 Written sources on the prehistoric Hungarians may begin with Herodotus , who wrote of the <unk> , a people of equestrian hunters who lived next to the <unk> . Based on the location of the homeland of the <unk> and their ethnonym , Gyula Moravcsik , János <unk> , and other scholars identify them as Hungarians ; their view has not been universally accepted . The 6th @-@ century Byzantine historian John Malalas referred to a Hunnic tribal leader called <unk> , who ruled around 527 AD . Moravcsik , Dezső Pais , and other historians connect <unk> 's name to the Hungarians ' <unk> ( Magyar ) ; they say Malalas 's report proves the presence of Magyar tribes in the region of the Sea of Azov in the early 6th century AD . This identification is rejected by most scholars . 
