Boyash

Romani subgroup Ethnic group Boyash or Bayash (endonym: Bȯjáṡ, Romanian: Băieși, Hungarian: Beás, Slovak: Bojáš, Serbo-Croatian: Banjaši, Bojaši) are a Romani ethnic group living in Romania, Moldova, southern Hungary, northern Croatia, northern Serbia, Slovakia, the Balkans, but also in the Americas. Alternative names are Rudari (Ludari), Lingurari and Zlătari. History Lingurari (wood "spoon-makers") from Transilvania The Boyash or Băieși (in Romanian) are a branch/caste of the Roma who were forced to settle in the 14th century in the Apuseni Mountains, located in Transylvania, and work as slaves in mining (a regionalism for mine in Romanian: "baie," from Middle Age Slavonic).[page needed] At the end of the 16th century the Boyash started migrating towards the south, in Wallachia, and the east, in Moldavia, where they were held as slaves together with other Romani groups (until the slavery was abolished in 1855–56).[page needed] Another name for the Boyash, Rudari, comes from the Slavic ruda ("metal", "ore"). As the mines became inefficient, the Boyash people were forced to readjust by earning their living making wood utensils (Lingurari means "spoon-makers" in Roma