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Romani people

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"Tzigane" redirects here; for the composition by Maurice Ravel, see Tzigane (Ravel).
Roma

Roma girls in Aetolia, Greece
Regions with significant populations
Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, FYROM, Greece, Moldova, Bosnia, Albania, Ukraine
Languages
Romany, languages of native country
Religion
Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Europeans, Indo-Iranians, Iranians, Indo-Aryans, Punjabis, Sindhi people, Rajputs

The Roma people (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom), often referred to as Gypsies, are an ethnic group who live primarily in Europe. They are believed to be descended from nomadic peoples from northwestern India and Pakistan who began a diaspora from the eastern end of the Iranian plateau into Europe and north Africa about 1,000 years ago. Roma do not form a majority in any state.

Many Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the Indo-European languages, particularly Sanskrit and other Indo-Iranian languages like Punjabi and Sindhi. Similar descendent languages are found in the desert regions of the northern Indian Subcontinent, central Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, most Roma speak the dominant language of the region they live in.

Name

In the Romany language, Rom means "a man" or "a person", and is derived from the Sanskrit word for man, dom. In recent years, some have proposed the alternate spellings of "Rroma" for the people and "Rromanes" for the language, as "r" and "rr" represent two different phonemes in Romany. Some Roma say that is a mistaken spelling, never adopted by Roma. It was firmly rejected by the last Romany congress, which defined the universal Romany alphabet. Most Roma refer to themselves by one generic name, Rom.

The English term Gypsies (or Gipsies), and its Welsh derivative Sipsiwn, derive from the erroneous belief that the Roma originated in Little Egypt, and were driven out as punishment for their allegedly harbouring the infant Jesus during His Egyptian exile[5]. This ethnonym is not used by the Roma to describe themselves and is often considered pejorative. However, its use is now so pervasive that even some organizations that support Roma causes use the word Gypsy in their own name. Gypsy and its related forms are mostly used in languages which originate in the British Isles.

In most of continental Europe, Roma are known by many names, most of which derive from the Hungarian Cigány (pronounced "Tzig-ahn"). Such examples are: German Zigeuner, Romanian ţigani, French gitanes, Spanish gitanos, Turkish Çingene (though Roman is sometimes used in Turkey because of Çingene's negative connotations) and Norwegian Sigøyner. The Hungarian root, Cigány most likely stems from the word szegény, Hungarian for "impoverished". In the rural Hungarian dialect, szegény very closely resembles Cigány in pronunciation. Fraser traces the earliest historical mentions of Cigány, Cygan and Cingari to a "very limited zone" in northwestern Transylvania, where a noble Hungarian family named Zygan lived. Fraser does not imply that Roma share Hungarian ethnicity, only that the name Cigány likely originates from this small Hungarian-speaking region.[5]

In Iran, Roma are referred to as کولی (Kowli), in India as Lambani, Lambadi, or Rabari; in Arabic as Ghajar or Nawar, in the Ladino language as Jinganos, in Hebrew as צוענים (Tso-a-nim) in the plural or צועני (Tso-a-ni) in the singular, and in Kurdish as Qereçí or Dom.

There is no connection between the name of the Roma or their language and the city of Rome, ancient Rome, Romania, the Romanian people or the Romanian language, which are of Italic or Etruscan derivation.

Language

Main article: Romany language

Analysis of the Romany language has shown that it is related to languages spoken in northern Pakistan like Pothohari and northwest India like Punjabi. This is regarded as strong evidence for locating the geographical origin of the Roma, particularly in light of the fact that loanwords in Romany make it possible to plot a plausible route of westward migration.

Bolstering the linguistic evidence for an Indian sub-continental Romany origin is that ABO blood group distribution is also consistent with that found in northern Indian warrior classes. A study recently published in Nature magazine suggests Romany is related also to Sinhalese (see footnotes).

Some Roma have developed creole languages and/or mixed languages, including:

History

First arrival of gypsies outside Berne in the 15th century, described by the chronicler as getoufte heiden "baptized heathens" and drawn with dark skin and wearing Saracene style clothes and weapons (Spiezer Schilling, p. 749).

The Roma are believed to have left north India about AD 1000 and to have passed through what is now Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, and Turkey. People recognized by other Roma as Roma still live as far east as Iran, including some who migrated to Europe and returned. By the 14th century, the Roma had reached the Balkans, and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated south through Syria to North Africa, reaching Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar in the 15th century. Both currents met in France.

The cause of the Rom diaspora is unknown. One theory suggests the Roma were originally low-caste Hindus recruited into an army of mercenaries, granted warrior caste status, and sent westwards to resist Islamic military expansion. Or perhaps the Muslim conquerors of northern India took the Roma as slaves and brought them home, where they became a distinct community; Mahmud of Ghazni reportedly took 500,000 prisoners during a Turkish/Persian invasion of Sindh and Punjab. Why the Roma did not return to India, choosing instead to travel west into Europe, is an enigma, but may relate to military service under the Muslims.

Roma family in Smyrna, now İzmir, Turkey.

Wherever they arrived in Europe, curiosity was soon followed by hostility and xenophobia. Roma were enslaved for five centuries in Romania until abolition in 1864. Elsewhere in Europe, they were subject to expulsion, abduction of their children, and forced labor.

Roma began immigrating to the United States in colonial times, with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Roma also settled in Latin America.

During World War II, the Nazis murdered 200,000 to 800,000 Roma in an attempted genocide known as the Porajmos. Like the Jews, they were sentenced to forced labour and imprisonment in concentration camps. They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front.

People

Estimates suggest that there are approximately 8 to 10 million Roma worldwide, with the vast majority in Europe. The largest numbers of Roma are found in the Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, in central Europe, the United States, South America, Russia, and successor republics of the USSR. Smaller numbers are scattered throughout western Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Countries where Roma populations exceed half a million are Romania, Hungary, the countries of former Yugoslavia, Spain, the United States, Brazil and Argentina. Among other countries where Roma populations are large are Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey and Slovakia.

The Roma recognize divisions among themselves with some sense of territoriality, emphasized by certain cultural and dialectal differences. Some authorities delineate four main confederations:

  1. the Kalderash (smiths who came from the Balkans and then went to central Europe and North America and are the most numerous),
  2. the Gitanos (also called Calé, mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southern France; associated with entertainment),
  3. the Manush (also known as Sinti, mostly in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany; often travelling showmen and circus people), and
  4. the Romnichal (Rom'nies) (mainly in Britain and North America).

Each of these main divisions was further divided into two or more subgroups distinguished by occupational specialization or territorial origin, or both. Some of these group names include Machvaya (Machwaya), Lovari, Churari, Sinti, Rudari, Boyash, Ludar, Luri, Xoraxai, Ungaritza, Bashaldé, Ursari and Romungro.

A stereotype that Roma people have psychic powers (e.g. fortune-teller) is still sometimes present, and some romantics attribute the invention of the Tarot cards to them. This may reflect the belief that the Roma, being of alleged Egyptian origin, had knowledge of lost arts and sciences of the ancient Egyptians.

Genetics

Gipsy Encampment - facsimile of a copper-plate by Callot.

The genetic data strongly support the linguistic evidence that the Rom originated in northwestern India. Studies of Bulgarian, Baltic and Vlax Roma genetics suggest that about 50% of observed haplotypes belong to Y-chromosomal haplogroup H. Similar studies on the same subject population with mitochondrial DNA show 50% belong to male mitochondrial haplogroup M. Both of these are widespread across South and Central Asia.

In summary, common Y-chromosome (i.e. male-line) haplogroups are haplogroups H (50%), I (22%) and J2 (14%), and R1b (7%). Common mitochondrial (i.e. female-line) haplogroups are H (35%), M (26%), U3 (10%), X (7%), other (20%). Whereas male haplogroup H and female M are rare in non-Roma European populations, the rest are found throughout Europe. However female haplogroups U2i and U7 are almost absent from female Roma, but are present in South Asia (11%-35% approx). Hence, it can be seen that about half of the gene pool of Roma is similar to surrounding European populations.

In contrast, male Sinti Roma in Central Asia have H (20%), J2 (20%) and a high frequency of R2 (50%) which is found in India, with high frequencies in West Bengal and amongst the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. The M217 marker, which accounts for about 1.6% of male Roma, is also found in West Bengal (Kivisild (2003) et al). Haplogroups L which accounts for about 10% of Indians males is absent from Roma (Gresham et al however does not seem to test for haplogroup L), as it is also from West Bengal and Central Asian Sinti (Kivisild (2003) et al). A search on the Yhrd database however, shows that some Roma populations (in Europe) have considerable percentages of male haplogroup R1a1. Yhrd gives few matches with South Asian population, but a large number of matches on haplogroup H, with Asian Londoners, a sample that has a large number of Bengali and South Indian groups. Luba Kalaydjieva's research has shown that the original group appeared in India some 32-40 generations ago and was small, likely under 1000 people.

(Ref: Origins and Divergence of the Roma (Gypsies) David Gresham, Bharti Morar, Peter A. Underhill, et al, Am J Hum (2001); The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity, Wells et al.)

Society

A Gipsy Family - Facsimile of a woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.

The traditional Roma place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over Roma practice of child marriage. In 2003, one of the many self-styled Roma tribal "kings", Ilie Tortică, banned his subjects from entering their children into marriage until they have come of legal age. This ban is seen by some as being in direct conflict with traditional Roma family practices. A rival Roma patriarch, Florin Cioabă, ran afoul of Romanian authorities in late 2003, when he married off his youngest daughter, Ana-Maria, 12 [1], well below the legally marriageable age in Europe.

Romany law establishes that the man’s family must pay the dowry to the bride's parents. Romany social behaviour is strictly regulated by purity laws (“marime” or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma (except Muslims) and among Sinti groups by the elder generations. This regulation affects many aspects of life, and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of the human body are considered impure: the genital organs, because they produce impure emissions, and the lower body. Fingernails and toenails must be filed with an emery board, as cutting them with a clipper is taboo. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of menstruating women are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure, and must occur outside the dwelling place; the mother is considered impure for forty days. Death is seen as impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. Many of these practices are also present in Hindu cultures such as those of Bengal and the Balinese. However, in contrast to the Hindu practice of burning the dead, Romany dead must be buried, not burned. It is believed the soul of the dead does not officially enter Heaven until after the burial.

Religion

It has been suggested that while still in India the Roma people belonged to the Hindu religion, this theory being supported by the Romany word for "cross", trushul, which is the word which describes Shiva's trident (Trishul).

Roma have usually adopted the dominant religion of the host country while often preserving their particular belief systems and indigenous religion and worship. Most Eastern European Roma are Catholic, Orthodox or Muslim. Those in Western Europe and the United States are mostly either Catholic or Protestant. Most in Latin America kept their European religion, most of them being Orthodox. In Turkey, Egypt, and the southern Balkans, they are overwhelmingly Muslim. Roma religion has a highly developed sense of morality, taboos, and the supernatural, though it is often denigrated by organized religions.

Since the Second World War, a growing number of Roma have embraced Evangelical movements. For the first time, Roma became ministers and created their own, autonomous churches and missionary organizations. In some countries, the majority of Roma now belong to the Romany churches. This unexpected change has greatly contributed to a better image of Roma in society. The work they perform is seen as more legitimate, and they have begun to obtain legal permits for commercial activities.

Evangelical Romany churches exist today in every country where Roma are settled. The movement is particularly strong in France and Spain; there are more than one thousand Romany churches (known as "Filadelfia") in Spain, with almost one hundred in Madrid alone. In Germany, the most numerous group is that of Polish Roma, having their main church in Mannheim. Other important and numerous Romany assemblies exist in Los Angeles, Houston, Buenos Aires and Mexico. Some groups in Romania and Chile have joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In the Balkans, the Roma of Macedonia and Kosovo have been particularly active in Islamic mystical brotherhoods (Sufism). Muslim Roma immigrants to Western Europe and America have brought these traditions with them.

Music

Roma music is very important in Eastern European cultures such as Hungary, Russia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Roma musicians have influenced European classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. The lăutari who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Roma, although their music draws from a vast variety of ethnic traditions—for example Romanian, Turkish, Jewish, and Slavic—as well as Roma traditions. Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performer in the lăutar tradition are Taraful Haiducilor. Many famous classical musicians, such as the Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, are Roma, as are many prominent performers of manele. Zdob şi Zdub, one of the most prominent rock bands in Moldova, although not Roma themselves draw heavily on Roma music, as do Spitalul de Urgenţa in Romania.

The distinctive sound of Roma music has also strongly influenced bolero, jazz, flamenco and Cante Jondo in Europe. European-style Gypsy jazz is still widely practised among the original creators (the Roma People); one who acknowledged this artistic debt was Django Reinhardt.

Later, Roma people who came to the Americas contributed to almost every musical style. Salsa, rumba, mambo and guajira from Cuba, the tondero, zamacueca and marinera from Peru, mariachi music from Mexico, "llanero" from the borders of Venezuela and Colombia, and even American country music have all been influenced by their mournful violins and soulful guitar.

Relations with other peoples

An 1852 Wallachian poster advertising an auction of Roma slaves.

Because of their nomadic lifestyle and differences in language and culture, there has been a great deal of mutual distrust between these groups of Roma and their more settled neighbours. The popular image of Rom as tramps and thieves unfit for work contributed to what they view as their widespread persecution. This belief is often cited as the etymological source of the term gyp, meaning to "cheat", as in "I got gypped by a con man." The German name Zigeuner is often thought through popular etymology to derive either from Ziehende Gauner, which means 'travelling thieves', or from the Hungarian Cigany from their word "szegeny" meaning "poor". These validity of these derivations, however, is disputed.

During the Enlightenment, Spain briefly and unsuccessfully tried to assimilate the Roma into the mainstream population by forcing them to abandon their language and way of life; even the word gitano was made illegal. Persecution of Roma reached a peak during World War II in the Porajmos

In Eastern Europe, they often choose to live in depressed squatter communities with very high unemployment, while only some are fully integrated in the society. However, in some cases—notably the Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional coppersmiths—they have prospered. Although some Roma still embrace a nomadic lifestyle, most migration is actually forced, as most communities are not accepting Romani settlements in their neighbourhoods.

There are still tensions between the Roma and the majority population around them. Common complaints are that Roma steal and live off social welfare, and residents often reject Roma encampments. In the UK, travellers (referring to both Irish Travellers and Roma) became a 2005 general election issue, with the leader of the Conservative Party promising to review the Human Rights Act 1998. This law, which absorbs the European Convention on Human Rights into UK primary legislation, is seen by some to permit the granting of retrospective planning permission. Severe population pressures and the paucity of greenfield sites have led to travellers purchasing land, and setting up residential settlements almost overnight, thus subverting the planning restrictions imposed on other members of the community. Law enforcement agencies in the United States hold regular conferences on the Roma and similar nomadic groups.

In Denmark there was much controversy when the city of Helsingør decided to put all Roma students in special classes in its public schools. The classes were later abandoned after it was determined that they were discriminatory, and the Roma were put back in regular classes. Reference page in Danish

Eastern Europe

A Roma family travelling (1837 print)

Many countries that were formerly part of the Eastern bloc and former Yugoslavia, have substantial populations of Roma. The level of integration of Roma into society remains limited. In these countries, they usually remain on the margins of society, living in isolated ghetto-like settlements (see Chánov). Only a small fraction of Roma children graduate from secondary schools, although during the Communist regime, at least some of these countries forced all children to attend school, and provided them, like other citizens, with all required basics such as textbooks and the compulsory uniform. Usually they feel rejected by the state and the main population, which creates another obstacle to their integration.

According to The Guardian (January 8, 2003):

"In the Czech Republic, 75% of Roma children are educated in schools for people with learning difficulties, and 70% are unemployed (compared with a national rate of 9%). In Hungary, 44% of Roma children are in special schools, while 74% of men and 83% of women are unemployed. In Slovakia, Roma children are 28 times as likely to be sent to a special school than non-Roma; Roma unemployment stands at 80%." [2]

In some countries, dependence on social security systems is part of the problem. For some Roma families, it may be preferable to live on social security, compared to low-paid jobs. That creates many new problems: anger against Roma, conditions that produce crime, and extreme sensitivity to changes in social security. A good example of the latter is Slovakia, where reduction of social security (a family is paid allowance only for the first three children) led to civil disorder in several Roma villages.

In most countries within or applying to join the European Union, Roma people can lead normal lives and may integrate into the larger society. Nevertheless, the Roma most visible to the settled community are those that for various reasons, including traditional avoidance of "pollution" by close contact with non-Roma (cultural standards of cleanliness among the Roma state that non-Roma are 'mahrime', or spiritually unclean, and are therefore avoided as well as out of fear of 'persecution'), still live in shacks (usually built ad hoc, near railways) and beg on the streets, perpetuating the bad image of Roma overall. The local authorities may try to help such people by improving infrastructure in their settlements and subsidizing families further, but such aid is mostly viewed by the Roma as 'superficial' and 'insufficient'. Begging with pre-school children is sometimes practiced by the Roma, despite its illegality in many countries.

In June 2004, Lívia Járóka became the second, and only current, Roma Member of the European Parliament when she was elected as part of the list of the right-wing Fidesz Party in Hungary, following that country's accession to the European Union. The first Roma MEP was Juan de Dios Ramirez-Heredia of Spain.

Seven former Communist Central European and Southeastern European states launched the Decade of Roma Inclusion initiative in 2005 to improve the socio-economic conditions and status of the Roma minority.

Fictional representations of Roma

Perhaps the most well-known representations of Roma in fiction occur in

Other literary treatments include:

Treatments of Roma in other media include:

  • In the 1937 film classic Heidi starring Shirley Temple, Gypsies appeared in the stereotypical villain role.
  • Serbian director Emir Kusturica often used the Roma community as basis of his films.
  • In the TV series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Jenny Calendar, the technopagan computer-science teacher, was a member of the Kalderash clan. The Kalderash also cursed the vampire Angel with a soul in the spin-off series Angel.
  • Marvel Comics' Doctor Doom is a Gypsy, and DC Comics' Nightwing (the first Robin) is also Gypsy (Kalderash) on his father's side.
  • In TSR, Inc.'s fantasy role-playing universe Ravenloft, the Vistani people are clearly based on the Roma.

Groups with similar lifestyles

In Europe, where the settled lifestyle has long been the norm, other non-Indo-Iranian nomadic peoples (not originating in India), have also been labelled Gypsies for convenience or by accident. In Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria there also exist so-called white gypsies who are known under the names of Jenische (German spelling), Yéniche (French spelling), and Yenish or Yeniche (English spellings). Their language seems to be grammatically identical with other (Swiss) German dialects; the origin of the lexicon however, incorporates German, Romany, Yiddish and other words. See: Jenische (in German)

In Norway (and, to a lesser degree, in Sweden and Denmark) there is a group of people who call themselves Tatere. Confusingly, the term some of their more vocal representatives use to describe themselves today is "rom" or "romani". The links between the Tater people and Roma are uncertain. The Tater people were mostly itinerant and provided services that were needed by rural populations, but not often enough to warrant resident practitioners. Typical examples would be tin-smithing, selling knick-knacks and the neutering of horses. The origin of the "Taters" is unknown. Their name might derive from a belief that they were of the nomadic Tartar people. Distinguished Norwegian rocker Åge Aleksandersen is a Tater, as was evangelist Ludvig Karlsen. On the southern and western coast of Norway, and to some extent on the western coast of Sweden, the tater would live in boats rather than in horse-drawn wagons.

There is also a group of people in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States called Irish Gypsies or Irish Travellers. In Scotland, they are traditionally known as "tinkers", from the Irish "tinceard", meaning "tinsmith"; as this term became a pejorative amongst the settled community, the term Irish Travellers emerged as a more sensitive name. They are not Roma, but their nomadic culture has been influenced by them. Their language, Shelta, is mainly based on an Irish Gaelic lexicon and an English-based grammar, with influence from Romany.

The quinqui or mercheros of Spain are a minority group, formerly nomadic, that share a lot of the way of life of Spanish Roma. Their origin is unclear, maybe peasants who lost their land in the 16th century. In spite of sharing persecution and mores with the Roma, the quinqui have often set themselves apart from them.

References

  • Achim, Viorel (2004). "The Roma in Romanian History." Budapest: Central European University Press. ISBN 9639241849.
  • Auzias, Claire. Les funambules de l'histoire. Baye: Éditions la Digitale, 2002.
  • De Soto, Hermine. Roma and Egyptians in Albania : From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank Publications, 2005.
  • a b Fraser, Angus The Gypsies : Blackwell Publishers, Oxford UK, 1992 ISBN 0631159673.
  • Genner, Michael. Spartakus, 2 vols. Munich: Trikont, 1979-80
  • Gray, RD; Atkinson, QD (2003). "Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin." Nature.
  • Gresham, D; et al. (2001). "Origins and divergence of the Roma (Gypsies)." American Journal of Human Genetics. 69(6), 1314-1331. [3]
  • Lemon, Alaina (2000). Between Two Fires: Gypsy Performance and Romani Memory from Pushkin to Post-Socialism. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2456-3
  • Luba Kalaydjieva; et al. (2001). "Patterns of inter- and intra-group genetic diversity in the Vlax Roma as revealed by Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA lineages." European Journal of Human Genetics. 9, 97-104. [4]
  • McDowell, Bart (1970). "Gypsies, Wanderers of the World". National Geographic Society. ISBN 0870440888.
  • "Gypsies, The World's Outsiders." National Geographic, April 2001, 72-101.
  • Ringold, Dena. Roma & the Transition in Central & Eastern Europe : Trends & Challenges. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank, 2000. pg. 3,5, & 7.
  • Roberts, Samuel. The Gypsies: Their Origin, Continuance, and Destination. London: Longman, 4th edition, 1842.
  • Tebbutt, Susan (Ed., 1998) Sinti and Roma in German-speaking Society and Literature. Oxford: Berghahn.
  • Danish Broadcasting Corporation A page in Danish about Roma treatment in Denmark

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roma people.

Museums

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