Where did the gypsies come from, and why are they not loved anywhere? Where did the gypsies come from: the opinion of scientists Gypsy country.
Author Olga Fatyukhina asked a question in the section Society, Politics, Media
What is the nationality of the gypsies and got the best answer
Reply from User deleted[guru]
Gypsies are a nation. Like everyone else, she must be treated with respect. I present your face and argue. Unfortunately, not all nationalities have their own country. Remember the Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis. The same thing happens with the gypsies. Moreover, wherever representatives of this Vedic family live, they try to preserve their ancient culture. You say that they don’t want to work and are engaged in selling drugs and weapons. And I will say that they are musical and melodious, they love horses and know how to handle them like no one else. We must respect everyone, trying not to change them to suit our own style, but to understand them.
Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: what is the nationality of gypsies?
Answer from Lev Timofeev Fedorovich[active]
Gypsy is me, this is Natsyya, and so are the ancient ancestors of the Hindus
Answer from N.B.[guru]
Gypsies (Roma, Romans) are a people (more precisely, ethnic groups that have a common origin and language). The self-name is Roma (plural), some groups historically call themselves differently, for example Sinti, or have lost their former self-name in the process of assimilation and persecution.
Descendants of immigrants from India. They live in many countries of Europe, Western and South Asia, as well as in North Africa, North and South America and Australia.
The English traditionally call them Gypsies (from Egyptians - "Egyptians"), the Spanish - Gitanos, the French - Bohémiens (Bohemians), Gitans or Tsiganes, the Germans - Zigeuner, the Italians - Zingari, the Dutch - Heidens ("pagans"), the Hungarians - Cigany or Pharao nerek (“Pharaoh’s tribe”), Finns - mustalaiset (“black”), Turks - Çingerie, Çingane; in Hebrew - Tso'anim (צוענים), from the name of the biblical province of Tsoan in Ancient Egypt; in Bulgarian - Tsigani. Currently, ethnonyms from the self-name “Roma” (English Roma, Czech Romové, Finnish romanit, etc.) are becoming increasingly widespread in various languages.
Answer from Kolesnikova Yulia[guru]
The nationality is Gypsies, and people come from India. Anyone who has been to India please confirm!! ! I had a lot of friends there, and I know from them!
Answer from Alexey Ermakov[guru]
Untermensch their nationality
Answer from Lex Lexus[newbie]
Hindus are Hindus. That's why they sell drugs.
Answer from Yoamirchik[guru]
U nix armyanskaya nationalnost.
Answer from User deleted[guru]
But it’s not clear which one. Strange. Greeks, Armenians, and maybe others. That’s why they’re gypsies, I’ll think they’re Gypsies.
Answer from Margarita Kuptsova[active]
Gypsies - they are gypsies in Africa too!
Answer from User deleted[guru]
this is the same thing if you ask what nationality Russians have. Gypsies - this is the nationality
Answer from VALERA Ivanov[guru]
they have all become Moldovans now and are offended when they are called gypsies!
Answer from Vitaliy Yasminov[guru]
I have heard two versions about the homeland of the gypsies. According to the first, gypsies come from India from the ancient Aryans. By the way, the Emperor of the Gypsies, Michael I, still lives in India.
According to the second version, the gypsies are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. But nowhere in the literature have I found confirmation of either version.
But in many countries, in addition to their nationality, they usually have “Gypsy” written in their passport.
For centuries, the origins of the Gypsies have been shrouded in mystery. Appearing here and there, camps of these dark-skinned nomads with unusual morals aroused the burning curiosity of the settled population. Trying to unravel this phenomenon and penetrate the mystery of the origin of the gypsies, many authors built the most incredible hypotheses.
Europeans first heard about gypsies more than five hundred years ago. The mysterious tribe, as if in search of the promised land, wandered from country to country, crossed seas and oceans, penetrating both Australia and America.
And everywhere the gypsies cast spells, sang, told fortunes and danced until they dropped, cast spells on snakes, led trained bears on chains, treated and trained horses, worked as blacksmiths and tinkers. Alienated by settled life and traditional crafts, indifferent to peasant labor, but not striving to become one of the city dwellers, they were strange and suspicious. Aliens - that’s what they would be called today, but in past centuries they were considered almost aliens. If, moreover, we recognize that the gypsies were definitely never angels in the flesh, and need often forced them to resort to dishonest means of extraction (and when they decided to steal, they did it with the recklessness inherent in everything), then it is easy to understand , why the gypsies were feared, disliked, sometimes it reached the point of hatred. In Europe, gypsies first appeared in the 14th century (according to some other sources, in the 15th century), and already from the 16th century, repressive measures were used against them.
The key to the mystery of the origin of the gypsies was found at the end of the 18th century by German linguists E. Grüdiger and G. Grellman. They noticed that the most important root words of the Romani language belong to the northwestern Sanskrit dialects. Scholars have also tried to find the reason for the exodus of the Gypsies from India in Persian texts. Hamza from Isfahan, writing in the mid-10th century, talks about the arrival of twelve thousand musicians - zotts (one of the names of gypsies) - in Persia. Half a century later, the great poet and chronicler Ferdowsi, the author of “Shah-name,” mentions the same fact: in 420, the Indian king presented the Persian Shah with ten thousand “luris” - musicians. G. Grelman believed that the gypsies come from the Suder caste, which at the beginning of the 14th century was inhumanly persecuted by the Brahmins. In the ancient history of Kashmir, references were found to camps of “domis” - musicians, blacksmiths, thieves, dancers. They belonged to one of the lower castes, whose name translates as “dog eaters.”
This is what G. Grelman said about the semi-legendary origin of the gypsies and the reasons for their appearance in Europe:
“When the strong and powerful Timurleng, or Tamerlane, under the pretext of exterminating idols, conquered the north-western part of India in 1399 and glorified his victories with extreme cruelty, a wild tribe of robbers, called gypsies and living in Guzurat and especially near Thatta, escaped. This tribe, which consisted of half a million people and owned countless treasures, was called in its Guzu-rat language - Rum (people), and because of its black skin color - Kola (black), and because of its residence on the banks of Sind - Sints" (Sind is now a river Ind).
In Persia, the Gypsy language was enriched with a number of words that were subsequently discovered in all European dialects. Then, according to the English linguist John Simpson, the gypsies split into two branches. Some of them continued their journey to the west and southeast, others moved in a northwestern direction. This group of gypsies visited Armenia (where they borrowed a number of words conveyed by their descendants right up to Wells, but completely unknown to representatives of the first branch), then penetrated further into the Caucasus, enriching themselves there with words from the Ossetian vocabulary.
Ultimately, the gypsies end up in Europe and the “Byzantine” world. Since that time, references to them in written sources are found more and more often, especially in the notes of Western travelers who made pilgrimages to holy places in Palestine.
In 1322, two Franciscan monks, Simon Simeonis and Hugo the Enlightened, noticed people in Crete who looked like the descendants of Ham; They adhered to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church, but lived, like the Arabs, under low black tents or in caves. In Greece they were called "atsiganos" or "atkinganos", after the name of a sect of musicians and fortune tellers.
But most often, Western travelers encountered gypsies in Modon, a fortified and largest port city on the western coast of the Seas, the main transit point on the way from Venice to Jaffa. They were mainly engaged in blacksmithing and, as a rule, lived in huts. This place was called Little Egypt, perhaps because here, among the parched lands, there was a fertile region like the Nile Valley. This is apparently the basis for the idea, which at one time was very widespread, that the Gypsies are immigrants from Egypt. And their leaders often styled themselves dukes or counts of Little Egypt.
Greece diversified the vocabulary of the gypsies, and it also gave them the opportunity to get acquainted with the way of life of other peoples, since here, at the crossroads of civilization, they encountered pilgrims from all over the world. Pilgrims enjoyed many privileges compared to other travelers, and when the gypsies set off again, they were already posing as pilgrims.
After a long stay in Greece and life in neighboring Romania and Serbia, some of the Roma moved further to the west. Their political position in territories that had repeatedly passed from the Byzantines to the Turks, and vice versa, was difficult. And so the gypsies created a myth that, having left Egypt, they were at first pagans, but then they were converted to Christianity, then they returned to idolatry again, but under the pressure of the Christian rulers-monarchs they accepted Christianity for the second time and are now making a pilgrimage to to the whole world in atonement for numerous sins. These emerging legends about the origin of the gypsies, about the reasons for their wandering lot, include both political savvy and a spell against dangerous people, lordly anger, unexpected misfortunes, etc.
Thus, dear reader, the magic of the road is born, first of all, as a means to protect yourself and your loved ones from numerous imaginary and real troubles that are possible along the way.
And the paths of the Gypsy people diverge more and more, breaking up into separate paths. But each group of gypsies that has begun an independent journey through Europe tries to justify their intentions and give their nomadism a meaningful character. Great myth-makers and romantics, the gypsies skillfully combined practicality and the beauty of fiction in their “legends.”
The earliest Russian official document mentioning gypsies dates back to 1733 - Anna Ioannovna’s decree on new taxes for the maintenance of 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 . On this occasion, the report of Lieutenant General Prince Shakhovsky explained, among other things, that it was impossible to include gypsies in the census because they do not live in courtyards.
The next mention in the documents occurs a few months later and shows that the Roma came to Russia relatively shortly before the adoption of the decree on taxes and secured their right to live in Ingermanland. Before this, apparently, their status in Russia was not defined, but now they were allowed:
live and trade horses; and since they showed themselves to be natives of the area, it was ordered that they be included in the capitation census wherever they wished to live, and placed in the regiment of the Horse Guards
From the phrase “they showed themselves to be natives here,” one can understand that there was at least a second generation of gypsies living in this area.
Even earlier, about a century, gypsies (serva groups) appeared on the territory of modern Ukraine. As we can see, by the time the document was written they were already paying taxes, that is, they were living legally.
In Russia, new ethnic groups of Roma appeared as the territory expanded. Thus, when parts of Poland were annexed to the Russian Empire, Polish Roma appeared in Russia; Bessarabia - various Moldovan gypsies; Crimea - Crimean gypsies.
The decree of Catherine II of December 21, 1783 classified the Gypsies as a peasant class and ordered that taxes and taxes be collected from them in accordance with the class. However, Gypsies were also allowed, if they wished, to attribute themselves to other classes (except, of course, the noble, and with the appropriate lifestyle), and by the end of the 19th century there were already quite a few Russian Gypsies of the bourgeois and merchant classes (for the first time, Gypsies were mentioned as representatives of these classes, however , back in 1800). During the 19th century, there was a steady process of integration and settlement of Russian Gypsies, usually associated with an increase in the financial well-being of families. A layer of professional artists has emerged.
At the end of the 19th century, not only settled gypsies sent their children to schools, but also nomadic ones (staying in the village in winter). In addition to the groups mentioned above, the population of the Russian Empire included Asian Lyuli, Caucasian Karachi and Bosha, and at the beginning of the 20th century also Hungarian gypsies: Lovari, Ungari (Romungr), as well as Hungarian and Romanian Kelderars.
The revolution of 1917 hit the most educated part of the Gypsy population (since it was also the wealthiest) - representatives of the merchant class, as well as Gypsy artists, whose main source of income was performances in front of nobles and merchants. Many wealthy gypsy families abandoned their property and went into nomadism, since nomadic gypsies during the Civil War were automatically classified as poor. The Red Army did not touch the poor, and almost no one touched the nomadic gypsies. Some Roma families emigrated to European countries, China and the USA. Young gypsy boys could be found both in the Red Army and in the White Army, since the social stratification of Russian gypsies and serfs was already significant by the beginning of the 20th century.
After the Civil War, gypsies from among the former merchants who became nomads tried to limit their children’s contact with non-gypsies and did not allow them to go to school, in fear that the children would accidentally reveal their families’ non-poor origins. As a result, illiteracy became almost universal among the nomadic gypsies. In addition, the number of settled gypsies, whose core was merchants and artists before the revolution, has sharply decreased. By the end of the 20s, the problems of illiteracy and a large number of nomadic gypsies in the gypsy population were noticed by the Soviet Government. The government, together with activists from among the Roma artists remaining in the cities, tried to take a number of measures to solve these problems.
Thus, in 1927, the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine adopted a resolution on assistance to nomadic gypsies in the transition to a “working sedentary lifestyle.”
At the end of the 20s, Roma pedagogical technical schools were opened, literature and press were published in the Roma language, and Roma boarding schools operated.
During World War II, according to recent research, about 150,000-200,000 Roma in Central and Eastern Europe were exterminated by the Nazis and their allies (see Roma Genocide). Of these, 30,000 were citizens of the USSR.
On the Soviet side, during the Great Patriotic War, their co-religionists, the Crimean Gypsies (Kyrymitika Roma), were deported from Crimea, along with the Crimean Tatars.
The gypsies were not only passive victims. Gypsies of the USSR participated in hostilities as infantrymen, tank crews, drivers, pilots, artillerymen, medical workers and partisans; Gypsies from France, Belgium, Slovakia, the Balkan countries were in the Resistance, as well as Gypsies from Romania and Hungary who were there during the war.
Gypsies are an entire ethnic group that has a common origin and language. Today, Roma live all over the planet, except Antarctica. No one knows the true number of Roma in the world, because they do not participate in the population census, and they also do not keep independent records. And some countries do not know whether there are Roma on their territory at all, because many of them still lead a nomadic lifestyle.
Where are they from?
A very interesting question is where the gypsies came from. More than one study has been conducted on this topic, and today a single point of view has been formed - Roma people come from India.
In fact, this group of peoples formed at the end of the 1st millennium AD. At that time, the dominance of Muslim culture began in India. Then the gypsies found their way to Western Asia and stayed there while Byzantium reigned.
Spread around the world
Where did the gypsies come from? Even if they are the ancestors of the Hindus, how did they spread throughout the world? It is believed that in the period from the 13th to the 15th centuries, Roma actively settled throughout Europe. Until the 15th century they were perceived quite kindly. But then they began to be perceived as vagabonds and were evicted outside the states, that is, the people were outside the law. By the 18th century, some countries had become more tolerant of Roma. And from that time on, a division into settled and nomadic gypsies appeared.
How did the Roma get to Russia?
It is believed that the Gypsies entered Russian territory in two ways:
- through the Balkans, and this was around the 15th-16th centuries;
- through Germany and Poland in the 16th-17th centuries.
Until the October Revolution, the Roma were engaged in theft and exchange of horses, and women told fortunes. The nomads also told fortunes and begged, but some were engaged in blacksmithing.
The same gypsies who settled in Moscow and St. Petersburg were members of choral ensembles.
After the revolution, they tried to teach the gypsies to settle down and work. And in 1931, the Romani gypsy theater “Romen” was even opened in the capital. During World War II, many settled Roma went to war.
In 1956, there was a second attempt to make the entire Gypsy people settled; they were given the right to work and education. But not many wanted to live like everyone else, not even all families took the opportunity to educate their children for free.
Modern settlement
In the last century, numerous attempts were made in many countries to improve the legal status of Roma, committees and institutions were created. Festivals were held, even in the country where the gypsies originated. For example, “International Gypsy Festival” in Chandigahra, 1976.
However, these activities began to be carried out only after the Second World War. During the military conflict, many Roma groups throughout Europe were almost completely destroyed by the fires of the Holocaust. And only in the 70s of the last century did the Roma national movement begin. And it doesn’t matter that the people do not have their own state, the Roma are supporters of the fact that they are an extra-territorial nation, but with a rich culture and traditions.
Since the 90s, quite professional representatives of this ethnic group have appeared: journalists, politicians, educators. Language standardization rules are being formed that make it possible to communicate with them even at the international level.
Gypsy language
According to the generally accepted international classification, Gypsies are speakers of one of the variants of the medieval Indo-Aryan dialect - Shaurasena Apabkhransha.
In different countries, Roma formed their language in close contact with the language of the country where they lived. Therefore, different groups' speech may differ radically from the language used on another continent. And some gypsies have completely lost their language and completely switched to the one they use in the country where they live. That is, regardless of where the Gypsies came from, namely from India, each ethnic group demonstrates a different degree of preservation of their native language. Today, the simplest classification is represented by four groups:
- Balkan group. This is a dialect used by gypsies living in Europe, in particular, in the historical part of the settlement: Kosovo, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and a number of other countries.
- Central group. The language used in Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Moravia and the Carpathians.
- Vlash group. This dialect is the most widespread and studied, since there are the most speakers of this particular gypsy language in the world. The language was originally formed in Romania.
- Northern group. Conventionally, the group is still divided into two subgroups. The first is the dialect of the gypsies of Finland and some Western European countries. The second is the language used by Roma in the northern part of Russia, the Baltic states and Poland.
Borrowing words
An interesting fact is that not only Roma people borrowed words from other languages. In the modern Russian language there are many examples where gypsy words have become firmly entrenched in our speech. For example, the word “lave” in the gypsy language means money, and “haval” means to eat, “steal” - to steal. The word “dude” means “your guy,” and “labat” translates as playing a musical instrument.
Social organization
Where did the gypsies come from? From the Hindus, but their genetic and cultural heritage was so influenced by the culture of the countries where they settled that it is quite difficult to draw a generalized portrait. Although some characteristic differences of this large ethnic group can still be identified.
A group of family ties forms a clan, which is headed by a single leader - a “baro”, that is, a king, as interpreted by modern media. This person can represent his family even at the international level, and can consult with elders.
The family plays a dominant role in all relationships. There is a disapproving attitude towards marriages with non-Gypsies. Even if the young people are from different families, such marriages are also not treated very well. Usually a couple is united for life, but in extreme cases divorce is allowed.
If we analyze the history of the Gypsy people, they always had a kind of internal court “kris”, consisting of a male assembly. This court exists to this day. The competence of the assembly includes resolving matrimonial matters, material and moral. The court has the right to impose a fine and even expel from the community.
To this day, Gypsies are very kind to their own children. If an heir - a son - is not born in the family, then the family decides to adopt a boy. It doesn’t matter whether he has blond hair or freckles. It is believed that it was against the background of this tradition that the legend that gypsies steal children was born.
Religion
Over the course of many centuries, there were many attempts to introduce their own religion to the gypsies in the places where they lived. But in fact, most of the gypsies became adherents of Christianity or Islam; their own, almost pagan religion did not have much influence on the way of life of these people, as did others religious cults.
Surprisingly, many Gypsies quickly adopted Christianity; many Roma living in Europe adhere to Catholicism and celebrate all holidays.
Livelihood, life
As in the old days, Roma prefer freedom and even if they agree to work, it is only with a minimum contract period. In some countries they are hired for seasonal work collecting vegetables and fruits, in other places they trade, still tell fortunes and steal. Some Roma are engaged in entertaining the public; one of the most striking examples is Charlie Chaplin. In Romania and Hungary there are gypsy choirs to this day.
Traditionally, the Roma have maintained a love for stews and soups. That is, the kitchen consists of dishes that can be made in a cauldron or in a pot over a fire. In Europe, Roma, even settled ones, prefer very spicy and hot dishes.
Children are rarely sent to school, and even if they are sent, then at most they finish 3rd grade, that is, if they know how to write and read, then there is no need for more, it is better to help their parents.
And still, as it was before, where the gypsies are home, women wear two skirts and an apron. After all, the lower part of a gypsy woman is “unclean”.
Finally
Despite the biased attitude towards the Gypsies, many representatives of this ethnic group have fully adapted to the modern world, lead a traditional way of life for European and other countries, study at institutes, master professions and live in ordinary houses, women do not wear two skirts and resolve disagreements in an ordinary way court
Material from Wikipedia
Total population: 8~10 million
Settlement: Albania:
from 1300 to 120,000
Argentina:
300 000
Belarus:
17 000
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
60,000
Brazil:
678 000
Canada:
80 000
Russia:
183,000 (2002 census)
Romania:
535,140 (see population of Romania)
Slovakia:
65,000 (officially)
USA:
1 million Handbook of Texas
Ukraine:
48,000 (2001 census)
Croatia:
9,463 to 14,000 (2001 Census)
Language: Gypsy, Domari, Lomavren
Religion: Christianity, Islam
Gypsies are the collective name for about 80 ethnic groups, united by a common origin and recognition of the “Gypsy law”. There is no single self-name, although recently the term Romanies, that is, “rum-like,” has been proposed as such.
The English traditionally called them Gypsies (from Egyptians - “Egyptians”), the Spaniards - Gitanos (also from Egiptanos - “Egyptians”), the French - Bohémiens (“Bohemians”, “Czechs”), Gitans (distorted Spanish Gitanos) or Tsiganes (borrowing from Greek - τσιγγάνοι, tsinganos), Germans - Zigeuner, Italians - Zingari, Dutch - Zigeuners, Armenians - Գնչուներ (gnchuner), Hungarians - Cigany or Pharao nerek ("Pharaoh's tribe"), Georgians - ბოშე ბი (bosebi), Finns - mustalaiset (“black”), Turks - Çingeneler; Azerbaijanis - Qaraçı (Garachy, i.e. “black”); Jews - צוענים (tso’anim), from the name of the biblical province of Tsoan in Ancient Egypt; Bulgarians - Tsigani. Currently, ethnonyms from the self-name of a part of the gypsies, “Roma” (English Roma, Czech Romové, Finnish romanit, etc.) are becoming increasingly widespread in various languages.
Three types predominate in the traditional names of Gypsies:
The literal translation of one of the self-names of the Gypsies is Kale (Gypsies: black);
reflecting the ancient idea of them as immigrants from Egypt;
distorted versions of the Byzantine nickname “atsinganos” (meaning “fortune tellers, magicians”).
Now gypsies live in many countries of Europe, Western and South Asia, as well as in North Africa, North and South America and Australia. The number, according to various estimates, ranges from 2.5 to 8 million and even 10-12 million people. There were 175.3 thousand people in the USSR (1970 census). According to the 2002 census, about 183 thousand Roma lived in Russia.
National symbols
Gypsy flag
On April 8, 1971, the first World Gypsy Congress took place in London. The result of the congress was the recognition of the gypsies of the world as a single non-territorial nation and the adoption of national symbols: a flag and an anthem based on the folk song “Djelem, Djelem.” Lyricist: Jarko Jovanovic.
The peculiarity of the anthem is the absence of a clearly established melody; each performer arranges the folk tune in his own way. There are also several versions of the text, in which only the first verse and chorus are exactly the same. All options are recognized by gypsies.
Instead of a coat of arms, gypsies use a number of recognizable symbols: a wagon wheel, a horseshoe, a deck of cards.
Such symbols are usually decorated with Gypsy books, newspapers, magazines and websites, and one of these symbols is usually included in the logos of events dedicated to Gypsy culture.
In honor of the first World Gypsy Congress, April 8 is considered Roma Day. Some gypsies have a custom associated with it: in the evening, at a certain time, they carry a lighted candle along the street.
History of the people
The most common self-name of the gypsies, which they brought from India, is “rum” or “roma” among the European gypsies, “home” among the gypsies of the Middle East and Asia Minor, and “lom” among the gypsies of Armenia. 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 houses and crowbars Asia and the Caucasus were the three main "streams" of migrants from India. Under the name "d"om, low-caste groups appear today in various areas of modern India. 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. XX century by the major Indologist-linguist R.L. Turner, and which is shared by modern scientists, in particular, the linguists-Romologists J. Matras and J. Hancock, 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.
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. This population was originally tribal groups of common origin, possibly related to the Austroasiatics (one of the largest autochthonous strata of India). Subsequently, with the gradual development of the caste system, d"om / d"omba occupied the 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 supported by the constant penetration there of 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. Russian 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.
Early history (VI-XV centuries)
According to linguistic and genetic studies, the ancestors of the Roma left India in a group of about 1,000 people. The time of migration of the ancestors of the Roma from India is not precisely established, as is the number of migration waves. Various researchers approximately determine the outcome of the so-called “proto-Gypsy” groups in the 6th-10th centuries AD. According to the most popular version, based on an analysis of loanwords in the languages of the Roma, the ancestors of modern Roma spent about 400 years in Persia before the Roma branch moved west into the territory of Byzantium.
They concentrated for some time in the eastern region of Byzantium called Armeniak, where the Armenians were settled. One branch of the ancestors of modern Gypsies advanced from there to the region of modern Armenia (the Lom branch, or Bosha Gypsies). The rest moved further west. They were the ancestors of the European gypsies: Romov, Kale, Sinti, Manush. Some of the migrants remained in the Middle East (the ancestors of the houses). There is an opinion that another branch passed to Palestine and through it to Egypt.
As for the so-called Central Asian gypsies, or Lyuli, they are, as is sometimes figuratively said, cousins or even second cousins of the European gypsies.
Thus, the Central Asian gypsy population, having absorbed various streams of migrants from Punjab (including Baloch groups) over the centuries, has historically been heterogeneous.
The Gypsies of Europe are descendants of the Gypsies who lived in Byzantium.
Documents indicate that the gypsies lived both in the center of the empire and on its outskirts, and there most of these gypsies converted to Christianity. In Byzantium, the gypsies quickly integrated into society. In a number of places, their leaders were given certain privileges. Written references to the Gypsies from this period are sparse, but they do not seem to suggest that the Gypsies attracted any special interest or were perceived as a marginal or criminal group. Gypsies are mentioned as metalworkers, horse harness makers, saddlers, fortune tellers (in Byzantium this was a common profession), trainers (in the earliest sources - snake charmers, and only in later sources - bear trainers). At the same time, the most common crafts, apparently, were still artistic and blacksmithing; entire villages of gypsy blacksmiths are mentioned.
With the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the gypsies began to migrate to Europe. The first to arrive in Europe, judging by written European sources, were marginal, adventurously minded representatives of the people who were engaged in begging, fortune telling and petty theft, which marked the beginning of a negative perception of the Gypsies as a people among Europeans. And only after some time, artists, trainers, artisans, and horse dealers began to arrive.
Gypsies in Western Europe (XV - early XX centuries)
The first gypsy camps that came to Western Europe told the rulers of European countries that the Pope had imposed a special punishment on them for a temporary apostasy from the Christian faith: seven years of wandering. At first, the authorities provided them with protection: they gave them food, money and letters of protection. Over time, when the period of wandering had clearly expired, such indulgences stopped, and the gypsies began to be ignored.
Meanwhile, an economic and social crisis was brewing in Europe. Its result was the adoption of a number of cruel laws in Western European countries, directed, among other things, against representatives of itinerant professions, as well as simply vagabonds, the number of which increased greatly due to the crisis, which, apparently, created a criminogenic situation. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, or those who tried to settle down but became bankrupt, the gypsies also became victims of these laws. They were identified as a special group of vagabonds by issuing separate decrees, the first of which was issued in Spain in 1482.
In the book “History of the Gypsies. A New Look" (N. Bessonov, N. Demeter) provides examples of anti-Gypsy laws:
Sweden. A law from 1637 prescribed the hanging of male Gypsies.
Mainz. 1714 Death to all Gypsies captured within the state. Flogging and branding of women and children with hot irons.
England. According to the law of 1554, the death penalty was for men. According to an additional decree of Elizabeth I, the law was tightened. From now on, execution awaited “those who have or will have friendship or acquaintance with the Egyptians.” Already in 1577, seven Englishmen and one Englishwoman fell under this decree. They were all hanged at Aylesbury.
Historian Scott-McPhee counts 148 laws adopted in the German states from the 15th to the 18th centuries. They were all approximately the same, the diversity is only evident in the details. Thus, in Moravia, gypsies had their left ears cut off, and in Bohemia, their right ears. In the Archduchy of Austria they preferred to brand, and so on.
Stigma used in Germany during the anti-Gypsy laws
Perhaps the most cruel was Frederick William of Prussia. In 1725, he ordered that all male and female gypsies over eighteen years of age be put to death.
As a result of persecution, the Roma of Western Europe, firstly, were heavily criminalized, since they did not have the opportunity to legally obtain food for themselves, and secondly, they were practically culturally preserved (to this day, the Roma of Western Europe are considered the most distrustful and committed to literally following ancient traditions). They also had to lead a special way of life: moving at night, hiding in forests and caves, which increased the suspicion of the population, and also gave rise to rumors about cannibalism, Satanism, vampirism and werewolves of the gypsies, the consequence of these rumors was the emergence of related myths about kidnapping and especially children (for consumption or for satanic rituals) and about the ability to perform evil spells.
Picture from a French entertainment magazine showing gypsies cooking human meat
Some of the gypsies managed to avoid repression by enlisting in the army as soldiers or servants (blacksmiths, saddlers, grooms, etc.) in those countries where soldier recruitment was active (Sweden, Germany). Their families were thereby also taken out of harm's way. The ancestors of Russian gypsies came to Russia through Poland from Germany, where they mainly served in the army or with the army, so at first among other gypsies they bore the nickname, roughly translated as “army gypsies.”
The repeal of anti-Gypsy laws coincides with the beginning of the industrial revolution and Europe's recovery from the economic crisis. After the repeal of these laws, the process of integration of Roma into European society began. Thus, during the 19th century, gypsies in France, according to Jean-Pierre Lejoie, author of the article “Bohemiens et pouvoirs publics en France du XV-e au XIX-e siecle,” mastered professions thanks to which they were recognized and even began to be valued: they they sheared sheep, weaved baskets, traded, were hired as day laborers in seasonal agricultural work, and were dancers and musicians.
However, by that time, anti-Gypsy myths were already firmly rooted in the European consciousness. Now traces of them can be seen in fiction, linking gypsies with a passion for child abduction (the goals of which are becoming less and less clear over time), werewolves and service to vampires.
By that time, the abolition of anti-Gypsy laws had not occurred in all European countries. Thus, in Poland, on November 3, 1849, a decree was passed on the arrest of nomadic gypsies. For each Roma detained, the police were paid bonuses. As a result, the police captured not only nomadic, but also sedentary gypsies, recording those detained as vagrants and children as adults (to get more money). After the Polish Uprising of 1863, this law became invalid.
It can also be noted that, starting with the abolition of anti-Gypsy laws, gifted individuals in certain areas began to appear among the Gypsies, stand out and receive recognition in non-Gypsy society, which is another evidence of the prevailing situation, which is more or less favorable for the Gypsies. So, in Great Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these were preacher Rodney Smith, footballer Rabie Howell, radio journalist and writer George Bramwell Evens; in Spain - Franciscan Seferino Jimenez Mallya, Tocaor Ramon Montoya Salazar Sr.; in France - jazzmen brothers Ferret and Django Reinhardt; in Germany - boxer Johann Trollmann.
Gypsies in Eastern Europe (XV - early XX centuries)
Migration of Roma to Europe
At the beginning of the 15th century, a significant part of the Byzantine gypsies led a semi-sedentary lifestyle. Gypsies were known not only in the Greek regions of Byzantium, but also in Serbia, Albania, and the lands of modern Romania and Hungary. They settled in villages or urban settlements, gathering compactly based on kinship and profession. The main crafts were working with iron and precious metals, carving household items from wood, and weaving baskets. Nomadic gypsies also lived in these areas, who also engaged in crafts or circus performances using trained bears.
In 1432, King Zsigmond of Hungary granted tax exemption to the gypsies because they began to play an important role in the defense of the region. The gypsies made cannonballs, edged weapons, horse harnesses and armor for warriors.
After the conquest of the Balkans by Muslims, most of the artisans remained in their jobs, since their work remained in demand. In Muslim sources, the gypsies are described as craftsmen who are capable of any delicate metal work, including the manufacture of guns. Christian Gypsies often obtained guarantees of security for themselves and their families by serving the Turkish army. A significant number of Roma came to Bulgaria with Turkish troops (which was the reason for their rather cool relations with the local population).
Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror imposed a tax on the Gypsies, but exempted the gunsmiths from it, as well as those Gypsies who lived in the fortresses. Even then, some Roma began to convert to Islam. This process accelerated due to the subsequent policy of Islamization of the conquered lands by the Turks, which included increased taxes for the Christian population. As a result of this policy, the Roma of Eastern Europe were actually divided into Muslims and Christians. Under the Turks, Gypsies also began to be sold into slavery for the first time (for tax debts), but this was not widespread.
In the 16th century, the Turks made considerable efforts to census the Roma. Ottoman documents detail age, occupation, and other information necessary for tax purposes. Even nomadic groups were included in the register. The list of professions was very extensive: documents from the Balkan archives list blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool beaters, walkers, tailors, shepherds, etc.
In general, Ottoman policy towards Roma can be called soft. This had both positive and negative consequences. on the one hand, the Roma have not become a criminalized group, as in Western Europe. On the other hand, the local population recorded them as the “favorites” of the Turkish authorities, as a result of which the attitude towards them was cold or even hostile. Thus, in the Moldavian and Volosh principalities, the gypsies were declared slaves “from birth”; Each gypsy belonged to the owner of the land on which the decree found him. There, for several centuries, Roma were subjected to the most severe punishments, torture for entertainment and mass executions. Trade in Gypsy serfs and torture of them were practiced until the mid-19th century. Here is an example of advertisements for sale: 1845
The sons and heirs of the deceased Serdar Nikolai Nico, in Bucharest, are selling 200 families of gypsies. Men are mostly metalworkers, goldsmiths, shoemakers, musicians and farmers.
And 1852:
Monastery of St. Elijah offered for sale the first lot of gypsy slaves, May 8, 1852, consisting of 18 men, 10 boys, 7 women and 3 girls: in excellent condition
In 1829, the Russian Empire won the war with the Turks; Moldavia and Wallachia came under her control. Adjutant General Kiselyov was temporarily appointed ruler of the principalities. He insisted on amending the civil code of Moldova. Among other things, in 1833 the gypsies were recognized as individuals, which meant that their killing was prohibited. A paragraph was introduced according to which a gypsy woman forced to become her master’s concubine was freed after his death.
Under the influence of the progressive minds of Russia, the ideas of abolition of serfdom began to spread in Moldavian and Romanian society. Students studying abroad also contributed to their spread. In September 1848, a youth demonstration took place on the streets of Bucharest demanding the abolition of serfdom. Some of the landowners voluntarily freed their slaves. However, for the most part, slave owners resisted new ideas. In order not to cause their discontent, the governments of Moldavia and Wallachia acted in a roundabout way: they bought slaves from their owners and freed them. Finally, in 1864, slavery was outlawed by law.
After the abolition of slavery, active emigration of Kalderar gypsies from Wallachia to Russia, Hungary and other countries began. By the beginning of World War II, Kalderars could be found in almost all European countries.
Gypsies in Russia, Ukraine and the USSR (late 17th - early 20th centuries)
The earliest Russian official document mentioning gypsies dates back to 1733 - a decree of Anna Ioanovna on new taxes for the maintenance of the army.
The next mention in documents occurs a few months later and shows that the Roma came to Russia relatively shortly before the adoption of the tax decree and secured their right to live in Ingermanland. Before this, apparently, their status in Russia was not defined, but now they were allowed:
Live and trade horses; and since they showed themselves to be natives of the area, it was ordered that they be included in the capitation census wherever they wished to live, and placed in the regiment of the Horse Guards
From the phrase “they showed themselves to be natives here,” one can understand that there was at least a second generation of gypsies living in this area.
Even earlier, about a century, gypsies (serva groups) appeared on the territory of modern Ukraine.
2004 Modern gypsy servants in Ukraine.
As we can see, by the time the document was written they were already paying taxes, that is, they were living legally.
In Russia, new ethnic groups of Roma appeared as the territory expanded. Thus, when parts of Poland were annexed to the Russian Empire, Polish Roma appeared in Russia; Bessarabia - various Moldovan gypsies; Crimea - Crimean gypsies.
The decree of Catherine II of December 21, 1783 classified the Gypsies as a peasant class and ordered that taxes and taxes be collected from them in accordance with the class. However, Gypsies were also allowed, if they wished, to attribute themselves to other classes (except, of course, the noble, and with the appropriate lifestyle), and by the end of the 19th century there were already quite a few Russian Gypsies of the bourgeois and merchant classes (for the first time, Gypsies were mentioned as representatives of these classes, however , back in 1800). During the 19th century, there was a steady process of integration and settlement of Russian Gypsies, usually associated with an increase in the financial well-being of families. A layer of professional artists has emerged.
Gypsies from the city of Novy Oskol. Photography from the early 20th century.
At the end of the 19th century, not only settled gypsies sent their children to schools, but also nomadic ones (staying in the village in winter). In addition to the groups mentioned above, the population of the Russian Empire included the Asian Lyuli, Caucasian Karachi and Bosha, and at the beginning of the 20th century also the Lovari and Kelderar.
The revolution of 1917 hit the most educated part of the Gypsy population (since it was also the wealthiest) - representatives of the merchant class, as well as Gypsy artists, whose main source of income was performances in front of nobles and merchants. Many wealthy gypsy families abandoned their property and went into nomadism, since nomadic gypsies during the Civil War were automatically classified as poor. The Red Army did not touch the poor, and almost no one touched the nomadic gypsies. Some Roma families emigrated to European countries, China and the USA. Young gypsy boys could be found both in the Red Army and in the White Army, since the social stratification of Russian gypsies and serfs was already significant by the beginning of the 20th century.
After the Civil War, gypsies from among the former merchants who became nomads tried to limit their children’s contact with non-gypsies and did not allow them to go to school, in fear that the children would accidentally reveal their families’ non-poor origins. As a result, illiteracy became almost universal among the nomadic gypsies. In addition, the number of settled gypsies, whose core was merchants and artists before the revolution, has sharply decreased. By the end of the 20s, the problems of illiteracy and a large number of nomadic gypsies in the gypsy population were noticed by the Soviet Government. The government, together with activists from among the Roma artists remaining in the cities, tried to take a number of measures to solve these problems.
Thus, in 1927, the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine adopted a resolution on assistance to nomadic gypsies in the transition to a “working sedentary lifestyle.”
At the end of the 20s, Roma pedagogical technical schools were opened, literature and press were published in the Roma language, and Roma boarding schools operated.
Gypsies and World War II
During World War II, according to recent research, about 150,000-200,000 Roma in Central and Eastern Europe were exterminated by the Nazis and their allies (see Roma Genocide). Of these, 30,000 were citizens of the USSR.
On the Soviet side, during the Second World War, their co-religionists, the Crimean Gypsies (Kyrymitika Roma), were deported from Crimea, along with the Crimean Tatars.
The gypsies were not only passive victims. Gypsies of the USSR participated in military operations as privates, tank crews, drivers, pilots, artillerymen, medical workers and partisans; Gypsies from France, Belgium, Slovakia, the Balkan countries were in the Resistance, as well as Gypsies from Romania and Hungary who were there during the war.
Gypsies in Europe and the USSR/Russia (second half of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century)
Ukrainian gypsies, Lviv
Ukrainian gypsies.
After World War II, the Roma of Europe and the USSR were conventionally divided into several cultural groups: the Roma of the USSR, socialist countries, Spain and Portugal, Scandinavia, Great Britain and Western Europe. Within these cultural groups, the cultures of different Roma ethnic groups moved closer together, while the cultural groups themselves moved away from each other. The cultural rapprochement of the Gypsies of the USSR took place on the basis of the culture of the Russian Gypsies, as the largest Gypsy ethnic group.
In the republics of the USSR there was intensive assimilation and integration of Roma into society. On the one hand, the persecution of Roma by the authorities, which took place shortly before the war, did not resume. On the other hand, original culture, in addition to music, was suppressed, propaganda was carried out on the theme of the liberation of the Gypsies from universal poverty by the revolution, a stereotype of the poverty of the Gypsy culture itself was formed before the influence of the Soviet regime (see Culture of the Gypsies, Inga Andronikova), the cultural achievements of the Gypsies were declared achievements in the first place turn of the Soviet government (for example, the Romen Theater was universally called the first and only gypsy theater, the appearance of which was attributed to the merit of the Soviet government), the gypsies of the USSR were cut off from the information space of the European gypsies (with whom some connection was maintained before the revolution), which cut off Soviet gypsies also from the cultural achievements of their European fellow tribesmen. However, the assistance from the Soviet government in the development of artistic culture and in increasing the level of education of the Roma population of the USSR was high.
On October 5, 1956, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the introduction to work of gypsies engaged in vagrancy” was issued, equating nomadic gypsies to parasites and prohibiting a nomadic lifestyle. The reaction to the decree was twofold, both from local authorities and from the Roma. Local authorities carried out this decree, either by providing housing to the gypsies and encouraging or forcing them to take official employment instead of handicrafts and fortune-telling, or by simply driving the gypsies out of the sites and subjecting the nomadic gypsies to discrimination at the everyday level. The gypsies either rejoiced at their new housing and quite easily transitioned to new living conditions (often these were gypsies who had gypsy friends or settled relatives in their new place of residence who helped them with advice in establishing a new life), or they considered the decree the beginning of an attempt to assimilate, to dissolve the Gypsies as an ethnic group and avoided its implementation in every possible way. Those gypsies who initially accepted the decree neutrally, but did not have informational and moral support, soon perceived the transition to settled life as a misfortune. As a result of the decree, more than 90% of the Roma of the USSR settled.
In modern Eastern Europe, less often in Western Europe, Roma often become the object of discrimination in society.
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, Europe and Russia were swept by a wave of Roma migrations. Impoverished or marginalized Roma from Romania, western Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia - former socialist. countries in which economic and social difficulties arose after the collapse of the USSR - went to work in the European Union and Russia. Nowadays, they can be seen literally at any crossroads in the world; the women of these gypsies have returned en masse to the ancient traditional occupation of begging.
In Russia, there is also a slower but noticeable impoverishment, marginalization and criminalization of the Roma population. The average educational level has decreased. The problem of drug use among teenagers has become acute. Quite often, gypsies began to be mentioned in criminal chronicles in connection with drug trafficking and fraud. The popularity of gypsy musical art has noticeably decreased. At the same time, the Gypsy press and Gypsy literature were revived.
In Europe and Russia, there is active cultural borrowing between gypsies of different nationalities, a common gypsy music and dance culture is emerging, which is strongly influenced by the culture of Russian gypsies.
Today the world celebrates International Roma Day. On April 8, 1971, the First World Gypsy Congress took place in London, at which the Roma recognized themselves as a single, non-territorial nation. Judging by the 2010 census, 220 thousand representatives of this ethnic group live in Russia. In fact, of course more.
