Is there a nation of gypsies. Origin of the Gypsies

Gypsies are people without a state. For a long time they were considered immigrants from Egypt and were called the "Pharaoh tribe", but recent studies refute this. In Russia, the gypsies have created a real cult of their music.

Why are gypsies "gypsies"?

Gypsies don't call themselves that. Their most common self-designation for gypsies is "Roma". Most likely, this is the influence of the life of the gypsies in Byzantium, which received this name only after its fall. Prior to that, it was thought of as part of Roman civilization. The common "Romale" is a vocative case from the ethnonym "Roma".

Gypsies also call themselves Sinti, Kale, Manush ("people").

Other peoples call gypsies very differently. In England they are called gypsies (from Egyptians - "Egyptians"), in Spain - gitanos, in France - bohemiens ("Bohemians", "Czechs" or tsiganes (from Greek - τσιγγάνοι, "tsingani"), Jews call gypsies צוענים (tso 'anim), from the name of the biblical province of Zoan in ancient Egypt.

The word "gypsies", familiar to the Russian ear, conditionally goes back to the Greek word "attsingani" (αθίγγανος, ατσίγγανος), which means "untouchable". This term is first encountered in the Life of George Athos, written in the 11th century. “Conditionally”, because in this book one of the heretical sects of that time is called “untouchables”. So, it is impossible to say with certainty that the book is about gypsies.

Where did the gypsies come from

In the Middle Ages, gypsies in Europe were considered Egyptians. The word Gitanes itself is derived from the Egyptian. There were two Egyptians in the Middle Ages: upper and lower. Gypsies were so nicknamed, obviously, by the name of the upper one, which was located in the Peloponnese region, from where their migration came. Belonging to the cults of lower Egypt is visible in the life of even modern gypsies.

Tarot cards, which are considered the last surviving fragment of the cult of the Egyptian god Thoth, were brought to Europe by the gypsies. In addition, the gypsies brought the art of embalming the dead from Egypt.

Of course, the gypsies were in Egypt. The route from upper Egypt was probably the main route of their migration. However, modern genetic studies have proven that the gypsies do not come from Egypt, but from India.

The Indian tradition has been preserved in the Gypsy culture in the form of mindfulness practices. The mechanisms of meditation and gypsy hypnosis are in many ways similar, gypsies are good animal trainers, like Indians. In addition, the gypsies are characterized by the syncretism of spiritual beliefs - one of the features of the current Indian culture.

The first gypsies in Russia

The first gypsies (serva groups) in the Russian Empire appeared in the 17th century on the territory of Ukraine.

The first mention of gypsies in Russian history is found in 1733, in Anna Ioannovna's document on new taxes in the army:

“In addition to the upkeep of these regiments, to determine fees from the gypsies, both in Little Russia they are collected from them, and in the Sloboda regiments and in the Great Russian cities and counties assigned to the Sloboda regiments, and for this collection to determine a special person, since the gypsies are not in the census written."

The next mention of gypsies in Russian historical documents occurs in the same year. According to this document, the gypsies of Ingermanland were allowed to trade in horses, since they “showed themselves to be local natives” (that is, they had lived here for more than a generation).

A further increase in the gypsy contingent in Russia came with the expansion of its territories. When part of Poland was annexed to the Russian Empire, “Polish Roma” appeared in Russia, when Bessarabia was annexed, Moldavian gypsies, after the annexation of Crimea, Crimean gypsies. It must be understood that the Roma are not a mono-ethnic community, so the migration of different ethnic groups of Roma took place in different ways.

On an equal footing

In the Russian Empire, the gypsies were treated quite friendly. On December 21, 1783, the Decree of Catherine II was issued, classifying the gypsies as a peasant class. They were taxed. At the same time, no special measures were taken to forcibly enslave the Roma. Moreover, they were allowed to be assigned to any class, except for the nobility.

Already in the Senate decree of 1800 it is said that in some provinces "gypsies have become merchants and petty bourgeois."

Over time, settled gypsies began to appear in Russia, some of them managed to acquire considerable wealth. So, in Ufa lived a gypsy merchant Sanko Arbuzov, who successfully traded horses and had a solid spacious house. His daughter Masha went to the gymnasium and studied French. And Sanko Arbuzov was not alone.

In Russia, the musical and performing culture of the gypsies was appreciated. Already in 1774, Count Orlov-Chesmensky called the first gypsy chapel to Moscow, which later grew into a choir and laid the foundation for professional gypsy performance in the Russian Empire.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the serf gypsy choirs were released and continued their independent activities in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gypsy music was an unusually fashionable genre, and the gypsies themselves often assimilated among the Russian nobility - quite famous people entered into marriages with gypsy girls. Suffice it to recall Leo Tolstoy's uncle Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy-American.

Gypsies also helped Russians during wars. In the war of 1812, the gypsy communities donated large sums of money for the maintenance of the army, supplied the best horses for the cavalry, and the gypsy youth went to serve in the uhlan regiments.

By the end of the 19th century, not only Ukrainian, Moldavian, Polish, Russian and Crimean gypsies lived in the Russian Empire, but also Lyuli, Karachi and Bosch (since the annexation of the Caucasus and Central Asia), and at the beginning of the 20th century they migrated from Austria-Hungary and Romania lovari and kolderar.

Currently, the number of European gypsies, according to various estimates, is determined from 8 million to 10-12 million people. There were officially 175,300 people in the USSR (1970 census). In Russia, according to the 2010 census, there are about 220,000 Roma.

The content of the article

gypsies, or Roma - a nomadic people, more precisely, ethnic groups with common roots and language, whose origin can be traced from northwestern India. Today they live in many countries of the world. Gypsies are usually black-haired and swarthy, which is especially characteristic of populations living in countries close to India, although lighter skin is not typical for gypsies at all. Despite spreading all over the world, the Roma remain a clearly defined people everywhere, more or less adhering to their own customs, language and maintaining social distance from the non-Roma peoples in whose environment they live.

Gypsies are known by a number of names. In the Middle Ages, when the Gypsies first appeared in Europe, they were erroneously called Egyptians, as they were identified as Mohammedans - immigrants from Egypt. Gradually, this word (Egyptians, Gyptians) was abbreviated, becoming "gypsy" ("gipsy" in English), "gitano" in Spanish and "giphtos" in Greek. Gypsies are also called "zigeuner" in German, "gypsies" in Russian, "zingari" in Italian, which are variations of the Greek word athinganoi, meaning "do not touch" - an insulting name for a religious group that previously inhabited Asia Minor and avoided, like the gypsies , contacts with strangers. But the Gypsies do not like these names, preferring the self-designation "Roma" (plural, Roma or Roma) from "Romani (person)".

Origin.

In the middle of the 18th century European scientists managed to find evidence that the Romani language comes directly from the classical Indian language Sanskrit, which indicates the Indian origin of its speakers. The sero-anthropological data, in particular information about blood types, also indicate an origin from India.

Much, however, remains obscure regarding the early history of the Gypsies. Although they speak one of the languages ​​of the Indian group, it is very possible that they are actually descended from the Dravidian natives of this subcontinent, who eventually began to speak the language of the Aryan invaders who occupied their territory. In recent years, scholars in India itself have embarked on an academic study of the Gypsies, and, in addition, there is a revival of interest in this subject in scientific circles in the West. Gradually, the myths and misinformation surrounding the questions of the history and origin of this people are dissipated. It became clear, for example, that the Gypsies were nomads not because they had any nomadic instinct, but because widespread discriminatory legislation left them no choice but to continue their constant migration.

Migration and resettlement.

New historical and linguistic evidence indicates that the Gypsies migrated from northwestern India in the first quarter of the 11th century. as a result of a series of Islamic invasions led by Mohammed Ghaznavid. According to one hypothesis, the ancestors of the Gypsies (who are sometimes called “Dhomba” in the literature) organized themselves into military units called Rajputs to fight these invasions. Over the next two centuries, the Gypsies moved further and further west, stopping in Persia, Armenia and the territory of the Byzantine Empire (in the modern language of the Gypsies there are many Persian and Armenian words and, especially, many words from Byzantine Greek), and reached southeastern Europe in the middle of the 13th century.

The movement into the Balkans was also caused by the spread of Islam, which had caused the gypsies to migrate from India two centuries earlier.

Not the entire mass of Gypsies crossed the Bosphorus and ended up in Europe, one of its offshoots migrated eastward to the areas of today's Eastern Turkey and Armenia and became a separate and quite distinct sub-ethnic group known as "lom" ("Lom").

Another population widely distributed throughout the Middle East is the "dom" ("Dom"), which was long thought to be part of the original Gypsy migration (from India, but later separated from the mainstream somewhere in Syria). While the "home" itself and their language are clearly of Indian origin, their ancestors evidently represented a separate and much earlier wave (possibly 5th century) of migration from India.

In the Byzantine Empire, the Gypsies acquired a deep knowledge of metalworking, as indicated by the metallurgical vocabulary in the Gypsy language of Greek and Armenian (non-Indian) origin. When the gypsies came to the Balkans and, in particular, to the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, this knowledge and skills ensured a steady demand for their services. This new artisan population of gypsies proved to be so valuable, in fact, that in the early 1300s laws were passed making them the property of their employers, i.e. slaves. By 1500, about half of the gypsies managed to leave the Balkans for the north and west of Europe. The resulting division between those who remained in slavery in Wallachia and Moldavia (today's Romania) for five and a half centuries, and those who left there, is of fundamental importance in the history of the Gypsies and is referred to in literature as the First European Gypsy Diaspora.

It didn't take long for the people of the Balkans to realize that the Gypsies were completely different from the Muslims they feared so much. But the population in countries more distant from the Balkans, i.e. in France, Holland, and Germany, for example, one had never met directly with Muslims before. When the gypsies came there with their exotic speech, appearance and clothing, they were associated with Muslims and were called "pagans", "Turks", "Tatars" and "Saracens". The Gypsies were easy targets because they had no country to return to, no military, political or economic power to defend themselves. Over time, one country after another began to introduce repressive measures against them. In Western Europe, punishments for being Romani included lashing, mutilation, deportation, galley slavery, and even, in some places, execution; in eastern Europe, the gypsies remained slaves.

Political changes in Europe in the 19th century, including the abolition of slavery for the Gypsies, led to a sharp increase in their migration, which marked the period of the Second European Diaspora of the Gypsies. A third diaspora emerged in the 1990s with the fall of communist regimes throughout eastern Europe.

The gypsies who were in slavery were either domestic slaves or slaves in the fields. These broad categories include many smaller professional groups. The Gypsies, taken to work in the houses of the landowners, eventually lost their language of Indian origin and acquired Romanian based on Latin. Now Romanian-speaking gypsies such as "boyash" ("boyash"), "rudari" ("miners") and "ursari" ("guide bears") are found not only in Hungary and the Balkans, but also in Western Europe and other regions of the Western Hemisphere.

Much more of the ancient traditions were preserved by groups of gypsies descended from field slaves. Kalderas ("coppers"), lovara ("horse traders"), churara ("sieve makers") and mochvaya (from the Serbian city of Mochva) all these groups speak closely related dialects of the Romani language. These languages ​​form a dialect group called Vlax or Vlach, characterized by a strong influence of Romanian in it. By the end of the 19th century Vlaxo-speaking gypsies undertook long journeys in search of places where they could settle. Countries in Western Europe were inhospitable due to centuries of antigypsy legislation in them, so the main flow of migration went east to Russia, Ukraine and even China, or, through Greece and Turkey by sea to North and South America, South Africa and Australia. After the First World War, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in central Europe caused a mass exodus of Roma from these lands to western Europe and North America.

During the Second World War, the Nazis chose the Gypsies as the target of genocide, and the Gypsies were destined, along with the Jews, for extermination by the notorious decree of Reinhard Heydrich of July 31, 1941, to implement the "Final Solution". By 1945, almost 80% of all gypsies in Europe had died.

modern settlement.

Gypsies are dispersed throughout Europe and western Asia and are found in parts of Africa, North and South America, and Australia. However, it is not possible to establish the exact number of Roma in each country, since censuses and immigration statistics rarely distinguish them as a special article, and centuries of persecution have taught Roma to be careful in indicating their ethnicity in census questionnaires. There are between 9 and 12 million Roma in the world. The International Roma Union gives this estimate: about one million in North America, about the same in South America, and between 6 and 8 million in Europe, where Roma are concentrated mainly in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and elsewhere in the Balkans.

In the approximately one thousand years since the exodus of the Gypsies from India, their way of life has become remarkably varied, although each group has retained to a greater or lesser extent elements of the main culture of the Gypsies. Those that have settled in one place for a long time tend to acquire the national features of the people who have adopted them. In both Americas, a significant number of gypsies appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although there is a tradition among the gypsies that on the third voyage of Columbus in 1498, gypsy sailors were among the crew, and the first representatives of this people appeared there in pre-colonial times. It is documented that the first gypsies appeared in Latin America (in the Caribbean) in 1539, when persecution against this people began in Western Europe. They were gypsies from Spain and Portugal.

New waves of immigrants began arriving in the Americas after 1990.

Gypsy life.

Despite their common linguistic, cultural and genetic heritage, the Gypsy groups have become so diverse as a result of the influence of time and space factors that it would be wrong to try to draw a generalized portrait of them. In the rest of the article, special attention is paid to the Vlaxo-speaking gypsies, who are the largest and most geographically distributed population.

social organization.

Taken as a whole, the life of gypsies is called "romanipen" or "romania" and is built on the basis of a complex system of family relations. A group of kindred families forms a clan (“vista” clan), headed by a leader called “baro” (he is not a king; the so-called kings and queens among the gypsies are an invention of journalists). He is the recognized leader of his group and can direct its movements and represent it in contact with outsiders. On important matters, he may consult with the elders of the whist. Violations of the rules of morality and behavior can be considered by a special male assembly called "kris" ("kris"). This court has jurisdiction over a wide range of infringements, including material and matrimonial matters. Punishments may include the imposition of fines or expulsion from the community, the offender being called merimé or ritually unclean. Since communication with non-gypsies is avoided as a matter of course, and since the gypsy community itself must exclude whoever is merimé, the individual in this position finds himself ultimately in complete isolation. This idea of ​​ritual pollution, inherited from India and extended to the individual in his relation to food, animals and other human beings, was the most general factor that contributed to the fact that Gypsy populations remained separate from others and internally united.

Marriages with Goje (non-Gypsies) are frowned upon; even the choice of marriage with other gypsies is limited. In the case of mixed marriages, children will only be considered Roma if their father is one. The family plays an active role in the marriage formalities, which to the uninitiated may seem lengthy and complicated. First, there are long negotiations between the parents, especially about the amount of "darro" (dowry). This is the amount to be compensated for the earning potential of a bori or daughter-in-law who passes from her family and is included in the family of her new marriage relatives. The wedding itself (“abiav”) is held in a hall rented for this occasion with the presence of many friends and relatives. The celebrations accompanying the wedding usually last three days. Once established, a marriage union usually remains permanent, but if a divorce is necessary, the consent of the "kris" may be required. As a rule, civil and church marriages are becoming more frequent, even if they represent only the final phase of the traditional ritual.

The official religion did not have much influence on the way of life of the Gypsies, although they did not manage to avoid attempts by missionaries to convert them to their faith. They adopted, in most cases superficially, such religions as Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and the Protestantism of the countries in which they lived for some time. The exception is the surprising and very rapid acceptance by some groups of the charismatic "new" Christianity of recent years.

The most famous religious holidays of the Romani Catholics are the annual pilgrimages to Quebec to the Basilica of St. Anne (Sainte Anne de Beaupre) and the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on the Mediterranean coast of France, where gypsies gather every time from everywhere 24 – May 25, to honor their patron saint Sarah (according to legend, an Egyptian).

Livelihood and recreation.

Gypsies prefer activities that provide them with a minimum duration of contact with the "gadge" and independence. Services that cater to occasional needs and an ever-changing clientele fit well with the Gypsy way of life, which may require the individual to leave urgently to attend a wedding or funeral, or a "kris" in another part of the country. Gypsies are versatile and the means by which they earn a living are numerous. But there are some main Gypsy trades, such as horse trading, metalworking, divination and, in some countries, picking vegetables or fruits. For joint economic ventures, the Roma can also form a purely functional association "kumpania", the members of which do not necessarily belong to the same genus or even to the same dialect group. In the field of self-employment, many Roma work as peddlers, especially in Europe. Some resell goods bought at a lower price, others trade on the streets, noisily offering their own goods, although in the 20th century. a number of gypsy crafts suffered from competition with mass-produced products. Women play their full role in earning a livelihood. It is they who carry baskets with manufactured goods from door to door and are engaged in fortune-telling.

Although many of the names of the various Gypsy groups are based on the professions they held during the period of slavery, they can no longer serve as a reliable guide to the activities of specific families. In Mexico, for example, "coppermen" are now far more often mobile film operators than metalworkers. For many "coppers" in the United States, the main source of income is the fortune-telling parlor ("office"), which may be located in front of the fortune teller's house or in the front of the store.

Gypsies are also known to be great entertainers, especially as musicians and dancers (several famous actors, including Charles Chaplin, speak of their Gypsy ancestors). In Hungary, and in Romania in particular, gypsy orchestras with their virtuoso violinists and cymbalists have developed their own style, although much of what the audience hears is, in fact, European music in a gypsy interpretation. There is another, very special type of music, the original gypsy music, which is a highly rhythmic sequence of tones, in which few or no instruments are used and the dominant sound is often the sound of clapping hands. Research has shown that much of the Central European classical music tradition and the work of composers such as Liszt, Bartok, Dvorak, Verdi and Brahms are marked by significant Gypsy influences. The same has been demonstrated by research in relation to Jewish klezmer music, whose characteristic features are unusual scales and lively rhythms.

In Andalusia, in southern Spain, according to one study by the University of Wisconsin, gypsies, along with Moroccans, created the flamenco tradition as a covert way to express anger at the repressive Spanish regime. From Andalusia, the style spread through the Iberian Peninsula and then into Hispanic America until flamenco song, dance and guitar playing became an accepted form of folk entertainment. Since the late 1970s, the music of the six-guitar Gipsy Kings has propelled modern flamenco-based music into the pop charts, and the late Django Reinhardt's jazz guitar technique ) (he was a gypsy) experienced a renaissance thanks to his great-nephew Bireli Lagrene.

Like all peoples with a developed oral tradition, the narration among the Gypsies reaches the level of art. Over the course of many generations, they expanded their folklore baggage by selecting and adding to it the folk tales of the countries in which they settled. In exchange, they enriched the folklore of these nations with the oral histories acquired by them during past migrations.

Due to strict restrictions on socializing with outsiders, the Roma spent much of their free time in each other's company. Many of them believe that the negative effects of being among the gajes can only be offset by the time they spend among their own at communal ritual events such as christenings, weddings, etc.

Food, clothing and housing.

The eating habits of Western European Gypsy groups reflect the influence of their nomadic way of life. Soups and stews that can be cooked in one pot or cauldron, as well as fish and game meat, occupy a significant place in their cuisine. The diet of settled Eastern European gypsies is characterized by the use of a large amount of spices, especially hot varieties of pepper. In all groups of gypsies, food preparation is strictly conditioned by the observance of various taboos of relative cleanliness. The same cultural considerations determine the issues of clothing. In Gypsy culture, the lower part of the body is considered unclean and shameful, and women's legs, for example, are covered with long skirts. Similarly, a married woman should cover her head with a scarf. According to tradition, acquired valuables are turned into jewelry or gold coins, and the latter are sometimes worn on clothes as buttons. Since the head is considered the most important part of the body, many men draw attention to it by wearing wide hats and large mustaches, and women love large earrings.

Mobile homes are of great importance to families whose livelihoods require them to be constantly on the move. There are still a large number of gypsy families, especially in the Balkans, who travel in light open wagons drawn by horses or donkeys and sleep in tents of traditional design made of canvas or woolen blankets. A comparatively recent appearance of the gypsy's residential wagon, decorated with intricate carvings, complements rather than replaces the tent. Along with the less picturesque horse-drawn wagon, this residential wagon is rapidly falling into disuse, making way for the motorized trailer. Some gypsies with trucks or cars with trailers closely adhere to the old habits of people with carts, while others have fully embraced such modern conveniences as bottled kitchen gas and electricity.

The current population of gypsies.

Various Romani groups in Europe were almost completely destroyed by the fires of the Holocaust, and it was not until more than four decades later that their national movement began to gain momentum. For the Roma, the concept of "nationalism" does not mean the creation of a real nation-state, but implies the acquisition of recognition by mankind of the fact that the Roma are a separate non-territorial nation of people with their own history, language and culture.

The fact that Roma live all over Europe but do not have their own country has led to enormous problems since the fall of Eastern European communist regimes and the resurgence of ethnic nationalism there. Like those gypsies who first came to Europe seven and a half centuries ago, the European gypsies of the 20th century. are increasingly perceived as very different from traditional European peoples and a nuisance. To combat these prejudices, the Roma organized themselves into several political, social and cultural groups in order to develop ideals of self-determination. The International Roma Union has been a permanent member of the United Nations Economic and Social Development Council since 1979; by the end of the 1980s, he gained representation in the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNESCO, and in 1990 the formation of the European Roma Parliament began. By the beginning of the 1990s, a large number of such Roma professionals as journalists and political activists, educators, and politicians had already appeared. Ties were forged with the ancestral homeland of India - since the mid-1970s, the Indian Institute of Gypsy Studies has been operating in Chandigarh. Roma organizations focused their work on combating racism and stereotypes in the media, as well as obtaining reparations for war crimes that led to the death of Roma in the fires of the Holocaust. In addition, the issues of standardization of the Roma language for international use, the compilation of a twenty-volume encyclopedia in this language, were resolved. Gradually, the literary image of the "nomadic gypsies" is replaced by the image of the people, ready and able to take their place in today's heterogeneous society.

The main source of information on all aspects of Gypsy history, language and lifestyle is the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, published from 1888 to the present.

Gypsies are a people covered with myths and legends. Well, at least to start with, are they a single people, and who can generally be considered a gypsy? The gypsies themselves refer to themselves either as Sinti, or as Kalo, or as Keldari. In addition to the well-known European rums, there are also Balkan "Egyptians" and Ashkali, Middle Eastern houses, Transcaucasian bosha, Central Asian mugat and Chinese Einu. The surrounding population classifies them as gypsies, but our gypsies are unlikely to recognize them as their own. So, who are the gypsies, and where did they come from?

Ursari gypsies. Image courtesy of wikimedia

At the beginning of the legend
Gypsies used to live in Egypt between the rivers Tsyn and Gan. But then a bad king came to power in this country, who decided to turn all the Egyptians into slaves. Then the freedom-loving gypsies left Egypt and settled around the world. I heard this story as a child in the Belarusian city of Slutsk from an old gypsy grandfather who worked at the local bazaar. Then I had to hear and read it in different versions. For example, about the fact that the gypsies come from the island of Tsy on the Ganges River. Or about the fact that the gypsies dispersed in different directions, crossing the Tsy-Gan River.
Oral history does not live long. As a rule, more or less truthful information about historical events is preserved for only three generations. There are exceptions, such as the ancient Greek poems about the Trojan War or the Icelandic sagas. They transmitted news of events centuries ago. But this happened thanks to professional storytellers. The gypsies did not have such storytellers, so myths took the place of truthful information. They were created on the basis of the legends of local peoples, biblical stories and outright fables.
Gypsies do not remember that the name of their people comes from the Greek word "atsigganos". This was the name of the medieval Christian sect of sorcerers and soothsayers, originally from Phrygia (now the territory of Turkey). By the time the gypsies appeared in Balkan Greece, it was destroyed, but the memory of it was preserved and was transferred to a still little-known people.
In some countries, Gypsies are still called Egyptians (remember the English word Gypsies or the Spanish Gitano). This name also originates in the Balkan Peninsula, where the immigrants from Egypt have long hunted tricks and circus performances. After the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, the flow of magicians from there dried up, but the word "Egyptian" became a household word and was transferred to the gypsies.
Finally, the self-designation of European gypsies "Roma" sometimes refers them to immigrants from Rome. We will talk about the real origin of this word below. But, if we remember that in the Middle Ages the inhabitants of Byzantium called themselves none other than the Romans, then we again return to the Balkan Peninsula.
It is curious that the first written mention of the Gypsies is also associated with the Balkan Peninsula. In the life of the Greek monk George of Athos, written in 1068, it is told that shortly before his death, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh turned to some Indians to clear his gardens of wild animals. In the 12th century, to the displeasure of Orthodox monks, gypsies traded amulets in Constantinople, predicted fate and performed with trained bears. In 1322, the Irish pilgrim Simon Fitz-Simons met them on the island of Crete. In 1348, a record about gypsies appears in Serbia, in 1378 - in Bulgaria, in 1383 - in Hungary, in 1416 - in Germany, in 1419 - in France, in 1501 - in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the Middle Ages, the arrival of settlers was always welcomed by the feudal lords, as they counted on cheap labor. In 1417, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg even issued a safe-conduct to the Gypsies. But very soon the European monarchs became disillusioned with the aliens. They did not want to settle in a particular place and were more like vagabonds. Already in the 15th century, laws began to be passed aimed at expelling the gypsies. Moreover, in some cases, violators were threatened with the death penalty. The gypsies left and returned. They had nowhere to go, because they did not remember where their homeland was. If the homeland is not the Balkan Peninsula, then where did they come from?

Ancestral home in India
In 1763, the Transylvanian pastor Istvan Valy compiled a dictionary of the Romani language and concluded that it was of Indo-Aryan origin. Since then, linguists have found many facts that confirm his conclusion. In 2004 - 2012, the works of geneticists appeared, which determined that the ancestral home of the gypsies should be sought in the north-west of India. They found that most Roma men are descended from a small group of relatives who lived 32 to 40 generations ago. Fifteen centuries ago, they left their native places and for some reason moved west.
The evidence for the Indian origin of the Gypsies is so clear that in 2016 the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the Gypsies to be part of the overseas Indian community. Therefore, if you want to know how many Indians live, for example, on the territory of Belarus, add another 7,079 Belarusian gypsies to 545 people from India!
At the same time, neither linguists nor geneticists have yet determined exactly which ancestors of which modern Indian people (after all, many peoples live in India!) are related to gypsies. This is partly due to the fact that different tribes live in the north-west of India. Especially a lot of them in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Perhaps the ancestors of the gypsies were one small tribe. After they went west, they had no close relatives and descendants in India.
“Wait, how come! someone will exclaim. “After all, there are gypsies in India!” Travelers write about Indian gypsies in blogs, shoot them on video. I myself had to see representatives of the people in the north of India, which they call "Banjara", "Garmati", "Lambani" and so on. Many of them continue to lead a nomadic life, live in tents, beg or engage in petty trade. The attitude of the Indians towards them is approximately the same as that of the Europeans towards the Roma gypsies. That is, despite all the tolerance and romantic tales, very bad. However, "banjara-garmati" are not gypsies. This nation has its own history. He comes from Gujarat, but began to lead a "gypsy" way of life only in the 17th century. The Banjara-Garmati and the Gypsies are indeed distant relatives, but not to a greater extent than other tribes and peoples of northwestern India.

How the gypsies ended up in the west
In 2004, British historian Donald Kendrick published Gypsies: From the Ganges to the Thames. He tried to summarize all the known information that can shed light on the appearance of gypsies in Europe. His work is only a version, it contains a lot of circumstantial facts and controversial conclusions. Nevertheless, it looks plausible, and it is worth retelling it very briefly to Russian-speaking readers.
The westward migration of Indians to the neighboring Persian Empire began over 1,500 years ago. The Persian poem "Shahnameh" tells about this in lyrical form. Shah Brahram Gur, allegedly ruling in the 5th century, turned to one of the Indian kings with a request to send luri musicians. Each musician received a cow and a donkey, as the shah wanted the settlers to settle on the earth and bring up new generations of musicians. But more often the Indians moved to Persia as mercenary soldiers and artisans. D. Kendrick notes that in Iran the ancestors of the Gypsies could get acquainted with the wagons. Later, the wagon "vardo" will become a symbol of nomadic gypsies in Europe.
In 651 Persia was conquered by Muslim Arabs. The Arabs knew the Indian settlers under the name of Zotts. Perhaps it comes from the people of the Jats, who in our time live just in the north-west of India. Zotts formed a kind of state in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, collecting tribute from passing merchants for using trade routes. Their arbitrariness aroused the wrath of the Caliph Al-Mutasim, who in 834 defeated the Zotts. Some of the prisoners he moved to the area of ​​the city of Antioch on the border with Byzantium. Now it is the border area of ​​Turkey and Syria. Here they served as shepherds, guarding herds from wild animals.
In 969, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros captured Antioch. Thus, the ancestors of the Gypsies ended up within the Byzantine Empire. For some time they lived in the east of Anatolia, where a significant part of the population was Armenians. No wonder many linguists discover borrowings from Armenian in the Romani language.
From Eastern Anatolia, part of the Gypsies moved to Constantinople and the Balkan Peninsula, and then to other European countries. These gypsies are known to us as "Roma". But the other part of the gypsies remained in Anatolia and already during the time of the Turkish conquests mastered the expanses of the Middle East, Transcaucasia, Iran, and Egypt. They are known as "home". Gypsies "home" and now live in Muslim countries, profess Islam, but separate themselves from Arabs, Turks and Persians. It is characteristic that in Israel they cooperate with the authorities and even serve in the Israeli army. In neighboring Egypt, the Domari live near large cities. Among the Egyptians, their women have the dubious reputation of good dancers and cheap prostitutes.

Journey of the Gypsies to the West in the 5th-15th centuries

In Armenia, the "scrap" gypsies, also known as "bosha", converted to Christianity and now do not differ much from the rest of the Armenians. In Central Asia, the house began to speak the Tajik language and call themselves "mugat", although the surrounding peoples often call them "lyuli". In Western China, on the southern slopes of the Tien Shan mountains and in the oases of the Takla Makan desert, you can meet quite exotic gypsies "Einu". They speak a strange language that combines Indo-Aryan and Tajik words with Turkic grammar. Einu are ordinary peasants and artisans who are not prone to stealing, begging or drug dealing. However, their Chinese and Uyghur neighbors treat them with contempt. The Einu themselves say that they came to China from Iran, that is, they are descendants of medieval zotts or all the same gypsies "dom".
The names "rum" and "house" have a common origin, differ only in pronunciation. But, if "rum" refers our fantasy to Rome, then "house" clarifies the true roots of the self-name of the gypsies. In Punjabi, the word "dam-i" means a person or a man.

Second coming
So, in the XIV century, the gypsies began to leave the cozy Balkan Peninsula, where they spent several centuries, and move to other European countries. There is nothing surprising in this, if we recall that during this period the Turkish conquest of the lands of the former Byzantine Empire took place. However, the number of migrants cannot be called huge. Proof of this are materials about the persecution of Roma by the authorities. As a rule, until the 18th century, gypsy communities in European countries barely numbered a few hundred people each. Gypsies are not mentioned in Russia until 1733, and even then they lived only in the Baltic states.
By the 19th century, many European gypsies left their nomadic lifestyle, one way or another fit into existing social structures, served in the army, and participated in the colonial expansion of European peoples. The negative image of the gypsies was gradually eroded. Romantic poets sang the gypsies' love of freedom. But in the middle of the 19th century, a new stream of gypsy settlers poured from the Balkan Peninsula, to whom the definition of free never fit.
Where did they come from? Despite the Turkish invasion, most medieval gypsies chose to remain where they lived before. At the beginning of the 17th century, we find gypsy suburbs near the Athos monastery, gypsy artisan settlements in Bulgaria, and even gypsy soldiers in the Ottoman army. While gypsies were persecuted in European countries, in the Ottoman Port they were recognized as subjects of the Sultan, paid taxes, and in some cases enjoyed a certain independence.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that among the Ottoman gypsies there were many settled ones. Some converted to Islam, others remained Christians, others tried to merge with the local population. Thus, a small group of gypsy-Ashkali arose in Kosovo, who lived in permanent villages, were engaged in gardening and spoke the Albanian language. In Bulgaria, the Roma more often adopted the Turkish language and culture.

A Romanian Gypsy village in the 19th century. Image courtesy of wikimedia

However, there was one big exception in the north of the Balkans. In the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, the gypsies were slaves. It is curious that the first mention of the gypsies in the Wallachian documents of the XIV century speaks of them as not free. Most of the gypsies belonged to the prince, but there were also slaves dependent on monasteries or landowning boyars. Some of the gypsy slaves led a sedentary lifestyle, others were allowed to roam, but one way or another they worked for the owner. The owners disposed of their property, allowed or forbade marriage, judged and punished. Slaves in Wallachia were cheap. For example, in 1832, thirty gypsies were exchanged for one cart. In Moldavia, in addition to gypsy slaves, there was a small group of Tatar slaves. Tatars became slaves when they were captured. But how the gypsy population ended up in slavery is difficult to understand. There were no hostilities between Romanians and Gypsies.
Slavery was finally abolished in 1856. Although the Romanian authorities took steps to ensure that the gypsies mixed with the Romanians, many of the freed slaves chose to get away from their former owners. This was especially true for those who maintained a nomadic lifestyle. Many of the gypsies living in Western European countries, in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are direct descendants of that very late wave of gypsies from Romania.
In the 20th century, in the USSR and other socialist countries, they tried to transfer the Roma to a settled way of life. The Nazis massacred gypsies in concentration camps. Thus, during the Second World War, Belarus lost almost the entire indigenous gypsy population. The Gypsies living in our country today are descendants of post-war settlers from other Soviet republics. In our time, a suspicious and sometimes clearly hostile attitude towards gypsies is characteristic of all European countries from France to Russia.
Gypsies are not loved, they are admired, and they continue to lead an isolated lifestyle. And so one and a half thousand years!

Gypsies are one of the most, perhaps, incomprehensible and mythologized peoples on our planet, and this has been the case for many centuries. There are rumors around the world that when gypsies come to town, they seduce men and women and then steal everything they see, including children.

There are also many myths about cunning and mysterious gypsy fortune-tellers and gypsy camps. In any case, even if we put all the myths and misconceptions aside, the gypsies remain one of the most interesting ethnic groups in history.

WHERE THEY COME FROM

The origin of the gypsies is shrouded in mystery. Sometimes it seemed that they appeared on the planet in some mysterious way. This in itself may have evoked a sense of fear among the Europeans and contributed to an atmosphere of mystery around the Roma. Modern scholars suggest that the Gypsies originally migrated en masse from India in the fifth century.

This theory suggests that their flight was due to the spread of Islam, which the Roma were desperate to avoid in order to protect their religious freedom. This theory claims that the Gypsies migrated from India to Anatolia and further to Europe, where they divided into three separate branches: Domari, Lomavren and the Gypsies themselves. Another theory suggests that there were as many as three separate migrations over several centuries.

THE NOMADIC LIFESTYLE OF THE GYPSIES

Many stereotypes have been formed around the gypsies for a long time. Who does not know the phrase “gypsy soul” (which is applied to freedom-loving people). According to these stereotypes, the gypsies prefer to live, as they say, not in the “mainstream” and eschew social norms in order to be able to lead a nomadic lifestyle, replete with fun and dancing. The truth is much darker.

For many centuries, the Roma were often forcibly expelled from the countries in which they lived. Such forced evictions continue to this day. Many historians have suggested that the true reason for the Gypsies' nomadic lifestyle is very simple: survival.

Gypsies have no homeland

Gypsies are people without a definite citizenship. Most countries refuse to grant them citizenship, even if they were born in that country. Centuries of persecution and their closed community have left the Gypsies with no homeland. In 2000, the Roma were officially declared a non-territorial nation. This lack of citizenship renders Roma legally “invisible”.

Although they are not subject to the laws of any country, they cannot access education, health care and other social services. Moreover, the Roma cannot even obtain passports, which makes their travel very difficult or impossible.

Gypsy persecution

It's worth starting with the fact that the gypsies were actually enslaved people in Europe, especially in the 14th - 19th centuries. They were traded and sold like a commodity, and they were considered "subhuman". In the 1700s, Maria Theresa, the Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, passed a law that outlawed the gypsies. This was done to force the Roma to integrate into society.

Similar laws have been passed in Spain, and many European countries have banned Roma from entering their territory. The Nazi regime also persecuted and exterminated Roma by the tens of thousands. Even today, gypsies are persecuted.

NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY GYPSIES THERE ARE IN THE WORLD

No one knows how many gypsies live all over the world today. Because of the discrimination Roma often face, many of them do not publicly register or identify as Roma. In addition, given their “legal invisibility”, the birth of children without documents and frequent moves, many Roma are listed as missing.

Also problematic is that Roma are not provided with social services, which would help to paint a clearer picture of their numbers. However, The New York Times estimates the number of Roma worldwide at 11 million, a figure often disputed.

Gypsies - an offensive word

For many people, the term "gypsy" means nomad and is not considered a racial slur. But for the “Roma” themselves (or “Romals” - the self-name of the gypsies), this word has ominous overtones. For example, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the English word “gypped” (derived from “gypsie” - gypsies) means a criminally punishable act.

Roma, often referred to as gypsies, were considered losers and thieves, a word burned into their skin during the Nazi regime. Like many other racial slurs, the word "Gypsy" has been used for centuries to oppress the Roma.

FUTURE, CHEAP…

There are many myths surrounding gypsies. One of these myths says that the gypsies have their own magic, which has been passed down for centuries from generation to generation. The myth is associated with tarot cards, crystal balls and fortune-telling tents, as well as other stereotypes. Literature is replete with references to the gypsy language and the magical arts of this people.

In addition, there are many films that show the curses of gypsies. Even in art, there are many paintings describing Roma as mystical and magical people. However, many scientists believe that all this magic is fiction, derived from the fact that people simply did not know anything about gypsies at all.

NO FORMAL RELIGION

European folklore often claims that the Roma made a temple out of cream cheese. Presumably, they ate it when a period of severe famine set in, so they were left without an official religion. As a rule, gypsies join the church that is the most common in the country in which they live. However, there are many traditional gypsy beliefs. Some scholars believe that there are many links between Roma beliefs and Hinduism.

MODESTY

Although gypsy weddings are often accompanied by mass festivities and luxurious attire, one of their main life principles, modesty, is reflected in the everyday clothes of gypsies. Gypsy dances are most often associated with women's belly dancing. However, many gypsy women never performed what is commonly considered belly dancing today.

Instead, they perform traditional dances that use only their bellies for movement, not their hips, as hip movements are considered immodest. In addition, the long, flowing skirts commonly worn by gypsies serve to cover their legs, as exposing the legs is also considered immodest.

THE GYPSY CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CULTURE IS HUGE

From the very beginning of their existence, the gypsies have been closely associated with singing, dancing and acting. They carried this tradition through the centuries, significantly influenced world art. Many gypsies assimilated into different cultures, influencing them. Many singers, actors, artists, etc. had gypsy roots.

It so happened in society that few people trust the gypsies. At best, they try to avoid and ignore them, at worst, they mock them. Most often, the reason lies in the fact that people do not know where the gypsies came from. One cannot argue with the fact that among this people there are many people with a dubious reputation. Despite this, their history is quite interesting, therefore, in order to judge objectively, one must take into account the influence of constant persecution and humiliation to which the gypsies have been subjected for centuries. This attitude of society made them unite and become one big family. Perhaps this is what pushed them to dishonest earnings and deceit, because let's be honest - it's not easy for a gypsy to find a job.

Demography

This people originates in India, on the island of Tzu. Scientists have long established the fact that the gypsies appeared in northwestern India about one and a half thousand years ago. This idea was first expressed by two German scientists - J. Rüdiger and G. Grelman. Confirmation is that the Romani language consists of a third of Sanskrit. At the same time, it should be remembered that the Persians and Greeks had a significant influence on the formation of the gypsy language. After 6 centuries, the Roma (another name for the gypsies) began to immigrate to Europe - such a conclusion was made by genetic scientists after studying their genome. The reason for possible immigration lies in the displacement of the people by Muslims. Modern calculations suggest that the homeland of this people is the territory of Gujarat and Kashmir.

Geneticists believe that all gypsies are united by two main factors: they were from India and actively intermarried with people of different nationalities, immigrating to Europe. Today, about 11 million gypsies live there, experts say. Most of it occupies the territory of Eastern and Central Europe, Hungary and Romania. Their number fluctuates between 2.5 and 8 million people, according to various estimates. It is worth noting that during the tyranny of Adolf Hitler, the gypsies were massacred. Since there is no written evidence of the gypsy people, scientists decided to compare the genomes of people from 13 different groups of gypsies from around the world. The general conclusions of the study showed that the demographic history of the Roma is quite rich. However, the practically disenfranchised position of people of this nationality around the world does not allow a more detailed and qualitative study of their historical roots.

It is known that until the 15th century, the gypsies in Europe were received very kindly, but after a while they gained a reputation as beggars, charlatans and vagabonds. The displacement of the people from the cultural and social life of society took place on legal grounds. They were evicted outside the city, forbidden to participate in public life. Ordinary people hated the gypsies, mocked and even killed them without a trace of embarrassment. After 3 centuries, the attitude of people towards this people became more tolerant.

There is a division into sedentary, semi-sedentary and nomadic. What was the nomad camp like? It was a group of people who moved around a certain territory. The camp has always had one leader - woad. He represented his people before the authorities of the country where the camp roamed. The vaida also had every right to independently resolve internal conflicts. The position of the female gypsy is unenviable: she had to obey her father, and then her husband. On the shoulders of young girls lay the care of the care and food of each member of the family. The decision to marry off his daughter was also made by the father, who himself found a suitable candidate. It was believed that a good wife would bring her husband a large offspring. Sedentary and semi-sedentary gypsies took root everywhere, as they easily passed from one faith to another and obeyed the church customs of the people among whom they lived. Nomads remain true to their traditions and rituals, honor them and pass them on through generations. Separate nomadic groups still continue to engage in their original activities: dancing, singing, weaving, mystical divination and divination, witchcraft, animal training, wood processing.

Where did the gypsies come from in Russia?

They got here through two routes: through the warm Balkan countries, as well as through northern Germany and Poland. Before the revolution of 1917, Roma men were engaged in buying and selling and exchanging horses, and women were engaged in mystical paid affairs. The nomads subsisted on begging and divination, sometimes on tinning and blacksmithing. The gypsies of St. Petersburg, who settled in the city, massively replenished the composition of the choirs. After the revolution, a decree was issued that these people should adopt a more laborious and suitable way of life. Thus, the gypsies imperceptibly joined the huge Soviet family. When the Great Patriotic War began, many men of this nationality fought side by side with the soldiers of the Soviet Army. In 1956, another similar decree was issued, after which a significant part of the vagrants adopted a sedentary lifestyle. Today, the Roma people are not limited in their rights: they can receive secondary and higher education, freely choose any field of activity. Unfortunately, only a few enjoy these rights. Since the middle of the last century, many countries in which Roma ethnic groups live have taken a number of measures to improve the position of these people in society. Public organizations are beginning to appear that are engaged in raising the cultural and economic standard of living of the Roma. In France there is an "International Gypsy Committee", which has been operating since 1971; The Institute for Contemporary Gypsy Studies operates in the UK. Similar organizations exist in India and America.

Despite the fact that researchers have long known where the gypsies came from, among the common people you can still hear the most incredible rumors and legends about the origin of people of this nationality. There is even an opinion that they are descendants of the sunken Atlantis. It should be understood that gypsy groups are very different from each other, so you cannot attribute individual negative qualities to the whole people. Still, in the age of information technology, it is a shame not to know about the origin and history of the gypsies.