The history of the ethnic group, known collectively as the "Gypsies," is a long and muddled one. For a long time, no one knew their origins. Now as we’re beginning to unravel their past, their future is uncertain. But what is certain is an underlying culture that connects Gypsies regardless of what part of the world they are settled in.
Who are you and whence do you come?
Why have you forgotten yourself? Oh, my darling!
These lice-ridden Gorgios gave you dirty and false names as Lubni and Mugni, Xorasani and Osmani,
But you are Mother India's forgotten child Ramni, now called Romni.
In fact you are the flowing Ganges water mixed with the waters of the river Nile, Euphrates and Danube.
- J.S. Pathania (re-translated from the Romani original)
It is well accepted now that the Gypsies probably originated from India. There are many legends that attest to this, as well as linguistic ties that make this conclusion all but guaranteed. Moreover, cultural similarities have led most scholars to agree with this theory. The Gypsies, or as they call themselves Roma, are a curious ethnicity that "never sleep twice in the same place never drink water twice from the same well, and never cross the same river twice in one year." I would like to explain a very brief history of the Gypsies, and show the underlying Indian connection to this ethnic group. In recent years (especially since the fall of the Easter Bloc), the Romani have attempted to connect with their Indian past, and perhaps we should know more about these lost relatives, so we can forge closer ties. Since most Romani live in Eastern Europe, it may help Indians, and India solidify stronger ties with Eastern Europeans as well. This can be a connection with large ramifications. At the very least, we will learn more about an ethnic group that has forever been dismissed, ridiculed and downright denigrated.
The term "Gypsies" is an historical aberration, and actually originated in the region of Armenia. A few hundred years ago the Gypsies had settled into this region and formed camps in and on the outskirts of cities. One major camp was known as "Little Egypt", because the locals believed the people were from Egypt. Thus the term Gypsies is derived from Egyptian. However, the connection to Egypt is all but completely non-existent.
There are many legends in Roma culture. Roma culture is filled with exquisite stories, and is very art-oriented, something I have always found true with our great Hindu/Indian culture. Roma culture is also very music-oriented, and there is reason to believe that there is an Indian connection to this. One very popular Roma myth explains how the Romani were forced out of India:
From Konrad Bercovici, STORY OF THE GYPSIES [1]:
We were then living on the Ganges. And our chief was a powerful chief… a man whose voice was heard over all the land and whose judgments were final. This chief had an only son whose name was Tchen.
In the land of the Hind there ruled a powerful king whose favorite wife had borne him an only child, a daughter, whom he named Gan. One day a sorcerer told this king that a man was to invade the Hind, at the head of a numerous horde and overrun the land and destroy the king and his family, and become the master of the country. The sorcerer also told him that this conqueror should be immune from every form of death, but that it was written that he would perish if he should do violence to the Gypsy.
To save his newly-born daughter, the king called our chief, Tchen's father, whose friend he was, and it was agreed between them that the child was to be taken secretly to the tent of the Gypsy chief and only the chief's wife would know who the child really was. Three days later our Barrosan announced to his people that his wife had given birth to a girl, and that her name was Gan...and so it was that Tchen and Gan grew up in the same tent.
When Tchen was to be wived, they asked him to choose from the girls of his tribe, but there was no one he desired. Again and again, the most beautiful girls danced before him, but he found none to his liking. In the meantime, the old chief died. Tchen threatened to kill himself, for he realized that he loved his own sister. So his mother told him that Gan was the daughter of the king of the Hind and not his sister.
The people were torn in two; those who agreed that everything the young chief did was right, and the other which swore not to live under a chief who married his own sister. Tchen dared not tell the truth, lest the invader destroy Gan.
Meanwhile one of Skender's generals came down like a cyclone upon the land of the Hind, devastating and destroying everything. As the sorcerer had foretold, the king of the Hind was killed with all his wives...their bones left under a pile of stones at the ruined palace.
One of the Gypsies approached this great conqueror to ask him for a judgment on a sister marrying a brother… but the conqueror looked at him with scorn and hit him a fatal blow on the head. At that moment, the great general and his horse burst and crumbled like a clay pot tossed on a rock. The wind blew his remains into the desert.
Those who opposed Tchen pursued him and his followers to the end of the land and beyond. Those who had remained faithful to their chief were called "Tchen-Gans" ...meaning brothers who married their sisters. And a great sorcerer cursed Tchen and those following him, saying that they should forever wander over the face of the earth, never sleep twice in the same place never drink water twice from the same well, and never cross the same river twice in one year.
Though this particular legend suggests the Roma are from the Ganges region of India, the veracity of such legends is tough to measure. For centuries the origins of the Gypsies were shrouded in mystery. Here today and gone tomorrow, these banks of dark-skinned nomads with strange habits aroused the curiosity of sedentary populations, and many writers constructed a variety of often far-fetched hypotheses in an attempt to explain the enigma.
In the nineteenth century, although scientific investigation had already provided the answer, the most fantastic myths were still being made.
This jumble of ingenious superstitions and shaky hypotheses did not survive serious study of the language of the Gypsies. As early as during the Renaissance scholars had some notions of this language, but they did not connect it to any linguistic group nor locate the area in which it originated. At the end of the eighteenth century, however, scholars were able to determine the origin of the Gypsies on the basis of scientific evidence.
Since then eminent linguists have confirmed the analyses of these early scholars. The grammar and vocabulary of the language of the Gypsies are close to those of Sanskrit and to such living languages as Kashmiri, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Nepali. Modern scholars no longer doubt that the Gypsies originated in India, but many problems concerning ethnic group, social class, and the period of their earliest migrations still need to be elucidated.
Linguistics is the discipline best able to locate the origin of the Gypsies, but anthropology, medical science and ethnology also have a contribution to make.
Documentation on the period that may be called "the prehistory of the Gypsies" is extremely limited. The writers of ancient India were only interested in gods and kings, and paid scant attention to the people known as the Zott, the Jat, the Luli, the Nuri, or the Dom. [2]
Today it is known that Romani, the language of the Gypsies, is a sister language of Sanskrit. This was first proven by a German philologist, H.M.G. Grellman, in the late eighteenth century, who conducted a study of Romani words (later consolidated in a fifteen page catalogue) and compared it to Sanskrit, finding at least a third of them to be of Hindu origin. Future comparisons yielded the discovery that the grammatical construction and vocabulary of Romani very closely resembles that of the language spoken by the Jats, a nomadic tribe of northwestern India. [3]
Many now believe that the Roma were a group from NorthWest India, mainly low-caste Sudra, who left India. Many legends suggest they were banished. These people traveled through the Mid-East, and eventually reached Europe. There are three main migration periods. The first is the exodus from India. The second is the movement from the Mid-East to Europe (mainly the Armenian "Little Egypt" Region). The third has been post-World War II. The Roma were absolutely destroyed by the Nazi's who killed them en masse (in fact the death penalty was less stringent for Jews than for the Roma. If you were 1/4 Jewish, you would be killed, but if you were 1/16th Roma, you would be put to death). This was not new, the persecution of the Gypsies began centuries prior to the 1940's, and was a part of the Northern Europe's cultural heritage so to speak.
Today, the Roma are dispersed into three categories, based on geography the Rom (European Roma), Lom (specifically the Armenians), and Dom (in the Mid-east, specifically Iran). These terms are all phonetically correspondent to Sanskrit's "domba", or modern Indian terms like dom or dum.
In Sanskrit domba means “man of low caste living by singing and music.” In modern Indian tongues the corresponding words have similar or related meanings: in Lahnda it is “menial”; in Sindhi, “caste of wandering musician”; in Panjabi, “strolling musician”; in West Pahari it means “low-caste man.” There are references to the Dom as musicians from the sixteenth century. The Dom still exist in India; they are nomads who do a number of jobs: basket-making, smithing, metalworking, scavenging, music-making. Not surprisingly, many people have leapt on a Dom theory of origins for the Gypsies.
This also makes sense in a cultural sense, since the Roma have traditionally been known for two types of work: either art/music related, or metallurgy. [3] In fact, it is the Roma's metallurgy ability that has led many to believe they helped educate the world about the ancient Indian techniques.
By 400 A.D., we see the first mention of the group that would one day be called the Gypsies. Bahram Gur, Shah of Persia, sends for 10,000 Luri (or Zotts, depending on which translation) to be brought from the borders of India into his court. These Zotts were renowned musicians and dancers at this time. They became favorites of the Persian court, to the point that once the Caliphs took over, the Zotts (derivation of Jatts perhaps) were moved to Antioch to keep them away from the courts in case they were still sympathetic to the deposed Shah.
When they went to Antioch, they took their music, and their cattle. They were a settled people there, until c. 820 A.D., when they were forcibly moved from the area to Baghdad, then separated into smaller groups so as not to cause any more trouble for the Arabs over their cattle-grazing rights.
By 1050 A.D., the gypsies had made their way to Constantinople and the rest of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Monomachus asked the Adsincani (derived from the Greek "Atsinganoi" which is the root word for various names that the gypsies are called now, such as Tzigane, Zincali, etc.) to rid his forests of the wild animals which were killing off his stock in his hunting preserve. These people were well known for their ability with animals, along with their proficiency at metalwork and music.
As the Ottoman Empire spread, so did the gypsies. They are recorded in Serbia in 1348, Bulgaria in 1378 and can be documented in Hungary in 1383. The Ottomans were actually the first to refer to the gypsies as "Egyptians" in 1396 in what is now Bulgaria. These were a useful and well-received people in the Middle East and Eastern Europe during this time on the whole. The only place that this could not be said was true was in Romania. In 1385 there is the first record of gypsy slaves. But even then, they were coveted all over for their abilities in metalwork, music and animal handling. They also became well known as proficient mercenaries for hire, their prowess on the field legendary in Hungary and Romania, both fighting for the Turks and against them.
In 1407, everything changed for the gypsies. Historians are divided as to how they came up with the idea to go to Western Europe as penitent pilgrims. To the gypsies, this "pilgrimage" is known as the Hakko Baro, or the Great Game/Scam [4]. They appeared outside of the gates of Hildesheim, Germany, with letters from King Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, granting them safe passage through all lands under his domain. From there, they traveled to Italy, telling their story to the Pope, who in turn gave them letters of safe passage and a letter stating that all dioceses that these people come across would give them money and food.
When they showed up with these letters outside the gates of Paris in 1427, they caused quite a commotion. An alderman wrote in his journal of their approach to the gates, with the "barely clad women" telling people’s fortunes, and their men dressed in scarlet, daring you to ignore them. All in their traveling group stayed outside the gates but for their leaders, who presented the letters to the authorities in the city.
Once they appeared in Western Europe, opinions began to change on how useful and alike to others the Gypsies were. In Eastern Europe and Germany, you see legislation begin to be passed forbidding gypsies entry into certain towns. The reasoning behind these laws was to quell the idea that they gypsies were Turkish spies and traitors to whatever country they were in at the time. Unfortunately, all this seemed to do was incite more and more suspicion, which eventually made the Gypsies second-class citizens in most Europeans eyes.
By the mid-16th century, the gypsies were not even safe in Turkish-controlled lands. What was different here was the fact that the settled Gypsies were the ones being persecuted here, instead of the nomadic Gypsies. They were taxed heavily, and "persuaded" to convert to Islam, sometimes being imprisoned and/or killed for not converting.
From this time period on, Gypsies become outcasts, with the peak of dehumanization and torture appearing during World War II with the Final Solution encompassing Gypsies along with Jews. Along with the human loss from that time, we also lost many of the people who actually may have been able to answer some of the questions that historians still pose today as to the origins of this people. [4]
To the Roma the persecution during the 1940's is as important as it is to the Jews. The Romani Anthem (International Roma organizations have attempted to codify Roma culture in an attempt to unite the various groups. The Roma now have an anthem, as well as a flag that contains a 16 spoke -as opposed to the Indian 24 spoke- Chakra) articulates the troubled history of these people [5]:
I went, I went on long roads
I met happy Roma
O Roma where do you come from,
With tents on happy roads?
O Roma, O fellow Roma
I once had a great family,
The Black Legions* murdered them
Come with me Roma from all the world
For the Romani roads have opened
Now is the time, rise up Roma now,
We will rise high if we act
O Roma, O fellow Roma
*(the Black Legions refers to the Black uniformed SS, Gestapo as well as the "Death's Head Battalion" concentration camp units).
Today the Roma are trying to reach out to their past, and understand themselves better. Freedom after the fall of the Soviet Bloc has created an impetus to learn more about themselves. Clearly this has led them to turn their sights and hearts towards India. It is important for us Indians, and specifically us Hindus, to reach out to this community. They are a great example of the plight of Indians around the world. They have endured persecution from the Arabs, the Nazis and have been sent on Slave-ships to the Americas. They have inhabited most of the world at some point, and have been ambassadors of Indian culture and science. They are known for their metallurgy, and their music, two talents India has always been known for as well. For many Roma a new identity, which one might call “Hindupen” is growing out of an unprecedented pride in origins. [3]
In conclusion, I would like to suggest we have an appreciation for these people, who even today, are ridiculed and derided. The term "Gypsy" has a bad connotation, and is of ill-repute. It is best to know more about them, if for nothing at least to learn more about our own ancient land, which they proudly believe to be their own as well.
Darn, it is a disgrace that people would have to emigrate from India in those days. India has always been a refuge for oppressed peoples. Starting from the Parsis and Jews, to today's Tibetans. Yet, at the same time we were accepting Parsis, how could we kick out people of the Hind? This caste-system has been abused a lot, it is like communism, it is an economic ideal that is corrupted into becoming a political system. This was probably the same problem that led to the alienation of the Islamized Indians, the upper castes were too stuck up because the pure Indian blood had been polluted with a generation of Turk or Persian (which has been assimilated anyway).
On top of that, the Hindutva movement is continuously trying to alienate, isolate and ghettoize Indian Muslims. What we should do, is correct mistakes of the past, and reintegrate alienated groups not only into Indian lifestyle, but into Hinduism, because even if you are a Hindu, you can still do namaz 5 times a day, do the Haj, be a monotheist, since Hinduism says there is no 1 way to reach God, and all different schools of thought in Hinduism usually contradict each other. So, Islam can be brought as another school of thought of Hinduism.
The Origin of the Gypsies is an often confusing one, between the
inconsistencies of the documentation of the Gaje (non-gypsy) or the
legends that have been passed down from the Roma themselves, you can
find a different story of their beginnings at every turn. What I will
try to do in this class is try to sort out the myths and the facts, and
pull together a cognizant history of the Roma people in period.
No one source can definitively say why they left India at all. One
theory is that the gypsies were in the Indus River Valley before the
rise of Hinduism. As the caste system was set up, the gypsies, who
could not assimilate to their new "masters", and could not seemingly be
killed off, they set up the Sudra caste, the servants of the other three
castes in Hinduism. Another theory states that the gypsies were thrown
out of India by their own people because of a disagreement that lead to
a long and bloody war. This theory is supported by the legend of Tchen
and Gan. A legend that the gypsies still tell today. Still another
theory believes that Alexander led the first gypsies from India, sending
them to Macedonia to work metal for him. As up until World War II, the
Macedonian Gypsies spoke the purest form of Romany, the closest version
to the Sanskrit on which it is based.
Regardless of which theory is correct, in c. 400 A.D., we see the first
mention of the group that would one day be called the Gypsies. Bahram
Gur, Shah of Persia, sends for 10,000 Luri (or Zotts, depending on which
translation) to be brought from the borders of India into his court.
These Zotts were renowned musicians and dancers at this time. They
became favorites of the Persian court, to the point that once the
Caliphs took over, the Zotts were moved to Antioch to keep them away
from the courts in case they were still sympathetic to the deposed Shah.
When they went to Antioch, they took their music, and their cattle.
They were a settled people there, until c. 820 A.D., when they were
forcibly moved from the area to Baghdad, then separated into smaller
groups so as not to cause any more trouble for the Arabs over their
cattle?s grazing rights.
By 1050 A.D., the gypsies had made their way to Constantinople and the
rest of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Monomachus asked the ?Adsincani?
(derived from the Greek "Atsinganoi" which is the root word for various
names that the gypsies are called now, such as Tzigane, Zincali, etc.)
to rid his forests of the wild animals which were killing off his stock
in his hunting preserve. These people were well known for their ability
with animals, along with their proficiency at metalwork and music.
As the Ottoman Empire spread, so did the gypsies. They are recorded in
Serbia in 1348, Bulgaria in 1378 and can be documented in Hungary in
1383. The Ottomans were actually the first to refer to the gypsies as
"Egyptians" in 1396 in what is now Bulgaria. These were a useful and
well-received people in the Middle East and Eastern Europe during this
time on the whole. The only place that this could not be said was true
was in Romania. In 1385 there is the first record of gypsy slaves. But
even then, they were coveted all over for their abilities in metalwork,
music and animal handling. They also became well known as proficient
mercenaries for hire, their prowess on the field legendary in Hungary
and Romania, both fighting for the Turks and against them.
In 1407, everything changed for the gypsies. Historians are as
opinionated as to how they came up with the idea to go to Western Europe
as penitent pilgrims. To the gypsies, this "pilgrimage" is known as the
Hakko Baro, or the Great Game/Scam. They appeared outside of the gates
of Hildesheim, Germany, with letters from King Sigismund, the Holy Roman
Emperor, granting them safe passage through all lands under his domain.
From there, they traveled to Italy, telling their story to the Pope, who
in turn gave them letters of safe passage and a letter stating that all
dioceses that these people come across would give them money and food.
When they showed up with these letters outside the gates of Paris in
1427, they caused quite a commotion. An alderman wrote in his journal
of their approach to the gates, with the "barely clad women" telling
peoples? fortunes, and their men dressed in scarlet, daring you to
ignore them. All in their travelling group stayed outside the gates but
for their leaders, who presented the letters to the authorities in the
city.
Once they appeared in Western Europe, opinions began to change on how
useful and alike to others the Gypsies were. In Eastern Europe and
Germany, you see legislation begin to be passed forbidding gypsies entry
into certain towns. The reasoning behind these laws was to quell the
idea that they gypsies were Turkish spies and traitors to whatever
country they were in at the time. Unfortunately, all this seemed to do
was incite more and more suspicion, which eventually made the Gypsies
second-class citizens in most Europeans? eyes.
By the mid-16th century, the gypsies were not even safe in Turkish-
controlled lands. What was different here was the fact that the settled
Gypsies were the ones being persecuted here, instead of the nomadic
Gypsies. They were taxed heavily, and "persuaded" to convert to Islam,
sometimes being imprisoned and/or killed for not converting.
From this time period on, Gypsies become more outcast, with the peak of
dehumanization and torture appearing during World War II with the Final
Solution encompassing Gypsies along with Jews. Along with the human
loss from that time, we also lost many of the people who actually may
have been able to answer some of the questions that historians still
pose today as to the origins of this people.
Book Bibliography
"Gypsies: from India to the Mediterranean" Donald Kenrick, 1993.
University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN: 2865650820
"Pariah Syndrome" Ian Hancock, 1987. Karoma Publishers, Inc. ISBN:
0897200799
"A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia" David M. Crowe,
1996. St. Martin?s Press. ISBN: 0312129467
"Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanes)" Donald Kenrick and
Gillian Taylor, 1998. Scarecrow Press. ISBN: 0810834448
"Handbook of the Vlax Romani" Ian Hancock, 1995. Slavica Publishers.
ISBN: 0893572586
"The Rom: Walking the Paths of the Gypsies" Roger Moreau, 1997. Key
Porter Books. ISBN: 1550138685
"History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 1: Empire of the
Gazis 1280-1808" Stanford Shw, 1976. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN: 0521212804
"Gypsies Their Life, Lore, and Legends" Konrad Bercovici, 1983. Random
House Publishers. ISBN:051741290x
"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire" Lord
Kinross, 1988. William Morrow and Co. ISBN: 0688080936
because the pure Indian blood had been polluted with a generation of Turk or Persian
stfu indie-boy
btw. i had a good hamburger today... maybe the cow had the soul of one of your relatives LOL
btw. back 2 topic.
the gypsies are next to the jews (sadly!) one of the "folks" which has (the jews had!) a bad reputation. everywhere there are outsiders which aren't accepted in the states they live. even in poor countries they look down on them times changed a little bit but the word has still a bad aftertaste...
one reason is that they didn't manage to be succesfull like jews which were through the history good trade or -handyman or to assimilate into the societies.
‘‘Italy unfortunately has been long excluded from the number of European powers. If Italians today are worthy of resuming their rights, someday they will see their country arise with glory among the powers of the earth.’’--Napoleone Buonaparte
Yo Turkey biyatch, did you care to read what I wrote, or do you take long posts, copy-paste them to Microsoft Word and click on Autosummarize. Well, it is a fact that North Indian Muslims are under-achievers compared to North Indian Hindus and South Indians. It must be that 0.2% Turk they have in them, made them dumb.
@Azzuro, we'll take them back, 4sho. We'll return them to their homeland. Ahah, I realized, make a Gypsy Israel, by gifting Baluchistan to the gypsies, lol.
Stop insulting Turks bharat, there is no need for that. We have sufficient occidental racism lately, no need for any racism from the orient. Live in peace.
Little Europe-thinking just doesn't work anymore...
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister
Excuse me, I have not insulted Turks except my last message which was aimed specifically at this Turkish guy. If you would care to read the response I had posted previously, you will see that I criticize the racism and rigidity practiced by the Hindu Brahmins at the time for alienating forcibly converted Muslims and out-casting Hindu women who had been raped by Turkish soldiers (because it was her fault for being seductive).
What you accuse me of is like calling Hitler a Marxist.
I 've read a pretty interesting article about the damask-forged blades that the Saracens had during the crusades. These blades could cut the armor of the knights, bend 90 degrees and remain sharp for a long time. It is thought that the process of forging damask blades was developed in India, and through the gypsies it passed to the Saracens and Turks. Pretty interesting if you ask me.
Molon Lave When once you have tasted flight,
you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been,
and there you will always long to return. Leonardo da Vinci
Hi bharat, I've never accused you of being a racist, I've just criticized your words. I have just tried to prevent this thread from flaming, that's all. Take care, and accept my regards.
Little Europe-thinking just doesn't work anymore...
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister
@Azzuro, we'll take them back, 4sho. We'll return them to their homeland. Ahah, I realized, make a Gypsy Israel, by gifting Baluchistan to the gypsies, lol.
Italy would praise India if you guys took them back.
‘‘Italy unfortunately has been long excluded from the number of European powers. If Italians today are worthy of resuming their rights, someday they will see their country arise with glory among the powers of the earth.’’--Napoleone Buonaparte
I support Kyle Broslowski
Wise Padishah (Premier Login Padishah) Arab Legion
WIKIPEDIA
June 9 2004, 4:25 AM
Here is Wikipedia's take on the Romani(Gypsies)...
Roma (people)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from Romani)
The Roma (singular Rom), commonly known—and to them, pejoratively—as Gypsies, are a traditionally nomadic people who originated in northern India but currently live worldwide, chiefly in Europe. Most Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of northern India.
Their principal occupations over the centuries have been as itinerant peddlers, metal workers and horse dealers.
Roma were widely believed to have psychic powers (see the popular stereotype of the Gypsy fortune-teller), and some romantics attribute the invention of the Tarot cards to them. This may reflect the belief that the Roma, being of Egyptian origin, had knowledge of lost arts and sciences of the ancient Egyptians.
Name and language
Collectively, they are referred to as Roma, or more popularly Gypsies or Gipsies, which is derived from Egypt, for it is believed that when the Roma first arrived in Europe, their darker skins caused many Europeans to believe that they were natives of Egypt—the only hot foreign country most Europeans had heard of. The term was never used by the Roma to describe themselves but was imposed by outsiders. The term Gypsy has long been associated with persecution and fails to recognize that the Roma form distinct (although culturally and socio-economically related) groups.
Most Roma refer to themselves by one generic name, Rom (meaning “man” or “husband”). They have their own language Romany. Caló is jargon using Romany lexicon and Spanish grammar that Spanish Roma (the calé) used when they lost full Romany. It is the source of many words of Spanish cant and slang. Analysis of the Romany language has shown that it is related to those spoken in northern India, such as Hindi and Punjabi, which is believed to indicate their true geographical origin. Loanwords in Roma make it possible to trace the pattern of their migration west. Body habitus and ABO blood group distribution is also consistent with northern Indian warrior classes.
In recent years there has been a movement towards use of the "double-R" spellings of "Rroma" for the people and "Rromanes" for the language.
History
The Roma are believed to have left India about A.D. 1000 and to have passed through what is now Afghanistan, Persia, Armenia, and Turkey. People recognizable by other Roma as Roma still live as far east as Iran, including some who made the migration to Europe and returned. It is virtually impossible to identify Roma still living in India. By the 14th century, Roma had reached the Balkans and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated south through Syria to North Africa, reaching Europe through the Strait of Gibraltar. Both currents met in today's France.
The reason for the diaspora of the Roma is one of the great mysteries of history. It has been proposed by some scholars that the Roma were originally low caste Hindus recruited into an army of mercenaries, whereupon they were granted warrior caste status, and sent westwards to resist Islamic military expansion. Another theory is that they were captives taken as slaves by Afghan or Iranian conquerors of northern India, and that they became a distinct community in their lands of captivity. Why the Roma failed to return to India, and chose instead to travel ever-further west into the strange and sometimes hostile lands of Europe is an enigma.
Roma immigration to the United States began in colonial times with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger scale immigration began in the 1860s with groups of Romnichal from Great Britain. The largest number of immigrants came over in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. The two groups do not often associate with each other. A large number also moved to Latin America.
People
The world population of Roma is difficult to establish with any certainty. Estimates suggest that there are between approximately 5 and 10 million Roma worldwide. As many as 6 to 8 million Roma live in Europe. The largest concentrations of Roma are found in the Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, in central Europe, the United States, and in Russia and the other successor republics of the USSR. Smaller numbers are scattered throughout western Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
The country with the largest populations of Roma by far is Romania with 0.6—1.5 million (the similarity of names is coincidental). Other countries where Roma populations probably exceed half a million are Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, and the United States.
The Roma recognize divisions among themselves with some sense of territoriality emphasized by certain cultural and dialectal differences. Some authorities delineate four main confederations: (1) the Kalderash (smiths who came from the Balkans and then went to central Europe and North America and are the most numerous), (2) the Gitanos (also called Calé, mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southern France, strong in the arts of entertainment), (3) the Manush (also known as Sinti, mostly in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany, often travelling showmen and circus people), and (4) the Romnichal (Rom'nies), mainly in Great Britain and North America. Each of these main divisions was further divided into two or more subgroups distinguished by occupational specialization or territorial origin or both. Some of these group names include Machavaya (Machwaya), Lovari, Churari, Sinti, Rudari, Boyash, Ludar, Luri, Xoraxai, Ungaritza, Bashaldé, and Romungro.
Rejection
Because of their nomadic life-style, there has always been a great deal of mutual distrust between the Roma and their less mobile neighbours. They were, and frequently still are, popularly believed to be thieves and kidnappers, unfit for sedentary labour, resulting in a great deal of persecution. This belief is the etymological source of the term gyp, meaning "cheat", as in "I got gypped by a con man." The Roma have accepted sometimes among themselves outsiders from mainstream society.
A Spanish Enlightened king tried to suppress discrimination by full integration, forcing them to abandon their language and way of life and forbiding calling them gitanos. This policy didn't succeed though.
This distrust reached a peak in World War II when the Nazis murdered large numbers of Roma. They were one of the major groups (along with Jews, communists, homosexuals, prostitutes, etc.) to be automatically sentenced to imprisonment in a concentration camp or killed on sight. It is believed that 400,000 Roma were killed. See Porajmos
Where possible, many Roma continue their nomadic lifestyle travelling in caravans (small trailer homes), but in many situations in Eastern Europe, they live in depressed squatter communities with very high unemployment. In some cases, notably the Kalderash clan in Romania—traditional coppersmiths, they have prospered.
To this day, there are still clashes between the Roms and the sedentary population around them. Common complaints are that Roms steal and live off social welfare, and residents often reject Rom encampments.
Balkans and Eastern Europe
Many eastern European countries still have substantial populations of Roma. The level of integration of Roma in society still remains limited today. They usually remain on the margins of society, living in isolated ghetto-like settlements. Only a small fraction of Roma children graduate from secondary schools. Usually they feel rejected by the state and main population, which creates another obstacle to their integration. Roma are usually the targets of various form of prejudice. Their situation actually became worse after the fall of communism in some of these eastern states. Slovakia is a good example. In other less biased countries like Romania and Serbia, they could find better chances to lead normal lives. Roma have been targets of attacks by various Neo-Nazi groups. Little or no effort has been made by governments to improve the living condition of Roma.
Most Roma abandoned their nomadic way of life long ago, and a good representation of way of life of Balkan Roma today can be seen in movies by the famous Serbian director Emir Kusturica.
Roma society
The traditional Roma place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women.
Roma music
The Roma have had and still have a prominent role in the evolution of Flamenco music and dance.
Fictional representations of Roma
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, La Gitanilla by Miguel de Cervantes, Montoyas y Tarantos by Saura.
Famous Roma
Django Reinhardt, Carmen Amaya.
Remark
In Germany and Switzerland, France and Austria there also exist so-called white gypsies which are known under the names of Jenische (German spelling), Yéniche (French spelling), and Yenish (English spelling). Their language seems to be grammatically identical with other (Swiss) German dialects; the origin of the lexicon however incorporates German, Romany, Yiddish and other words. See: Jenische (in German) (http://www.thata.ch/jenische.htm)
There is also a group of people in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States called Irish Gypsies or Irish Travellers. They are not genetically related to the Roma, but their nomadic culture has been influenced by them. Their language is mainly based on an Irish Gaelic lexicon and an English-based grammar, with influence from Romany.
The quinqui or mercheros of Spain are a minority group, formerly nomadic, that share a lot of the way of life of Spanish Roma. Their origin is unclear, maybe peasants who lost their land in the 16th century. In spite of sharing persecution and mores with the Roma, the quinqui have often set themselves apart from them.
times changed a little bit but the word has still a bad aftertaste...
