Kende

for the town in Mali see Kendé, Mali

The kende (or kündü) was one of the kings of the dual-monarchy of the early Hungarians along with the gyula or war-chief. The function of the kende is believed to have been a religious one ("sacral prince"). At the time of the Magyar migration to Pannonia, the kende was named Kurszán. Upon Kurszán's death in a raid in approximately 907 CE, the office was taken up by the gyula Árpád, creating a single-head monarchy for Hungary. Though there are some scholars (for example Gyula Kristó) who believe that Árpád was the kende, who later took up the functions of the gyula.