- 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.