Origin of the Gypsy people. Who are the gypsies and where is their homeland? Migration and settlement

Roma are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without their own state. They can be found in any country in Europe, the CIS, and America, and their number is about 8-10 million people. How did it happen that the gypsies began to lead a nomadic lifestyle and settled in many countries of the world, while their closest relatives continue to live in their homeland?

According to geneticists, the ancestors of modern gypsies left India around the 6th-10th centuries and moved to Persia (the territory of modern Iran). According to one version, 1000 people were given by the Padishah of India as a gift to the Shah of Persia. According to historical information, these were jewelers and musicians, and donations of valuable professions were common at that time. Having lived there for about 400 years, the gypsies headed west and soon found themselves in Byzantium.

On the territory of Byzantium, they adopted Christianity and lived along with other peoples, being full members of society. According to written sources, the Gypsies were famous blacksmiths. In addition, they were engaged in the manufacture of horse harnesses, breeding horses, and also trained animals and gave performances.

But after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, the gypsies, in search of work and food, left their inhabited places and moved to the north and west of Europe. In Europe itself there were quite difficult times and the settlers were not very happy. The situation was complicated by the fact that the first gypsies who arrived in new countries were, as a rule, not the best representatives of gypsy society. Seekers of an easy life, unencumbered by family and household chores, they engaged in theft, fraud and begging. This led to the fact that the gypsies gained a reputation as vagabonds and scammers, and it became increasingly difficult for them to find work and become part of European society. Looking for better life Gypsies from Spain and Portugal began to move to Latin America.

Thanks to their difficult history and constant wanderings, the gypsies found themselves in genetic and linguistic isolation from the closest speakers of their language - the Indians. The Romani language belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indian languages. The language itself has several dialects, formed in different regions of compact residence of Roma. In addition to their native language, Roma often speak the language of the country in which they live.

According to statistics, the largest number of Roma live in the United States, where there are about 1 million. More than 500 thousand Roma live in Brazil, Spain and Romania, and about 200 thousand representatives of this people are registered in Russia. Today, April 8, is considered Gypsy Day and, despite the fact that this people does not have their own state, they have their own flag, in the center of which there is a symbolic wagon wheel.

The content of the article

GYPSIES, or Roma - a nomadic people, more precisely, ethnic groups with common roots and a language whose origins can be traced to northwestern India. Today they live in many countries of the world. Gypsies are usually black-haired and dark-skinned, which is especially typical for populations living in countries close to India, although lighter skin is not typical for Gypsies at all. Despite their spread throughout the world, the Gypsies remain everywhere a distinct people, more or less adhering to their own customs, language and maintaining a social distance from the non-Gypsy peoples around whom they live.

Gypsies are known by a number of names. In the Middle Ages, when the Gypsies first appeared in Europe, they were mistakenly called Egyptians, because they were identified as Mohammedans - immigrants from Egypt. Gradually this word (Egyptians, Gyptians) was shortened, 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 "don't touch" - an offensive name for a religious group that formerly inhabited Asia Minor and shunned, 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 Gypsy language comes directly from the classical Indian language Sanskrit, which indicates the Indian origin of its speakers. Gray-anthropological data, in particular information on blood groups, also indicate an origin in India.

Much, however, remains unclear regarding the early history of the Roma. Although they speak one of the languages ​​of the Indian group, it is quite possible that they are actually descended from the Dravidian aborigines of this subcontinent, who eventually began to speak the language of the Aryan invaders who occupied their territory. IN last years Scholars in India itself have begun academic studies of the Roma, and there is also a renewed interest in the subject in Western academic circles. The myths and misinformation surrounding the history and origins of this people are gradually dissipating. It became obvious, for example, that the Gypsies were nomads not because they possessed any nomadic instinct, but because widespread discriminatory legislation left them no choice but to continue their constant movement.

Migration and settlement.

New historical and linguistic evidence indicates that the migration of Gypsies from northwestern India occurred 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 (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 modern language Gypsies have many Persian and Armenian words and, especially, many words from Byzantine Greek), and reached southeastern Europe in the mid-13th century.

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

Not the entire mass of Gypsies crossed the Bosphorus and entered Europe; one of its branches 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”.

Another population widespread throughout the Middle East is the Dom, which was long thought to be part of the original Roma migration (from India, but later split off from the main population somewhere in Syria). While the "house" itself and their language are clearly of Indian origin, their ancestors apparently 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 language of the Gypsies 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 so valuable in fact that in the early 1300s laws were passed making them the property of their employers, i.e. slaves. By 1500, approximately half of the Roma had managed to leave the Balkans for northern and western Europe. The resulting division between those who remained enslaved in Wallachia and Moldavia (today's Romania) for five and a half centuries and those who left is of fundamental importance in the history of the Gypsies and is referred to in literature as the First European Gypsy Diaspora.

It did not take long for the Balkan population to realize that the Gypsies were completely different from the Muslims they so feared. But the population in countries more distant from the Balkans, i.e. in France, Holland and Germany, for example, there was no previous opportunity to meet Muslims directly. When the gypsies arrived 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 and 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 a Gypsy included lashing, mutilation, deportation, galley slavery, and even, in some places, execution; in eastern Europe, gypsies remained slaves.

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

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

Much more of the ancient traditions were preserved by groups of gypsies descended from field slaves. Kalderasha ("copper workers"), Lovara ("horse traders"), Churara ("sieve makers") and Močvaja (from the Serbian town of Močva) all speak closely related dialects of the Romani language. These languages ​​form a dialect group called Vlax or Vlach, characterized by a large influence of Romanian. By the end of the 19th century. Vlax-speaking gypsies undertook long journeys in search of places where they could settle. Countries in Western Europe were inhospitable due to centuries of anti-Gypsy legislation, so the main flow of migration was directed east to Russia, Ukraine and even China, or, through Greece and Turkey by sea to North and South America, South Africa and Australia. After World War I, 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 World War II, the Nazis targeted the Gypsies for genocide, and the Gypsies were targeted for extermination along with the Jews by Reinhard Heydrich's notorious decree 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. The exact number of Roma in each country, however, cannot be established because censuses and immigration statistics rarely single them out, and centuries of persecution have taught Roma to be wary of identifying their ethnicity on census forms. There are between 9 and 12 million Roma in the world. This estimate is given by the International Union of Roma: 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 thousand years or so 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 basic culture of the Gypsies. Those that have settled in one place for a long time tend to acquire the national characteristics of the people who adopted them. In both Americas, a significant number of gypsies appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although the gypsies have a legend that on Columbus's third voyage in 1498, there were gypsy sailors 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(on the Caribbean islands), 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.

Life of gypsies.

Despite their common linguistic, cultural and genetic heritage, Roma groups have become so diverse as a result of time and space that it would be inappropriate to attempt to paint a generalized portrait of them. In the rest of the article Special attention is given to the Vlax-speaking Gypsies, who are the largest and most geographically widespread population.

Social organization.

Taken as a whole, the life of the Gypsies is called “romanipen” or “romania” and is built on the basis of a complex system of family relationships. A group of related families forms a clan ("vista" clan), headed by a leader called a "baro" (he is not a king; the so-called kings and queens of the Gypsies are an invention of journalists). He is the recognized leader of his group and can control its movements and represent it in contacts with outsiders. On important matters he can consult with the elders of whist. Violations of the rules of morality and conduct may be dealt with by a special assembly of men called the kris. This court has jurisdiction over a wide range of violations, including material and matrimonial matters. Punishments may include fines or exclusion from the community, with the culprit being called merimeh or ritually unclean. Since communication with non-Gypsies is avoided as a matter of course, and since the Gypsy community itself must exclude anyone who is a Merime, the individual in this situation ends up in conditions complete isolation. This idea of ​​ritual pollution, inherited from India and extended to the individual in his relationship to food, animals and other human beings, was the most general factor that contributed to the fact that the Gypsy populations remained separate from others and internally united.

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

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

The most famous religious holidays of Romani Catholics are the annual pilgrimages to Quebec to the Basilica of St. Anne (Sainte Anne de Beaupre) and to 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 minimal contact with the “gadje” and independence. Services catering to occasional needs and an ever-changing clientele fit well with the Gypsy lifestyle, which may require an individual to travel urgently to attend a wedding or funeral, or attend a 'kris' in another part of the country. The Gypsies are versatile, and the means by which they earn their living are numerous. But there are some main professions of gypsies - such as horse trading, metal working, fortune telling and, in some countries, picking vegetables or fruits. For joint economic enterprises Gypsies can also form a purely functional association “kumpania”, the members of which do not necessarily belong to the same clan or even to the same dialect group. In self-employment, many Roma work as peddlers, especially in Europe. Some resell goods purchased at a lower price, others sell on the streets, noisily offering goods they themselves produced, although in the 20th century. a number of Roma crafts suffered from competition with mass-produced products. Women play their full role in earning their livelihood. They are the ones who carry baskets with produced goods from door to door and do fortune telling.

Although many of the names of the various groups of Gypsies are based on the occupations in which they were engaged during the period of slavery, they can no longer serve as a reliable guide to the activities of specific families. In Mexico, for example, coppersmiths are now much more likely to be operators of mobile film installations than metal workers. For many coppersmiths in the United States, the main source of income is the fortune telling salon ("office"), which may be located in the 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, talk about their ancestors being Gypsies). In Hungary and Romania in particular, gypsy orchestras with their virtuoso violinists and dulcimer players have created their own style, although much of what audiences hear is, in fact, European music with a gypsy interpretation. There is another, very special type of music - the original music of the Gypsies, 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 musical tradition and the works of composers such as Liszt, Bartok, Dvorak, Verdi and Brahms are marked by significant Romani influence. The same has been demonstrated by research regarding the Jewish music klezmer. characteristic features which are unusual scales and lively rhythms.

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

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

Due to strict restrictions on communication with outsiders, the gypsies spent a lot of their free time in each other's company. Many of them believe that Negative consequences their stay among the Gadje can only be compensated by the time they spend among their own at community ritual events, such as christenings, weddings, etc.

Food, clothing and shelter.

The eating habits of Western European gypsy groups reflect the influence of their nomadic lifestyle. Soups and stews, which can be cooked in one pot or cauldron, as well as fish and game meat. The diet of sedentary Eastern European gypsies is characterized by the use of large quantities of spices, especially spicy varieties pepper Among all groups of gypsies, food preparation is strictly determined by the observance of various taboos of relative cleanliness. The same cultural considerations govern 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. In the same way, married woman must tie a scarf around her head. Traditionally, acquired valuables are turned into jewelry or gold coins, and the latter are sometimes worn on clothing 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, while women love large earrings.

Mobile homes are of great importance for those families whose livelihoods require them to be constantly on the move. There are still large numbers of Gypsy families, especially in the Balkans, who travel in light open carts drawn by horses or donkeys and sleep in traditionally constructed tents made of canvas or woolen blankets. The relatively recent appearance of the gypsy cart, decorated with intricate carvings, complements rather than replaces the tent. Together with the less picturesque horse-drawn carriage, this residential carriage is quickly falling into disuse in favor of the motorized trailer. Some of the gypsies with trucks or cars with trailers adhere closely to the old habits of the cart people, while others have fully embraced such modern conveniences as bottled cooking gas and electricity.

Modern gypsy population.

Various groups of Roma 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 strength. For the Roma, the concept of “nationalism” does not mean the creation of a real nation-state, but it implies the acquisition of recognition by humanity 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 throughout Europe but do not have a country of their own has led to enormous problems following 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, 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 with the goal of developing ideals of self-determination. The International Roma Union has been a permanent member of the UN Council for Economic and Social Development since 1979; By the end of the 1980s, it had 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 Roma professionals had already appeared, such as journalists and political activists, educators, and politicians. Ties were forged with the ancestral homeland of India - since the mid-1970s, the Indian Institute of Romani Studies has existed in Chandigarh. Roma organizations focused their work on combating racism and stereotypes in the mass media, as well as to receive reparations for war crimes that led to the death of the Roma in the fire of the Holocaust. In addition, the issues of standardizing the Roma language for international use and compiling a twenty-volume encyclopedia in this language were resolved. Gradually, the literary image of “nomadic gypsies” is replaced by the image of a 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.

Author Olga Fatyukhina asked a question in the section Society, Politics, Media

What is the nationality of the gypsies and got the best answer

Reply from User deleted[guru]
Gypsies are a nation. Like everyone else, she must be treated with respect. I present your face and argue. Unfortunately, not all nationalities have their own country. Remember the Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis. The same thing happens with the gypsies. Moreover, wherever representatives of this Vedic family live, they try to preserve their ancient culture. You say that they don’t want to work and are engaged in selling drugs and weapons. And I will say that they are musical and melodious, they love horses and know how to handle them like no one else. We must respect everyone, trying not to change them to suit our own style, but to understand them.

Answer from Lev Timofeev Fedorovich[active]
Gypsy is me, this is Natsyya, and so are the ancient ancestors of the Hindus

Answer from N.B.[guru]
Gypsies (Roma, Romans) are a people (more precisely, ethnic groups that have a common origin and language). The self-name is Roma (plural), some groups historically call themselves differently, for example Sinti, or have lost their former self-name in the process of assimilation and persecution.
Descendants of immigrants from India. They live in many countries of Europe, Western and South Asia, as well as in North Africa, North and South America and Australia.
The English traditionally call them Gypsies (from Egyptians - "Egyptians"), the Spanish - Gitanos, the French - Bohémiens (Bohemians), Gitans or Tsiganes, the Germans - Zigeuner, the Italians - Zingari, the Dutch - Heidens ("pagans"), the Hungarians - Cigany or Pharao nerek (“Pharaoh’s tribe”), Finns - mustalaiset (“black”), Turks - Çingerie, Çingane; in Hebrew - Tso'anim (צוענים), from the name of the biblical province of Tso'an in Ancient Egypt; in Bulgarian - Tsigani. Currently, there is an increasing spread in various languages receive ethnonyms from the self-name “Roma” (English Roma, Czech Romové, Finnish romanit, etc.).

Answer from Kolesnikova Yulia[guru]
The nationality is Gypsies, and people come from India. Anyone who has been to India please confirm!! ! I had a lot of friends there, and I know from them!

Answer from Alexey Ermakov[guru]
Untermensch their nationality

Answer from Lex Lexus[newbie]
Hindus are Indians. That's why they sell drugs.

Answer from Yoamirchik[guru]
U nix armyanskaya nationalnost.

Answer from User deleted[guru]
But it’s not clear which one. Strange. Greeks, Armenians, and maybe others. That’s why they’re gypsies, I’ll think they’re Gypsies.

Answer from Margarita Kuptsova[active]
Gypsies are gypsies in Africa too!

Answer from User deleted[guru]
this is the same thing if you ask what nationality Russians have. Gypsies - this is the nationality

Answer from VALERA Ivanov[guru]
they have all become Moldovans now and are offended when they are called gypsies!

Answer from Vitaliy Yasminov[guru]
I have heard two versions about the homeland of the gypsies. According to the first, gypsies come from India from the ancient Aryans. By the way, the Emperor of the Gypsies, Michael I, still lives in India.
According to the second version, the gypsies are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. But nowhere in the literature have I found confirmation of either version.
But in many countries, in addition to their nationality, they usually have “Gypsy” written in their passport.

Answer from Maria Chernitsa[guru]
This is what Gypsy is. But here is the religion of the state in which they live: in Russia, almost everyone is Orthodox. In Israel - Jews, in Spain - Catholics

Answer from LENCHIK[guru]
nationality - gypsies

Answer from Inhuman Visible[guru]
And this is nationality.

Answer from Nastenka))[guru]
gypsy!))

Answer from User deleted[guru]
if I'm not mistaken, then their ancestors are from Bulgaria

In reference literature, instead of the usual word “Gypsies,” the term “Roma” is often used. The answer to the question of why this name is preferred should be sought in the distant past. In this article you can read about the history of this people and find out what the gypsy flag looks like.

Ancestors of modern gypsies

It is worth noting that the term “Roma” is used exclusively in European countries and on the American continent. The Armenians call these people “crowbars,” and the Palestinians and Syrians call them “doms.” Among linguists, there are two versions of the origin of modern Gypsies:

1. A long time ago, the northwestern regions of India were inhabited by nationalities, some of which migrated to neighboring states.
2. Many centuries ago, the gypsies settled on the territory of the Roman Empire (Byzantium), where they lived for almost three hundred years. Accordingly, they called each other Romans. Thus, after the ending was isolated from this name and introduced into the Gypsy language, it acquired a new sound, i.e. "Roma". Despite the logical explanation, the ancestors of the wandering gypsies must still be sought in India.

It would be wrong to think that the Roma set off on a journey without a specific goal, wherever they looked, or wandered in search of adventure. Apparently, they left their homes, as they say, not because of a good life. The gypsies were forced to wander for serious reasons. Most likely, they were driven by economic considerations. Only in uncharted lands was there an audience for camp artists, many new clients who were interested in fortune telling. Craftsmen were given the opportunity to trade the results of their labor. The history of the Gypsy people is filled with pain, but at the same time the people did not forget about fun and dancing.

Passionate people

There are differences between Roma depending on their country of residence. It's not easy to understand the composition. There are different ones with different dialects, and other specific characteristics of culture and ethnicity.

Gypsies are for whom generally accepted human values ​​are in the background. A completely different attitude towards gold and freedom. Representatives of this nation are unsurpassed thieves. Roma tend to take revenge on anyone. There are also legends about passionate gypsy love, and songs overflowing with emotions touch the soul. The music of the gypsies has a special flavor, so it is always pleasant to listen to the works of the camp.

Problems with education

But among the Roma, with rare exceptions, you can find representatives of intelligent and creative professions: architects, painters, writers, etc. These freedom-loving people sacredly honor their national identity and do not “dissolve” in the culture of the area where, by the will of fate, they have to live. There is even a gypsy flag of its own.

Despite the fact that representatives of the Gypsy nationality are found in almost all corners globe, where civilization is present, they have managed to preserve their cultural identity. Including the caste division of community members that is characteristic of India. Once upon a time there was a custom among the gypsies, according to which a gypsy family took in other people's street children to raise. Every mother taught her daughters the wisdom of fortune telling.

The role of men and women in the camp

According to Gypsy tradition, several families united into a camp. Each of them had the right to leave this team when the desire arises. The maximum number of mobile tents reached 25. Everything that was earned had to be equally divided among all members of the community, including the disabled and the elderly. The exception was representatives of both sexes who did not start families; each of them could count on only half of the due share. They went to earn money in groups of men and women, between whom communication and mutual assistance were established.

Gypsy culture shocks civilized peoples, but despite this, many traditions have remained to this day.

Rules of life in the camp

Everyone who lived in the camp was forced to strictly observe the moral laws established in the collective. The punishment was exile for some time or forever. At the head of the camp was an authoritative leader, to whom everyone had to obey unquestioningly. He could also act as a judge if necessary. But as soon as the leader committed an unjust act, he was immediately deprived of his powers and kicked out of the camp.

In the camp, men occupied a leading position, i.e. a woman, regardless of age, had to obey her husband or father, respectively. Moreover, it was the duty of women to ensure that men and families were fed. The Roma flag can be seen in almost every camp. Some are surprised that nomads have their own symbolism.

A man was given the opportunity to acquire several wives, who actually became his employees. It was profitable. Polygamy guaranteed not only comfort, but also, to some extent, material well-being. It’s not surprising, because the peculiarity of the gypsy family is that women fortune tellers and beggars provided their closest people with money.

Women's share in the camp

According to the Gypsy tradition, the father, when giving his daughter in marriage, paid the bride price. Girls of 15 or even 12 years old were suitable for marriage. A woman who became a mother for the first time wore a special headdress that confirmed the fact of her marriage.

From that moment on, she could go out into the streets and beg for alms. There are a large number of children in a gypsy family. Therefore, the woman-mother had to work very hard to clothe and feed them all. When she went to “work”, the children remained, at best, under the supervision of elderly grandmothers. Such living conditions of the younger generation explain why not all of them managed to survive.

Such gypsy customs are shocking. The question of how the children of this people grow up has been repeatedly raised, but traditions remain, and not everyone is ready to destroy them.

Origin and other features

Due to the prevalence of Roma people, their language contains dialects. Nomadic or settled gypsies have to master the language of the region in which they want to live. The historical relationship of the Gypsies with India is confirmed by the fact that their vocabulary contains almost thirty percent of Sanskrit (ancient Indo-Aryan) borrowings. The gypsy flag appeared relatively recently precisely for these reasons.

As for religion and beliefs, there is no constancy. Gypsies adapt quickly, i.e. adopt the rituals of the local population. In any case, they remain superstitious.

The environment also has a significant impact on diet and clothing style. In a crowd, a gypsy can be easily recognized by her long, wide and colorful skirt; traditionally she decorates her ears with earrings, her neck with necklaces, her wrists with bracelets, and her fingers with rings. And the music of the gypsies is the most recognizable and soulful.

National flag

In 1971, the World Gypsy Congress took place in the capital of England, which approved the national sign. The upper part of the cloth is painted blue, symbolizing heaven and spirituality. The lower half primarily symbolizes the surface of the earth, a green field; focuses on such character traits of gypsies as practicality and their inherent cheerfulness. The Roma flag carries a special meaning.

Multi-colored horizontal stripes have the same height. The boundary between them is the center line, which passes through the center of the red wheel with eight spokes - a symbol of the path. This element of the flag indicates that the gypsies prefer a nomadic lifestyle. The wheel is painted in a color associated with the blood of those gypsies who died during the Second World War. Initially, the gypsy flag had a golden wheel.

According to an optimistic explanation, the wheel has a festive red color, since representatives of this people love holidays very much. Gypsies, who belong to different ethnic groups, use different shades when depicting a wheel (chakra) on the flag.

The gypsies also have their own anthem. It can often be heard in camps near cities.

According to linguistic and genetic studies, the ancestors of the Roma left India in a group of about 1,000 people. The time of migration of the ancestors of the Roma from India is not precisely established, as is the number of migration waves. But it is known that the padishah from India gave 1000 people as a token of gratitude to the Shah of Persia. Various researchers approximately determine the outcome of the so-called “proto-gypsy” groups VI-X centuries AD e. According to the most popular version, based on an analysis of loanwords in the languages ​​of the Roma, the ancestors of modern Roma spent about 400 years in Persia before the Roma branch moved west into the territory of Byzantium. They were the ancestors of European gypsies: Roma, Kale, Sinti, Manush. Some migrants remained in the Middle East. There is an opinion that another branch passed to Palestine and through it to Egypt.

As for the so-called Central Asian gypsies, or Lyuli, then they, as is sometimes figuratively said, are cousins ​​or even second cousins ​​of the European gypsies. Thus, the Central Asian gypsy population, having absorbed various streams of migrants from Punjab (including Baloch groups) over the centuries, has historically been heterogeneous.

The Gypsies of Europe are descendants of the Gypsies who lived in Byzantium. Documents indicate that the gypsies lived both in the center of the empire and on its outskirts, and there most of these gypsies converted to Christianity. In Byzantium, the gypsies quickly integrated into society. In a number of places, their leaders were given certain privileges. Written references to the Gypsies from this period are sparse, but they do not seem to suggest that the Gypsies attracted any special interest or were perceived as a marginal or criminal group. Gypsies are mentioned as metalworkers, horse harness makers, saddlers, fortune tellers (in Byzantium this was a common profession), trainers (in the earliest sources - snake charmers, and only in later sources - bear trainers). At the same time, the most common crafts, apparently, were still artistic and blacksmithing; entire villages of gypsy blacksmiths are mentioned.

With the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the gypsies began to migrate to Europe. The first to arrive in Europe, judging by written European sources, were marginal, adventurously minded representatives of the people who were engaged in begging, fortune telling and petty theft, which marked the beginning of a negative perception of the Gypsies as a people among Europeans. And only after some time, artists, trainers, artisans, and horse dealers began to arrive.

The earliest Russian official document mentioning gypsies dates back to 1733 - Anna Ioannovna’s decree on new taxes for the maintenance of the army:
In addition, for the maintenance of these regiments, determine taxes from the gypsies, as in Little Russia they are collected from them, both in the Slobodsky regiments and in Great Russian cities and districts assigned to the Slobodsky regiments, and for this collection a special person must be identified, since gypsies are not included in the census. On this occasion, the report of Lieutenant General Prince Shakhovsky explained, among other things, that it was impossible to include gypsies in the census because they do not live in courtyards.

World Gypsy Day - 04/08/1971.

On April 8, 1971, the first World Gypsy Congress took place in London. The result of the congress was the recognition of the gypsies of the world as a single non-territorial nation and the adoption of national symbols: a flag and an anthem based on the folk song “Djelem, Djelem.” Instead of a coat of arms, gypsies use a number of recognizable symbols: a wagon wheel, a horseshoe, a deck of cards. Such symbols are usually decorated with Gypsy books, newspapers, magazines and websites, and one of these symbols is usually included in the logos of events dedicated to Gypsy culture.
In honor of the First World Gypsy Congress, April 8 is considered Gypsy Day. Some gypsies have a custom associated with it: in the evening, at a certain time, they carry a lighted candle along the street.