 The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin , also Hungarian conquest or Hungarian land @-@ taking ( Hungarian : honfoglalás : " conquest of the homeland " ) was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarian people in Central Europe at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries . Before the arrival of the Hungarians , three early Slavic states had existed in the Carpathian Basin: the Principality of Rus ' , the Principality of Duklja and the Principality of Serbia . The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin was the result of a series of political and military events.