 The first owners of the region were the Gut-Keled noble family whose members received Balkány as a gift from the king in 1289.Consequently, Balkány was divided up by the family, the western part was given to Paul (Pál) and Thomas (Tamás), the eastern part was taken by Paul's son, Lawrence (Lőrinc).As a result of attacks by the Ottoman Turks and other nomadic tribes Balkány lost its inhabitants and became a ghost town until the late 16th century.