Croatia and Slavonia, as well as Hungary, among other Balkan states, or states close to the Balkans, such as Slovakia, became home to a number of people who were not of European origin. The surnames that they and their descendants came to bear betray their origin in other parts of the world. As I demonstrate in this paper, I have discovered that a number of Kurds, Yezidis in particular, settled in Slavonia and elsewhere in the Balkans prior to the twentieth century, and never left. I discuss other peoples of non-European origin as well, such as Padjanaks, or Kushans, and Kangar, and show records of persons bearing as surnames those tribal names.
The Writings of Joseph Amyot Padjan