The principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000 (its alternative date is 1 January 1001).

[21] On the eve of the arrival of the Hungarians (Magyars), around 895, East Francia, the First Bulgarian Empire and Great Moravia[22] ruled the territory of the Carpathian Basin.

[23] This area had been sparsely populated[24][25] since Charlemagne's destruction of the Avar state in 803, and the Magyars were able to move in peacefully and virtually unopposed during the 9th century.

[27] The conquest proper started from 894, when armed conflicts opened with the Bulgarians and Moravians after the requests for help from Arnulf, Frankish king and Leo VI, Byzantine emperor.

[28] During the occupation, the Hungarians found sparse population and met no well-established states or effective control of any empire in the plain.

[32] The invasion was not aimed at plundering the acquired lands as attacks were led by gyula Árpád and kende Kurszán, the two highest-ranking leaders,[33] who left no mass graves behind them showing that the transition back to an Avar-like system was peaceful for the locals.

[29] The principality as a warrior state,[1] with a new-found military might, conducted vigorous raids ranging widely from Constantinople to central Spain.

[35] The Hungarians succeeded in extending the de jure Bavarian-Hungarian border to the River Enns (until 955),[36] and the principality was not attacked from this direction for 100 years after the Battle of Pressburg.

[38] Initially, the Magyars retained a semi-nomadic lifestyle, practising transhumance: they would migrate along a river between winter and summer pastures, finding water for their livestock.

[41] According to another hypothesis, mainly based on Constantine's description, the Hungarians started to really settle western Hungary (Transdanubia) only after 950, because the eastern part of the country was more suitable for a nomadic lifestyle.

[46][verification needed] Taksony also reintroduced the old style military service, changed the weaponry of the army, and implemented large-scale organized resettlements of the Hungarian population.

[48] In 973, twelve illustrious Magyar envoys, whom Géza had probably appointed, participated in the Diet held by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Géza established close ties with the Bavarian court, inviting missionaries and marrying his son to Gisela, daughter of Duke Henry II.

The kingship had been divided between the sacral king (some sources report the titles "prince"[53] or "khan"[54]), or Kende, and the military leader, or gyula.

[55] Moreover, the records do not refer to Grand Princes in the first half of the 10th century, except in one case, where they mention Taksony as 'duke of Hungary' (Taxis-dux, dux Tocsun) in 947.

Their main argument is that the newcomers' cemeteries are too small, indicating that the population was not big enough to make Magyar the dominant language in the Basin.