JASZBERENY

city, located in the Jszberny jrs (district), but administratively separate from Jsz-Nagykun-Szolnok megye (county), central Hungary. A market centre, it lies on the Zagyva River, a tributary of the Tisza. It has long been the cultural, economic, and administrative centre of the Jsz (or Jazygen) peoples, a steppe tribe that settled there in the early 13th century and mixed with the Kipchaks. (Ten major settlements in the area carry the prefix Jsz; the area itself is known as Jszsg.) For their military services the Jsz received special privileges from Bla IV (king of Hungary 123570), which were temporarily suspended in 1702 by Leopold I, Holy Roman emperor, who sold the land to the Teutonic Knights. But a few decades later, the Jsz and Kipchaks paid a large ransom in gold gulden to redeem their territory, and the privileges continued until 1876. Jszberny preserves two interesting legends. There is a tradition that it was the seat of Attila, king of the Huns (d. 453), and that his gold, silver, and iron coffin is sunk in the Zagyva River bed. Jszberny is located about 40 miles (64 km) east of Budapest. The city's industries include production of machine tools, refrigerators, metals, furniture, textiles, and food processing. Pop. (1991 est.) 29,221.