Gypsies are a people without a state. For a long time they were considered to have come from Egypt and were called the “pharaoh’s tribe,” but recent research disproves this version. In Russia, the gypsies managed to give rise to a real cult of their music.
Why are gypsies “gypsies”?
Gypsies do not call themselves Gypsies. The most common self-name of gypsies is Roma. Most likely, this is the influence of the life of the gypsies in Byzantium, which began to be called Byzantium only after its fall. Before that, it was considered part of Roman civilization. The common “Romale” is the vocative case of the ethnonym “Roma”.
Gypsies also call themselves Sinti, Kale, Manush (“people”).
Other peoples call Gypsies very differently. In England they are called gypsies (from Egyptians - “Egyptians”), in Spain gitanos, in France bohemiens (“Bohemians”, “Czechs” or tsiganes (from Greek - τσιγγάνοι, tsingani), Jews call gypsies צוענים (tso'anim), from the name of the biblical province of Zoan in Ancient Egypt.
The word gypsies, familiar to the Russian ear, is conventionally traced back to the Greek word “atsingani” (“αθίγγανος”, “ατσίγγανος”), which means “untouchable”. This term first appears in the “Life of George of Athos,” written in the 11th century. Conditionally - because in this book one of the heretical sects of that time is called “untouchables”, and it cannot be reliably stated that the book is talking specifically about gypsies.
Where did the gypsies come from?
In the Middle Ages, Gypsies in Europe were considered Egyptians. The word Gitanes itself is a derivative of the Egyptian. There were two Egypts in the Middle Ages - upper and lower. The gypsies were so nicknamed, obviously, by the name of the upper one, which was located in the Peloponnese region, from where their migration took place, but belonging to the cults of lower Egypt is visible in the life of even modern gypsies.
Thus, Tarot Cards, which are considered the last surviving fragment of the cult of the Egyptian god Thoth, were brought to Europe by the gypsies. In addition, the gypsies brought the art of embalming the dead from Egypt. There were certainly Gypsies in Egypt, and the route from upper Egypt was probably the main route of their migration. However, today's genetic research has proven that the gypsies do not come from Egypt, but from India.
The Indian tradition has been preserved in Gypsy culture in the form of practices for working with consciousness. The mechanisms of meditation and gypsy hypnosis are in many ways similar; gypsies, like Indians, are good animal trainers. The gypsies are also characterized by syncretism of spiritual beliefs, which is one of the features of modern Indian culture.
The first gypsies in Russia
The first gypsies (serva groups) in the Russian Empire appeared in the 17th century on the territory of Ukraine. The first mention of gypsies in Russian history occurs in 1733, in Anna Ioannovna’s document on new taxes in the army. In addition, for the maintenance of these regiments, determine taxes from the gypsies, both in Little Russia and in the Sloboda regiments and in the Great Russian cities and districts assigned to the Sloboda regiments, and for this collection, identify a special person, since the gypsies are not included in the census . The next mention of Gypsies in Russian historical documents occurs in the same year.
According to this document, the Gypsies of Ingria were allowed to trade horses, since they “proved themselves to be natives of the area.” According to this document, it is clear that since the Roma “proved themselves to be local natives,” it means they have lived here for more than a generation. Further expansion of the Gypsy contingent in Russia occurred with the expansion of its territories. When part of Poland was annexed to the Russian Empire, “Polish Roma” appeared in Russia, when Bessarabia was annexed - Moldavian Gypsies, after Crimea was annexed - Crimean Gypsies. It must be understood that the Roma are not a mono-ethnic community, therefore the migration of different Roma ethnic groups took place in different ways.
On equal terms
In the Russian Empire, Gypsies were treated quite friendly. On December 21, 1783, a Decree of Catherine II was issued, classifying the Gypsies as a peasant class. Taxes began to be collected from them. However, no special measures were taken to force the enslavement of the Roma. Moreover, they were allowed to be assigned to any class except nobles. Already in the Senate decree of 1800 it is said that in some provinces “gypsies became merchants and townspeople.”
Over time, settled gypsies began to appear in Russia, some of them managed to acquire considerable wealth. Thus, in Ufa lived a gypsy merchant Sanko Arbuzov, who successfully traded horses and had a good, spacious house. His daughter Masha went to school and studied French. And Sanko Arbuzov was not alone. In Russia, the musical and performing culture of the Roma is appreciated. Already in 1774, Count Orlov-Chesmenky summoned the first gypsy choir to Moscow, which later grew into a choir and marked the beginning of professional gypsy performance in the Russian Empire.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the serf gypsy choirs were freed and continued their independent activities in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gypsy music was an unusually fashionable genre, and the Gypsies themselves often assimilated among the Russian nobility - quite famous people married Gypsy girls. Suffice it to recall Leo Tolstoy’s uncle Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy the American. Gypsies also helped Russians during wars. In the War of 1812, Gypsy communities donated large sums of money to support the army, supplied the best horses for the cavalry, and Gypsy youth went to serve in the Uhlan regiments.
By the end of the 19th century, not only Ukrainian, Moldavian, Polish, Russian and Crimean gypsies lived in the Russian Empire, but also Lyuli, Karachi and Bosha (since the annexation of the Caucasus and Central Asia), and at the beginning of the 20th century they migrated from Austria-Hungary and Romania lovari and kolderar.
Currently, the number of European gypsies, according to various estimates, ranges from 8 million to 10-12 million people. There were officially 175.3 thousand people in the USSR (1970 census). According to the 2010 census, about 220 thousand Roma live in Russia.
Each of you has had to meet these people more than once in your life. In my childhood, post-war years, I happened to live for some time in the same locality with the Gypsies. Those who lived with us did not evoke any kind of rejection or disgust in me. On the contrary, I learned a lot from the old people. I remember I couldn’t manage to tame a young stallion in the herd, and no matter what I did, my grandfather, Gypsy, immediately took him, put on a bridle and brought the stallion to me. And the Gypsies taught me not only how to handle horses, I guess I was just lucky in life. There were other meetings, but I don’t even want to remember them.
Gypsy (Roma) is one of the largest ethnic minorities in Europe, a layer of the ethnic population of common Indian origin. A common self-name is Rum, Roma, although other ethnonyms are also used: Sinti, Manush (“people”), Kale. As a general name at a universal human level for all European gypsies, the designation Roma (English: Roms, Romanies) is used.
The origin of the name “Gypsies” as an exonym (that is, from the surrounding population) is conventionally traced back to the 11th century, around 1100 AD. George of Athos describes the events that took place in 1054. It was from this description that the opinion about the Egyptian origin of the Gypsies arose. This is how it always turns out: someone put out a beautiful story, and everyone liked it, but in reality, it turned out that everything was completely wrong.
The British traditionally called the Gypsies - Gypsies (from Egyptians - "Egyptians"), the Spaniards - Gitanos (also from Egiptanos - "Egyptians"), the French - Boh;miens ("Bohemians", "Czechs"), Gitans (distorted Spanish Gitanos) or Tsiganes (borrowing from Greek - ;;;;;;;;;, zinga;ni), Germans - Zigeuner, Italians - Zingari, Dutch - Zigeuners, Hungarians - Cig;ny or F;ra;k n;pe (“Pharaonic tribe "), Finns - mustalaiset ("black"), Kazakhs - sy;andar, Lezgins - karachiyar ("hypocrites, pretenders"); Basque - Ijitoak; Albanians - Jevgjit (“Egyptians”); Jews - ;;;;;; (tso'ani;m), from the name of the biblical province of Tsoan in Ancient Egypt; Persians - ;;;; (if;); Lithuanians - ;igonai; Bulgarians - Tsigani; Estonians - “mustlased” (from “Must” - black). Currently, ethnonyms from the self-name of a part of the gypsies, “Roma”, are becoming increasingly widespread in various languages.
Thus, in the names of the gypsy population that are “external” in origin, three predominate:
reflecting early ideas about them as immigrants from Egypt;
distorted versions of the Byzantine nickname “atsinganos” (meaning “fortune tellers, magicians”);
designations of “blackness” as a distinctive feature of appearance, made in different languages (typically, one of the self-names of the gypsies is also translated as “black”)
The number of European gypsies, according to various estimates, ranges from 8 million to 10-12 million people.
In the former USSR, there were officially 175.3 thousand people (1970 census).
According to the 2010 census, about 220 thousand Roma live in Russia.
The most common self-name of the gypsies, which they brought from India, is “rum” or “roma” among European gypsies, “home” among the gypsies of the Middle East and Asia Minor. All these names go back to the Indo-Aryan “d’om” with the first cerebral sound. The cerebral sound, relatively speaking, is a cross between the sounds “r”, “d” and “l”. According to linguistic studies, the Roma of Europe and the Roma of Asia and the Caucasus were the three main "streams" of migrants from India. Under the name d'om, low-caste groups appear in various areas of modern India today. Despite the fact that modern houses in India are difficult to directly relate to the gypsies, their name has a direct connection with them. The difficulty is to understand what the connection was in the past between the ancestors of the Gypsies and the Indian houses. The results of linguistic research conducted back in the 20s of the 20th century, and which are shared by modern scientists, show that the ancestors of the Gypsies lived in the central regions of India and several centuries before the exodus (approximately in the 3rd century BC) migrated to Northern Punjab.
In the Indo-Aryan sources of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, which have not yet been considered as relevant to the genesis of the so-called “proto-Romans” in India, there are many connecting questions. A number of data indicate the settlement in the central and northwestern regions of India of a population with the self-name d’om / d’omba starting from the 5th-4th centuries BC. e. These populations were originally tribal groups of common origin, possibly related to the Austroasiatics. Subsequently, with the gradual development of the caste system, the d'om / d'omba occupied lower levels in the social hierarchy and began to be recognized as caste groups. At the same time, the integration of houses into the caste system occurred primarily in the central parts of India, and the northwestern regions remained a “tribal” zone for a very long time. This tribal character of the areas of origin was maintained by a constant connection with the Iranian nomadic tribes, whose resettlement in the period before the migration of the ancestors of the Gypsies from India took on a massive scale. These circumstances determined the nature of the culture of the peoples of the Indus Valley zone (including the ancestors of the Gypsies), a culture that for centuries retained its nomadic and semi-nomadic type. Also, the very ecology of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the arid and infertile soils near the Indus River contributed to the development of a semi-pastoral, semi-trading mobile economic model for a number of local population groups. Some authors believe that during the period of exodus the ancestors of the Gypsies represented a socially structured ethnic population of common origin (rather than a number of separate castes), engaged in commercial transportation and trade in transport animals, and also, if necessary, as auxiliary occupations - a number of crafts and other services, which formed part of everyday skills. The authors explain the cultural and anthropological difference between the gypsies and the modern houses of India (which have more pronounced non-Aryan features than the gypsies) by the indicated strong Aryan influence (in particular, in its Iranian modification), characteristic of the northwestern regions of India, where the ancestors of the gypsies lived before the exodus . This interpretation of the ethno-social origin of the Indian ancestors of the Roma is supported by a number of foreign and Russian researchers.
Crimean Gypsies, also Crimeans; we, Tatar Gypsies, Tatarche, Ayuji (Gypsies: kyrymitika Roma, Crimea) - a Gypsy sub-ethnic group that is part of the “large” Roma group. Formed in the Crimean Khanate. Nowadays he lives in many countries of the former USSR, including Russia. They speak their own dialect of the Romani language, with lexical borrowings from the Crimean Tatar and Russian languages.
In 1944, Crimean Gypsies, like the Crimean Tatars, were deported to Central Asia, which was due to the fact that most Crimeans were recorded as Tatars in Soviet passports. However, already in 1948-1949 they began to appear in Crimea again. Currently, most Crimeans live outside of Crimea - in the Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation. Traditional occupations - small trade, performing music, various kinds of handicrafts, jewelry, blacksmithing, fortune telling, begging (still practiced. Gypsy orchestras traditionally served Tatar weddings. In our time, the music and dances of Russian Gypsies or modern ones) are also the most a common occupation of Crimean gypsies.
Sometimes Crimean Gypsies are also confused with Crimean Gurbets (a separate Turkish-speaking Gypsy subethnic group; they are recorded as Crimean Tatars in the census).
European geneticists analyzed the genome of the Roma and found that this people originated in northwestern India about 1.5 thousand years ago and entered Europe 900 years ago, according to an article published in the journal Current Biology.
“From a genetic point of view, all Gypsies are connected to each other by two things - they come from northwestern India and their ancestors intermarried with representatives of other peoples during migrations across Europe.
There are over 10 million people living in the European Union who identify themselves as Roma. Most of them live in Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania and Hungary. The ancestors of the Roma did not leave behind written history, which is why their historical homeland and migration history remain unknown.
Scientists formed a group of 206 Roma volunteers living in different countries of Western and Eastern Europe, collected DNA samples and deciphered their genomes.
Then geneticists compared the genomes of the volunteers with each other and with the virtual DNA of five thousand Roma and other peoples living outside of Europe. This allowed them to identify about 800 thousand single-nucleotide polymorphisms - differences in one “letter”-nucleotide, which were later used as a “roulette” to estimate the genetic distance between peoples.
According to geneticists, the most likely homeland of the gypsies is the territory of the modern states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Kashmir in northwestern India. It is here that several isolated peoples live, such as the Meghawals in Gujarat and the Pandits in Kashmir, whose genome is most similar to gypsy DNA.I.E. the version about the Egyptian origin of this people is clearly erroneous.
According to scientists, shortly before entering Europe and some time after this event, the Roma experienced two sharp population declines. This is evidenced by a fairly small number of differences between the genomes of different representatives of this people.
By comparing the differences in the structure of the genomes of European and non-European gypsies, scientists found that the first representatives of this people reached the borders of Europe about 900 years ago. As geneticists suggest, the gypsies first penetrated the Balkans, and only then spread throughout Western Europe.
Back in the early 70s, I read in the magazine “Nature” that a large article was published about gypsies. And it was written there that the gypsies were one of the castes in India. They were expelled from India for their unacceptable behavior, which was the reason for their migration towards Europe. And at first they appeared in Spain, where they were met quite friendly, but quickly spoiled their attitude with theft and deception. The Gypsies did not leave written sources about themselves, but their adventures are recorded in European sources. Perhaps gentlemen of genetics only confirmed what has long been known. The article in the magazine was quite long.
The above remark adds to the delirium of Hitler's Nazism: * Hitler was 1/2 - 1/3 Jewish and hated Jews. * A fan of the “Aryan race”, but the Aryans are exclusively Indo-Iranians and a few Slavs, who genetically have nothing to do with the Germans. Actually, the Y-DNA haplogroup of the German-Scandinavian peoples I is closest to the Semitic haplogroup J. * It turns out that Hitler - Hated Gypsies and loved Hindus, and these are the same people.
Before geneticists, their origin was unclear. For example, in Europe they are called Gipsy, from the word “Egypt”, because they believed that they were the descendants of the ancient Egyptians - magicians, akin to the Jews who came out of ancient Egypt.
Another study of the last 10 years is linguistic, it has also been proven that the Gypsy language appeared about 1.5 thousand years ago in India. It was believed that these were the Dravidians - the indigenous pre-Aryan population of India, whom the Aryans, having captured India, made into a lower caste. But if they come from the north-west of India, it turns out that they are Aryans, and not Dravidians?...
The ancestors of the gypsies did not leave behind written history monuments, which is why their historical homeland and the history of migrations remain a mystery." And in human memory there is only the negative of vagabonds, thieves, murderers, and deceivers.
E;niche (German Jenische, also a self-name), “nomadic”, “white gypsies” - an ethnographic and social group of heterogeneous origins living in Central and Western Europe, mainly in the region around the Rhine (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium). Historically, the Yenish arose in the early 18th century as descendants of marginalized groups of populations (mostly German-speaking), although a number of researchers suggest that the Yenish may descend from a Germanized Celtic-speaking population. Only a small part of the Yenish switched to a nomadic lifestyle.
The Yenish speak a special Yenish jargon, grammatically close to the Swiss dialects of German.
Apart from Switzerland, the Yenish are not recognized as a national minority in any European country.
During the Second World War, the Nazis persecuted the Yenish along with the gypsies who were similar to them in their way of life. In modern Switzerland, the Yenish are considered by the authorities as one of the gypsy groups. The Swiss Yenish actively interact with the Sinti Roma, while in other European countries the Yenish actively separate themselves from the Roma.
(Principality of Moldova). Slavery in Romania, at that time a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, was legally prohibited only in February 1856, but it actually disappeared only in the mid-1860s. At the same time, along with slaves in the Romanian lands, there were Romanian serfs (known as carans, vecins, serfs); and in Transylvania - “Romanians”, Yobags, etc.) The basis of the local ruling class (boyars) were ethnic Romanians (in Wallachia and Moldova), in Transylvania - ethnic Hungarians.
Story
Despite all the difficulties of statistical accounting, as well as socio-political contradictions in the country, Romania is the largest and most famous region of Roma culture in the world. This circumstance is not accidental. Gypsies settled in medieval Romanian lands in unusually large numbers. They were undoubtedly attracted here by the great tolerance of the Romanesque population, which had survived here since antiquity. Indeed, in comparison with the Vlachs, who were also partly engaged in nomadic cattle breeding, later peoples who settled in the Balkans were much less tolerant of the nomadic lifestyle of the gypsies, their language and culture. Romanian Roma currently number at least two million. The first gypsies entered Romanian lands in the 12th century from the south. Starting from the 13th century, the gypsies found themselves in the position of slaves of local Romanian and Hungarian boyars. It was then that their gradual enslavement by the local Slavic-Roman elite began in a very peculiar form, reminiscent of slavery in Brazil. The first written mention of Romani slaves in Romania appeared on October 3, 1385. At various times, hypotheses have also been put forward that gypsies were supplied to Romania by the Mongols or Turks, who brought them from Asia. After Romania became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, the country became part of the Mediterranean slave trade with the Maghreb countries.
Gypsy classes
The following professional classes of Roma have formed in Romania:
kalderashi (literally “copper craftsman”),
Lautars ("musicians"),
boyashi or lingurars (“spoon holders”)
ursars (“bugbears”),
fierars (“blacksmiths”), as well as “horsesmen”.
From the very beginning of the history of slavery in Romania, many slaves, as in Roman Dacia, worked in salt and ore mines. Gypsy women who belonged to the boyars were servants, often concubines. Official marriages between Romanians and Gypsies were not encouraged, but illegitimate children from such unions filled the streets of Romanian cities, exacerbating the problem of child neglect, which continues to this day. This problem was acute in Brazil and other Latin American countries that had long cultivated the institution of plazag.
After the abolition of slavery in the Danube principalities, at least 250 thousand Roma, or about 10% of the population of Wallachia, received freedom. In Russian Bessarabia, the 1858 census also counted 11,074 Gypsy slaves. The liberation of the Roma did not improve their economic situation. As in Brazil, freed slaves did not receive land, which meant they were forced to join the ranks of the urban poor or modify their field of activity. For example, the Fierars combined horseshoeing with horse stealing.
Roma, gypsies, or Roma are a traditionally wandering people originally from Northern India who have spread throughout the world, mainly in Europe.
Language and origin
Most Roma speak a form of Romani, closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of North India, as well as the primary language of the country in which they live. It is generally accepted that groups of Roma left India many times, and by the 11th century they were already in Persia, at the beginning of the 14th century. - in South-Eastern Europe, and in the 15th century. reached Western Europe. By the second half of the twentieth century. they spread across all inhabited continents.
Persons of Roma nationality refer to themselves by the common name "Rum" (meaning "man" or "husband"), and all non-Roma people by the term "gadjo" or "gadzho" (a word with derogatory connotations that means "hillbilly" or "barbarian") ). Many Roma people consider the name "Gypsies" offensive.
Demography
Due to their nomadic lifestyle, absence from official census data, and their mixing with other nomadic groups, estimates of the total worldwide number of Roma people range from two to five million. No reliable statistics can be obtained from sporadic reporting in different countries. The majority of Roma still live in Europe, especially in the Slavic-speaking states of Central Europe and the Balkans. Many of them live in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, the countries of the former Yugoslavia and neighboring Bulgaria and Romania.
Eternal migrants
The stereotypical image of nomadic gypsies is often contradicted by the fact that fewer and fewer of them actually migrate permanently. However, their travel is limited. All nomadic Roma people migrate along established routes that ignore national borders. They also follow a chain of kinship or tribal ties.
The predisposition of Roma people is caused by forced expulsions or deportations. 80 years after their first appearance in Western Europe in the 15th century, they were driven out of almost every country in Western Europe. Despite the fact that Roma nationality became the reason for systematic persecution and deportation abroad, Gypsies, however, continued to appear in one form or another in the countries they left.
Objects of persecution
All non-sedentary groups living among sedentary peoples seem to become comfortable. The same is true of the Roma, who were regularly accused by the local population of many atrocities, which was a prelude to further official and legal persecution. Their relations with the host country authorities were marked by successive contradictions. Official decrees were often aimed at assimilating or coercing them, but local authorities systematically denied them the right to set up camp.
During the Holocaust, the only guilt of the Gypsies was their Roma identity, which led to the Nazi killing of 400,000 Roma.
French laws today prohibit them from encamping and have made them subject to police surveillance, taxed them, and conscripted them into military service like ordinary citizens.
Spain and Wales are two countries that are often cited as examples of states where Roma have become sedentary, if not completely assimilated.
In recent times, socialist countries in Eastern Europe have attempted to implement forced settlement programs to end their nomadic lifestyle.
Gypsy professions
Traditionally, Roma were engaged in jobs that allowed them to maintain a nomadic lifestyle, on the periphery of sedentary society. The men were cattle traders, trainers and entertainers, tinkers, blacksmiths, kitchen utensil repairmen and musicians; women told fortunes, sold potions, begged and entertained the public.
Before the advent of veterinary medicine, many farmers sought out gypsies for advice on animal husbandry and herd health.
The modern life of the Roma reflects the "progress" of the Gadjo world. Travel is now done in caravans of cars, trucks and trailers, and the livestock trade has been replaced by the sale of used cars and trailers. Although the mass production of kitchen utensils left tinkers out of work, some urban gypsies became auto mechanics and repaired car bodies. While some Roma people still lead a nomadic lifestyle, many have settled down, practicing their skills or working as labourers. Traveling circuses and amusement parks also provide work for modern gypsies as trainers, kioskers and fortune tellers.
Family
The classic Roma family consists of a married couple, their unmarried children and at least one married son, his wife and their children. After marriage, a young couple usually lives with the husband's parents until the young wife learns the way of life of her husband's family. Ideally, by the time the eldest son is ready to leave with his family, the younger son will be married and bring his new wife into the family. Previously, marriages were traditionally organized by family or group elders to strengthen political and kinship ties with other families, groups, or, occasionally, confederations, although this practice declined significantly in the late 20th century. The main feature of Roma marriages was the payment of bride price to the bride's parents by the groom's parents.
Ethnic groups
The distinctive features of a Roma representative are territorial differences, enhanced by certain cultural and dialectal characteristics. There are three main branches, or nations, of the Gypsies:
- Kalderars are kotlyar-tinkers who came from the Balkans, and then from Central Europe, and are the most numerous.
- Iberian Gypsies, or Gitanos, are a Roma ethnic group whose members live primarily in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and southern France. Strong in the art of entertainment.
- The Manouche (from the French manouche), also known as the Sinti, are a Roma ethnicity whose members live primarily in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany. Among them are many traveling showmen and circus performers.
Each Roma nationality is divided into two or more subgroups, distinguished by professional specialization or territorial origin.
Political organization
Officially, no body or congress was ever created and no “king” was elected, accepted by all Roma, although “international” congresses of Gypsies were held in Munich, Moscow, Bucharest, Sofia (in 1906) and in the Polish city of Ruvne (in 1936). Nevertheless, the existence of political authorities among the Roma is an established fact. Those who received noble titles such as "duke" or "count" in their early historical relationships with the local population were probably no more than chieftains of groups that moved in numbers ranging from 10 to several hundred households. These leaders (voivodes) were elected for life from among prominent families. Their strength and power varied depending on the size of the association, traditions and relationships with other entities within the confederation.
The voivode was the treasurer for the entire group, determined its migration route and participated in negotiations with local municipal authorities. He led through a council of elders, who also consulted with the senior woman of the association. The influence of the latter was strong, especially regarding the fate of women and children, and was based on the obvious ability to earn and organize women within the group.
Social control
The strongest institution of the Roma people was the kris - the norms of customary law and justice, as well as the ritual and tribunal of the group. The basis of the Gypsy code was comprehensive loyalty, coherence and reciprocity within a recognized political unit. The highest penalty of the tribunal, which applied to all disputes and violations of the code, was excommunication from the group. A sentence of ostracism could exclude a person from participating in certain activities and punish him with unskilled work. In some cases, the elders granted rehabilitation, followed by a celebration of reconciliation.
Social organization
Roma groups consist of vici, i.e. associations of extended families with a common origin on both the paternal and maternal lines, numbering at least 200 people. A big woman can have her own boss and council. You can apply for participation in vice as a result of marriage with a member of the clan. Loyalty and economic cooperation are expected at the household level, not at the vicar level. There is no general term for household in the Romani language. A person can probably count on the support of a circle of significant relatives with whom he is physically close and is not at odds.
Spiritual Beliefs
Gypsies have no formal faith, and in the past they have generally disdained organized religion. Today, Roma people often convert to the dominant religion of the country in which they live and describe themselves as "many stars scattered in the eyes of God." Some groups are Catholic, Muslim, Pentecostal, Protestant, Anglican and Baptist.
Gypsies follow a complex set of rules that govern such things as neatness, cleanliness, respect, honor and fairness. These rules are called "romano". Romano means to behave with dignity and respect as a Roma person. "Romanipe" is the gypsy name for their worldview.
Keepers of traditions
The Roma spread folk beliefs and practices in the areas where they settled (eg Romania), preserving national customs, dances and the like, which had largely disappeared from rural life at the turn of the 21st century. Their musical heritage is vast and includes, for example, flamenco. Although the Roma have a rich oral tradition, their written literature is relatively sparse.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Roma continue to struggle with contradictions in their culture. Although they are forced to defend themselves less frequently from persecution by a hostile society, some mistrust and intolerance still remain. Perhaps an even greater problem they faced was the erosion of their way of life under the influence of the city in industrialized societies. The themes of family and ethnic loyalty typical of Roma music have helped to preserve certain notions of what Roma nationality is, but some of the younger and more talented exponents of this music have retreated into the outside world under the influence of material rewards. Individual housing, economic independence, and intermarriage with non-Roma people became more common.
Gypsies are one of the most mysterious nations living in Russia. Some are afraid of them, others admire their cheerful songs and lively dances. As for the origin of this people, there are a wide variety of versions on this matter.
Version one: Indian
The most amazing thing is that the Roma are one of the few peoples in the world who do not officially have their own country. In 2000, they were legally recognized as an extra-territorial nation. For the past one and a half millennia, they have been roaming all over the world. The most paradoxical thing is that it is still unknown exactly how many representatives of this ethnic group live on the planet. The figure usually given is 11 million, but it is often questioned. There is a legend according to which gypsies appeared on Earth magically. That is why they allegedly have an innate ability for fortune telling and divination. Modern scientists, of course, cannot be content with such a theory. According to them, the gypsies originated in India, from where they emigrated to Western Asia in the 5th century. It is assumed that the reason that prompted them to leave this country was the spread of Islam. As a freedom-loving nation, the Roma categorically did not want to come under the pressure of any religious dogmas.
Version two: philistine
Unfortunately, after leaving India, the gypsies did not find a new homeland in European countries. From the 14th to the 19th centuries they were openly feared and disliked. Their way of life, very different from the European one, caused sharp rejection. In European countries, a number of discriminatory laws have appeared against Roma, including a ban on their residence in a particular state. Many philistine fables were also born, many of which told about the origin of the gypsies. Since this people did not have written sources describing their history, the guesses about their arrival in Europe were one more incredible than the other. European townspeople assured each other that the gypsies were the remnants of the people of Atlantis, the ancient Egyptians or German Jews. It is noteworthy that the Egyptian version had indirect confirmation. The fact is that on the way from India the gypsies actually visited Egypt. According to some sources, their ability for magic and astrology was inherited from the Egyptian priests. This hypothesis turned out to be so popular that in Hungary the gypsies began to be called nothing more than “the people of the pharaohs”, and in England - Egyptians. The most interesting thing is that the gypsies not only did not refute such inventions, but also supported them. When encountering negative attitudes towards themselves in European countries, they assumed a mystical fog as a defense.
Version three: Athos
Today, based on the similarity of the language of the Gypsies and a number of Indian nationalities, scientists have quite accurately established their place of origin. Nevertheless, a number of ancient authors called Asia the birthplace of this people. The famous scientist Henri de Spond argued that the Gypsies descended from the medieval Atsingan sect. This theory arose from the first written record of the appearance of gypsies in Europe, dating back to 1100. Its authorship is attributed to George Mtatsmindeli, a monk of the Athos Monastery. He associated the gypsies with the Atsingan sect. Byzantine sources adhered to the same version, considering the Atsingans to be the remnants of a Manichaean sect that disappeared in the 8th century. It is important to note that the Atsingans not only looked like gypsies in appearance, they also actively practiced magical rituals.
Version four: Asian
The ancient historians Strabo and Herodotus associated the appearance of the gypsies with the Central Asian tribe of the Siggins. Indeed, linguists, studying the language of the Roma, have established the route of their settlement around the world. From India, gypsy tribes moved to the territory of Western Asia, mainly to Iran, Afghanistan and Armenia. Their next stop was Byzantium, from which the gypsies spread throughout the Balkan Peninsula. In the 15th century they came to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A century later, tribes of Gypsies could be found throughout Central, Western and Northern Europe. At the same time, it should be noted that the gypsy tribes scattered around the world are heterogeneous in composition. Over the course of one and a half millennia of wandering around the planet, they have absorbed such a huge number of representatives of other peoples that they have largely lost their historical national identity.
Gypsies are a people covered in myths and legends. Well, at least start with whether they are a single people, and who can be considered a gypsy? The gypsies themselves consider themselves to be either Sinti, Kalo, or Keldari. In addition to the well-known European Roma, there are also Balkan “Egyptians” and Ashkali, Middle Eastern Dom, Transcaucasian Bosha, Central Asian Mugat and Chinese Einu. The surrounding population classifies them as gypsies, but our gypsies are unlikely to recognize them as one of their own. So, who are the gypsies, and where did they come from?
Gypsies-Ursari. Image borrowed from wikimedia foundation
In the beginning a legend
Previously, gypsies lived in Egypt between the Tsin and Gan rivers. But then a bad king came to power in this country and decided to turn all Egyptians into slaves. Then the freedom-loving gypsies left Egypt and settled around the world. I heard this story as a child in the Belarusian city of Slutsk from an old gypsy grandfather who worked at the local bazaar. Then I had to hear and read it in different versions. For example, that the gypsies come from the island of Tsy on the Ganges River. Or that the gypsies dispersed in different directions, crossing the Tsy-Gan River.
Oral history does not last long. As a rule, more or less truthful information about historical events is preserved for only three generations. There are exceptions, such as the ancient Greek poems about the Trojan War or the Icelandic sagas. They conveyed news about events centuries ago. But this happened thanks to professional storytellers. The gypsies did not have such storytellers, so myths took the place of truthful information. They were created on the basis of legends of local peoples, biblical stories and outright fables.
The Gypsies do not remember that the name of their people comes from the Greek word “atsigganos”. This was the name of a medieval Christian sect of sorcerers and fortune tellers originally from Phrygia (now the territory of Turkey). By the time the gypsies appeared in Balkan Greece, it was destroyed, but the memory of it was preserved and was transferred to a still little-known people.
In some countries, gypsies are still called Egyptians (remember the English word Gypsies or the Spanish Gitano). This name also originates on the Balkan Peninsula, where immigrants from Egypt for a long time traded in magic tricks and circus performances. After the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, the flow of magicians from there dried up, but the word “Egyptian” became a common noun and was transferred to the gypsies.
Finally, the self-name of European gypsies “Roma” sometimes refers to them as immigrants from Rome. We will talk about the real origin of this word below. But, if we remember that in the Middle Ages the inhabitants of Byzantium called themselves nothing less than Romans, then we again return to the Balkan Peninsula.
It is curious that the first written mentions of Gypsies are also associated with the Balkan Peninsula. The life of the Greek monk George of Athos, written in 1068, tells that shortly before his death, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh turned to some Indians to clear his gardens of wild animals. In the 12th century, to the displeasure of Orthodox monks, gypsies in Constantinople sold amulets, told fortunes, and performed with trained bears. In 1322, the Irish pilgrim Simon Fitz-Simons met them on the island of Crete. In 1348, a record of gypsies appears in Serbia, in 1378 - in Bulgaria, in 1383 - in Hungary, in 1416 - in Germany, in 1419 - in France, in 1501 - in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the Middle Ages, the arrival of settlers was always welcomed by the feudal lords, as they counted on cheap labor. In 1417, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg even issued a safe conduct to the gypsies. But very soon the European monarchs became disillusioned with the newcomers. They did not want to settle in a specific place and were more like vagabonds. Already in the 15th century, laws began to be passed aimed at expelling the Gypsies. Moreover, in some cases, violators faced the death penalty. The gypsies left and returned. They had nowhere to go, since they did not remember where their homeland was. If their homeland is not the Balkan Peninsula, then where did they come from?
Ancestral home in India
In 1763, Transylvanian pastor István Valý compiled a dictionary of the Romani language and concluded that it was of Indo-Aryan origin. Since then, linguists have found many facts that confirm his conclusion. In 2004 – 2012, works by geneticists appeared who determined that the ancestral homeland of the gypsies should be sought in the north-west of India. They found that most Roma men are descended from a small group of relatives who lived 32 to 40 generations ago. Fifteen centuries ago they left their native places and for some reason moved west.
The evidence of the Indian origin of the Roma is so clear that in 2016, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs declared the Roma to be part of the overseas Indian community. Therefore, if you want to find out how many Indians live, for example, on the territory of Belarus, add another 7079 Belarusian gypsies to the 545 people from India!
At the same time, neither linguists nor geneticists have yet precisely determined which ancestors of which modern Indian people (after all, many peoples live in India!) are related to the Gypsies. This is partly because northwest India is home to different tribes. There are especially many of them in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Perhaps the ancestors of the gypsies were one small tribe. After they went west, they had no close relatives or descendants left in India.
“Wait, how can this be! - someone will exclaim. “After all, there are gypsies in India!” Travelers write about Indian gypsies in blogs and film them. I myself had to see in the north of India representatives of the people who are called “Banjara”, “Garmati”, “Lambani” and so on. Many of them continue to lead a nomadic lifestyle, living in tents and engaging in begging or petty trading. The attitude of Indians towards them is approximately the same as that of Europeans towards the Roma gypsies. That is, despite all the tolerance and romantic fairy tales, it is very bad. However, “Banjara-Garmati” are not gypsies. This people has its own history. He comes from Gujarat, but began to lead a “gypsy” lifestyle only in the 17th century. The Banjara Garmati and the Gypsies are indeed distantly related, but no more so than other tribes and peoples of northwestern India.
How did the gypsies end up in the west?
In 2004, British historian Donald Kendrick published the book “The Gypsies: From the Ganges to the Thames.” He tried to summarize all known information that could shed light on the appearance of gypsies in Europe. His work is only a version; it contains many indirect facts and controversial conclusions. Nevertheless, it looks plausible, and it is worth retelling it very briefly for Russian-speaking readers.
The westward migration of Indians to the neighboring Persian Empire began more than 1,500 years ago. The Persian poem Shahnameh talks about this in lyrical form. Allegedly, Shah Brahram Gur, who ruled in the 5th century, turned to one of the Indian kings with a request to send Luri musicians. Each musician received a cow and a donkey, as the Shah wanted the settlers to settle on the land and raise new generations of musicians. But more often Indians moved to Persia as mercenary soldiers and artisans. D. Kendrick notes that in Iran the ancestors of the gypsies could get acquainted with tents. Later, the “vardo” wagon will become a symbol of the nomadic gypsies in Europe.
In 651, Persia was conquered by Muslim Arabs. The Arabs knew the Indian settlers as "Zotts". Perhaps it comes from the Jat people, who in our time live just in the north-west of India. The Zotts formed a kind of state in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, collecting tribute from passing merchants for the use of trade routes. Their arbitrariness angered Caliph Al-Mu'tasim, who defeated the Zotts in 834. He resettled some of the prisoners to the area of the city of Antioch on the border with Byzantium. Now this is the borderland of Turkey and Syria. Here they served as shepherds, protecting their flocks from wild animals.
In 969, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros captured Antioch. Thus, the ancestors of the gypsies ended up within the Byzantine Empire. For some time they lived in eastern Anatolia, where a significant part of the population was Armenians. It is not without reason that many linguists discover borrowings from Armenian in the Gypsy language.
From Eastern Anatolia, some of the Roma moved to Constantinople and the Balkan Peninsula, and then to other European countries. These gypsies are known to us as "Rum". But another part of the gypsies remained in Anatolia and already during the Turkish conquests they mastered the expanses of the Middle East, Transcaucasia, Iran, and Egypt. These are known as "house". Gypsies “at home” still live in Muslim countries, profess Islam, but separate themselves from the Arabs, Turks and Persians. It is typical that in Israel they cooperate with the authorities and even serve in the Israeli army. In neighboring Egypt, the Domari live near large cities. Among the Egyptians, their women have the dubious reputation of being good dancers and cheap prostitutes.
Journey of the Gypsies to the West in the 5th - 15th centuries
In Armenia, the “lom” gypsies, also known as “boshas,” converted to Christianity and are now almost indistinguishable from other Armenians. In Central Asia, people began to speak the Tajik language and call themselves “Mugat”, although the surrounding peoples more often call them “Lyuli”. In Western China, on the southern slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains and in the oases of the Taklamakan Desert, you can meet very exotic “Einu” gypsies. They speak a strange language that combines Indo-Aryan and Tajik words with Turkic grammar. Einu are ordinary peasants and artisans, not prone to theft, begging or drug dealing. However, their Chinese and Uyghur neighbors treat them with contempt. The Einu themselves say that they came to China from Iran, that is, they are descendants of the medieval Zotts or the same gypsies “home”.
The names “rum” and “house” have a common origin, differing only in pronunciation. But, if “rum” refers our imagination to Rome, then “house” clarifies the true roots of the self-name of the gypsies. In Punjabi language, the word "dam-i" means a person or a man.
Second coming
So, in the 14th century, the gypsies began to leave the cozy Balkan Peninsula, where they spent several centuries, and move to other European countries. There is nothing surprising in this if we remember that during this period the Turkish conquest of the lands of the former Byzantine Empire took place. However, the number of migrants cannot be called huge. Proof of this are materials about the persecution of Roma by the authorities. As a rule, before the 18th century, Gypsy communities in European countries barely numbered a few hundred people each. In Russia, Gypsies are not mentioned until 1733, and even then they lived only in the Baltic states.
By the 19th century, many European gypsies abandoned their nomadic lifestyle, one way or another fit into existing social structures, served in the army, and participated in the colonial expansion of European peoples. The negative image of the gypsies gradually eroded. Romantic poets sang the gypsies' love for freedom. But in the middle of the 19th century, a new stream of gypsy migrants poured from the Balkan Peninsula, to whom the definition of free was never suitable.
Where did they come from? Despite the Turkish invasion, most medieval gypsies chose to remain where they lived before. At the beginning of the 17th century, we discover gypsy suburbs near the Athos monastery, settlements of gypsy artisans in Bulgaria, and even gypsy soldiers in the Ottoman army. While in European countries the gypsies were persecuted, in the Ottoman Porte they were recognized as subjects of the Sultan, paid taxes and in some cases enjoyed a certain independence.
It is not surprising that among the Ottoman gypsies there were many sedentary ones. Some converted to Islam, others remained Christians, and others tried to merge with the local population. This is how a small group of Ashkali gypsies arose in Kosovo, who lived in permanent villages, gardened and spoke Albanian. In Bulgaria, the Roma were more likely to accept the Turkish language and culture.
Village of Romanian gypsies in the 19th century. Image borrowed from wikimedia foundation
However, there was one big exception in the northern Balkans. In the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, gypsies were slaves. It is curious that the very first mention of the Gypsies in Wallachian documents of the 14th century speaks of them as unfree. Most of the gypsies belonged to the prince, but there were also slaves dependent on monasteries or landowner boyars. Some of the gypsy slaves led a sedentary lifestyle, others were allowed to roam, but one way or another they worked for the owner. The owners disposed of their property, allowed or prohibited marriages, tried and punished them. Slaves were cheap in Wallachia. For example, in 1832, thirty gypsies were exchanged for one britzka. In Moldova, in addition to the gypsy slaves, there was a small group of Tatar slaves. Tatars became slaves when they were captured. But how the Roma population ended up in slavery is difficult to understand. There were no hostilities between Romanians and Gypsies.
Slavery was finally abolished only in 1856. Although the Romanian authorities took steps to ensure that the Gypsies mixed with the Romanians, many of the freed slaves chose to move away from their former masters. This was especially true for those who maintained a nomadic lifestyle. Many of the gypsies living in Western European countries, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are direct descendants of that very later wave of gypsies from Romania.
In the 20th century, in the USSR and other socialist countries, they tried to transfer the gypsies to a sedentary lifestyle. The Nazis exterminated Roma in concentration camps. Thus, during the Second World War, Belarus lost almost its entire indigenous Roma population. The gypsies living with us today are descendants of post-war settlers from other Soviet republics. Nowadays, a suspicious and sometimes outright hostile attitude towards Gypsies is characteristic of all European countries from France to Russia.
Gypsies are not loved, they are admired, but they continue to lead an isolated lifestyle. And so for one and a half thousand years!
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