Abstract
We set out to identify the origins of the Árpád Dynasty based on genome sequencing of DNA derived from the skeletal remains of Hungarian King Béla III (1172–1196) and eight additional individuals (six males, two females) originally interred at the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár. Y-chromosome analysis established that two individuals, Béla III and HU52 assign to haplogroups R-Z2125 whose distribution centres near South Central Asia with subsidiary expansions in the regions of modern Iran, the Volga Ural region and the Caucasus. Out of a cohort of 4340 individuals from these geographic areas, we acquired whole-genome data from 208 individuals derived for the R-Z2123 haplogroup. From these data we have established that the closest living kin of the Árpád Dynasty are R-SUR51 derived modern day Bashkirs predominantly from the Burzyansky and Abzelilovsky districts of Bashkortostan in the Russian Federation. Our analysis also reveals the existence of SNPs defining a novel Árpád Dynasty specific haplogroup R-ARP. Framed within the context of a high resolution R-Z2123 phylogeny, the ancestry of the first Hungarian royal dynasty traces to the region centering near Northern Afghanistan about 4500 years ago and identifies the Bashkirs as their closest kin, with a separation date between the two populations at the beginning of the first millennium CE.
Highlights
Materials and methodsThe Árpád Dynasty established the Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin and played a formative role in Eastern European history
The royal regalia unearthed with the remains of Béla III and Anna of Antioch are in the possession of the National Museum of Hungary in Budapest
Additional remains from the site of the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár were excavated in 1862 and 1874 and eight of these were placed in the Matthias Church in 1900 [11]
Summary
Materials and methodsThe Árpád Dynasty (ca. 850–1301 CE) established the Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin and played a formative role in Eastern European history. Historical sources indicate that ten Árpáds, eight kings, and two princes, were laid to rest in the provostry church of the Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár, before the Turkish occupation of that city in 1543 [7,8,9]. The royal remains were discovered in 1848 by the leading archaeologist and historian of the time, János Érdy, a member of the Hungarian Academy and curator of the National Museum in Budapest [10]. The royal regalia unearthed with the remains of Béla III and Anna of Antioch are in the possession of the National Museum of Hungary in Budapest. Additional remains from the site of the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár were excavated in 1862 and 1874 and eight of these were placed in the Matthias Church in 1900 [11]
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