The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an
Indo-Aryan ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, traditionally nomadic
itinerant
An itinerant is a person who travels habitually. Itinerant may refer to:
*"Travellers" or itinerant groups in Europe
* Itinerant preacher, also known as itinerant minister
*Travelling salespeople, see door-to-door, hawker, and peddler
*Travelli ...
s. They live in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, and have
diaspora populations located worldwide, with significant concentrations in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
.
In the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
, the Romani people are widely known by the
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
Gypsies (or Gipsies), which is considered pejorative by many Romani people due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a
racial slur
The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...
.
For versions (some of which are
cognates) of the word in many other languages (e.g., , , it, zingaro, , and ) this perception is either very small or non-existent. At the first
World Romani Congress
The World Romani Congress is a series of forums for discussion of issues relating to Roma people around the world. , there have been ten World Romani Congresses. Among the chief goals of these congresses have been the standardization of the Romani ...
in 1971, its attendees unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani people, including ''Gypsy'', due to their aforementioned negative and stereotypical connotations.
[
Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Roma originated in the ]Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
; in particular, the region of Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
. They are dispersed, but their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
, Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...
(including Southern France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...
), as well as Western Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
(mainly Turkey). The Romani people arrived in West Asia and Europe around the 14th century.
Since the 19th century, some Romani people have also migrated to the Americas. There are an estimated one million Roma in the United States
It is estimated that there are one million Romani people in the United States. Though the Romani population in the United States has largely assimilated into American society, the largest concentrations are in Southern California, the Pacific ...
and 800,000 in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from people deported by the Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
during the Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition ( Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...
. In migrations since the late 19th century, Romani people have also moved to other countries in South America and to Canada. Though often confused with them, the Romani people are culturally different from Irish Travellers
Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...
and the Yenish people
The Yenish (German: ''Jenische''; French: ''Yéniche'') are an itinerant group in Western Europe who live mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and parts of France, roughly centred on the Rhineland. A number of theorie ...
, two groups who may be related to each other.
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Balkan and Greek influence. It is divided into several dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s, which together are estimated to have more than two million speakers. Because it has traditionally been an oral language, many Romani people are native speakers of the dominant language A dominant language may be:
*among the languages known by a multilingual person, the one that they have greater proficiency in
*among the languages spoken in an area, the one with the greatest numbers of speakers, prestige or institutional support
...
in their country of residence or of mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...
s combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani; those varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
are sometimes called Para-Romani
Para-Romani are various mixed languages of non- Indo-Aryan linguistic classification containing considerable admixture from the Romani language. They are spoken as the traditional vernacular of Romani communities, Matras, Y. ''Romani: A Lingu ...
.
The Romani began to leave India about 1,000 years ago. They probably left to escape the invasion of Afghan general Mahmud of Ghazni early in the 11th century. Mahmud's troops likely pushed the Romani out of northern India and into the area that is now Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Population and subgroups
Romani population
For a variety of reasons, many Romanis choose not to register their ethnic identity in official censuses. There are an estimated 10 million Romani people in Europe (as of 2019), although some Romani organizations give estimates as high as 14 million. Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia and Ukraine. In the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, there are an estimated 6 million Romanis. Several million more Romanis may live outside Europe, in particular in the Middle East and in the Americas.
Romani homeland
There is no single Romani "homeland". A home country for the Romani people has been proposed, under the name Romanistan
Romanistan, Romastan or Romanestan is the name of a proposed country for the Romani people.
In the early 1950s, Roma leaders petitioned the United Nations for the creation of their own state, but their petition was rejected. Creation of such a s ...
.
Romani subgroups
Like the Roma in general, many different ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
s are given to subgroups of Roma. Sometimes a subgroup uses more than one endonym, is commonly known by an exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
or erroneously by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description is ''Rom''. Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves and '' Gadjo'' (non-Roma). For instance, while the main group of Roma in German-speaking countries refer to themselves as Sinti
The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
, their name for their original language is ''Romanes''.
Subgroups have been described as, in part, a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population of ''Rom'' almost certainly experienced in their South Asian ''urheimat
In historical linguistics, the homeland or ''Urheimat'' (, from German '' ur-'' "original" and ''Heimat'', home) of a proto-language is the region in which it was spoken before splitting into different daughter languages. A proto-language is the r ...
''.
Many groups use names apparently derived from the Romani word ''kalo'' or ''calo'', meaning "black" or "absorbing all light". This closely resembles words for "black" or "dark" in Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...
(e.g. Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
काल ''kāla'': "black", "of a dark colour"). Likewise, the name of the Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
or Domba people of North India – to whom the Roma have genetic, cultural and linguistic links – has come to imply "dark-skinned", in some Indian languages. Hence names such as ''kale'' and ''calé'' may have originated as an exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
or a euphemism for Roma.
Other endonyms for Romani include, for example:
* ''Ashkali'' – Albanian-speaking Muslim Roma communities in the Balkans
* ''Arlije
The sedentary Arlije are the main group of the Romani people in North Macedonia, and the majority live in Šuto Orizari Municipality. They belong to the Muslim Romani people. There are various subgroups of the Arlije, named after their traditiona ...
'' (also ''Erlides'', ''Yerli'' meaning local, from the Turkish word Yerli) in Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and Turkey to describe sedentary Muslim roma.
* ''Bashaldé'' – Hungarian-Slovak Roma diaspora in the US from the late 19th century.
* ''Çerge'' also ''Čergarja'' (Nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
), Nomadic Lifestyle Muslim Roma at Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and Turkey.
* ''Calé'' is the endonym used by both the Spanish Roma (''gitanos'') and Portuguese Roma ''ciganos''; '' Caló'' is "the language spoken by the ''calé''".
* ''Dasikane'' or ''Daskane'', meaning ''slaves'' or ''servants'', a Religionym and confessionym
Religionym (from la, religio / religion, and gr, ὄνομα / name) and confessionym (from la, confessio / confession, and gr, ὄνομα / name) are polysemic terms, and neologisms, that have several distinctive meanings, generally related ...
for Orthodox Christian Roma in the Balkans.
* ''Sepečides'' meaning ''Basketmaker'', Muslim roma in west thrace Greece.
* ''Kaale'', in Finland and Sweden.
* ''Garachi
The Garachi ( az, Qaraçı; ku, Qereçî; russian: Карачи), also spelled Karachi or Karaci, are a group of the Dom people living in Azerbaijan and Turkey, mostly in the Citys Diyarbakır, Niğde and Birecik. Little research has been done ...
'' Shia Islam followers Roma people in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
* ''Gurbeti
Gurbeti (also Kurbet or Kurbat) are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Serbia and former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up a ...
'' Muslim Roma in Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...
, Turkey and Balkans.
* Kale, ''Kalá'', or ''Valshanange'' – Welsh English
Welsh English ( cy, Saesneg Gymreig) comprises the dialects of English spoken by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and gr ...
endonym used by some Roma clans in Wales.[The Welsh language alphabet lacks the letter "k".] (Romanichal
Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...
also live in Wales.) Romani in Spain are also attributed to the Kale.
* ''Horahane'' or ''Xoraxai'', also known as "Turkish Roma", Muslim Roma, a Religionym and confessionym
Religionym (from la, religio / religion, and gr, ὄνομα / name) and confessionym (from la, confessio / confession, and gr, ὄνομα / name) are polysemic terms, and neologisms, that have several distinctive meanings, generally related ...
in the Balkans for Muslim Romani people.
* ''Lalleri'', from Austria, Germany, and the western Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
(including the former Sudetenland).
* ''Lovari
Lovari ("horse-dealer", from Hungarian "ló", ''horse'') is a subgroup of the Romani people, who speak their own dialect, influenced by Hungarian and West Slavic dialects. They live predominantly throughout Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, Sl ...
'', from Hungary, known in Serbia as ''Machvaya'', ''Machavaya'', ''Machwaya'', or ''Macwaia''.
* ''Lyuli
The Lyuli, Jughi (self-name - ''Mugat'' and Ghorbati) or Jugi are a branch of the Ghorbati people living in Central Asia, primarily Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and southern Kyrgyzstan; also, related groups can be found in Turkey, Crimea, ...
'', in Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
n countries.
* Romanlar in Turkey
The Romani people in Turkey ( tr, Türkiye'deki Romanlar) or Turks of Romani Background ( tr, Roman kökenli Türk) are Turkish citizen and the biggest subgroup of the Turkish Roma, they are Sunni muslims, mostly of Sufism branch,https://acikb ...
, Turkish speaking Muslim roma in Turkey, also called Çingene or Şopar, with all subgroups, who named after their professions, like:
** ''Cambazı'' ( Acrobatics and horse trading
Horse trading, in its literal sense, is the buying and selling of horses, also called "horse dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for sale, the sale of horses offered great opportunities for dishonesty, l ...
)
** ''Sünnetçi'' (Circumciser), like a Mohel
A ( he, מוֹהֵל , Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: , arc, מוֹהֲלָא , "circumciser") is a Jew trained in the practice of , the "covenant of circumcision".
Etymology
The noun ( in Aramaic), meaning "circumciser", is derived f ...
** ''Kuyumcu'' (Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
)
** ''Subaşı'' (Water carrier
Water carrier (also water seller) is a profession that existed before the advent of centralized water supply systems. A water carrier collected water from a source (a river, a well, water pumps, etc.) and transported or carried containers with w ...
)
** ''Çiçekçi'' (Flower seller
A flower seller, normally a woman, traditionally sells flowers on the street. Often the flowers are carried in a basket, for example. The subject matter has been a favorite of artists.Diego RiveraThe Flower Seller, 1942. The profession has mostly d ...
)
** ''Sepetçi'' (Basketmaker
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
)
** ''Ayıcı'' (Bear-leader
A bear-leader was formerly a man who led bears about the country. In the Middle Ages and the Tudor period, these animals were chiefly used in the blood sport of bear-baiting and were led from village to village. Performing bears were also common; ...
)
** ''Kalaycı'' (Tinsmith
A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same w ...
)
** ''Müzisyen'' (Musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
)
** ''Şarkıcı'' (Singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
)
** ''Demirci'' (Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
) etc., but the majority of Turkish Roma work as day labor
Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work.
Types
Day laborers (also ...
ers too.
* ''Rom
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
'' in Italy.
* ''Roma'' in Romania, commonly known by majority ethnic Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
as ''Țigani'', including many subgroups defined by occupation:
** Boyash
Boyash or ''Bayash'' (endonym: ''Bȯjáṡ'', Romanian: ''Băieși'', Hungarian: ''Beás'', Slovak: ''Bojáš'', South Slavic: ''Bojaši'') refers to a Romani ethnic group living in Romania, southern Hungary, northeastern and northwestern ...
, also known as ''Băieși'', ''Lingurari'', ''Ludar'', ''Ludari'', or ''Rudari'', who coalesced in the Apuseni Mountains
The Apuseni Mountains ( ro, Munții Apuseni, hu, Erdélyi-középhegység) is a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Romanian Carpathians, also called ''Occidentali'' in Romanian. Their name translates from Ro ...
of Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. ''Băieși'' is a Romanian word for "miners". ''Lingurari'' means "spoon makers", ''Ludar'', ''Ludari'', and ''Rudari'' may mean "woodworkers" or "miners". (There is a semantic overlap due to the homophony
In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...
or merging of lemmas
Lemma may refer to:
Language and linguistics
* Lemma (morphology), the canonical, dictionary or citation form of a word
* Lemma (psycholinguistics), a mental abstraction of a word about to be uttered
Science and mathematics
* Lemma (botany), ...
with different meanings from at least two languages: the Serbian ''rudar'' miner, and ''ruda'' stick, staff, rod, bar, pole (in Hungarian ''rúd'', and in Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
''rudă'').)
** ''Churari'', from Romanian ''Ciurari'', "sieve makers", Zlătari "gold smiths"
** ''Ursari
The Ursari (generally read as " bear leaders" or "bear handlers"; from the ro, urs, meaning "bear"; singular: ''ursar''; Bulgarian: урсари, ''ursari'') or Richinara are the traditionally nomadic occupational group of animal trainers amo ...
'' ( bear trainers, from Moldovan/Romanian ''urs'' "bear"),
** ''Ungaritza'' blacksmiths
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
and bladesmiths
** ''Argintari'' silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...
s.[
** ''Aurari'' ]goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
s.[
** ''Florari'' ]flower seller
A flower seller, normally a woman, traditionally sells flowers on the street. Often the flowers are carried in a basket, for example. The subject matter has been a favorite of artists.Diego RiveraThe Flower Seller, 1942. The profession has mostly d ...
s.[
** '']Lăutari
The Romanian word lăutar (; plural: ''lăutari'') denotes a class of musicians.
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late XVIII century. The term is derived from ''lăută'', the Romanian word for ...
'' singers.[
** '']Kalderash
The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.
The Kalderash of the ...
'', from Romanian ''căldărar'', ''lit.'' bucketmaker, meaning kettlemaker, tinsmith, tinker; also in Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
and Ukraine.[
* ]Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
or ''Romové'', Czech Republic
* Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
or ''Rómovia'', Slovakia
* Romanichal
Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...
, in the United Kingdom, emigrated also to the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Canada and Australia
* ''Romanisæl'', in Norway and Sweden.
* ''Roms'' or ''Manouche'' (from ''manush'' "people" in Romani) in France.
* ''Romungro
Carpathian Romani, also known as Central Romani or Romungro Romani, is a group of dialects of the Romani language spoken from southern Poland to Hungary, and from eastern Austria to Ukraine.
North Central Romani is one of a dozen major dialect g ...
'' or Carpathian Romani from eastern Hungary and neighbouring parts of the Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
* ''Sinti
The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
'' or ''Zinti'', predominantly in Germany, and Northern Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
; ''Sinti'' do not refer to themselves as Roma, although their language is called ''Romanes''.
* ''Zargari people
The Zargari people are a Muslim Romani people ethnic group deriving from Zargar, Qazvin, Zargar, Iran and neighboring villages. They speak the Zargari Romani a distinct dialect of the Balkan Romani, most closely related to those of Rumelia. His ...
'', Shia Muslim Roma in Iran, who once came from Rumelia/Southern Bulgaria from the Maritsa Valley in Ottoman Time and settled in Persia.
Diaspora
The Roma people have a number of distinct populations, the largest being the Roma who reached Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
and the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
about the early 12th century from a migration out of northwestern India beginning about 600 years earlier. They settled in the areas that are now Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain, by order of volume. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and Iberian Calé or Caló, and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Romani population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.["Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million."] Brazil has the second largest Romani population in the Americas, estimated at 800,000 by the 2011 census.
The Romani people are mainly called ''ciganos'' by non-Romani ethnic Brazilians. Most of them belong to the ethnic subgroup ''Calés'' (Kale), of the Iberian peninsula. Juscelino Kubitschek
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...
, Brazilian president during 1956–1961 term, was 50% Czech Romani by his mother's bloodline, and Washington Luís
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa (; 26 October 1869 – 4 August 1957) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 13th president of Brazil. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís belonge ...
, last president of the First Brazilian Republic
The First Brazilian Republic, also referred to as the Old Republic ( pt, República Velha ), officially the Republic of the United States of Brazil, refers to the period of Brazilian history from 1889 to 1930. The Old Republic began with the de ...
(1926–1930 term), had Portuguese Kale ancestry.
Unfortunately, the persecution against the gypsy people has led to the fact that many of the cultural practices have been extinguished, hidden or modified in order to survive in a country that has excluded them ethnically and culturally.
The very common Carnivals throughout the entire Brazilian territory are one of the few spaces in which the Romani people can still express their cultural traditions, being a moment in which they can practice their traditional dances and rituals, actively participating in the fairs. with the reading of the tarot, celebrating traditional symbolic acts such as gypsy weddings and in other less common cases they have adapted to the carioca carnivalesque culture contributing their own nuances, as is the case of the so-called "carnival wedding" in which a child of The male sex is disguised as a bride and a gypsy wedding or the famous "Romaní Dance" is picturesquely simulated, where the women of the town parade during carnival acts dancing in their traditional gypsy attire.
There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide. Many Romani refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for fear of discrimination. Others are descendants of intermarriage with local populations, some who no longer identify only as Romani and some who don't identify as Romani at all.
As of the early 2000s, an estimated 3.8 to 9 million Romani people lived in Europe and Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, although some Romani organizations estimate numbers as high as 14 million. Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkan peninsula
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. The total number of Romani living outside Europe are primarily in the Middle East and North Africa
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
and in the Americas and are estimated in total at more than two million. Some countries do not collect data by ethnicity.
The Romani people identify as distinct ethnicities based in part on territorial, cultural and dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
al differences, and self-designation.
Origin
Genetic findings suggest an Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
origin for Roma. Because Romani groups did not keep chronicles of their history or have oral accounts of it, most hypotheses about the Romani migration's early history are based on linguistic theory. There is also no known record of a migration from India to Europe from medieval times that can be connected indisputably to Roma.
''Shahnameh'' legend
According to a legend reported in the Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
epic poem, the ''Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
'', from Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and repeated by several modern authors, the Sasanian
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
king Bahrām V Gōr learned towards the end of his reign (421–439) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and he asked the king of India to send him ten thousand '' luris'', lute-playing experts. When the luris arrived, Bahrām gave each one an ox, a donkey, and a donkey-load of wheat so that they could live on agriculture and play music for free for the poor. However, the luris ate the oxen and the wheat and came back a year later with their cheeks hollowed with hunger. The king, angered with their having wasted what he had given them, ordered them to pack up their bags and go wandering around the world on their donkeys.
Linguistic evidence
The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that the roots of the Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a large part of the basic lexicon, for example, regarding body parts or daily routines.
Romani and Domari share some similarities: agglutination
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes, each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative lang ...
of postpositions of the second layer (or case marking
A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numerals), which corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In various languages, nomina ...
clitics) to the nominal stem, concord markers for the past tense, the neutralisation of gender marking in the plural, and the use of the oblique case as an accusative. This has prompted much discussion about the relationships between these two languages. Domari was once thought to be a "sister language" of Romani, the two languages having split after the departure from the Indian subcontinent but later research suggests that the differences between them are significant enough to treat them as two separate languages within the Central zone
The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the ...
( Hindustani) group of languages. The Dom and the Rom therefore likely descend from two migration waves out of India, separated by several centuries.
In phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
, the Romani language shares several isoglosses with the Central branch of Indo-Aryan languages, especially in the realization of some sounds of the Old Indo-Aryan. However, it also preserves several dental clusters. In regards to verb morphology, Romani follows exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
and Shina
Shina may refer to:
* Shina language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
* Shina people, a Dardic ethnic group in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan
People named Shina
* Shina Matsudo (born 1973), Japanese freestyle swimmer
* ...
through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers, lending credence to the theory of their Central Indian origin and a subsequent migration to northwestern India. Though the retention of dental clusters suggests a break from central languages during the transition from Old to Middle Indo-Aryan, the overall morphology suggests that the language participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of New Indo-Aryan languages.
Genetic evidence
Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group. According to the study, the ancestors of present scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
populations of northern India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma
The Dom (Sanskrit ''ḍoma'', dialectally also Domra, Domba, Domaka, Dombari and variants) are castes, or groups, scattered across India. Dom were a caste of drummer. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the occupations of sing ...
, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma.
In December 2012, additional findings appeared to confirm the "Roma came from a single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago". They reached the Balkans about 900 years ago and then spread throughout Europe. The team also found the Roma to display genetic isolation, as well as "differential gene flow in time and space with non-Romani Europeans".
Genetic research published in ''European Journal of Human Genetics
The ''European Journal of Human Genetics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group on behalf of the European Society of Human Genetics. It covers all aspects of human genetics.
Abstracting and index ...
'' "has revealed that over 70% of males belong to a single lineage that appears unique to the Roma".
Genetic evidence supports the medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
migration from India. The Romani have been described as "a conglomerate of genetically isolated founder populations", while a number of common Mendelian
Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biological inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, and later popularize ...
disorders among Romanies from all over Europe indicates "a common origin and founder effect". A 2020 whole-genome study confirmed the Northwest Indian origins, and also confirmed substantial Balkan and Middle Eastern ancestry.
A study from 2001 by Gresham et al. suggests "a limited number of related founders, compatible with a small group of migrants splitting from a distinct caste or tribal group". The same study found that "a single lineage... found across Romani populations, accounts for almost one-third of Romani males". A 2004 study by Morar et al. concluded that the Romani population "was founded approximately 32–40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16–25 generations ago".
Haplogroup H-M82 is a major lineage cluster in the Balkan Romani group, accounting for approximately 60% of the total. Haplogroup H is uncommon in Europe but present in the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
A study of 444 people representing three ethnic groups in North Macedonia found mtDNA haplogroups M5a1 and H7a1a were dominant in Romanies (13.7% and 10.3%, respectively).
Y-DNA composition of Muslim Romani people from Šuto Orizari Municipality
Šuto Orizari ( mk, ; Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''; sq, Shutkë), often shortened as ''Šutka'' (Шутка), is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. ''Šuto Orizari' ...
in North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
, based on 57 samples:
* Haplogroup H – 59.6%
* Haplogroup E – 29.8%
* Haplogroup I – 5.3%
* Haplogroup R Haplogroup R may refer to:
* Haplogroup R (mtDNA), a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup
* Haplogroup R (Y-DNA), a human Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) haplogroup
{{Disambig ...
– 3.%, of which the half are R1b and many are R1a
* Haplogroup G – 1.8%
Y-DNA Haplogroup H1a occurs in Romani at frequencies 7–70%. Unlike ethnic Hungarians, among Hungarian and Slovakian Romani subpopulations, Haplogroup E-M78
Haplogroup E-V68, also known as E1b1b1a, is a major human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup found in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia and Europe. It is a subclade of the larger and older haplogroup, known as Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA), E1b1 ...
and I1 usually occur above 10% and sometimes over 20%. While among Slovakian and Tiszavasvari Romani the dominant haplogroup is H1a, among Tokaj
Tokaj () is a historical town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 54 kilometers from county capital Miskolc. It is the centre of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district where Tokaji wine is produced.
History
The wine-growing area w ...
Romani is Haplogroup J2
In human genetics, Haplogroup J-M172 or J2 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup which is a subclade (branch) of haplogroup J-M304. Haplogroup J-M172 is common in modern populations in Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Europe, Northwestern Iran and ...
a (23%), while among Taktaharkány Romani is Haplogroup I2a
Haplogroup I-M438, also known as I2 (ISOGG 2019), is a human DNA Y-chromosome haplogroup, a subclade of Haplogroup I-M170. Haplogroup I-M438 originated some time around 26,000–31,000 BCE. It originated in Europe and developed into several ...
(21%). Five, rather consistent founder lineages throughout the subpopulations, were found among Romani – J-M67 and J-M92 (J2), H-M52 (H1a1), and I-P259 (I1). Haplogroup I-P259 as H is not found at frequencies of over 3 percent among host populations, while haplogroups E and I are absent in South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
. The lineages E-V13, I-P37 (I2a) and R-M17 (R1a) may represent gene flow from the host populations. Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek Romani are dominated by Haplogroup H-M82 (H1a1), while among Spanish Romani J2 is prevalent. In Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
among Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
and Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
Romani Haplogroup H prevails, while among Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
Romani, H drops to 7 percent and E-V13 rises to a prevailing level.
Among non-Roma Europeans Haplogroup H is extremely rare, peaking at 7 percent among Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
from Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
and 11 percent among Bulgarian Turks
Bulgarian Turks ( bg, български турци, bŭlgarski turtsi, tr, Bulgaristan Türkleri) are a Turkish ethnic group from Bulgaria. According to the 2021 census, there were 508,375 Bulgarians of Turkish descent, roughly 8.4% of t ...
. It occurs at 5 percent among Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
, although the carriers might be of Romani origin. Among non Roma-speaking Europeans at 2 percent among Slovaks, 2 percent among Croats, 1 percent among Macedonians from Skopje, 3 percent among Macedonian Albanians, 1 percent among Serbs from Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, 3 percent among Bulgarians from Sofia, 1 percent among Austrians and Swiss, 3 percent among Romanians from Ploiești, 1 percent among Turkish people, Turks.
The Ottoman occupation of the Balkans also left a significant genetic mark on the Y-DNA of Romani people; creating a higher frequency of the haplogroups J and E3b in Roma populations from the region.
Full genome analysis
A full genome autosomal DNA study on 186 Roma samples from Europe in 2019 found that modern Roma people are characterized by a complex admixture of West Eurasians, West Eurasian lineages, mostly a composition of Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia, South Asian and various local European (mostly Balkan-derived) ancestries. The autosomal genetic data links the proto-Roma to groups in Northwest India (specifically Punjabis, Punjabi and Gujarati people, Gujarati samples), although their paternal lineages are more common in Southern India among Dravidian-speaking populations. The authors argue that this may point to a founder effect among early Romani people during their ethnogenesis or shortly after they migrated out of the Indian subcontinent. Subsequently, after arriving in Europe, they partially mixed with local European groups in the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
Possible migration route
The Romani may have emerged from what is the modern Indian state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
) around 250 BCE. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 CE.
It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire. The author Ralph Lilley Turner theorised a central Indian origin of Romani followed by a migration to Northwest India as it shares a number of ancient isoglosses with Central Indo-Aryan languages in relation to realization of some sounds of Indo-Aryan languages#Old Indo-Aryan, Old Indo-Aryan. This is lent further credence by its sharing exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
and Shina
Shina may refer to:
* Shina language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
* Shina people, a Dardic ethnic group in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan
People named Shina
* Shina Matsudo (born 1973), Japanese freestyle swimmer
* ...
through the adoption of Oblique case, oblique clitic, enclitic pronouns as person markers. The overall morphology suggests that Romani participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of New Indo-Aryan languages, thus indicating that the proto-Romani did not leave the Indian subcontinent until late in the second half of the first millennium.
In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, then Minister of External Affairs (India), Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India. The conference ended with a recommendation to the government of India to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora.
Names
Endonyms
''Rom'' means husband in the Romani language. It has the variants ''dom'' and ''lom'', which may be related to the Sanskrit language, Sanskrit words ''dam-pati'' (lord of the house, husband), ''dama'' (to subdue), ''lom'' (hair), ''lomaka'' (hairy), ''loman'', ''roman'' (hairy), ''romaça'' (man with beard and long hair). Another possible origin is from Sanskrit डोम ''Doms, doma'' (member of a caste system in India, low caste of travelling musicians and dancers). Despite their presence in the country and neighboring nations, the word is not related in any way to the name of Romania.
Romani usage
In the Romani language, ''Rom'' is a masculine noun, meaning 'husband of the Roma ethnic group', with the plural ''Roma''. The feminine of ''Rom'' in the Romani language is ''Romni /Romli/Romnije or Romlije''. However, in most cases, in other languages ''Rom'' is now used for individuals regardless of gender.
''Romani'' is the feminine adjective, while ''Romano'' is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use ''Rom'' or ''Roma'' as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti
The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
, or the Romanichal
Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...
) do not use this term as a self-ascription for the entire ethnic group.
Sometimes, ''rom'' and ''romani'' are spelled with a double ''r'', i.e., ''rrom'' and ''rromani''. In this case ''rr'' is used to represent the phoneme Uvular trill, (also written as ''ř'' and ''rh''), which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single ''r''. The ''rr'' spelling is common in certain institutions (such as the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, INALCO Institute in Paris), or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from the endonym/homonym for Romanians (''sg. român, pl. români'').
In Norway, ''Romani'' is used exclusively for an older Northern Romani dialects, Northern Romani-speaking population (which arrived in the 16th century) while ''Rom/Romanes'' is used to describe Vlax Romani language, Vlax Romani-speaking groups which have arrived since the 19th century.
English usage
In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), ''Rom'' is a noun (with the plural ''Roma'' or ''Roms'') and an adjective, while ''Romani'' (''Romany'') is also a noun (with the plural ''Romani'', ''the Romani'', ''Romanies'', or ''Romanis'') and an adjective. Both ''Rom'' and ''Romani'' have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. ''Romani'' was sometimes spelled ''Rommany'', but more often ''Romany'', while today ''Romani'' is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the double ''r'' spelling (e.g., ''Rroma'', ''Rromani'') mentioned above is also encountered in English texts.
The term ''Roma'' is increasingly encountered as a generic term for the Romani people.
Because not all Romani people use the word ''Romani'' as an adjective, the term became a noun for the entire ethnic group. Today, the term ''Romani'' is used by some organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress. However, the Council of Europe and other organizations consider that ''Roma'' is the correct term referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend that ''Romani'' be restricted to the language and culture: Romani language, Romani society and culture, Romani culture. The United Kingdom government uses the term "Roma" as a sub-group of "White people, White" in its ethnic classification system.
The standard assumption is that the demonyms of the Romani people, Lom people, Lom and Dom people, Dom, share the same origin.
Other designations
The English term ''Gypsy'' (or ''Gipsy'') originates from the Middle English ''gypcian'', short for ''Egipcien''. The Spanish term ''Gitano'' and French ''Gitan'' have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Aigyptioi''), meaning Egyptian, via Latin. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Romani, or some related group (such as the Middle Eastern Dom people), were itinerant Egyptians. This belief appears to be derived from verses in the Bible, Biblical Book of Ezekiel (29: 6 and 12–13) which refer to the Egyptians being scattered among the nations by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as punishment for allegedly harbouring the Child Jesus, infant Jesus.[.] In his book ''The Zincali: an account of the Gypsies of Spain'', George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having refused hospitality to Mary and her son. As described in Victor Hugo's novel ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', the medieval French referred to the Romanies as ''Egyptiens''.
This exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
is sometimes written with capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
. However, the word is sometimes considered derogatory because of its negative and stereotypical associations. The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage" are not in line with European recommendations. In Britain, many Romani proudly identify as "Gypsies". In North America, the word ''Gypsy'' is most commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at times also referenced by using this word.
Another common designation of the Romani people, which can be considered derogatory, is ''Cingane'' (alt. Çingene, Tsinganoi, Zigar, Zigeuner, Tschingaren), likely deriving from the Persian word (), derived from the Turkic word , meaning poor person. It is also possible that the origin of this word is ''Athinganoi'', the name of a Christian sect with whom the Romani (or some related group) could have become associated with in the past.
History
Arrival in Europe
According to a 2012 genomic study, the Romani reached the Balkans as early as the 12th century. A document of 1068, describing an event in Constantinople, mentions "Atsingani", probably referring to Romani.
Later historical records of the Romani reaching south-eastern Europe are from the 14th century: in 1322, after leaving Ireland on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Irish Franciscan friar Symon Semeonis encountered a migrant group of Romani outside the town of Candia (modern Heraklion), in Crete, calling them "the Kenites, descendants of Cain"; his account is the earliest surviving description by a Western chronicler of the Romani in Europe.
In 1350, Ludolph of Saxony mentioned a similar people with a unique language whom he called ''Mandapolos'', a word possibly derived from the Greek word ''mantes'' (meaning prophet or fortune teller).
In the 14th century, Romani are recorded in Venetian territories, including Methoni, Messenia, Methoni and Nafplio in the Peloponnese, and Corfu. Around 1360, a fiefdom called the ''Feudum Acinganorum'' was established in Corfu, which mainly used Romani serfs and to which the Romani on the island were subservient.
By the 1440s, they were recorded in Germany; and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Romani migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century. The two currents met in France.
Around the year 1000, an event in northern India, about the time of Muslim invaders, likely triggered the Roma’s mass exodus. The precise event is still unknown, but the possible reasons include a conflict that resulted in their persecution, a natural disaster, or even recruitment into a mercenary military. The Roma people journeyed towards the Caucasus and China, as well as through the Middle East and Greece towards the Balkans; they covered all corners of today's Central and Western Europe by the end of the 16th century. Romanis typically traveled in patriarchal extended families, consisting of up to hundreds of people.
Early modern history
Their early history shows a mixed reception. Although 1385 marks the first recorded transaction for a Romani slave in Wallachia, they were issued safe conduct by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1417. Romanis were ordered expelled from the Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen region of Germany in 1416, Lucerne in 1471, Milan in 1493, France in 1504, Catalonia in 1512, Sweden in 1525, Kingdom of England, England in 1530 (see Egyptians Act 1530), and Denmark in 1536. From 1510 onwards, any Romani found in Switzerland were to be executed; while in England (beginning in 1554) and Denmark (beginning of 1589) any Romani which did not leave within a month were to be executed. Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal began deportations of Romanis to its colonies in 1538.
A 1596 English statute gave Romanis special privileges that other wanderers lacked. France passed a similar law in 1683. Catherine II of Russia, Catherine the Great of Russia declared the Romanis "crown slaves" (a status superior to serfs), but also kept them out of certain parts of St. Petersburg, Russia, the capital. In 1595, Ștefan Răzvan overcame his birth into slavery, and became the Voivode (List of Moldavian rulers, Prince) of Moldavia.
Since a royal edict by Charles II of Spain, Charles II in 1695, Spanish Romanis had been restricted to certain towns. An official edict in 1717 restricted them to only 75 towns and districts, so that they would not be concentrated in any one region. In the Great Gypsy Round-up, Romani were arrested and imprisoned by the Spanish Monarchy in 1749.
During the latter part of the 17th century, around the Franco-Dutch War, both France and the Dutch Republic needed thousands of men to fight. Some recruitment took the form of rounding up vagrants and the poor to work the galleys and provide the armies' labour force. With this background, Romanis were targets of both the French and the Dutch.
After the wars, and into the first decade of the 18th century, Romanis were slaughtered with impunity throughout Holland. Romanis, called ‘heiden’ by the Dutch, wandered throughout the rural areas of Europe and became the societal pariahs of the age. ''Heidenjachten'', translated as "heathen hunt" happened throughout Holland in an attempt to eradicate them.
Although some Romani could be kept as slaves in Wallachia and Moldavia until abolitionism, abolition in 1856, the majority traveled as free nomads with their wagons, as alluded to in the spoked wheel symbol in the Flag of the Romani people, Romani flag. Elsewhere in Europe, they were subjected to ethnic cleansing, abduction of their children, and Forced labor, forced labour. In England, Romani were sometimes expelled from small communities or hanged; in France, they were branded, and their heads were shaved; in Moravia and Bohemia, the women were marked by their ears being severed. As a result, large groups of the Romani moved to the East, toward Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland, which was more tolerant, and Ruska Roma, Russia, where the Romani were treated more fairly as long as they paid the annual taxes.
Modern history
Romani began emigrating to North America in colonial times, with small groups recorded in Virginia and Louisiana (New France), French Louisiana. Larger-scale Roma in the United States, Roma emigration to the United States began in the 1860s, with Romanichal groups from Great Britain. The most significant number immigrated in the early 20th century, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash
The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.
The Kalderash of the ...
. Many Romani also settled in South America.
World War II
During World War II, the Nazi Germany, Nazis embarked on a systematic genocide of the Romani, a process known in Romani as the ''Porajmos''. Romanies were marked for extermination and sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment in concentration camps. They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen (paramilitary death squads) on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. The total number of victims has been variously estimated at between 220,000 and 1,500,000.
The Romani people were also persecuted in Nazi puppet states. In the Independent State of Croatia, the Ustaša killed almost the entire Roma population of 25,000. The concentration camp system of Jasenovac concentration camp, Jasenovac, run by the Ustaša militia and the Croat political police, were responsible for the deaths of between 15,000 and 20,000 Roma.
Post-1945
In Czechoslovakia, they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum", and Romani women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future welfare payments, with misinformation, or after administering drugs.
An official inquiry from the Czech Republic, resulting in a report (December 2005), concluded that the Communist authorities had practised an assimilation policy towards Romanis, which "included efforts by social services to control the birth rate in the Romani community. The problem of sexual sterilisation carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists," said the Czech Public Defender of Rights, recommending state compensation for women affected between 1973 and 1991. New cases were revealed up until 2004, in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland "all have histories of coercive sterilization of minorities and other groups".
Society and traditional culture
The traditional Romanies place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Romani practice of child marriage. Romani law establishes that the man's family must pay a bride price to the bride's parents, but only traditional families still follow it.
Once married, the woman joins the husband's family, where her main job is to tend to her husband's and her children's needs and take care of her in-laws. The power structure in the traditional Romani household has at its top the oldest man or grandfather, and men, in general, have more authority than women. Women gain respect and power as they get older. Young wives begin gaining authority once they have children.
Traditionally, as can be seen on paintings and photos, some Roma men wear shoulder-length hair and a mustache, as well as an earring.
Roma women generally have long hair, and Xoraxane Roma women often dye it blonde with henna.
Romani social behavior is strictly regulated by Indian social customs ("marime" or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma (and by most older generations of Sinti
The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
). This regulation affects many aspects of life and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of Human anatomy, the human body are considered impure: the Sex organ, genital organs (because they produce emissions) and the rest of the lower body. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of Menstruation, menstruating women, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is deemed to be impure for forty days after giving birth.
Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice of cremation, cremating the dead, Romani dead must be buried. Cremation and burial are both known from the time of the Rigveda, and both are widely practiced in Hinduism today (the general tendency is for Hindus to practice cremation, though some communities in modern-day South India tend to bury their dead). Animals that are considered to be having unclean habits are not eaten by the community.
Belonging and exclusion
In Romani philosophy, ''Romanipen'' (also ''romanypen'', ''romanipe'', ''romanype'', ''romanimos'', ''romaimos'', ''romaniya'') is the totality of the Romani spirit, Romani society and culture, Romani culture, Kris (Romani court), Romani Law, being a Romani, a set of Romani strains.
An ethnic Romani is considered a Gadjo (non-Romani), gadjo in the Romani society if they have no ''Romanipen''. Sometimes a non-Romani may be considered a Romani if they do have ''Romanipen''. Usually this is an adopted child. It has been hypothesized that this owes more to a Cultural framework, framework of culture than a simple adherence to historically received rules.
Religion
Most Romani people are Christian, others Muslim Roma, Muslim; some retained their ancient faith of Hinduism from their original homeland of India, while others have their own religion and political organization. Theravada Buddhism influenced by the Dalit Buddhist movement have become popular in recent times among Hungarian Roma.
Some Roma practice witchcraft and palmistry.
Beliefs
The modern-day Romani people adopted Christianity or Islam depending on the regions through which they had migrated. Muslim Roma are found in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Egypt, Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, Bulgaria and Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, forming a very significant proportion of the Romani people. In neighboring countries such as Romania and Greece, most Romani inhabitants follow the practice of Orthodoxy. It is likely that the adherence to differing religions prevented families from engaging in intermarriage.
Deities and saints
Ceferino Giménez Malla, Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla is recently considered a patron saint of the Romani people in Roman Catholicism. Saint Sarah, or Sara e Kali, has also been venerated as a patron saint in her shrine at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France. Since the turn of the 21st century, Sara e Kali is understood to have been Kali, an Indian deity brought from India by the refugee ancestors of the Roma people; as the Roma became Christianized, she was absorbed in a syncretic way and venerated as a saint.
Saint Sarah is now increasingly being considered as "a Romani Goddess, the Protectress of the Roma" and an "indisputable link with Mother India".
Balkans
For the Roma communities that have resided in the Balkans for numerous centuries, often referred to as "Turkish Gypsies", the following histories apply for religious beliefs:
* Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro – Islam is the dominant religion among the Roma.
* Bulgaria – In northwestern Bulgaria, in addition to Sofia and Kyustendil, Christianity is the dominant faith among Romani people (a major conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity among Romani people has occurred). In southeastern Bulgaria, Islam is the dominant religion among Romani people, with a smaller section of the Romani population declaring themselves as "Turks", continuing to mix ethnicity with Islam.
* Croatia – Following the World War II, Second World War, a large number of Muslim Roma relocated to Croatia (the majority moving from Kosovo). Their language differs from those living in Međimurje and those who survived Ustaše genocide.
* Greece – The descendants of groups, such as Sepečides or Sevljara, Kalpazaja, Filipidži and others, living in Athens, Thessaloniki, central Greece and Macedonia (Greece), Greek Macedonia are mostly Orthodox Christians, with Islamic beliefs held by a minority of the population. Following the Peace Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, many Muslim Roma moved to Turkey in the subsequent population exchange between Turkey and Greece.
* Kosovo – The vast majority of the Roma population in Kosovo is Muslim.
* North Macedonia – The majority of Roma people are followers of Islam in Macedonia, Islam.
* Romania – According to the Demographic history of Romania, 2002 census, the majority of the Romani minority living in Romania are Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians, while 6.4% are Pentecostal Union of Romania, Pentecostals, 3.8% Roman Catholicism in Romania, Roman Catholics, 3% Reformed Church in Romania, Reformed, 1.1% Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, Greek Catholics, 0.9% Baptist Union of Romania, Baptists, 0.8% Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Seventh-Day Adventists. In Dobruja, there is a small community that are Islam in Romania, Muslim and also speak Turkish.
* Serbia – Most Roma people in Serbia are Orthodox Christian, but there are some Muslim Roma in Southern Serbia, who are mainly refugees from Kosovo.
Other regions
In Ukraine and Russia, the Roma populations are also Muslim as the families of Balkan migrants continue to live in these locations. Their ancestors settled on the Crimean peninsula during the 17th and 18th centuries, but some migrated to Ukraine, southern Russia and the Povolzhie (along the Volga River). Formally, Islam is the religion that these communities align themselves with and the people are recognized for their staunch preservation of the Romani language and identity.
In Poland and Slovakia, their populations are Roman Catholic, many times adopting and following local, cultural Catholicism as a Religious syncretism, syncretic system of belief that incorporates distinct Roma beliefs and cultural aspects. For example, many Polish Roma delay their Marriage in the Catholic Church, Church wedding due to the belief that sacramental marriage is accompanied by divine ratification, creating a virtually indissoluble union until the couple consummate, after which the sacramental marriage is dissoluble only by the death of a spouse. Therefore, for Polish Roma, once married, one can't ever divorce. Another aspect of Polish Roma's Catholicism is a tradition of pilgrimage to the Jasna Góra Monastery.
Most Eastern European Romanies are Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, or Muslim. Those in Western Europe and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
are mostly Roman Catholic or Protestant in southern Spain, many Romanies are pentecostalism, Pentecostal, but this is a small minority that has emerged in contemporary times. In Egypt, the Romanies are split into Christian and Muslim populations.
Music
Romani music plays an important role in Central and Eastern European countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Romani musicians have influenced European List of classical music composers, classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. The ''lăutari'' who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Romani.
Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performers in the ''lăutari'' tradition are Taraful Haiducilor. Bulgaria's popular "wedding music", too, is almost exclusively performed by Romani musicians such as Ivo Papasov, a virtuoso clarinetist closely associated with this genre and Bulgarian pop-folk singer Azis.
Many famous classical musicians, such as the Hungarian people, Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, are Romani, as are many prominent performers of manele. Zdob și Zdub, one of the most prominent rock bands in Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
, although not Romanies themselves, draw heavily on Romani music, as do Spitalul de Urgență in Romania, Shantel in Germany, Goran Bregović in Serbia, Darko Rundek in Croatia, Beirut (band), Beirut and Gogol Bordello in the United States.
Another tradition of Romani music is the genre of the Romani brass band, with such notable practitioners as Boban Marković of Serbia, and the brass ''lăutari'' groups Fanfare Ciocărlia and Fanfare din Cozmesti of Romania.
The distinctive sound of Romani music has also strongly influenced bolero, jazz, and flamenco (especially ''cante jondo'') in Spain.
Dances such as the flamenco and bolero of Spain were influences by the Romani. Antonio Cansino blended Romani and Spanish flamenco and is credited with creating modern-day Spanish dance. The Dancing Cansinos popularized flamenco and bolero dancing in the United States. Famous dancer and actress, Rita Hayworth, is the granddaughter of Antonio Cansino.
European-style gypsy jazz ("jazz Manouche" or "Sinti jazz") is still widely practiced among the original creators (the Romanie People); one who acknowledged this artistic debt was guitarist Django Reinhardt. Contemporary artists in this tradition known internationally include Stochelo Rosenberg, Biréli Lagrène, Jimmy Rosenberg, Paulus Schäfer and Tchavolo Schmitt.
The Romani people in Turkey have achieved musical acclaim from national and local audiences. Local performers usually perform for special holidays. Their music is usually performed on instruments such as the goblet drum, darbuka, clarinet, gırnata and cümbüş.
Folklore
Romani folktales and legends are known as paramichia. A hero among the Vlach Roma is Mundro Salamon or Wise Solomon. Other Romani groups call this hero O Godjiaver Yanko.
The Roma believe in the mulo or mullo, which means one who is dead. These beings are the Roma's version of the vampire.
Cuisine
The Roma believe that some foods are auspicious, or lucky (baxtalo), such as foods with pungent tastes like garlic, lemon, tomato, peppers, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles and sour cream. Romani cuisine is similiar to Hungarian cuisine. Hedgehogs are a delicacy among some Roma.
Contemporary art and culture
Romani contemporary art emerged at the climax of the process that began in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s, when the interpretation of the cultural practice of minorities was enabled by a paradigm shift, commonly referred to in specialist literature as the Cultural turn. The idea of the "cultural turn" was introduced; and this was also the time when the notion of cultural democracy became crystallized in the debates carried on at various public forums. Civil society gained strength, and civil politics appeared, which is a prerequisite for cultural democracy. This shift of attitude in scholarly circles derived from concerns specific not only to ethnicity but also to society, gender and class.
Language
Most Romani speak one of several dialects of the Romani language, an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language, with roots in Sanskrit. They also often speak the languages of the countries they live in. Typically, they also incorporate loanwords and calques into Romani from the languages of those countries and especially words for terms that the Romani language does not have. Most of the ''Ciganos'' of Portugal, the Gitanos of Spain, the Romanichal
Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...
of the UK, and Norwegian and Swedish Travellers, Scandinavian Travellers have lost their knowledge of pure Romani, and speak the mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...
s Caló (Spanish Romani), Caló, Angloromany, and Scandoromani, respectively. Most of the Romani language-speaking communities in these regions consist of later immigrants from eastern or central Europe.
There are no concrete statistics for the number of Romani speakers, both in Europe and globally. However, a conservative estimate is 3.5 million speakers in Europe and a further 500,000 elsewhere, though the actual number may be considerably higher. This makes Romani the second-largest minority language in Europe, behind Catalan language, Catalan.
In regards to the diversity of dialects, Romani works in the same way as most other European languages. Cross-dialect communication is dominated by the following features:
* All Romani speakers are bilingual, accustomed to borrowing words or phrases from a second language; this makes it difficult to communicate with Romanis from different countries
* Romani was traditionally a language shared between extended family and a close-knit community. This has resulted in the inability to comprehend dialects from other countries, and is why Romani is sometimes considered to be several different languages.
* There is no tradition or literary standard for Romani speakers to use as a guideline for their language use.
Persecutions
Historical persecution
One of the most enduring persecutions against the Romani people was their enslavement. Slavery in medieval Europe, Slavery was widely practiced in medieval Europe, including the territory of present-day Romania from before the founding of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in the 13th–14th centuries. Legislation decreed that all the Romani living in these states, as well as any others who immigrated there, were classified as slaves. Slavery was gradually Abolitionism, abolished during the 1840s and 1850s.
The exact origins of Slavery in Romania, slavery in the Danubian Principalities are not known. There is some debate over whether the Romani people came to Wallachia and Moldavia as free men or were brought there as slaves. Historian Nicolae Iorga associated the Roma people's arrival with the 1241 Mongol invasion of Europe and he also considered their enslavement a vestige of that era, in which the Romanians took the Roma from the Mongols and preserved their status as slaves so they could use their labor. Other historians believe that the Romani were enslaved while they were being captured during the battles with the Tatars. The practice of enslaving Prisoner of war, prisoners of war may have also been adopted from the Mongols.
Some Romani may have been slaves of the Mongols or the Tatars or they may have served as auxiliary troops in the Mongol or Tatar armies, but most of them migrated from south of the Danube at the end of the 14th century, some time after the founding of Wallachia. By then, the institution of slavery was already established in Moldavia and it was possibly established in both principalities. After the Roma migrated into the area, slavery became a widespread practice among the majority of the population. The Tatars, Tatar slaves, smaller in numbers, were eventually merged into the Roma population.
Some branches of the Romani people reached Western Europe in the 15th century, fleeing from the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman conquest of the Balkans as refugees. Although the Romani were refugees from the conflicts in southeastern Europe, they were often suspected of being associated with the Ottoman wars in Europe, Ottoman invasion by certain populations in the West because their physical appearance was exotic. (The Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)#The Reichstag in the Holy Roman Empire, Imperial Diet at Landau and Freiburg in 1496–1498 declared that the Romani were spies for the Turks). In Western Europe, such suspicions and discrimination against people who constituted a visible minority resulted in persecution, often violent, with attempts to commit ethnic cleansing until the modern era. In times of social tension, the Romani suffered as scapegoats; for instance, they were accused of bringing the plague during times of epidemics.
On 30 July 1749, Spain conducted The Great Roundup of Gypsies (1749), ''The Great Roundup'' of Romani people in Spain, Romani (Gitanos) in its territory. The Spanish Crown ordered a nationwide raid that led to the break-up of families because all able-bodied men were interned in forced labor camps in an attempt to commit ethnic cleansing. The measure was eventually reversed and the Romanis were freed as protests began to erupt in different communities, sedentary Romanis were highly esteemed and protected in rural Spain.
Later in the 19th century, Romani immigration was forbidden on a racial basis in areas outside Europe, mostly in the English-speaking world. In 1880, Argentina prohibited immigration by Roma, as did the United States in 1885.
Forced assimilation
In the Habsburg monarchy under Maria Theresa of Austria, Maria Theresa (1740–1780), a series of decrees tried to integrate the Romanies in order to get them to sedentism, permanently settle, removed their rights to horse and wagon ownership (1754) in order to reduce citizen-mobility, renamed them "New Citizens" and obliged Romani boys into military service just as any other citizens were if they had no trade (1761, and Revision 1770), required them to register with the local authorities (1767), and another decree prohibited marriages between Romanies (1773) in order to integrate them into the local population. Her successor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Josef II prohibited the wearing of traditional Romani clothing along with the use of the Romani language, both of which were punishable by flogging. During this time, the schools were obliged to register and integrate Romani children; this policy was the first of the modern policies of integration. In Spain, attempts to assimilate the Gitanos were under way as early as 1619, when the Gitanos were forcibly settled, the use of the Romani language was prohibited, Gitano men and women were sent to separate workhouses and their children were sent to orphanages. Charles III of Spain, King Charles III took a more progressive approach to Gitano assimilation, proclaiming that they had the same rights as Spanish citizens and ending the official denigration of them which was based on their Race (human categorization), race. While he prohibited their nomadic lifestyle, their use of the Caló (Spanish Romani), Calo language, the manufacture and wearing of Romani clothing, their trade in horses and other itinerant trades, he also forbade any form of discrimination against them and he also forbade the guilds from barring them. The use of the word ''gitano'' was also forbidden in order to further their assimilation, it was replaced with "New Castilian", a designation which was also applied to former History of the Jews in Spain, Jews and Islam in Spain, Muslims.
Most historians believe that Charles III's Pragmatic sanction, pragmática failed for three main reasons, reasons which were ultimately derived from its implementation outside major cities as well as in marginal areas: The difficulty which the Gitano community faced in changing its nomadic lifestyle, the marginal lifestyle to which the community had been driven by society and the serious difficulties of applying the pragmática in the fields of education and work. One author ascribes its failure to the overall rejection of the integration of the Gitanos by the wider population.
Other policies of forced assimilation were implemented in other countries, one of these countries was Norway, where a law which permitted the state to remove children from their parents and place them in state institutions was passed in 1896. This resulted in some 1,500 Romani children being taken from their parents in the 20th century.
Porajmos (Romani Holocaust)
During World War II, the persecution of the Romanies reached a peak during the Romani Holocaust (the Porajmos), the genocide which was perpetrated against them by Nazi Germany. In 1935, the Romani people who lived in Nazi Germany lost their citizenship when it was stripped from them by the Nuremberg laws, after that, they were subjected to violence and imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps and later, they were subjected to genocide in extermination camps. During the war, the policy was extended to areas which were occupied by the Nazis, and it was also implemented by their allies, most notably, by the Independent State of Croatia, Romania in World War II, Romania, and Hungary in World War II, Hungary.
Because no accurate pre-war census figures exist for the Romanis, the actual number of Romani victims who were killed in the Romani Holocaust cannot be assessed. Most estimates of the number of Romani victims who were killed in the Romani Holocaust range from 200,000 to 500,000, but other estimates range from 90,000 to 1.5 million. Lower estimates do not include those Romanis who were killed in all Axis powers, Axis-controlled countries. A detailed study by Sybil Milton, a former senior historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum contained an estimate of at least 220,000, possibly as many as 500,000. Ian Hancock, Director of the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at the University of Texas at Austin, argues in favour of a higher figure of between 500,000 and 1,500,000.
In Central Europe, the extermination in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was so thorough that the Bohemian Romani language became extinct.
Contemporary issues
In Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, Romani people are associated with poverty, blamed for high crime rates, and accused of behaving in ways that are considered antisocial or inappropriate by the rest of the European population. Partly for this reason, discrimination against the Romani people has continued to be practiced to the present day, although efforts are being made to address them.
Amnesty International reports continued to document instances of Antiziganism, Antizigan discrimination during the late 20th century, particularly in Romania, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. The European Union has recognized that discrimination against Romani must be addressed, and with the national Roma integration strategy they encourage member states to work towards greater Romani inclusion and upholding the Rights of the Roma in the European Union, rights of the Romani in the European Union.
In Eastern Europe, Roma children often attend Roma Special Schools, separate from non-Roma children; these schools tend to offer a lower quality of education than the traditional education options accessible by non-Roma children, putting the Roma children at an educational disadvantage.
The Romani people in Kosovo, Romanis of Kosovo have been severely persecuted by Kosovo Albanians, ethnic Albanians since the end of the Kosovo War, and for the most part, the region's Romani community has been annihilated.
Czechoslovakia carried out a policy of sterilization of Romani women, starting in 1973. The dissidents of the Charter 77 denounced it in 1977–78 as a genocide, but the practice continued through the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A 2005 report by the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
's independent ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, identified dozens of cases of coercive sterilization between 1979 and 2001, and called for criminal investigations and possible prosecution against several health care workers and administrators.
In 2008, following the rape and subsequent murder of an Italian woman in Rome at the hands of a young man from a local Romani encampment, the Italian government declared that Italy's Romani population represented a national security risk and it also declared that it was required to take swift action in order to address the ''emergenza nomadi'' (''nomad emergency''). Specifically, officials in the Italian government accused the Romanies of being responsible for rising crime rates in urban areas.
The 2008 Death of Cristina and Violetta Djeordsevic, deaths of Cristina and Violetta Djeordsevic, two Roma children who drowned while Italian beach-goers remained unperturbed, brought international attention to the relationship between Italians and the Roma people. Reviewing the situation in 2012, one Belgian magazine observed:
The 2016 Pew Research Center, Pew Research poll found that Italians, in particular, hold strong anti-Roma views, with 82% of Italians expressing negative opinions about Roma. In Greece, 67%, in Hungary 64%, in France 61%, in Spain 49%, in Poland 47%, in the United Kingdom, UK 45%, in Sweden 42%, in Germany 40%, and in the Netherlands 37% had an unfavourable view of Roma. The 2019 Pew Research poll found that 83% of Italians, 76% of Slovaks, 72% of Greeks, 68% of Bulgarians, 66% of Czechs, 61% of Lithuanians, 61% of Hungarians, 54% of Ukrainians, 52% of Russians, 51% of Poles, 44% of French, 40% of Spaniards, and 37% of Germans held unfavorable views of Roma. IRES published in 2020 a survey which revealed that 72% of Romanians have a negative opinion about them.
As of 2019, reports of anti-Roma incidents are increasing across Europe. Discrimination against Roma remains widespread in Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. Roma communities across Ukraine have been the target of violent attacks.
Roma refugees fleeing the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine have faced discrimination in Europe, including in Poland, the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, and Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
Concerning employment, on average, across the European states which were surveyed, 16% of Roma women were in paid work in 2016 compared to a third of men.
Forced repatriation
In the summer of 2010, French authorities demolished at least 51 illegal Roma camps and began the French Romani repatriation, process of repatriating their residents to their countries of origin. This followed tensions between the French state and Roma communities, which had been heightened after a traveller drove through a French police checkpoint, hit an officer, attempted to hit two more officers, and was then shot and killed by the police. In retaliation a group of Roma, armed with hatchets and iron bars, attacked the police station of Saint-Aignan, toppled traffic lights and road signs and burned three cars. The French government has been accused of perpetrating these actions to pursue its political agenda. European Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding stated that the European Commission should take legal action against France over the issue, calling the deportations "a disgrace". A leaked file dated 5 August, sent from the Minister of the Interior (France), Interior Ministry to regional police chiefs, included the instruction: "Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority."
Organizations and projects
* World Romani Congress
The World Romani Congress is a series of forums for discussion of issues relating to Roma people around the world. , there have been ten World Romani Congresses. Among the chief goals of these congresses have been the standardization of the Romani ...
* European Roma Rights Centre
* Gypsy Lore Society
* International Romani Union
* Decade of Roma Inclusion, multinational project
* International Romani Day (8 April)
* Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues
* National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs (Finland)
Artistic representations
Many depictions of Romani people in literature and art present romanticized narratives of mystical powers of fortune telling or irascible or passionate temper paired with an indomitable love of freedom and a habit of criminality. Romani were a popular subject in Venetian school (art), Venetian painting from the time of Giorgione at the start of the 16th century; the inclusion of such a figure adds an exotic oriental flavour to scenes. A Venice, Venetian Renaissance art, Renaissance painting by Paris Bordone (c. 1530, Strasbourg) of the Holy Family in Egypt makes Elizabeth (biblical figure), Elizabeth a Romani Fortune-telling, fortune-teller; the scene is otherwise located in a distinctly European landscape.
Particularly notable are classics like the story ''Carmen (novella), Carmen'' by Prosper Mérimée and the Carmen, opera based on it by Georges Bizet, Victor Hugo's ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', Herge's ''The Castafiore Emerald'' and Miguel de Cervantes' ''La Gitanilla''. The Romani were also depicted in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''As You Like It'', ''Othello'' and ''The Tempest'', all by William Shakespeare.
The Romani were also heavily romanticized in the Soviet Union, a classic example being the 1975 film ''Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven, Tabor ukhodit v Nebo''.
A more realistic depiction of contemporary Romani in the Balkans, featuring Romani lay actors speaking in their native dialects, although still playing with established clichés of a Romani penchant for both magic and crime, was presented by Emir Kusturica in his ''Time of the Gypsies'' (1988) and ''Black Cat, White Cat'' (1998). The films of Tony Gatlif, a French director of Romani ethnicity, like ''Les Princes'' (1983), ''Latcho Drom'' (1993) and ''Gadjo Dilo'' (1997) also portray Romani life.
File:Rest during the Flight to Egypt-Paris Bordon mg 9985.jpg, Paris Bordone, ''The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Bordone), The Rest on the Flight into Egypt'', , Elizabeth (biblical figure), Elizabeth, at right, is shown as a Romani Fortune-telling, fortune-teller
File:August von Pettenkofen - Gipsy Children - WGA17393.jpg, August von Pettenkofen: ''Gypsy Children'' (1885), Hermitage Museum
File:Gypsy family (1884 by Mihály Munkácsy.jpg, Mihály Munkácsy: ''Gypsy Family'' (1884, oil on canvas)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Les roulottes, campement de bohémiens.jpg, Vincent van Gogh: ''The Caravans – Gypsy Camp near Arles'' (1888, oil on canvas)
File:Carmen (Bibliothèque-Musée de lOpéra) (4568143185).jpg, Carmen (novella), Carmen
File:La Esmeralda from Victor Hugo and His Time.jpg, Esméralda (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), Esméralda
File:Nicolae Grigorescu - Ursăreasa din Bolduri.jpg, Nicolae Grigorescu ''Gypsy from Boldu'' (1897), Palace of Culture (Iași), Art Museum of Iași
File:Sarah Egerton as Meg Merrilies.png, Guy Mannering#Characters, Meg Merrilies from Walter Scott's novel ''Guy Mannering'' (1815)
See also
* Anti-Indian sentiment
* Environmental racism in Europe
* Gitanos
* Gypsy Scourge
* King of the Gypsies
* ''R v Krymowski''
* Rajasthani people
* Romani society and culture
* Romani dress
* Romani diaspora
* Ethnic groups in Europe
* Romani folklore
General
* Traveler (disambiguation)
* Itinerant groups in Europe
* Nomadic tribes in India
* Dalit
Lists
* List of Romani people
* List of Romani settlements
Other
* Indian people
* Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin
Notes
Kosovo status
References
Sources
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Further reading
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* Sancar Seckiner's comprehensible book South (Güney), 2013, consists of 12 article and essays. One of them, ''Ikiçeşmelik'', highlights Turkish Romani People's life. Ref. .
* Sancar Seckiner' s new book Thilda's House (Thilda'nın Evi), 2017, underlines struggle of Istanbul Romani People who have been swept away from nearby Kadikoy. Ref. .
External links
European countries Roma links
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* . History of some Roma Europeans
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; The concentration, labor, ghetto camps that the Roma were persecuted in during World War II
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* Shot in remote areas of the Thar desert in Northwest India, captures the lives of vanishing nomadic communities who are believed to share common ancestors with the Roma people released 2004
Non-governmental organisations
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* . Beginning i
1888
the Gypsy Lore Society started to publish a journal that was meant to dispel rumors about their lifestyle.
Museums and libraries
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* The most comprehensive collection of information on Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
's Roma in existence.
{{Authority control
Romani people,
Romani,
Ethnic groups in Europe
Indo-Aryan peoples
Nomadic groups in Eurasia
Ethnic groups in the Middle East
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Ethnic groups in North Africa
Stateless nationalism
Ethnic groups in South America