[3][4] The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin (corresponding to the later Kingdom of Hungary) in a pre-planned manner, with a long period of settlement between 862–895, and launched a number of campaigns both westward into former Francia and southward into the Byzantine Empire.

The westward raids were stopped only with the Magyar defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, which led to the revival of the Holy Roman Empire in 962, producing a new political order in Western Europe.

[5][6] Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote in his work On Administering the Empire that the Khagan and the Bek of the Khazars asked the Emperor Teophilos to have the fortress of Sarkel built for them.

Muslim geographers recorded that the Magyars regularly attacked the neighboring East Slavic tribes in this period, and took captives to sell to the Byzantine Empire at Kerch.

[9] In 881, the Hungarians and the Kabars invaded East Francia and fought two battles, the former (Ungari) at Wenia (probably Vienna)[9] and the latter (Cowari) at Culmite (possibly Kulmberg or Kollmitz in Austria).

[14] In 907 they defeated the invading Bavarians near Brezalauspurc, destroying their army, successfully defending Hungary and laying Great Moravia, Germany, France and Italy open to Magyar raids.

[16] Around 925, according to the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea from the late 12th century, Tomislav of Croatia defeated the Magyars in battle;[17] others question the reliability of this account, because there is no proof of this interpretation in other records.

The Battle of Lechfeld in 955, in which the Magyars lost approximately 5,000 warriors, finally checked their expansion, although raids on the Byzantine Empire continued until 970.

Between 899 and 970, according to the contemporary sources, the researchers count 45 (according to Nagy Kálmán) or 47 (according to Szabados György 38 to West and 9 to East)[23] raids in different parts of Europe.

[76] Paul K. Davis writes, the "Magyar defeat (at the Battle of Lechfeld) ended more than 90 years of their pillaging western Europe and convinced survivors to settle down, creating the basis for the state of Hungary.

"[78] In the following centuries, the Hungarians adopted western European forms of feudal military organization, including the predominant use of heavily armored cavalry.