Át kell értékelni a dolgokat:

It is important to bear in mind that Gárdonyi is known for his sensitivity for details which encouraged him to make research in Vienna and Constantinople and to learn Ottoman Turkish. Therefore, his references to the Kurds must have had historical grounds. Indeed, as we have already observed, the Kurds have been participating at the siege of Eger, also known as Agria in Latin and Erlau in German.

The historical records of the siege of 1552 contain all the ingredients of a good adventure story. 2,000 Hungarian defenders, including civilians, for thirty-nine days successfully held out an Ottoman force at least twenty times as great. It was the first successful attempt to oppose the Ottomans in Hungary since the disastrous Battle of Mohács in 1526. Eger had an exceptional commander, István Dobó, who together with Gergely Bornemissza would capture the imagination of Gárdonyi.

First references to the Kurds are in the Ottoman Empire, before the famous battle takes place. In the Seven Towers fortress, Yedikule, at the Sea of Marmara, the life of prisoners of the Sultan, among them the Hungarian ruler Bálint Török, is depicted:

"A Persian prince was sitting under the plane tree; like them, he had been a prisoner for a long time. And there was another Asiatic prince there who was almost mouldering with grief and boredom. They were playing chess. They had played chess from morning till night for years, and they never said a word to each other.

To Bálint and his companion the two chess-players were like the marble gate shining white between the Tower of Blood and the Tower of Gold, or that gigantic old Kurdish dignitary who was then wearing the heaviest chains for having cursed the Emperor, and dropping under the weight of iron sat or lay till dusk in the iron-barred prison of the Tower of Blood. Only his eyes moved as he followed the prisoners walking among the bushes" [4:244].

Gergely Bornemissza and his companions want to release Bálint Török using the tricks:

"They were another thousand or so paces away, walking towards the shore. Gergely was dressed as a dervish, Eva as a Gypsy girl, Jancsi as a Persian merchant, Matyi as a Kurdish biscuit-seller and Meksey as a fishmonger" [4:276].

"The bey strolled calmly down to the beach with master Bálint. They passed the Kurdish biscuit-seller without so much as a glance at him..." [4:277].

However, the main Kurdish hero appears later, during the very siege of Eger. The Hungarians make a surprising attack against the Ottoman soldiers and catch 'a gigantic Kurd' with 'big face' and 'blonde moustache'. He "roared... squirmed and wriggled, but strong hands held him" and took to István Dobó. The latter interrogated him using Gergely Bornemissza's interpretation [4:376].

Then, Gárdonyi interchanges the words Kurd and Turk implying either the man's ethnic background, or his military belonging. Therefore, when captured, the Kurd would call for help in Turkish: "Yetishin!". His name is Djekidj, in the original text Dzsekidzs; he is an infantryman (piad) from the army of Ahmed Pasha. He participated at the battle of Temesvár (nor in Romania). In the conformity with the image of the Turks, Gárdonyi depicts him as a person who is ready to save his neck by revealing the secrets of the Ottoman army, but who has no doubts whatsoever in the final victory of the warriors of Islam. After the interrogation, the soldiers tie him up and throw into the prison [4:376-380].

These details are interesting since there were Kurdish infantrymen in the Ottoman army and since his name might be either a distortion of Chekan, popular amongst the Kurds, or Chakuch meaning 'hammer'.

The Kurd would be eventually released to arrange the exchange of Gergely Bornemissza's son for the talisman ring, which has been taken from another hero. Another interesting reference: Djekidj is ordered by István Dobó to lay "his hand on the Koran" and take the oath [4:451-453].

He does his utmost to carry out the task and therefore deserves István Dobó's generosity and is allowed to go away [4:454-455].

To the best of my judgement, Géza Gárdonyi correctly shows the Kurds of the sixteenth century as faithful Ottoman subjects, who nevertheless reserve the tight to revolt against the Sultan. He depicts them 'gigantic', blonde and trustworthy – probably a reflection of their fame as being brave and proud people of the Indo-European stock. The Kurds are not only warriors, but also cooks and traders. Their basic weakness comes from the fact that they are on the side of the Ottoman conquerors, which makes them not very much different from the pious Muslim Turks.