Besenyodi Family History

The Besenyodi familly have Hungarian and Turkish roots. "Besenyodi" is Hungarian for   "Pechenegs". It describes a tribe of Turkish origin. The Besenyodi family has a long and complex history, which is detailed in "Besenyodi History" below.  Besenyodi family researchers have discovered much about this family but there may be more that can be added by other user contributors on this page.

The name Besenyodi is Hungarian origin, however it describes a group of semi-nomadic people, relatives of Turkish nationality. This name has many variations including "Pechenegs", "Patzinaks", "Beçenek", and "Patzinag". The Byzantines were allied with the Besenyods, who helped the Roman empire in their battle against the Huns (Magyars / Hungarians). After many years, when there was no more need for the Besenyodis ,they became very good merceranies. Interestingly, they married only within their own tribe. They have tried to preserve their own traditions and tried to remain fully Besenyodis.... but they have assimilated into the Hungarian culture as the generations passed.

They were semi-nomadic people, relatives of the Turks. In Mahmud Kashgari's 11th-century work Dīwānu Lughati t-Turk (Arabic: ديوان لغات الترك‎),^[1] the name Beçenek is given two meanings. The first is "a Turkish nation living around the country of the Rum", where Rum was the Turkish word for the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). Kashgari's second definition of Beçenek is "a branch of Oghuz Turks"; he subsequently described the Oghuz as being formed of 22 branches, of which the 19th branch was named Beçenek. Max Vasmer derives this name from the Turkish word for "brother-in-law" or "relative" (Turkmen: bacanak and Turkish: bacanak).   According to Kashgari, Pechenegs are one of Üçok tribes of the Oghuz.^[2]

Whatever the truth of this, the Pechenegs emerge in the historical records only in the 8th and 9th centuries, inhabiting the region between the lower Volga, the Don and the Ural Mountains. By the 9th and 10th centuries, they controlled much of the steppes of southwestern Eurasiaand the Crimean Peninsula. Although an important factor in the region at the time, like most nomadic tribes their concept of statecraft failed to go beyond random attacks on neighbours and spells as mercenaries for other powers.

According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, writing in c. 950, Patzinakia, the Pecheneg realm, stretched west as far as the Siret River (or even the Eastern Carpathian Mountains), and was four days distant from "Tourkias" (i.e. Hungary).

The whole of Patzinakia is divided into eight provinces with the same number of great princes. The provinces are these: the name of the first province is Irtim; of the second, Tzour; of the third, Gyla; of the fourth, Koulpei; of the fifth, Charaboi; of the sixth, Talmat; of the seventh, Chopon; of the eighth, Tzopon. At the time at which the Pechenegs were expelled from their country, their princes were, in the province of Irtim, Baitzas; in Tzour, Konel; in Gyla, Kourkoutai; in Koulpei, Ipaos; in Charaboi, Kaidoum; in the province of Talmat, Kostas; in Chopon, Giazis; in the province of Tzopon, Batas. ^[3]

According to Omeljan Pritsak, the Pechenegs are descendants from the ancient Kangars, i.e. Kangly. According to him, the Pechenegs originate from Tashkent. They were an agglomeration of Tocharian, East-Iranian and several types of Turkic peoples. Their religion ranged fromTengrism, Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism to Islam.

Besenyodi is Hungarian and it means  "Pechenegs". It describes a tribe of Turkish origin.

At least some branches of the Besenyodi family may be Hungarian/Turkish.