[1][2] They have distant Hungarian ancestors who intermarried with locals[3] and probably date back to the late 16th century,[citation needed] when portions of both Hungary and Egypt were part of the Ottoman Empire.

Supposedly, a portion or the entirety of the fighting unit remained there and intermarried with the local Nubian women.

They were not documented by Europeans until 1935 when László Almásy, who was himself Hungarian, and his co-worker, the German engineer and explorer Hansjoachim von der Esch, happened upon a tribe in the region of Nubia.

Representatives of the tribes later attempted to make contact with Hungarian officials but failed to do so because of the outbreak of World War II.

His notes showed that all Magyarab in Wadi Halfa were convinced that their ancestors came from "Nemsa" (the Arabic word for Austria), which might refer to any region of Austria-Hungary.