In the English language, Romani people have long been known by theexonymGypsies orGipsies and this remains the most common English language term for the group.[88] Some Roma use and embrace this term while others consider it to be derogatory or anethnic slur.[88][89][90]
Romani slaves were first shipped to the Americas with Columbus in 1498.[91] Spain sent Romani slaves to their Louisiana colony between 1762 and 1800.[92] AnAfro-Romani community exists inSt. Martin Parish due to intermarriage between freedAfrican American and Romani slaves.[93] The Romani population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.[l] There are between 800,000 and 1million Roma inBrazil, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazilian Roma are mostly descended from German/ItalianSinti (in the South/Southeast regions), and Roma and Calon people. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from Sinti and Roma deportees from thePortuguese Empire during thePortuguese Inquisition.[94] Since the late 19th century, Roma have also migrated to other countries in South America and Canada.
The English wordRom derives from RomaniRom, meaning 'man, husband' (pluralromá). Theetymology of the word is unclear. TheOxford English Dictionary says it likely derives fromSanskritḍomba, meaning 'lower-caste person working as a wandering musician', itself deriving from aDravidian word, such asdomba,ḍomba ('caste of acrobats, jugglers, clowns'). The development of the word was also influenced byByzantine Greek Ῥωμ- (for example Ῥώμη 'a name of Rome and Constantinople').[98]
In English, the formRoma is often reinterpreted as singular and a new plural,Romas, is formed.[98]
Romani is the feminine adjective, whileRomano is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies useRom orRoma as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti, or the Romanichal) do not use this term as a self-description for the entire ethnic group.[99]
Sometimes,rom andromani are spelled with a doubler, i.e.,rrom andrromani. In this caserr is used to represent thephoneme/ʀ/ (also written asř andrh), which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a singler. Therr spelling is common in certain institutions (such as theINALCO Institute in Paris), or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from theendonym/homonym forRomanians (sg. român, pl. români).[100]
In Norway,Romani is used exclusively for an olderNorthern Romani-speaking population (which arrived in the 16th century) whileRom/Romanes is used to describeVlax Romani-speaking groups that migrated since the 19th century.[101]
English-language endonyms
In the English language (according to theOxford English Dictionary),Rom is both a noun (with the pluralRoma orRoms) and an adjective. Similarly,Romani (Romany) is both a noun (with the pluralRomani,the Romani,Romanies, orRomanis) and an adjective. BothRom andRomani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative forGypsy.[102]Romani was sometimes spelledRommany, but more oftenRomany, while todayRomani is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the doubler spelling (e.g.,Rroma,Rromani) mentioned above is also encountered in English texts.
Because not all Roma use the wordRomani as an adjective, the term became a noun for the entire ethnic group.[108] Today, the termRomani is used by some organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress.[100] However, theCouncil of Europe and other organizations consider thatRoma is the correct term referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend thatRomani be restricted to the language and culture:Romani language,Romani culture.[109] The British government uses the term "Roma" as a sub-group of "White" in its ethnic classification system.[110]
The standard assumption is that thedemonyms of the Roma,Lom andDom, share the same origin.[111][112]
Other designations
In English, theexonymGypsy (orGipsy) is the most commonly used word for the group.[88] It originates from theMiddle Englishgypcian, short forEgipcien. The Spanish termGitano and FrenchGitan have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from the GreekAigyptioi (Αιγύπτιοι), meaning 'Egyptian', via Latin. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Roma, or some related group (such as the IndianDom people), were itinerantEgyptians.[113][114] This belief appears to be derived from verses in theBook of Ezekiel (29:6, 29:12–13) which refer to the Egyptians being scattered among the nations by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as punishment for allegedly harbouring theinfant Jesus.[115] In his bookThe Zincali,George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having refused hospitality to Mary and her son. As described inVictor Hugo's novelThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame, the medieval French referred to the Romanies asÉgyptiens.
These exonyms are sometimes written with capital letter, to show that they designate anethnic group.[116] While some Roma use the term, some Roma consider it derogatory because of negative and stereotypical associations.[106][117][118][119][120] The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage" are not in line with European recommendations.[109] In Britain, many Roma proudly identify as "Gypsies",[121] and, as part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller grouping, this is the name used to describe all para-Romani groups in official contexts.[122] In North America, the wordGypsy is most commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at times also referenced by using this word.[123]
Another designation of the Roma isCingane (alternatively Çingene, Tsinganoi, Zigar, Zigeuner, Tschingaren), likely deriving from the Persian wordچنگانه (chingane), derived from the Turkic wordçıgañ, meaning poor person.[124] It is also possible that the origin of this word isAthinganoi, the name of a Christian sect with whom the Roma (or some related group) could have become associated in the past.[114][125][126][127]
Population and subgroups
Romani populations
There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide.[128] Many Roma refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for a variety of reasons, such as fear of discrimination.[129][130] Others are descendants of intermarriage with local populations, some who no longer identify only as Romani and some who do not identify as Romani at all. Then, too, some countries do not collect data by ethnicity.
Despite these challenges to getting an accurate picture of the Romani dispersal, there were an estimated 10 million in Europe (as of 2019),[131] although some Romani organizations have given earlier estimates as high as 14 million.[132][133] Significant Romani populations are found in theBalkans, in some central European states, in Spain, France, Russia and Ukraine. In theEuropean Union, there are an estimated 6 million Roma.[134]
Outside Europe there may be several million more Roma, in particular in the Middle East and the Americas.[135][136]
Romani people may belong to distinct subgroups based in part on territorial, cultural anddialectal differences, and self-designation.[137][138][139][140]
Romani subgroups may have more than oneethnonym. They may use more than oneendonym and be commonly known by anexonym or erroneously by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description isRom.[141] Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves andGadjo (non-Roma).[141] For instance, while the main group of Roma inGerman-speaking countries refer to themselves asSinti, their name for their original language isRomanes.
Subgroups have been described as, in part, a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population ofRom almost certainly experienced in their south Asianurheimat.[141][142]
Many subgroups use names derived from the Romani wordkalo orcalo, meaning "black" or "absorbing all light". This closely resembles words for "black" or "dark" inIndo-Aryan languages (e.g.,Sanskrit कालkāla: "black", "of a dark colour").[141] Likewise, the name of theDom or Domba people of north India—with whom the Roma have genetic,[143] cultural and linguistic links—has come to imply "dark-skinned" in some Indian languages.[144] Hence, names such askale andcalé may have originated as anexonym or aeuphemism forRoma.
Boyash, also known asBăieși,Lingurari,Ludar,Ludari, orRudari, who coalesced in theApuseni Mountains ofTransylvania.Băieși is a Romanian word for "miners."Lingurari means "spoon makers",[153] andLudar (sing.),Ludari (pl.), andRudari may mean "woodworkers" or "miners".[154] (There is a semantic overlap due to thehomophony or merging oflemmas with different meanings from at least two languages: theSerbianrudar "miner", andruda "stick", "staff", "rod", "bar", "pole" (inHungarian,rúd,[155] and inRomanian,rudă.)[156]
Sepečides, meaning "basket-maker"; Muslim Roma inWest Thrace, Greece.
Sinti orZinti, predominantly in Germany,[141][146][163] andnorthern Italy;Sinti do not refer to themselves as Roma, although their language is calledRomanes.[141]
Zargari people, Shia Muslim Roma in Iran, who once came from Rumelia/Southern Bulgaria from the Maritsa Valley in Ottoman times and settled in Persia.
"Visiting Gipsies", article from Australian newspaper,The Australasian, 1898
The Romani people have a number of distinct populations, the largest being the Roma, who reachedAnatolia and theBalkans about the early 12th century from a migration out of northwestern India beginning about 600 years earlier.[164][165]
The Roma migrated throughout Europe and Iberian Calé or Caló. The first Roma to come to the United States arrived in Virginia,Georgia,New Jersey and Louisiana during the 1500s.[166] Romani slaves were first shipped to the Americas with Columbus in 1498.[91] Spain sent Romani slaves to their Louisiana colony between 1762 and 1800.[92] AnAfro-Romani community exists inSt. Martin Parish due to intermarriage of freedAfrican American and Romani slaves.[93] The Romani population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.[n]
In Brazil, the Roma are mainly calledciganos by non-Romani Brazilians. Most of them belong to the ethnic subgroupCalés (Kale) of the Iberian peninsula.Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazil's president from 1956 to 1961, was 50% Czech Romani by his mother's bloodline, andWashington Luís, the last president of theFirst Brazilian Republic (1926–1930), hadPortugueseKale ancestry.[167]
Persecution against the Roma has led to many of the cultural practices being extinguished, hidden or modified to survive in a country that has excluded them ethnically and culturally. The very common carnivals throughout Brazil are one of the few spaces in which the Roma can still express their cultural traditions, including the so-called "carnival wedding" in which a boy is disguised as a bride and the famous "Romaní dance", picturesquely simulated with the women of the town parading in their traditional attire.[168]
Countries with a significant Romani population according to unofficial estimates.
Genetic findings show an Indian origin for Roma.[164][165][169] Because Romani groups did not keep chronicles of their history or have oral accounts of it, most hypotheses about early Romani migration are based on linguistic theory.[170]
Shahnameh legend
According to a legend reported in thePersian epic poem, theShahnameh, theSasanian kingBahrām V Gōr learned towards the end of his reign (421–439) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and so he asked the king of India to send him ten thousandluris, lute-playing experts. When theluris arrived, Bahrām gave each one an ox, a donkey, and a donkey-load of wheat so they could live on agriculture and play music for free for the poor. However, theluris ate the oxen and the wheat and came back a year later with their cheeks hollowed by hunger. The king, angered with their having wasted what he had given them, ordered them to pack up their bags and go wandering around the world on their donkeys.[171]
Linguistic evidence
Linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that the roots of the Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a large part of the basic lexicon.[172]
Romani andDomari share some similarities:agglutination of postpositions of the second layer (orcase-marking clitics) to the nominal stem, concord markers for the past tense, the neutralisation of gender marking in the plural, and the use of the oblique case as an accusative.[173] This has prompted much discussion about the relationships between these two languages. Domari was once thought to be a "sister language" of Romani, the two languages having split after the departure from the Indian subcontinent—but later research suggests that the differences between them are significant enough to treat them as two separate branches within thecentral zone (Hindustani) group of languages. The Dom and the Rom, therefore, likely descend from two migration waves from India separated by several centuries.[174][175]
Inphonology, the Romani language shares several isoglosses with the Central branch of Indo-Aryan languages, especially in the realization of some sounds of the Old Indo-Aryan. However, it also preserves several dental clusters. In regards to verb morphology, Romani follows exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such asKashmiri andShina through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers, lending credence to the theory of their Central Indian origin and a subsequent migration to northwestern India. Though the retention of dental clusters suggests a break from central languages during the transition from Old to Middle Indo-Aryan, the overall morphology suggests that the language participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence ofNew Indo-Aryan languages.[176]The following table presents thenumerals in theRomani,Domari andLomavren languages, with the corresponding terms inSanskrit,Hindi,Odia, andSinhala to demonstrate the similarities.[177] Note that the Romani numerals 7 through 9 have been borrowed fromGreek.
Languages
Numbers
Romani
Domari
Lomavren
Sanskrit
Hindi
Odia
Sinhala
1
ekh, jekh
yika
yak, yek
éka
ēk
ēkå
eka
2
duj
dī
lui
dvá
dō
dui
deka
3
trin
tærən
tərin
trí
tīn
tini
thuna/thri
4
štar
štar
išdör
catvā́raḥ
cār
cāri
hathara/sathara
5
pandž
pandž
pendž
páñca
pā̃c
pāñcå
paha
6
šov
šaš
šeš
ṣáṭ
chaḥ
chåå
haya/saya
7
ifta
xaut
haft
saptá
sāt
sātå
hata/satha
8
oxto
xaišt
hašt
aṣṭá
āṭh
āṭhå
ata
9
inja
na
nu
náva
nau
nåå
nawaya
10
deš
des
las
dáśa
das
dåśå
dahaya
20
biš
wīs
vist
viṃśatí
bīs
kōṛiē
wissa
100
šel
saj
saj
śata
sau
såhē
siiya/shathakaya
Genetic evidence
Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Roma originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group.[164][165][178] According to the study, the ancestors of presentscheduled caste and scheduled tribe populations ofnorthern India, traditionally referred to collectively as theḌoma, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma.[179]
In December 2012, additional findings appeared to confirm that the "Roma came from a single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago".[165][180][181][182] They reached the Balkans about 900 years ago[164] and then spread throughout Europe. The team also found that the Roma displayed genetic isolation, as well as "differential gene flow in time and space with non-Romani Europeans".[164][165]
Genetic research published in theEuropean Journal of Human Genetics "has revealed that over 70% of males belong to a single lineage that appears unique to the Roma".[183]
Genetic evidence supports themedieval migration from India. The Roma have been described as "a conglomerate of genetically isolated founder populations",[163] while a number of commonMendelian disorders among Roma from all over Europe indicates "a common origin andfounder effect".[163] A 2020 whole-genome study confirmed the northwest Indian origins, and also confirmed substantial Balkan and Middle Eastern ancestry.[184]
A study from 2001 by Gresham et al. suggests "a limited number of related founders, compatible with a small group of migrants splitting from a distinct caste or tribal group".[185] The same study found that "a single lineage... found across Romani populations, accounts for almost one-third of Romani males".[185] A 2004 study by Morar et al. concluded that the Romani population "was founded approximately 32–40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16–25 generations ago".[186]
Haplogroup H-M82 is a major lineage cluster in theBalkan Romani group, accounting for approximately 60% of the total.[187]Haplogroup H is uncommon in Europe but present in the Indian subcontinent andSri Lanka.
A study of 444 people representing three ethnic groups in North Macedonia found mtDNA haplogroups M5a1 and H7a1a were dominant in Romanies (13.7% and 10.3%, respectively).[188]
Y-DNA Haplogroup H1a occurs in Roma at frequencies 7–70%. Unlike ethnic Hungarians, among Hungarian and Slovakian Roma subpopulationsHaplogroup E-M78 andI1 usually occur above 10% and sometimes over 20%, while among Slovakian andTiszavasvari Roma, the dominant haplogroup is H1a; amongTokaj Roma it isHaplogroup J2a (23%); and amongTaktaharkány Roma, it isHaplogroup I2a (21%).[189]
Five rather consistent founder lineages throughout the subpopulations were found among Roma – J-M67 and J-M92 (J2), H-M52 (H1a1), and I-P259 (I1). Haplogroup I-P259 as H is not found at frequencies of over 3% among host populations, while haplogroups E and I are absent in south Asia. The lineages E-V13, I-P37 (I2a) and R-M17 (R1a) may represent gene flow from the host populations. Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek Roma are dominated by Haplogroup H-M82 (H1a1), while among Spanish Roma J2 is prevalent.[190] InSerbia amongKosovo andBelgrade Roma Haplogroup H prevails, while amongVojvodina Roma, H drops to 7 percent and E-V13 rises to a prevailing level.[191]
The Ottoman occupation of the Balkans also left a significant genetic mark on the Y-DNA of the Roma there, creating a higher frequency of Haplogroups J and E3b in Romani populations from the region.[198]
The most common paternal haplogroup among Roma is the South Asian Y-chromosome H, most commonly found amongDravidian peoples.[187]
A full genome autosomal DNA study on 186 Roma samples from Europe in 2019 found that modern Romani people are characterized by a commonsouth Asian origin and a complex admixture fromBalkan, Middle East, andCaucasus-derived ancestries. The autosomal genetic data links the proto-Roma to groups in northwest India (specificallyPunjabi andGujarati samples), as well as,Dravidian-speaking groups insoutheastern India (specificallyIrula). The paternal lineages of Roma are most common in southern and central India among Dravidian-speaking populations. The authors argue that this may point to afounder effect among the early Roma during their ethnogenesis or shortly after they migrated out of the Indian subcontinent. In addition, they theorized of a possible low-caste (Dalit) origin for the Proto-Roma, since they were genetically closer to the Punjabi cluster that lacks a common marker characteristic of high castes, which is West Euroasian admixing.[199]
Possible migration route
The migration of the Roma through the Middle East and Northern Africa to Europe
The Roma may have emerged from what is the modern Indian state ofRajasthan, migrating to the northwest (thePunjab region of theIndian subcontinent) around 250 BCE.[200] Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 CE.[165]It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids byMahmud of Ghazni. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into theByzantine Empire.[201] The authorRalph Lilley Turner theorised a central Indian origin of Romani followed by a migration to northwest India as it shares a number of ancientisoglosses withcentral Indo-Aryan languages in relation to realization of some sounds ofOld Indo-Aryan. This is lent further credence by its sharing exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such asKashmiri andShina through the adoption ofobliqueenclitic pronouns as person markers. The overall morphology suggests that Romani participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence ofNew Indo-Aryan languages, thus indicating that the proto-Roma did not leave the Indian subcontinent until late in the second half of the first millennium.[176][202]
The first Romani people are believed to have arrived in Europe via theBalkans in the 13th or 14th century. Romani people began migrating to other parts of the continent during the 15th and 16th centuries.[203][204]
Even though genetic studies confirmed that the Romani people originated in India[207][208] and their language is anIndo-Aryan language,[95] they have a long history of taking on different identities of various ethnic groups.
Romaei/Eastern Romans
With the Roma fleeing the Muslim conquest ofMahmud of Ghazni in Northern India in the early 11th century,[209] they arrived in theEastern Roman Empire by the 12th century.[210] The name Roma/Romani is similar to Romaei (Ῥωμαῖοι), or Rhomaioi/Romioi (Ῥωμαῖοι/Ῥωμηοί/Ρωμιοί, "Romans") (theendonym for theEastern Romans/Byzantines) from which the name could have originated. Roma is also similar to their originalSanskrit wordडोम (ḍoma) meaning "drummer", with theDoma being dancers and musicians and a sub-group of theDalit caste.[211][212]
Athinganoi
In the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire the Roma also took on the identity of the ethnic religious group, theAthinganoi (Greek: Αθίγγανοι). They were aManichaean sect[213] regarded as Judaizing heretics who lived in Phrygia andLycaonia but were neither Hebrews norGentiles. They kept the Sabbath, but were not circumcised. They wereShomer nagia.[214] The word "Athiganoi" is where the Turkish nameCiganos as well as the Romanian namețigani come from, as theOttoman Empire had some linguistic and cultural influence on the neighbouring medieval Romanian principalities ofWallachia andMoldavia. The Turkish Ottomansconquered the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, hence they ruled over the Roma (Ciganos) as well. Today, Turkey has the highest Romani population.[9]
Egyptians
Some terms for the Romani people trace their origin to conflation withEgyptians. The English termGypsy (orGipsy) originates from theMiddle Englishgypcian, short forEgipcien. The Spanish termGitano and FrenchGitan have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from theGreekΑιγύπτιοι (Aigyptioi), meaning "Egyptian", viaLatin. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Roma, or some related group (such as the IndianDom people), were itinerant Egyptians.[113]
Bohemians
The Roma fromBohemia (today Czech Republic) were calledBohemian (bohémiens in French) because they were believed to have originated ethnically in Bohemia and later came to Western European countries such as France in the 16th century.[215] The termbohemian came to mean carefree, artistic people. The Roma were musicians and dancers as well as circus performers that moved place to place, having an adventurous nomadic lifestyle, away from society's conventional norms and expectations. This lifestyle inspired the 19th-century European artistic movement,Bohemianism[216] as well as thehippie movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States.[217]
Irish Travellers
BecauseIrish Travellers, a sub-group of the Irish (having the same ancestral genetics from within the general population of Ireland[218]) lived as nomads,[219] the Roma and the Irish travellers came to be conflated with each other and in time some of the Roma mixed with some of the native Irish travellers (beginning in the 1650s) because of proximity and similar nomadic traditions.[218][220]
Yenish people
Similar to the Irish Travellers, theYenish people were confused with the Roma because they were nomadic and itinerant people. The Yenish people have origins inWestern Europe, mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. The Yenish descended from members of the marginalized and vagrant poor classes of society inGermanic-speaking regions in Europe in theLate Middle Ages. Most of the Yenish became sedentary in the course of the mid-19th to 20th centuries.[221] The culture of the Irish Travellers and the Yenish people in Western Europe and the culture of the Roma are different while having the nomadic and itinerant similarity.[222][223][224]
Balkan people and Romanians
Forced sterilisation carried out in several European countries, such asNorway,Sweden,Czech Republic andSlovakia, in the mid to late 20th century led to a decrease in Romani populations in those countries.[225][226][227] Countries inSouth Eastern Europe that had not carried out forced sterilisation, such asRomania andBulgaria, experienced steady increases of Roma birth rates during the 20th century that continue to this day, mainly because of the Roma tradition tomarry young (in their early teens).[228] Oncecommunism fell in Eastern Europe and travel restrictions were lifted as well as Eastern European countriesjoining the European Union in the 2000s, it was easier for the Eastern European Roma tomass migrate to Western Europe. Often, Romania is wrongly identified as the place of origin of the Roma because of the similar name Roma/Romani and Romanians. Romanians derive their name from theLatinromanus, meaning "Roman",[229] referencing theRoman conquest of Dacia. (TheDacians were a sub-group of theThracians.) Romanian genetics show ancient Balkan ancestry (Thracian ancestry)[230] as well asSlavic ancestry[231] and not Indian ancestry like the Roma.
According to a 2012 genomic study, the Roma reached the Balkans as early as the 12th century.[164] A document of 1068, describing an event in Constantinople, mentions "Atsingani", probably referring to Roma.[232]
Later historical records of the Roma reaching southeastern Europe are from the 14th century: in 1322, after leaving Ireland on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, IrishFranciscan friarSymon Semeonis encountered a migrant group of Roma outside the town of Candia (modernHeraklion), inCrete, calling them "thedescendants ofCain"; his account is the earliest surviving description by a western chronicler of the Roma in Europe.[233]
In 1350,Ludolph of Saxony mentioned a similar people with a unique language whom he calledMandapolos, a word possibly derived from the Greek wordmantes (meaning prophet or fortune teller).[234]
In the 14th century, Roma are recorded in Venetian territories, includingMethoni andNafplio in thePeloponnese, and Corfu.[232] Around 1360, afiefdom called theFeudum Acinganorum was established inCorfu, which mainly used Romani serfs and to which the Roma on the island were subservient.[235]
By the 1440s, they were recorded in Germany;[236] and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden.[237] Some Roma migrated fromPersia through north Africa, reaching theIberian Peninsula in the 15th century. The two currents met in France.[238]
First arrival of the Romanies outsideBern in the 15th century, described by the chronicler asgetoufte heiden ("baptized heathens") and wearingSaracen-style clothing and weapons.[239]
Early modern history
Gypsy Family in Prison, 1864 painting byCarl d´Unker. An actual imprisoned family in Germany served as the models. The reason for their imprisonment remains unknown.
Their early history shows a mixed reception. Although 1385 marks the first recorded transaction for a Romani slave inWallachia, they were issued safe conduct byHoly Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1417. Roma were ordered expelled from theMeissen region of Germany in 1416,Lucerne in 1471,Milan in 1493, France in 1504,Catalonia in 1512, Sweden in 1525,England in 1530 (seeEgyptians Act 1530), and Denmark in 1536. From 1510 onwards, any Rom found in Switzerland was to be executed, while in England (beginning in 1554) and Denmark (beginning of 1589) any Rom who did not leave within a month was to be executed.Portugal began deportations of Roma to itscolonies in 1538.[240]
A 1596 English statute gave Roma special privileges that other wanderers lacked. France passed a similar law in 1683.Catherine the Great of Russia declared the Roma "crown slaves" (a status superior toserfs), but also kept them out of certain parts ofthe capital.[241] In 1595,Ștefan Răzvan overcame his birth into slavery, and became theVoivode (Prince) ofMoldavia.[240]
Since a royal edict byCharles II in 1695, Spanish Roma had been restricted to certain towns.[242] An official edict in 1717 restricted them to only 75 towns and districts, so that they would not be concentrated in any one region. In theGreat Gypsy Round-up, Roma were arrested and imprisoned by theSpanish Monarchy in 1749.
During the latter part of the 17th century, around theFranco-Dutch War, both France and the Dutch Republic needed thousands of men to fight. Some recruitment took the form of rounding up vagrants and the poor to work the galleys and provide the armies' labour force. With this background, Roma were targets of both the French and the Dutch.[243]
After the wars, and into the first decade of the 18th century, Roma were slaughtered with impunity throughout the Dutch Republic. Roma, called 'heiden' (‘heathens’) by the Dutch, wandered throughout the rural areas of Europe and became the societal pariahs of the age.Heidenjachten, translated as "heathen hunt" happened throughout the Dutch Republic in an attempt to eradicate them.[244]
Although some Roma could be kept as slaves in Wallachia and Moldavia untilabolition in 1856, the majority traveled as free nomads with their wagons, as alluded to in the spoked wheel symbol in theRomani flag.[245] Elsewhere in Europe, they were subjected toethnic cleansing, abduction of their children, andforced labour. In Britain, Roma were sometimes expelled from small communities or hanged; in France, they were branded, and their heads were shaved; inMoravia andBohemia, the women were marked by their ears being severed. As a result, large groups of the Roma moved to the East, towardPoland, which was more tolerant, andRussia, where the Roma were treated more fairly as long as they paid the annual taxes.[246]
Roma began emigrating to North America in colonial times, with small groups recorded inVirginia andFrench Louisiana. Larger-scaleRoma emigration to the United States began in the 1860s, with Romanichal groups from Great Britain. The most significant number immigrated in the early 20th century, mainly from the Vlax group ofKalderash. Many Roma also settled in South America.[247]
Sinti and other Roma about to be deported from Germany, 22 May 1940
DuringWorld War II andthe Holocaust, theNazis committed a systematicgenocide against the Roma. In theRomani language, this genocide is known as thePorajmos.[248] Romanies were marked for extermination and sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment inconcentration camps. They were often killed on sight, especially by theEinsatzgruppen (paramilitary death squads) on theEastern Front.[249] The total number of victims has been variously estimated at between 220,000 and 1,500,000.[250]
The Roma were also persecuted in Nazipuppet states. In theIndependent State of Croatia, theUstaša killed almost the entire Romani population of 25,000. The concentration camp system ofJasenovac, run by the Ustaša militia and the Croat political police, was responsible for the deaths of between 15,000 and 20,000 Roma.[251]
Post-1945
InCzechoslovakia, they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum", and Romani womenwere sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, with threats of denying future welfare payments, with misinformation, or after administering drugs.[252][253]
An official inquiry from the Czech Republic, resulting in a report (December 2005), concluded that the Communist authorities had practised an assimilation policy towards Roma, which "included efforts by social services to control the birth rate in the Romani community. The problem of sexual sterilisation carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists," said the Czech Public Defender of Rights, recommending state compensation for women affected between 1973 and 1991.[254] New cases were revealed up until 2004, in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland "all have histories of coercive sterilization of minorities and other groups".[255]
The traditional Romanies place a high value on theextended family. Traditionally,virginity is essential in unmarried women. However, Eastern European Roma are more likely to find it acceptable for girls to have sex before marriage compared to other Eastern Europeans.[256] Both men and women usually marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Romani practice ofchild marriage.[228] Romani law establishes that the man's family must pay abride price to the bride's parents, but only traditional families still follow it.
Once married, the woman joins the husband's family, where her main job is to tend to her husband's and her children's needs and take care of her in-laws. The power structure in the traditional Romani household has at its top the oldest man or grandfather, and men, in general, have more authority than women. Women gain respect and power as they get older. Young wives begin gaining authority once they have children.[257]
Traditionally, as can be seen on paintings and photos, some Romani men wear shoulder-length hair and a mustache, as well as an earring. Romani women generally have long hair, and Xoraxane Romani women often dye it blonde with henna.[258]
Romanisocial behavior has traditionally been regulated by Indian social customs[259] ("marime" or "marhime") which are still respected by most Roma (and by most older generations ofSinti). This regulation affects many aspects of life and is applied to actions, people and things: parts ofthe human body are considered impure, thegenital organs (because they produce emissions) and the rest of the lower body. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes ofmenstruating women, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is deemed to be impure for forty days after giving birth.[260]
Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice ofcremating the dead, Romani dead must be buried.[261] Cremation and burial are both known from the time of theRigveda, and both are widely practiced inHinduism today (the general tendency is for Hindus to practice cremation, though some communities in modern-day south India tend to bury their dead).[262] Animals that are considered to be having unclean habits are not eaten by the community.[263]
In Romani philosophy,Romanipen (alsoromanypen,romanipe,romanype,romanimos,romaimos,romaniya) is the totality of the Romani spirit,Romani culture,Romani Law, being a Romani, a set of Romani strains.[264]
An ethnic Rom is considered agadjo in Romani society if they have noRomanipen. Sometimes a non-Rom may be considered a Rom if they do haveRomanipen. Usually this is an adopted child. It has been hypothesized that this owes more to aframework of culture than a simple adherence to historically received rules.[265]
Most Roma areChristian,[266] but many areMuslims; some retained their ancient faith ofHinduism from their original homeland of India, while others have their own religion and political organization.[267] In parts ofSoutheast Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, some Roma who are Muslim identify as ethnic Turks, and over generations have adopted theTurkish language.[268]Theravada Buddhism influenced by theDalit Buddhist movement have become popular in recent times among Hungarian Roma.[71][72]
The modern-day Roma often adopted Christianity or Islam depending on which was the dominant religion in the regions through which they had migrated.[270] It is likely that the adherence to differing religions prevented families from engaging in intermarriage.[271] InEastern Europe, most Roma areOrthodox Christians,Muslims orCatholics.[272] In Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania and Serbia, the majority of Romani inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo, the majority are Muslims. In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, the majority are Catholics. InWestern Europe, the majority of Romani inhabitants are Catholic orProtestant. InCrimea andMiddle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Egypt,Iraq and Iran, the majority of Romani inhabitants are Muslim. In theUnited States, the majority of Romani inhabitants adhere to some branch of Christianity.[273]
Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla is recently considered a patron saint of the Roma in Roman Catholicism.[274]Saint Sarah, or Sara e Kali, has also been venerated as a patron saint in her shrine atSaintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France.[275] Since the turn of the 21st century,Sara e Kali is understood to have beenKali, an Indian deity brought from India by the refugee ancestors of the Roma; as the Roma became Christianized, she was absorbed in a syncretic way and venerated as a saint.[276]
Saint Sarah is now increasingly being considered as "a Romani Goddess, the Protectress of the Roma" and an "indisputable link with Mother India".[276][277]
The Balkans/Southeast Europe
For the Romani communities that have resided inSoutheast Europe for numerous centuries, the following apply with regard to religious beliefs:
Albania – The majority of the Romani population in Albania is Muslim.[278]
Bosnia and Herzegovina – The majority of the Romani population in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Muslim.[279]
Bulgaria – The majority of the Romani population in Bulgaria is Christian (mostly Orthodox). In northwestern Bulgaria, in addition to Sofia and Kyustendil, Christianity is the dominant faith among the Roma, and a major conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity among the Roma has occurred. In southeastern Bulgaria, Islam is the dominant religion among the Roma, with a smaller section of the Roma declaring themselves as "Turks", continuing to mix ethnicity with Islam.[279]
Croatia – The majority of the Romani population in Croatia is Christian (mostly Catholic). After theSecond World War, a large number of Muslim Roma relocated to Croatia, the majority moving from Kosovo. Their language differs from those living in Međimurje and those who survivedRomani Holocaust.[279]
Greece – The majority of the Romani population in Greece is Christian.[o] The descendants of groups, such as Sepečides or Sevljara, Kalpazaja, Filipidži and others, living in Athens, Thessaloniki, central Greece andGreek Macedonia are mostly Orthodox Christians, with Islamic beliefs held by a minority of the population. Following the Peace Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, many Muslim Roma moved to Turkey in the subsequent population exchange between Turkey and Greece.[279]
Hungary – The majority of the Romani population in Hungary is Christian.[280] The country experienced an influx of Muslim Roma during theOttoman period in Hungary, who later converted to Catholicism.[281]
Kosovo – The majority of the Romani population in Kosovo are Muslim and Speak Albanian. Some Roma in Kosovo speak Serbian and are Orthodox Christians.[279][282]
Montenegro – The majority of the Romani population in Montenegro is Muslim.[279]
North Macedonia –The majority of the Romani population in North Macedonia is Muslim.[279]
Romania – The majority of the Romani population in Romania is Christian (mostly Orthodox).[283] InDobruja, there is a small community that are Muslim and also speak Turkish.[284]
Serbia – The majority of the Romani population in Serbia is Christian (mostly Orthodox). There are some Muslim Roma in southern Serbia, who are mainly refugees from Kosovo.[279]
Slovenia – The majority of the Romani population in Slovenia is Christian (mostly Catholic), although a sizeable proportion are Muslim.[285]
In Ukraine and Russia, the Romani populations are Christian and Muslim. Their ancestors settled on the Crimean peninsula during the 17th and 18th centuries, but some migrated to Ukraine, southern Russia and the Povolzhie (along the Volga River). These communities are recognized for their staunch preservation of the Romani language and identity.[279]
In the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, Romani populations are Roman Catholic, many times adopting and following local, cultural Catholicism as asyncretic system of belief that incorporates distinct Roma beliefs and cultural aspects. For example, many Polish Roma delay their Church wedding due to the belief that sacramental marriage is accompanied by divine ratification, creating a virtually indissoluble union until the couple consummate, after which the sacramental marriage is dissoluble only by the death of a spouse. Therefore, for Polish Roma, once married, one can't ever divorce. Another aspect of Polish Roma's Catholicism is a tradition of pilgrimage to theJasna Góra Monastery.[286]
In southern Spain, many Romanies arePentecostal, but this is a small minority that has emerged in contemporary times. The majority of the Romani people in France are Catholic or Protestant (mostly Pentecostal).[287]
Romani music plays an important role in central and eastern European countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Romani musicians have influenced Europeanclassical composers such asFranz Liszt andJohannes Brahms. Thelăutari who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Romani.[288][289]
Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performers in thelăutari tradition areTaraful Haiducilor.[290] Bulgaria's popular "wedding music", too, is almost exclusively performed by Romani musicians such asIvo Papasov, a virtuoso clarinetist closely associated with this genre and Bulgarian pop-folk singerAzis.
Another tradition of Romani music is the genre of the Romanibrass band, with such notable practitioners asBoban Marković of Serbia, and the brasslăutari groupsFanfare Ciocărlia and Fanfare din Cozmesti of Romania.[291]
Dances such as the flamenco and bolero of Spain were influenced by the Roma.[293]Antonio Cansino blended Romani and Spanish flamenco and is credited with creating modern-day Spanish dance.[294]The Dancing Cansinos popularized flamenco and bolero dancing in the United States. Famous dancer and actress,Rita Hayworth, is the granddaughter of Antonio Cansino.
TheRoma in Turkey have achieved musical acclaim from national and local audiences. Local performers usually perform for special holidays. Their music is usually performed on instruments such as thedarbuka,gırnata andcümbüş.[296]
Paramichia is a term used to refer to Romani legends and folktales. A popular legend among the Vlach Roma is of the hero Mundro Salamon, also known by other Roma subgroups as Wise Solomon or O Godjiaver Yanko.[297]
Some Roma believe in themulo ormullo, meaning "one who is dead"; the Romani version of thevampire.[298] The Roma from Slavic countries believe inwerewolves.[299] Roma figure prominently in the 1941 filmThe Wolf Man and the 2010remake.
The Roma believe that some foods are auspicious, or lucky (baxtalo), such as foods with pungent tastes like garlic, lemon, tomato, and peppers, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles and sour cream.[300] Hedgehogs are a delicacy among some Roma.[301]
Contemporary art and culture
Romani contemporary art emerged at the climax of the process that began inCentral and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s, when the interpretation of the cultural practice of minorities was enabled by a paradigm shift, commonly referred to in specialist literature as the "cultural turn". The idea of the cultural turn was introduced; and this was also the time when the notion of cultural democracy became crystallized in the debates carried on at various public forums.Civil society gained strength, and civil politics appeared, which is a prerequisite for cultural democracy. This shift of attitude in scholarly circles derived from concerns specific not only to ethnicity but also to society, gender and class.[302]
Most Roma speak one of several dialects of theRomani language,[303] anIndo-Aryan language, with roots inSanskrit. They also often speak the languages of the countries they live in. Typically, they also incorporateloanwords andcalques into Romani from the languages of those countries and especially words for terms that the Romani language does not have. Most of theCiganos of Portugal, theGitanos of Spain, theRomanichal of Great Britain, andScandinavian Travellers have lost theirknowledge of pure Romani, and speak themixed languagesCaló,[304]Angloromany, andScandoromani, respectively. Most of the Romani language-speaking communities in these regions consist of later immigrants from eastern or central Europe.[305]
There are no concrete statistics for the number of Romani speakers, both in Europe and globally. However, a conservative estimate is 3.5 million speakers in Europe and a further 500,000 elsewhere,[305] though the actual number may be considerably higher. This makes Romani the second-largestminority language in Europe, behindCatalan.[305]
In regards to the diversity of dialects, Romani works in the same way as most other European languages.[306] Cross-dialect communication is dominated by the following features:
All Romani speakers arebilingual, accustomed to borrowing words or phrases from asecond language; this makes it difficult to communicate with Roma from different countries
Romani was traditionally alanguage shared between extended family and a close-knit community. This has resulted in the inability to comprehenddialects from other countries, and is why Romani is sometimes considered to be several different languages.
There is no tradition or literary standard for Romani speakers to use as a guideline for their language use.[306]
A deed of donation through whichStephen III of Moldavia donates a number ofsălașe of Romani slaves to the Rădăuţi bishopric
One of the most enduring persecutions against the Roma was their enslavement.Slavery was widely practiced in medieval Europe, including the territory of present-dayRomania from before the founding of the principalities ofMoldavia andWallachia in the 13th–14th centuries.[307] Legislation decreed that all the Roma living in these states, as well as any others who immigrated there, were classified as slaves.[308] Slavery was graduallyabolished during the 1840s and 1850s.[307]
The exact origins ofslavery in theDanubian Principalities are not known. There is some debate over whether the Roma came to Wallachia and Moldavia as free people or were brought there as slaves. HistorianNicolae Iorga associated the Roma's arrival with the 1241Mongol invasion of Europe and he also considered their enslavement a vestige of that era, in which theRomanians took the Roma from theMongols and preserved their status as slaves so they could use their labor. Other historians believe that the Roma were enslaved while they were being captured during the battles with the Tatars. The practice of enslavingprisoners of war may have also been adopted from the Mongols.[307]
Some Roma may have been slaves of the Mongols or the Tatars, or they may have served as auxiliary troops in the Mongol or Tatar armies. However, most of them migrated from south of theDanube at the end of the 14th century, some time after thefounding of Wallachia. By then, the institution of slavery was already established in Moldavia and it was possibly established in both principalities. After the Roma migrated into the area, slavery became a widespread practice among the majority of the population. TheTatar slaves, smaller in numbers, were eventually merged into the Romani population.[309]
Some branches of the Roma reached western Europe in the 15th century, fleeing from theOttoman conquest of the Balkans as refugees.[243] Although the Roma were refugees from the conflicts in southeastern Europe, they were often suspected of being associated with theOttoman invasion by certain populations in the West because their physical appearance was exotic. (TheImperial Diet at Landau and Freiburg in 1496–1498 declared that the Roma were spies for the Turks). In western Europe, such suspicions and discrimination against people who constituted a visible minority resulted in persecution, often violent, with attempts to commitethnic cleansing until the modern era. In times of social tension, the Romani suffered as scapegoats; for instance, they were accused of bringing the plague during times ofepidemics.[310]
On 30 July 1749, Spain conductedThe Great Roundup ofRoma (Gitanos) in its territory. The Spanish Crown ordered a nationwide raid that led to the break-up of families because all able-bodied men were interned in forced labor camps in an attempt to commit ethnic cleansing. The measure was eventually reversed and the Roma were freed as protests began to erupt in different communities, sedentary Roma were highly esteemed and protected in rural Spain.[311][312]
Later in the 19th century, Romani immigration was forbidden on a racial basis in areas outside Europe, mostly in the English-speaking world. In 1880, Argentina prohibited immigration by Roma, as did the United States in 1885.[310]
Deportation of Roma fromAsperg, Germany, 1940 (photograph by theRassenhygienische Forschungsstelle)
In theHabsburg monarchy underMaria Theresa (1740–1780), a series of decrees tried to integrate the Romanies to get them topermanently settle, removed their rights to horse and wagon ownership (1754) to reduce citizen-mobility, renamed them "New Citizens" and obliged Romani boys into military service just as any other citizens were if they had no trade (1761, and Revision 1770), required them to register with the local authorities (1767), and another decree prohibited marriages between Romanies (1773) to integrate them into the local population. Her successorJosef II prohibited the wearing of traditional Romani clothing along with the use of theRomani language, both of which were punishable by flogging.[313] During this time, the schools were obliged to register and integrate Romani children; this policy was the first of the modern policies of integration. In Spain, attempts to assimilate the Gitanos were under way as early as 1619, when the Gitanos were forcibly settled, the use of theRomani language was prohibited, Gitano men and women were sent to separate workhouses and their children were sent to orphanages.King Charles III took a more progressive approach to Gitano assimilation, proclaiming that they had the same rights as Spanish citizens and ending the official denigration of them which was based on theirrace. While he prohibited their nomadic lifestyle, their use of theCalo language, the manufacture and wearing of Romani clothing, their trade in horses and other itinerant trades, he also forbade any form of discrimination against them and he also forbade the guilds from barring them. The use of the wordgitano was also forbidden to further their assimilation, it was replaced with "New Castilian", a designation which was also applied to formerJews andMuslims.[314][315]
Most historians believe that Charles III'spragmática failed for three main reasons, reasons which were ultimately derived from its implementation outside major cities as well as in marginal areas: The difficulty which the Gitano community faced in changing its nomadic lifestyle, the marginal lifestyle to which the community had been driven by society and the serious difficulties of applying the pragmática in the fields of education and work. One author ascribes its failure to the overall rejection of the integration of the Gitanos by the wider population.[313][316]
Other policies of forced assimilation were implemented in other countries, one of these countries was Norway, where a law which permitted the state to remove children from their parents and place them in state institutions was passed in 1896.[317] This resulted in some 1,500 Romani children being taken from their parents in the 20th century.[318]
Because no accurate pre-war census figures exist for the Roma, the actual number of Romani victims who were killed in the Romani Holocaust cannot be assessed. Estimates range from 90,000 victims to as high as 4,000,000, with a majority falling between 200,000 and 500,000. Lower estimates do not include those Roma who were killed in allAxis-controlled countries. A detailed study by Sybil Milton, a former senior historian at theU.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, contained an estimate of at least 220,000, possibly as many as 500,000.[320]Ian Hancock, Director of the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, argues in favour of a higher figure of between 500,000 and 1,500,000.[321]
Distribution of the Roma in Europe (2007Council of Europe "average estimates", totalling 9.8 million)[322]Antiziganist protests inSofia,Bulgaria, 2011
In Europe, Roma are associated with poverty, high crime rates, and behavior that is considered antisocial or inappropriate by the rest of the European population.[323] Partly for this reason, discrimination against the Roma has continued to be practiced to the present day,[324][325] although efforts are being made to address it.[326]
In eastern Europe, Romani children often attendRoma Special Schools, separate from non-Romani children; these schools tend to offer a lower quality of education than the traditional education options accessible by non-Romani children, putting the Romani children at an educational disadvantage.[335]: 83
Czechoslovakia carried out a policy of sterilization of Romani women, starting in 1973.[254] The dissidents of theCharter 77 denounced it in 1977–78 as agenocide, but the practice continued through theVelvet Revolution of 1989.[337] A 2005 report by theCzech Republic's independent ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, identified dozens of cases of coercive sterilization between 1979 and 2001, and called for criminal investigations and possible prosecution against several health care workers and administrators.[338]
In 2008, following the rape and subsequent murder of an Italian woman inRome at the hands of a young man from a local Romani encampment,[339] the Italian government declared that Italy's Romani population represented a national security risk and it also declared that it was required to take swift action to address theemergenza nomadi (nomad emergency).[340] Specifically, officials in the Italian government accused the Romanies of being responsible for rising crime rates in urban areas.[341]
The 2008deaths of Cristina and Violetta Djeordsevic, two Romani children who drowned while Italian beach-goers remained unperturbed, brought international attention to the relationship between Italians and Roma. Reviewing the situation in 2012, one Belgian magazine observed:
On International Roma Day, which falls on 8 April, the significant proportion of Europe's 12 million Roma who live in deplorable conditions will not have much to celebrate. And poverty is not the only worry for the community. Ethnic tensions are on the rise. In 2008, Roma camps came under attack in Italy, intimidation by racist parliamentarians is the norm in Hungary. Speaking in 1993,Václav Havel prophetically remarked that "the treatment of the Roma is alitmus test for democracy": and democracy has been found wanting. The consequences of the transition tocapitalism have been disastrous for the Roma. Undercommunism they had jobs, free housing and schooling. Now many are unemployed, many are losing their homes and racism is increasingly rewarded withimpunity.[342]
The 2016Pew Research poll found that Italians, in particular, hold strong anti-Roma views, with 82% of Italians expressing negative opinions about Roma. InGreece, 67%, in Hungary 64%, in France 61%, in Spain 49%, inPoland 47%, in the UK 45%, in Sweden 42%, in Germany 40%, and in theNetherlands[343] 37% had an unfavourable view of Roma.[344] The 2019 Pew Research poll found that 83% of Italians, 76% of Slovaks, 72% of Greeks, 68% of Bulgarians, 66% of Czechs, 61% of Lithuanians, 61% of Hungarians, 54% of Ukrainians, 52% of Russians, 51% of Poles, 44% of French, 40% of Spaniards, and 37% of Germans held unfavorable views of Roma.[345] IRES published in 2020 a survey which revealed that 72% of Romanians have a negative opinion about them.[346]
As of 2019, reports of anti-Roma incidents are increasing across Europe.[347] Discrimination against Roma remains widespread in Kosovo,[348] Romania,[349] Slovakia,[350]Bulgaria,[351][352] and the Czech Republic,[353][354] against which theEuropean Court of Human Rights has ruled in Romani advocates' favor on the subject of discriminatory and segregationist education and housing practices.[355] Romani communities across Ukraine have been the target of violent attacks.[356][357]
Concerning employment, a 2019 report by theFRA revealed that, across the European states that were surveyed, on average 34% of Romani men and 16% of Romani women were in paid work.[361]
In the summer of 2010, French authorities demolished at least 51 Roma camps and began theprocess of repatriating their residents to their countries of origin.[362] This followed tensions between the French state and Romani communities, which had been heightened after a traveller drove through a French police checkpoint, hit an officer, attempted to hit two more officers, and was then shot and killed by the police. In retaliation a group of Roma, armed with hatchets and iron bars, attacked the police station of Saint-Aignan, toppled traffic lights and road signs and burned three cars.[363][364] The French government has been accused of perpetrating these actions to pursue its political agenda.[365]EU Justice CommissionerViviane Reding stated that theEuropean Commission should take legal action against France over the issue, calling the deportations "a disgrace". A leaked file dated 5 August, sent from theInterior Ministry to regional police chiefs, included the instruction: "Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority."[366]
Voluntarily assimilated groups
Some Romani people have been known to assimilate en masse with and even be absorbed by other ethnic groups.[367] Assimilated Romani people often keep their identity a secret from outsiders, so it is very hard to determine the extent to which Romani peoples voluntarily assimilate into Gadjo society.[368]
The most notable case of large-scale Romani assimilation is of theRomani Crimean Tatars. Several independent waves of Romani people undertook complete or near-complete assimilation into the Crimean Tatar people.[369][370] Romani Crimean Tatars are the fourth largest subethnic group of the Crimean Tatar nation.[371] For centuries, the Crimean Roma have been honest workers who contributed to the Crimean economy as artisans, musicians, entertainers, and in a variety of blue-collar professions such as porters and blacksmiths.[372][370] Almost all Romani Crimean Tatars living in Crimea today are legallyGadjo because they are recorded as ethnic Crimean Tatars, not Gypsies, in their internal passports and national censuses and consider their Crimean Tatar identity to be their primary identity.[370][373] Mixed marriages between Romani Crimean Tatars and other Crimean Tatars without Romani backgrounds are accepted by the Crimean Roma.[371] Many prominentCrimean Tatar celebrities are of Romani descent, such asEnver Sherfedinov andSabriye Erecepova.[374] Historian Olga Kucherenko postulates that while Crimean Tatars were inexile, additional Romani people of non-Crimean origin were also absorbed into the Romani Crimean Tatars.[375]
In Basque Country, the Erromintxela people are assimilated descendants of a 15th-century wave ofKalderash Roma, who entered the Basque Country via France.[376] Both ethnically, linguistically, and culturally, they are distinct from theCaló-speakingRomani people in Spain and theCascarotRomani people of theNorthern Basque Country.[376] Over time the Erromintxela replaced many of their Romani customs with Gadjo Basque customs.[377] Their Erromintxela language is a mixture of Basque and the Romani languages, but there are very few speakers left due to assimilation.[378] The younger generation of Erromintxela Roma are overwhelmingly shifting away from their Erromintxela language in favor of the Basque and Spanish languages.[379][380]
In the United States, there are an estimated one millionAmericans who are of Romani descent, although most are not open about their background and keep a low profile.[368] Most Americans know very little about Romani people, so they face less discrimination in the US than Europe, although they can still be victims of anti-Romani racism.[381] Prominent Americans of Romani descent includeCharlie Chaplin and PresidentBill Clinton.[382][383]
Many depictions of the Roma in literature and art present romanticized narratives of the mystical powers offortune telling or as people who have an irascible or passionate temper paired with an indomitable love of freedom and a habit of criminality. The Roma were a popular subject inVenetian painting from the time ofGiorgione at the start of the 16th century. The inclusion of such a figure adds an exotic oriental flavor to scenes. AVenetianRenaissance painting byParis Bordone (c. 1530,Strasbourg) of theHoly Family in Egypt makesElizabeth a Romanifortune-teller; the scene is otherwise located in a distinctly European landscape.[385]
^This is a census figure. Some 736,981 (10% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities. In a Bulgarian government report on the census, the ethnic results are identified as a "gross manipulation".[20]
^This is a census figure. There was an option to declare multiple ethnicities, so this figure includes Roma of multiple backgrounds. According to the 2016 microcensus 99.1% of Hungarian Roma declared Hungarian ethnic identity also.
^This is a census figure. Some 368,136 (5.1% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities.
^This is a census figure. Some 408,777 (7.5% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities.
^This is a census figure. Less than 1% of the population did not declare any ethnicity.
^"Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million."
^Muslim Romas were excluded from theDeportation of Muslims from Greece's new conquered territory following theFirst Balkan War and presently form the majority of Greece's native Muslim population.
References
^Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009)."Ethnologue: Languages of the World"(online).Ethnologue (Free All) (16th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL. Retrieved15 September 2010.Ian Hancock's 1987 estimate for 'all Gypsies in the world' was 6 to 11 million.
^"Falta de políticas públicas para ciganos é desafio para o governo" [Lack of public policy for Romani is a challenge for the administration] (in Portuguese). R7. 2011. Archived fromthe original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved22 January 2012.The Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality estimates the number of "ciganos" (Romanis) in Brazil at 800,000 (2011). The 2010IBGE Brazilian National Census encountered Romani camps in 291 of Brazil's 5,565 municipalities.
^"The Situation of Roma in Spain"(PDF). Open Society Institute. 2002. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 1 December 2007. Retrieved15 September 2010.The Spanish government estimates the number ofGitanos to be a maximum of 650,000.
^"Situation of Roma in France at crisis proportions". EurActiv Network. 7 December 2005. Retrieved21 October 2015.According to the report, the settled Gypsy population in France is officially estimated at around 500,000, although other estimates say that the actual figure is much closer to 1.2 million.
^Gorce, Bernard (22 July 2010)."Roms, gens du voyage, deux réalités différentes".La Croix. Retrieved21 October 2016.[Manual Translation] The ban prevents statistics on ethnicity to give a precise figure of French Roma, but we often quote the number 350,000. For travellers, the administration counted 160,000 circulation titles in 2006 issued to people aged 16 to 80 years. Among the travellers, some have chosen to buy a family plot where they dock their caravans around a local section (authorized since the Besson Act of 1990).
^"Roma in Deutschland",Regionale Dynamik, Berlin-Institut für Bevölkerung und Entwicklung, archived fromthe original on 29 April 2017, retrieved21 February 2013
^abcGall, Timothy L, ed. (1998),Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life, vol. 4. Europe, Cleveland, OH: Eastword, pp. 316, 318,'Religion: An underlay of Hinduism with an overlay of either Christianity or Islam (host country religion)'; Roma religious beliefs are rooted in Hinduism. Roma believe in a universal balance, called kuntari. ... Despite a 1,000-year separation from India, Roma still practice 'shaktism', the worship of a god through his female consort...
^Ena, Giacomo Francesco; Aizpurua-Iraola, Julen; Font-Porterias, Neus; Calafell, Francesc; Comas, David (8 November 2022)."Population Genetics of the European Roma—A Review".Genes.13 (11): 2068.doi:10.3390/genes13112068.ISSN2073-4425.PMC9690732.PMID36360305.Based on genome-wide SNP arrays and whole-genome sequences, it has been determined that the Romani people carry approximately 20–35% South Asian ancestry [4,7], and North-West India constitutes the major source of this component [4,7,54][...] In general, Romani people carry approximately 65–80% West Eurasian (European, Middle Eastern and Caucasian) ancestry, estimated to have been acquired by extensive gene flow.
^Hernández-Arrieta, Stefany (7 August 2023)."The definition of being Romani".Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) – El·lipse. Retrieved16 February 2024.This population[...] migrated from northern India to Europe over 1,500 years ago[...] The Romani community are genetically diverse, and Romani groups established in different locations are highly varied.
^Beňo, Matúš (5 November 2022)."Romani disappearing from Roma communities".The Slovak Spectator. Retrieved16 February 2024.What is the current state of the language? It is used less and less today in Romani communities. The young generation in some localities, such as Humenné, Michalovce, or Trebišov in eastern Slovakia, no longer speak the language at all.
Hancock (2002), p. xx: 'While a nine century removal from India has diluted Indian biological connection to the extent that for some Romani groups, it may be hardly representative today, Sarren (1976:72) concluded that we still remain together, genetically, Asian rather than European'
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^"We asked many members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities how they preferred to describe themselves. While some find the term “Gypsy” to be offensive, many stakeholders and witnesses were proud to associate themselves with this term and so we have decided that it is right and proper to use it, where appropriate, throughout the report." Women and Equalities Committee, UK Parliament. 2019."Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, 2017-2019." Web, accessed 15 March 2025.</>
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^abPeter Boyd-Bowman (ed.),Indice geobiográfico de cuarenta mil pobladores españoles de América en el siglo XVI, vol. 1: 1493–1519 (Bogota: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1964), 171.
^abThe Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Volume 1; Volume 7By Junius P. Rodriguez
^"Romani"(PDF).Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier. p. 1. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 11 October 2017. Retrieved30 August 2009.In some regions of Europe, especially the western margins (Britain, the Iberian peninsula), Romani-speaking communities have given up their language in favor of the majority language, but have retained Romani-derived vocabulary as an in-group code. Such codes, for instance Angloromani (Britain), Caló (Spain), or Rommani (Scandinavia) are usually referred to as Para-Romani varieties.
^OED "Romany" first use 1812 in a slang dictionary; "Rom" and "Roma" as plural, first uses byGeorge Burrow in the Introduction to hisThe Zincali (1846 edition), also using "Rommany"
^Marushiakova, Elena; Popov, Vesselin (2001), "Historical and ethnographic background; gypsies, Roma, Sinti", in Guy, Will (ed.),Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe [with a Foreword by Dr. Ian Hancock], University of Hertfordshire Press, p. 52
^Klimova-Alexander, Illona (2005),The Romani Voice in World Politics: The United Nations and Non-State Actors, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, p. 13
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^Hancock, Ian (1995).A Handbook of Vlax Romani. Slavica Publishers. p. 17.
^"In Romania in 2009, following an IMAS study, at the demand of the National Agency for the Roma (NAR), sixty-six percent of respondents identified themselves as "gypsies," thirty percent as "Roma," and the remaining four percent did not know or refused to answer. The situation is similar with other countries. The natural question, starting from these results, is whether, in the unifying process (one name, one people, one history), the Roma leaders and organizations take into account the desire of the community as it is expressed in censuses or surveys." Iov, Claudia Anamaria. 2020.Rethinking (In)Security in the European Union: The Migration-Identity-Security Nexus, p. 119.Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
^Horvátová, Jana (2002).Kapitoly z dějin Romů(PDF) (in Czech). Praha: Lidové noviny. p. 12. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 12 March 2005.Mnohočetnost romských skupin je patrně pozůstatkem diferenciace Romů do původních indických kast a podkast. [The multitude of Roma groups is apparently a relic of Roma differentiation to Indian castes and subcastes.]
^abcdJurová, Anna (2003). Vaščka, Michal; Jurásková, Martina; Nicholson, Tom (eds.)."From Leaving The Homeland to the First Assimilation Measures"(PDF).Čačipen Pal O Roma – A Global Report on Roma in Slovakia. Slovakia: 17. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved7 September 2013.the Sinti lived in German territory, the Manusha in France, the Romanitsel in England, the Kale in Spain and Portugal, and the Kaale in Finland.
^"GENOCIDE OF EUROPEAN ROMA (GYPSIES), 1939–1945".Romacenter.org. Retrieved22 February 2023.In the autumn of 1941, German police authorities deported 5,007 Sinti and Lalleri Gypsies from Austria to the ghetto for Jews in Lodz, where they resided in a segregated section
^Crowe, David (1995).A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 123.ISBN978-1-349-60671-9.
^Dicționarul etimologic român (in Romanian), quoted inDEX-online (seelemmarudár (sing.), rudári (pl.) followed by both definitions: "gold-miner" and "wood crafter").
^Jurová, Anna (2003). Vaščka, Michal; Jurásková, Martina; Nicholson, Tom (eds.)."From Leaving The Homeland to the First Assimilation Measures"(PDF).Čačipen Pal O Roma – A Global Report on Roma in Slovakia. Slovak Republic: 17. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved7 September 2013.The word "manush" is also included in all dialects of Romany. It means man, while "Manusha" equals people. This word has the same form and meaning in Sanskrit as well, and is almost identical in other Indian languages.
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^Regueiro, Maria; Stanojevic, Aleksandar; Chennakrishnaiah, Shilpa; Rivera, Luis; Varljen, Tatjana; Alempijevic, Djordje; Stojkovic, Oliver; Simms, Tanya; Gayden, Tenzin; Herrera, Rene J. (January 2011). "Divergent patrilineal signals in three Roma populations".American Journal of Physical Anthropology.144 (1):80–91.doi:10.1002/ajpa.21372.PMID20878647.
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^Gattermann, Claus Heinrich (2005).Die Baranya in den Jahren 1686 bis 1713: Kontinuität und Wandel in einem ungarischen Komitat nach dem Abzug der Türken (Thesis) (in German). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag. pp. 87–88.ISBN9783938616321.
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Matras, Yaron; Popov, Vesselin (2001).Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press.
Matras, Yaron (2005).Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-02330-6.
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Nemeth, David J. (2002).The Gypsy-American. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.
Gresham, David; Morar, Bharti; Underhill, Peter A.; Passarino, Giuseppe; Lin, Alice A.; Wise, Cheryl; Angelicheva, Dora; Calafell, Francesc; Oefner, Peter J.; Shen, Peidong; Tournev, Ivailo; de Pablo, Rosario; Kuĉinskas, Vaidutis; Perez-Lezaun, Anna; Marushiakova, Elena; Popov, Vesselin; Kalaydjieva, Luba (December 2001)."Origins and Divergence of the Roma (Gypsies)".The American Journal of Human Genetics.69 (6):1314–1331.doi:10.1086/324681.PMC1235543.PMID11704928.
Sancar Seckiner's comprehensible book South (Güney), 2013, consists of 12 article and essays. One of them,Ikiçeşmelik, highlights Turkish Romani life. Ref.ISBN978-605-4579-45-7.
Sancar Seckiner' s new bookThilda's House (Thilda'nın Evi), 2017, underlines the struggle of the Romani in Istanbul who have been swept away from nearby Kadikoy. Ref.ISBN978-605-4160-88-4.
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