. Ferenc Lovass along with his team was here in Kathmandu on film shooting mission with an objective of studying the possibility of close proximity in between Magar and Magyar.
I know not much about their findings but there are still some activities going on towards achieving the objectives set forward by the Association in Nepal. I look forward to strengthen both these institutions of Hungry and Nepal to more arduous research like activities to unearth any relationship in between these communities. The fields for research could be language, art, religion and culture.
Please let me know about any findings from your part. Thanks for visiting our web site and the interest shown in such anthropological matters.
Dr. Govind Prasad Thapa
Chairman