Gypsies: who are they and where are they from? The history of the origin of the gypsies Who are the Roma by nationality

IN SEARCH OF THE GYPSY HOMELAND

The ancestral home of the gypsies is India. This is known to ethnographers, historians and the gypsies themselves. The discovery of this scientific fact dates back to the middle of the 18th century. A student of Leiden University, the Hungarian I.Vaja, noticed the similarity of the Romany language with the language of his fellow students, whose homeland was the Malabar Coast. 1 An article about these observations in a Viennese newspaper fell into the hands of the German scientist G. Grelman, who, comparing the Romani language with Indian Sanskrit, put forward a hypothesis about the Indian ancestral home of the Roma. 2 But only a century later, thanks to the research of the German philologist A. Pott, the hypothesis acquired the form of a demonstrative theory that has not lost its scientific significance to this day. 3 The discovery of the gypsy ancestral home was made on the basis of linguistic analysis, since the range of other sources - archaeological, documentary, which gypsies could use - is very limited. In the traditional culture of the Gypsies, there are also some features that scientists associate with the Indian roots of the people.
There are many other, sometimes unproven, sometimes fantastic, assumptions about the origin of the gypsies in the literature. They searched for the homeland of the gypsies in Assyria and Persia, Zanzibar and Namibia, in Egypt and on the Danube. They were considered the builders of the Egyptian pyramids and the inhabitants of the legendary Atlantis, who sailed on the eve of her disappearance. 4
If the issue of the ancestral home of the Gypsies is resolved in ethnographic science, then a lot of controversy remains in Gypsy history. Due to the lack of reliable historical sources, the mysteries of the early gypsy history have not been fully revealed, although scientists have repeatedly expressed hypotheses and assumptions. The most controversial questions are about when and why the ancestors of the gypsies left their ancestral home, which Indian people went to look for a new home.
About when the ancestors of the Gypsies left India, scientists argue to this day. Some authors call the 5th century, others - the 10th century. The authors of the monograph “History of the Gypsies: A New Look” believe that both sides are right: “Small Indian tribes left their homeland century after century, the ancestors of the Gypsies did not go in one camp, having a predetermined goal. Some of the gypsies settled along the road, laying the foundation for the current ethnic groups. Some of them moved on with rare slowness, the camps circled for decades in the same area, until one day, for economic or social reasons, they moved a hundred or two hundred kilometers to the west. 5 Russian Gypsyologists E. Druts and A. Gessler argue that the exodus of Gypsies from India lasted about a thousand years, and its culmination occurred at the turn of the first and second millennia, and separate waves of migration continued into the subsequent time. 6 The reasons that caused the migration, researchers associate with internecine wars, constant raids by Muslim conquerors. 7
What people went to a distant nomad? Ethnographers answer this question in different ways. Some consider the gypsies to be the descendants of not one, but many Indian peoples. Others, such as, for example, E. Druts and A. Gessler, note that the gypsies are the descendants of the Indian “home” caste, who once left their homeland. This caste still exists in India, its representatives lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, are engaged in blacksmithing and other crafts, as well as singing and dancing. Caste refers to the lower strata of Indian society. 8
N. Demeter, N. Bessonov ... do not agree with this point of view and believe that the ancestors of the Gypsies occupied a middle position in the caste hierarchy. Exploring the way of the gypsies, they came to the conclusion that at the courts of the Indian princes there was a special social stratum, whose representatives entertained them with music and dances, and were also engaged in household chores, were engaged in crafts, which explains the craving of gypsies for gold and jewelry, a nomadic image life. 9
The path that the gypsies took is reconstructed by scientists today as follows: “From India, they moved through the territory of modern Iran, Afghanistan and Armenia. The Gypsies, who settled in Central Asia, Armenia, Persia, formed the basis of the ethnographic groups of Gypsies in this region that exist to this day (Mugat, Karachi, Bosha, etc.). Then there was a division, part of the gypsies moved towards Palestine and Egypt, where they remained, part went ... to the territory of Byzantium. 10

From field observations
The question of the origin of the Gypsies has always been at the center of our field research: what people remember, how they explain their origin. It turned out that almost everyone in the camp knows about India as the homeland of their distant ancestors. Some learned about it from magazines, popular science publications, others from their parents. Even Zambila Georgievna Kulay (born 1914), the oldest in the camp, also told us that the gypsies came out of India. Someone takes the fact of the Indian ancestral home on faith, agreeing with the researchers; someone knows about this, but does not believe, believing that the homeland of the gypsies is somewhere closer, for example, in Moldova.
Some seriously think about their roots and even put forward their own versions of the word “gypsies”: “In India there is the Ganges River, it is also called Ghana, so the gypsies used to live there by the river. And then it went, people from Ghana are Ghana. But they didn’t call them Gans, but added the letter c and it turned out - gypsies. ”*

Gypsies are also reminded of their commonality with India in Indian films: Gypsies understand some words. Someone speaks out more definitely: “Indian songs are sung, we understand the first verse, and we can already sing along on the second verse.”
Preserved in the camp and more ancient "own" legends and legends about the origin of the gypsy people. Here are just a few of the ones we managed to record.
The following legend is known about how different peoples appeared in the world, why they differ from each other: “There were no different peoples on earth before. And God brought people to his Garden of Eden. And there grew different trees, and pears, and plums, and apples. And everyone went to the tree that he liked. So different peoples went, who ate what fruit. The gypsy went and ate one plum for herself. So our parents went from plums. She did not go where the apples are, where the pears are, but went where the plums are, and so the gypsies went. Tatars ate peas. When they ate peas, they said: “God helps. How many peas grow, so many for people to be healthy.” The Uzbek ate olives, black and juicy. Even now they are black, like an olive in their face. Russian apples ate. She went, she sees a beautiful apple hanging on a branch, she went and ate it. And, true, Russian apples love. And the Jews went where the pears are. And pears, you know, they're as long as a nose. The nose and the Jews are long, like a pear. Romanians, they are beautiful, there is no more beautiful, they are beautiful like grapes. They used to have chaises too. They rode and looked: this is an apple, this is a pear, this is over, and where the grapes are, they stopped, took two or three branches for themselves, ate, they became beautiful, pretty, each other more beautiful. And the Bulgarians ate apricots, they are also beautiful. And the gypsies went to the plum. The first girl was, she was three or four years old, she ate a plum, one, another, a third, so the gypsies are as swarthy as a plum. So the Moldavian and all-Union gypsies went from the plum.
The answer to the question of why the gypsies wander, why they do not have their own land, we find in an old gypsy legend: “There is a legend such that God did not give them land. God, when he divided the land, forgot about the gypsies. And one gypsy went to God with tears in his eyes and said: “Why did you, God, do this to me, you gave the land to everyone, but didn’t give it to me?” Then God said to this: “I will give you a mind, so that you live with your mind, cunning. And so that he gets his piece of bread. And the whole world will be at your feet. And you will get your piece of bread with your mind and cunning, you will survive wherever you go.”
Another gypsy legend explains why gypsies are allowed to cheat: “God allowed gypsies to cheat. When Jesus Christ was carried to the crucifixion, then the gypsy stole the nail, the last nail with which they wanted to pierce the heart. And the gypsy stole that nail. When asked, he said: “By God, I didn’t take it!”. I took and swallowed this nail. And thus slightly extended the life of Jesus Christ. God told him again that you would live by your cunning. From this cunning appeared among the gypsies. There is such a legend that it was God who came up with us so that our people would guess, so that we would live with our mind, with our cunning. This legend in different versions is widespread not only among the gypsies, but also among other peoples.

BYZANTINE PERIOD

The appearance of gypsies in Byzantium historians refer to the XII - XIII centuries. There is also an earlier date - the 11th century. In Byzantium, the gypsies lingered long enough before moving on - towards Eastern and Western Europe.
The Byzantine period of gypsy history, according to historians, was quite significant for the ethnic group. Researchers of gypsy ethnic history argue that the formation of gypsies as a people took place precisely in Byzantium, where they stayed for about three hundred years, and ended by the beginning of the 15th century. 11 The few surviving historical sources mention such Gypsy activities as divination and animal training (spell snakes and bear driving), making sieves and sieves, and blacksmithing. It was in Byzantium that the gypsies became acquainted with Christianity. In one of the sources of the fourteenth century. we read: "These people ... adhered to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church." 12 Christianity has become the main religion of most of the ethnographic groups of gypsies in Western and Eastern Europe. The Greek language had a noticeable influence on the Romani language: dozens of words were borrowed, some forms of word formation. From the Greek word "antsinganos" came the Russian name of the people - gypsies. 13 Researchers also associate the origin of the ethnonym Roma with the Byzantine period of gypsy history. 14 Some gypsyologists believe that the gypsies learned fortune telling precisely in Byzantium, where at that time superstitions were strong enough, faith in the possibility of predicting fate. 15
Beginning of the 15th century marked by the expansion of Muslims, as a result, the territory of the empire began to shrink, the number of the gypsy population increased, which, apparently, was the reason for the "great gypsy campaign" in Western Europe, which began in 1417.

From field observations
It is quite difficult to imagine how the gypsies dispersed around the world. However, probably, each camp has its own legends, which reveal the gypsy history. Perm gypsies-Kelderars also have such. Here is one of them, told by Grancho Dodovich Buto (born 1941): “My grandfather had six brothers. From one brother, the camp is located in Russia, and the rest dispersed all over the world during the revolution and before the war. Before the war, there was such a case, I heard from my father. A controversial issue came up in the camp, they argued, maybe because of the daughter-in-law, they quarreled, a petty matter. And they decided to disperse for a while, they thought for a week, for a month, maybe for two weeks. And it turned out that they went very far. Some ended up in Russia, while others - abroad. After the war, the Hungarian gypsies told us that our relatives had gone on a steamer to America. But we didn't know anything about them. And just recently, our gypsies from Penza went to Argentina. It so happened that Penza gypsies (also Kalderars) have relatives living in Argentina. Gypsies came from Argentina to Penza, they said that our relatives also live in Argentina. My father's cousin is there, his children live. We have a nickname for each camp. We are kind of ruvoni (from the gypsy ruv - wolf). Here is our family camp in Perm and in Argentina.

HISTORY OF THE GYPSIES AFTER THE 15TH CENTURY

The Gypsies who settled in Western Europe formed the basis of the modern ethnographic groups of the Gypsy population (Kale, Travelers, Sinti, Polish Roma) living in England, Germany, France, Poland and other countries. A special ethnographic group originates from the Western European branch - Russian gypsies.
However, not all gypsies at the beginning of the fifteenth century. left the territory of Byzantium. A significant part of them continued to live in the Greek regions, where the ethnographic groups of Arlia, Rumelia, Fichira, Jambaz subsequently formed. Many gypsies also ended up in neighboring territories: in Serbia, Albania, Romanian and Hungarian lands. These gypsies formed the basis of the Eastern European branch of the gypsy people - the ethnographic groups of the Servs, Vlahurya, Ursars, Crimeas, Chisinau, Lovars, Kalderars, etc. They performed with trained animals, led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. There were blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool beaters, walkers, tailors among the gypsies. 16 Part of the Gypsies, being under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, converted to Islam.
The position of the Gypsies in the Moldavian and Volosh principalities, dependent on the Ottoman Empire, was difficult. Here, from the 15th century, the gypsies became a dependent population - slaves and serfs belonging to a boyar, a monastery or the state. According to the Moldavian Civil Code, until the middle of the 19th century, serfs were not allowed to marry freemen, they could marry only with the permission of their owners, or they could be sold. Only state serfs were allowed to lead a nomadic lifestyle. Since 1829, when Moldavia and Wallachia came under the jurisdiction of Russia, a gradual process of abolishing slavery began, which was finally enshrined in the Constitution of 1864. 17
Gypsies who lived in the territory subject to the Habsburg Empire (Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia) also experienced pressure from local authorities who outlawed them. From the end of the 18th century, as part of the assimilation policy of the state, the Roma were issued passports with new names, and unsuccessful attempts were made to impose a settled way of life on the Roma. However, the gypsies received civil rights and the opportunity to "grow" into society.
All these events led to the so-called "migration explosion", as a result of which the gypsies of the Eastern European branch, primarily the Kalderari in the 19th century. began to leave the formation area. Gypsy camps of Kalderars appeared in Western Europe, Poland, Russia and other countries. 18

As a result of a complex ethnic history, different ethnographic groups of the gypsy people were formed, each of which is distinguished by a special dialect, religion, occupation, its own way of life (including food, utensils, housing), traditional costume, worldview. Many ethnocultural features of one or another ethnographic group are determined by the factor of interaction between the gypsies and the local population.

From field observations
When conducting surveys, we were surprised how well Perm Roma are aware of other ethnographic groups of Roma. We were told about the differences in language, life, occupations, "laws". Perm Moldavian gypsies know such ethnographic groups as the Russian gypsies Laetsi (this is how the Moldavian gypsies call Russian gypsies), Crimeas (Crimean gypsies), Lovaris, Vlahuris, Plaschuns, Serves, that is, almost all groups that inhabit Russia.
Moldavian gypsies believe that in their language of Russian gypsies there are many words borrowed from the Russian language, the pronunciation of individual sounds and words differs from the dialect of Moldavian gypsies. It is also noted that there are more laets in Russia and they are settled almost throughout the country: “In any area you can meet Russian gypsies, even if not many, but there are two or three families, even in the Far North.” Unlike Russian and Moldovan gypsies, the Crimeans profess Islam, so their way of life differs markedly from the life of Russian and Moldovan gypsies. Moldovan gypsies note that Russian gypsies have less preserved old traditions. For example, women have long abandoned the traditional costume and wear dresses. Crimean gypsies, on the contrary, strictly adhere to the old "laws".

Gypsies in Russia and the Kama region

Ethnographic groups of gypsies penetrated the territory of Russia in different ways and at different times. The question of the time of the appearance of gypsies in Russia has always caused difficulties for researchers. The borders of the Russian state changed in different periods of its history. Often the annexed territories were already inhabited by Roma who settled there before they became part of the Russian Empire.
Today in Russia you can meet gypsies not only from the largest ethnographic groups - Russian gypsies (self-name - Russian Roma) and Kalderars (Kotlyars), but also gypsies - immigrants from the Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia, Ukrainian gypsies (serves), Crimean gypsies, gypsies - Vlachs, Lovaris, Kishinevtsy, etc. The history of the appearance in Russia of each ethnographic group has its own characteristics, the study of which would be the subject of a separate study. We will dwell only on those historical events that brought the Gypsies of the ethnographic groups to Russia - the Russian Roma, the Crimean Gypsies and the Kalderars.
Russian gypsies - Russian Roma - one of the ethnographic groups of gypsies of the Western European branch. They came to Russia at the end of the 17th century. In one of the sources of that time, one can read: "Gypsies are people in Poland, but they are from Germans ...". 19 This is the way that the gypsies came to Russia. Many German and Polish words found in the language of Russian gypsies also speak about the places of their former stay. Already on the territory of Russia, a special ethnographic group was formed from the newcomer gypsies - Russian gypsies. This is one of the largest ethnographic groups of gypsies in Russia. However, they are not homogeneous, but consist of several regional subgroups: Siberians, Smolensk Roma ... and others. In Russia, Russian gypsies led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In the summer, they moved, wandered, and for the winter they stopped in Russian villages, where they rented huts. Russian gypsies are Orthodox by religion. Traditional occupations are trade and exchange of horses, begging, fortune-telling, horse stealing. It was Russian gypsies who at the beginning of the 19th century in Moscow formed the basis of the gypsy choirs so popular in Russia.
The Crimean gypsies (kyrymitika Roma) got their name from the place of residence - the Crimea, where they moved from the Balkans. Scientists believe that in the past the Crimean gypsies were Christians, but, most likely already in the Balkans, they converted to Islam. The foreign cultural environment affected the culture of the Crimean Gypsies, they are fluent in the Tatar language, many borrowed Tatar words are also noted in their language. The traditional occupations of the Gypsies of this group were blacksmithing and jewelry making. Among them were also musicians, cabbies, horse traders. Along with fortune-telling, women were engaged in the trade in cosmetics. The Crimean Gypsies have been part of the Russian Empire since the annexation of Crimea. 20
Gypsies of the third ethnographic group, the Kalderars, appeared in Russia only in the 19th century. century. The area of ​​their formation and residence until the middle of the 19th century, as we noted, was the Romanian lands. The first Kalderar camps entered Russia in the 70s. XIX century from Moldova, where many gypsies of this group lived. A particularly powerful wave of their resettlement occurred at the turn of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Among the Permian gypsies of this group, there are also many legends about the time of the resettlement of one or another camp in Russia. According to the stories of the oldest inhabitant of the gypsy camp, Zambila Georgievna Kulay (born 1914), her father’s camp came to Russia from Moldova in 1923. Grancho Dodovich Butso (born 1941) recalls, from the words of his parents, that one of the camps of the clan The Ruvoni came to Russia from Moldova in the 1930s and for a long time roamed the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia.
The traditional occupation for men was the craft - the manufacture and tinning of boilers, for women - fortune-telling. Today, Kalderar gypsies live in many cities and regions of Russia: Leningrad, Tula, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Tyumen, Penza, Kazan, etc.

An important and extremely difficult stage in the history of the Roma of Russia was the Soviet period. On the one hand, even in the pre-war period, the government was taking a number of measures aimed at the socio-economic and cultural development of the gypsy population of Russia. Decrees were adopted on the priority allocation of land to the Gypsies, on assistance in the transition to a settled way of life, on the creation of Gypsy artels. Literature in the gypsy language appeared. However, by the end of the 1930s, all these initiatives were brought to naught.
On the other hand, the traditional way of gypsy support was destroyed, many sources of gypsy existence disappeared. Crafts, trade, fortune-telling contradicted the "Soviet way of life." Ideological pressure and impoverishment of the population did not allow the Roma to interact with the population in the same way as in pre-revolutionary Russia. The repressions of the 1930s did not bypass the gypsy population, which was accused of espionage, sabotage, and counter-revolution. The Crimean gypsies shared the fate of the Crimean Tatars and were evicted from the territory of their traditional residence. 21
Despite the difficult situation, the gypsies found their place in Soviet society. Until the 1970s and 80s, gypsy craft and trade continued to be in demand in the Soviet Union against the backdrop of a shortage of consumer goods.
Particularly significant for the nomadic gypsies of Russia was the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 685 of October 20, 1956 "On the introduction of vagrant gypsies to work." It provided for severe punishments, up to 5 years in prison, for the nomadic way of life of the gypsy population. As a result, almost all groups of gypsies switched to a settled way of life. 22 It is not difficult to see the features of the history of gypsies in the Soviet period on the example of a gypsy camp living in the Chapaevsky microdistrict.

It is not known when the first gypsy camp appeared in Perm. Most likely, these were representatives of the ethnographic group "Russian Gypsies", who still make up the main part of the Gypsy population of the Kama region. Perm land was also a place of nomadism for other groups of gypsies. The population census of Perm in 1890 did not record a single gypsy in the city. 23 A significant number of gypsies settled in the city of Perm and the Perm region after the adoption of the above-mentioned resolution in 1956. According to the 1989 census, 1,492 gypsies lived in the Kama region. However, the information received does not always reflect the true situation. So, in the Crimean Gypsies in the passport and other official documents, you can often find the entry “Tatar”, and not “Gypsies”, the Moldavian Gypsies do the same, signing up as Moldavians, Bessarabians, Romanians. It can be said with confidence that, in particular, in the census materials, under the gypsies of the Kama region, apparently, only representatives of the ethnographic group of Russian gypsies are noted. Among the three ethnographic groups of the Gypsies of the Kama region, only Russian Gypsies live in the city of Perm, in the cities and districts of the region. Crimean and Moldovan gypsies have diasporas only in the city of Perm.
In the city of Perm, the outskirts with wooden buildings remain traditional places of compact residence of the gypsy population. It is under such conditions that the gypsy way of life can be preserved. Russian Gypsies live in Gaiva, Yuzhny, Zaprud, Upper Kurya and other parts of the city. There are only a few families of Crimean Gypsies in the city of Perm. Moldavian gypsies (Kelderars/Kotlyars) live in the Chapaevsky and Yanvarsky microdistricts.

From field observations
During our stay in the gypsy camp, we met almost all of its inhabitants. Most often, as usual, we turned to the old-timers. The real discovery of the expedition was Zambila Georgievna Kulai, one of the oldest gypsies in Perm. We met her during the second visit to the camp, and since then we have visited her on every visit. Zambila Georgievna was born in 1914 in Moldova, from where her parents' camp migrated to Russia in the 1920s. Today, many stories of Zambila Georgievna about nomadic life, family traditions can be called gypsy history.
Zambila Georgievna is one of the few inhabitants of the camp who remembers wandering on gypsy carts. She is an excellent connoisseur of gypsy folklore. It was from her that we managed to record stories about how different peoples appeared on earth, why it snows and rains, how spots appeared on the moon, and many, many others. Telling somehow an ancient legend about the appearance of spots on the moon, she took us out into the street. It was already deep evening, and there was a full moon in the sky. “See the spots on the moon? That's where the shepherd is with his sheep. Grandma Zambila doesn't cheat."
More than once we heard from Zambila Georgievna and her children a family tradition about their parents. Her father, George, starred in the film The Last Camp in the 1930s. Mother Maritsa played in the film "The camp goes to the sky", in a small episode. Zambila Georgievna says that she watches these films with trepidation, looks at her parents, remembers and cries: “Did you see when the movie“ The Last Camp ”is on? There was an old man who had a bear. And that was my father with the bear. When this movie “The Last Camp” is on, I cry. I look at my father with a bear, and my tears flow. And the old woman, my mother, “The camp goes to the sky” movie, she goes, guesses, says: “Hey, diamond, let me guess.” I also cry when I see my mother.”

1. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.4.

2. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990. P.11.

3. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.4.

4. Demeter N., Bessonov N. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. S.11-12; Nemtsov F. Gypsies. Nature and people. SPb., 1892. No. 27. S. 427.

5. Demeter N., Bessonov N. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. P.14.

6. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.5.

7. Ibid. C.5.

8. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990. P.14.

9. Demeter N., Bessonov N.. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. P.12.

10. Ibid. P.13.

11. Ibid. P.79.

12. Ibid. P.17.

13. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990. P.16.

14. Demeter N., Bessonov N. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. P.17.

15. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990. P.18.

16. Demeter N., Bessonov N. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. P.43.

17. Ibid. pp.44-48.

18. Ibid. P.52.

19. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990. P.24.

20. Demeter N., Bessonov N.. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. S. 106-109.

21. Demeter N.G. Gypsies // Peoples of Russia. M., 1994. S. 391; Demeter N., Bessonov N.. History of the Gypsies: A New Look. Voronezh, 2000. S.196-209.

22. Demeter N.G. Gypsies // Peoples of Russia. M., 1994. S.391.

23. Chagin G.N., Chernykh A.V. The peoples of the Kama region: Essays on ethnocultural development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. P.36.

Material from Wikipedia

Total population: 8~10 million

Settlement: Albania:
from 1300 to 120 000
Argentina:
300 000
Belarus:
17 000
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
60,000
Brazil:
678 000
Canada:
80 000
Russia:
183,000 (2002 census)
Romania:
535,140 (see population of Romania)
Slovakia:
65,000 (official)
USA:
1 million Handbook of Texas
Ukraine:
48,000 (2001 census)
Croatia:
9,463 to 14,000 (Census 2001)

Language: Romani, Domari, Lomavren

Religion: Christianity, Islam

Gypsies - the collective name of about 80 ethnic groups, united by a common origin and recognition of the "gypsy law". There is no single self-name, although recently the term Romanies has been proposed as such, that is, “rum-like”.

The British traditionally called them Gypsies (from Egyptians - "Egyptians"), the Spaniards - Gitanos (also from Egiptanos - "Egyptians"), the French - Bohémiens ("Bohemians", "Czechs"), Gitans (distorted Spanish Gitanos) or Tsiganes (borrowing from Greek - τσιγγάνοι, tsinganos), Germans - Zigeuner, Italians - Zingari, Dutch - Zigeuners, Armenians - Գնչուներ (gnchuner), Hungarians - Cigany or Pharao nerek ("Pharaoh's tribe"), Georgians - ბოშები ("black"), Turks - Çingeneler; Azerbaijanis - Qaraçı (garachi, i.e. "black"); Jews - צוענים (tso'anim), from the name of the biblical province of Tsoan in Ancient Egypt; Bulgarians - Tsigani. At present, ethnonyms from the self-name of a part of the Gypsies, “Roma” (English Roma, Czech Romové, Finnish romanit, etc.) are becoming more common in various languages.

In the traditional names of gypsies, three types predominate:

The literal translation of one of the self-names of the gypsies is kale (gypsies black);
reflecting the ancient idea of ​​them as immigrants from Egypt;
distorted versions of the Byzantine nickname "atsinganos" (meaning "fortunetellers, magicians").

Now the gypsies live in many countries of Europe, Asia Minor and South Asia, as well as in North Africa, North and South America and Australia. According to various estimates, the number is determined from 2.5 to 8 million and even 10-12 million people. In the USSR, there were 175.3 thousand people (1970 census). According to the 2002 census, about 183,000 Roma lived in Russia.

National symbols

gypsy flag

On April 8, 1971, the first World Gypsy Congress took place in London. The result of the congress was the recognition of themselves as 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 "Dzhelem, Dzhelem". Lyricist - Jarko Jovanovic.

A feature of the anthem is the absence of a clearly defined melody, each performer arranges the folk motive in his own way. There are also several versions of the text, in which only the first verse and chorus exactly match. All options are recognized by gypsies.

Instead of a coat of arms, the gypsies use a number of recognizable symbols: a wagon wheel, a horseshoe, a deck of cards.

Romani books, newspapers, magazines and websites are usually decorated with such symbols, one of these symbols is usually included in the logos of events dedicated to Romani culture.

In honor of the first World Roma Congress, April 8 is considered Gypsy Day. Some gypsies have a custom associated with it: in the evening, at a certain time, to carry a lit candle down the street.

History of the people

The most common self-name of the gypsies, which they brought from India, is "rum" or "roma" among the European gypsies, "home" among the gypsies of the Middle East and Asia Minor, and "scrap" among the gypsies of Armenia. All these names go back to the Indo-Aryan "d" om "with the first cerebral sound. The cerebral sound, relatively speaking, is a cross between the sounds "r", "d" and "l". According to linguistic studies, the Roma of Europe and the houses and crowbars Asia and the Caucasus were the three main "streams" of migrants from India. Low-caste groups appear under the name d "om in various areas of modern India today. Despite the fact that the modern houses of India are difficult to directly correlate with the gypsies, their name has a direct bearing on them. The difficulty is to understand what was the connection in the past between the ancestors of the Gypsies and the Indian houses. The results of linguistic research conducted back in the 20s. XX century by a prominent Indologist-linguist R.L. Turner, and which are shared by modern scientists, in particular, romologists J. Matras and J. Hancock, show that the ancestors of the Gypsies lived in the central regions of India and several centuries before the exodus (approximately in the III century BC) migrated to the Northern Punjab.
A number of data indicate the settlement in the central and northwestern regions of India of a population with the self-name d "om / d" omba starting from the 5th-4th century. BC. This population was originally a tribal group of common origin, possibly related to the Austroasiatics (one of the largest autochthonous strata of India). Later, with the gradual development of the caste system, d "om / d" omba occupied the lower levels in the social hierarchy and began to be recognized as caste groups. At the same time, the integration of houses into the caste system took place primarily in the central parts of India, while the northwestern regions remained a "tribal" zone for a very long time. This tribal character of the regions of exodus was supported by the constant penetration of Iranian nomadic tribes there, the resettlement of which in the period before the migration of the ancestors of the Gypsies from India assumed a massive character. These circumstances determined the nature of the culture of the peoples of the Indus Valley zone (including the ancestors of the Gypsies), a culture that for centuries retained its nomadic and semi-nomadic type. Also, the very ecology of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, arid and infertile soils near the Indus River contributed to the development of a semi-pastoral, semi-commercial mobile business model for a number of groups of the local population. Russian authors believe that during the period of the Exodus the ancestors of the Gypsies were a socially structured ethnic population of common origin (rather than a number of separate castes), engaged in trade transportation and trade in transport animals, and also, if necessary, as auxiliary occupations - a number of crafts and other services, which were part of everyday skills. The authors explain the cultural and anthropological difference between the Gypsies and the modern houses of India (having more pronounced non-Aryan features than the Gypsies) by the indicated strong Aryan influence (in particular, in its Iranian modification), characteristic of the northwestern regions of India, where the ancestors of the Gypsies lived before the exodus. . This interpretation of the ethno-social origin of the Indian ancestors of the Gypsies is supported by a number of foreign and Russian researchers.

Early history (VI-XV centuries)

According to linguistic and genetic studies, the ancestors of the Gypsies came out of India in a group of about 1000 people. The timing of the migration of the ancestors of the Gypsies from India has not been precisely established, as well as the number of migratory waves. Various researchers roughly determine the outcome of the so-called "protogypsy" groups in the 6th-10th centuries AD. According to the most popular version, based on the analysis of loanwords in the languages ​​of the Gypsies, the ancestors of the modern Gypsies spent about 400 years in Persia before the Roma branch moved west into Byzantium.

They concentrated for some time in the eastern region of Byzantium called Armeniak, where the Armenians were settled. One branch of the ancestors of modern Gypsies advanced from there to the region of modern Armenia (the Lom branch, or Bosch Gypsies). The rest moved west. They were the ancestors of European gypsies: Romov, Kale, Sinti, Manush. Part of the migrants remained in the Middle East (the ancestors of the houses). There is an opinion that another branch went to Palestine and through it to Egypt.

As for the so-called Central Asian gypsies, or Lyuli, they are sometimes figuratively said to be cousins ​​or even second cousins ​​of European gypsies.

Thus, the Central Asian gypsy population, for centuries absorbing various flows of migrants from the Punjab (including the Baloch groups), has historically been heterogeneous.

The Gypsies of Europe are the descendants of the Gypsies who lived in Byzantium.

Documents testify 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 Roma of that period are scarce, but they do not seem to suggest that the Roma were of any particular interest or perceived as a marginal or criminal group. Gypsies are mentioned as metalworkers, horse harness makers, saddlers, fortune-tellers (in Byzantium it was a common profession), trainers (moreover, in the earliest sources - snake charmers, and only in later sources - bear trainers). At the same time, the most common craft, apparently, was 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. Judging by written European sources, the first to arrive in Europe were marginal, adventurous representatives of the people 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, horse traders began to arrive.

Gypsies in Western Europe (XV - early XX century)

The first gypsy camps that came to Western Europe told the rulers of European countries that the Pope of Rome imposed a special punishment on them for a temporary apostasy from the Christian faith: seven years of wandering. At first, the authorities provided them with patronage: they gave food, money and letters of protection. Over time, when the period of wandering clearly expired, such indulgences ceased, the gypsies began to be ignored.

Meanwhile, an economic and social crisis was brewing in Europe. It resulted in the adoption of a series of cruel laws in the countries of Western Europe, aimed, among other things, against representatives of itinerant professions, as well as just vagrants, whose number has increased greatly due to the crisis, which, apparently, created a criminogenic situation. Nomadic, semi-nomadic or attempted to settle down, but ruined gypsies also fell victim to these laws. They were singled out in a special group of vagabonds, writing out separate decrees, the first of which was issued in Spain in 1482.

In the book "History of the Gypsies. A new look” (N. Bessonov, N. Demeter) gives examples of antigypsy laws:

Sweden. A 1637 law mandates the hanging of male Gypsies.

Mainz. 1714. Death to all gypsies captured within the state. Flogging and branding with a red-hot iron of women and children.

England. According to the law of 1554, the death penalty for men. According to an additional decree of Elizabeth I, the law was tightened. From now on, execution awaited "those who lead or will lead friendship or acquaintance with the Egyptians." Already in 1577, seven Englishmen and one Englishwoman fell under this decree. All of them were hanged in Aylesbury.
Historian Scott McPhee lists 148 laws adopted in the German states from the 15th to the 18th centuries. All of them were approximately the same, the diversity is manifested only in the details. So, in Moravia, the gypsies cut off the left ear, in Bohemia, the right. In the Archduchy of Austria they preferred branding, and so on.

Stigma used in Germany during the antigypsy laws

Perhaps the most cruel was Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. In 1725, he ordered that all male and female gypsies over eighteen years of age be put to death.

As a result of the persecution, the gypsies of Western Europe, firstly, were heavily criminalized, since they did not have the opportunity to legally earn their living, and secondly, they were practically culturally conserved (until now, the gypsies of Western Europe are considered the most distrustful and committed to literally following the old traditions). They also had to lead a special way of life: moving around at night, hiding in forests and caves, which increased the suspicion of the population, and also gave rise to rumors about cannibalism, satanism, vampirism and werewolf gypsies, the result of these rumors was the emergence of myths associated with them about kidnapping and especially children (for eating or for satanic rites) and about the ability to evil spells.

Picture from a French entertainment magazine depicting gypsies cooking human meat

Some of the Gypsies managed to avoid repression by enlisting in the army as soldiers or servants (blacksmiths, saddlers, grooms, etc.) in those countries where soldiers were actively recruited (Sweden, Germany). Their families were thus also taken out from under the blow. The ancestors of Russian Gypsies came to Russia through Poland from Germany, where they mainly served in the army or with the army, so at first they had a nickname among other Gypsies, translated roughly as “army Gypsies”.

The abolition of anti-gypsy laws coincides in time with the beginning of the industrial revolution and Europe's exit from the economic crisis. After the abolition of these laws, the process of integrating the Roma into European society began. Thus, during the 19th century, the gypsies in France, according to Jean-Pierre Lejoie, author of the article “Bohemiens et pouvoirs publics en France du XV-e au XIX-e siecle”, mastered professions due to which they were recognized and even appreciated: they they sheared sheep, weaved baskets, traded, were hired as day laborers in seasonal agricultural work, were dancers and musicians.

However, by that time, anti-Gypsy myths were already firmly rooted in the European consciousness. Their traces can now be seen in fiction, linking Gypsies with a passion for kidnapping (whose goals are becoming less and less clear over time), werewolves, and serving vampires.

The abolition of antigypsy laws by that time did not occur in all European countries. So, in Poland on November 3, 1849, a decision was made to arrest nomadic gypsies. For each detained gypsy, the policemen were paid bonus amounts. As a result, the police seized not only nomadic, but also settled gypsies, recording the detainees as vagrants, and children as adults (in order to get more money). After the Polish uprising of 1863, this law lost its force.

It can also be noted that, starting with the abolition of anti-Gypsy laws, among the Gypsies, individuals who were gifted in certain areas began to appear, stand out and receive recognition in non-Gypsy society, which is another evidence of the situation that has developed more or less favorable for Gypsies. So, in Great Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these were preacher Rodney Smith, football player Rayby Howell, radio journalist and writer George Bramwell Evens; in Spain - the Franciscan Ceferino Jimenez Mallya, the tokaor Ramon Montoya Salazar Sr.; in France - jazz brothers Ferre and Django Reinhardt; in Germany - boxer Johann Trollmann.

Gypsies in Eastern Europe (XV - early XX century)

Gypsy migration to Europe

At the beginning of the 15th century, a significant part of the Byzantine gypsies led a semi-sedentary lifestyle. Gypsies were known not only in the Greek regions of Byzantium, but also in Serbia, Albania, the lands of modern Romania and Hungary. They settled in villages or urban settlements, gathering compactly according to the signs of kinship and profession. The main crafts were working with iron and precious metals, carving household items from wood, weaving baskets. Nomadic gypsies also lived in these areas, who were also engaged in crafts or circus performances using trained bears.

In 1432, King Zsigmond of Hungary granted the Gypsies exemption from taxes, as they began to play an important role in the defense of the region. Gypsies made cannonballs, edged weapons, horse harness and armor for warriors.

After the conquest of the Balkans by Muslims, most of the artisans remained in their places, since their work remained in demand. In Muslim sources, the gypsies are described as craftsmen who can do any fine work on metal, including the manufacture of guns. Christian Gypsies often secured security for themselves and their families by serving the Turkish army. A significant number of Gypsies came to Bulgaria with Turkish troops (which was the reason for their rather cool relations with the local population).

Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror imposed a tax on the Gypsies, but exempted the gunsmiths, as well as those Gypsies who lived in the fortresses. Even then, some gypsies began to convert to Islam. This process accelerated as a result of the further policy of Islamization of the conquered lands by the Turks, which included increased taxes for the Christian population. As a result of this policy, the gypsies of Eastern Europe were actually divided into Muslims and Christians. Under the Turks, gypsies were also sold into slavery for the first time (for tax debts), but this was not widespread.

In the 16th century, the Turks made considerable efforts to census the gypsies. Ottoman documents detail age, occupation, and other data necessary for taxation. Even nomadic groups were entered into the register. The list of professions was very extensive: documents from the Balkan archives list blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool beaters, runners, tailors, shepherds, etc.

In general, the Ottoman policy towards the Roma can be called soft. This had both positive and negative consequences. on the one hand, the gypsies did not become a criminalized group, as in Western Europe. On the other hand, the local population recorded them as “favorites” of the Turkish authorities, as a result of which the attitude towards them was cold or even hostile. So, in the Moldavian and Volosha principalities, the gypsies were declared slaves "from birth"; each gypsy belonged to the owner of the land on which he was caught by the decree. In the same place, for several centuries, the gypsies were subjected to the most severe punishments, torture for the sake of entertainment and mass executions. Trade in gypsy serfs and torture of them were practiced until the middle of the 19th century. Here is an example of ads for sale: 1845

The sons and heirs of the deceased serdar Nikolai Niko, in Bucharest, are selling 200 families of gypsies. The men are mostly locksmiths, goldsmiths, shoemakers, musicians and farmers.

And 1852:

Monastery of St. Elijah put up for sale the first lot of gypsy slaves, May 8, 1852, consisting of 18 men, 10 boys, 7 women and 3 girls: in excellent condition

In 1829 the Russian Empire won the war against the Turks; Moldavia and Wallachia fell under her control. Adjutant General Kiselev was temporarily appointed ruler of the principalities. He insisted on amending the civil code of Moldova. Among other things, in 1833 the status of a person was recognized for the gypsies, which meant a ban on killing them. A paragraph was introduced according to which a gypsy, forced to become the concubine of her master, was released after his death.

Under the influence of the progressive minds of Russia, the ideas of the abolition of serfdom began to spread in the Moldavian and Romanian society. They were also promoted by students studying abroad. In September 1848, a youth demonstration took place on the streets of Bucharest demanding the abolition of serfdom. Some of the landowners voluntarily freed their slaves. However, for the most part, slave owners opposed new ideas. In order not to cause their discontent, the governments of Moldavia and Wallachia acted in a roundabout way: they bought slaves from their owners and freed them. Finally, in 1864, slavery was banned by law.

After the abolition of slavery, an active emigration of the Kalderar gypsies from Wallachia to Russia, Hungary and other countries began. By the beginning of World War II, Kalderars could be found in almost all European countries.

Gypsies in Russia, Ukraine and the USSR (late 17th - early 20th century)

The earliest Russian official document mentioning gypsies dates back to 1733 - Anna Ioanovna's decree on new taxes on the upkeep of the army.

The next mention in the documents comes a few months later shows that the Gypsies came to Russia relatively shortly before the adoption of the decree on taxes and secures their right to live in Ingermanland. Before that, apparently, their status in Russia was not defined, but now they were allowed:

Live and trade horses; and since they showed themselves to be local natives, it was ordered to include them in the poll census wherever they wished to live, and put the regiment on the Horse Guards.

According to the phrase “they showed themselves to be local natives”, one can understand that the generation of gypsies living in this area was at least the second.

Even earlier, for about a century, gypsies (groups of servis) appeared on the territory of modern Ukraine.

2004 Modern Gypsies-Serves in Ukraine.

As you can see, by the time the document was written, they were already paying taxes, that is, they lived legally.

In Russia, new ethnic groups of gypsies appeared with the expansion of the territory. So, when part of Poland was annexed to the Russian Empire, Polish Roma appeared in Russia; Bessarabia - various Moldovan gypsies; Crimea - Crimean gypsies.

The decree of Catherine II of December 21, 1783 ranked the gypsies as a peasant estate and ordered them to collect taxes and taxes in accordance with the estate. However, the gypsies were also allowed to voluntarily attribute themselves to other classes (except, of course, the nobility, and with an appropriate lifestyle), and by the end of the 19th century there were already quite a few Russian gypsies of the petty-bourgeois and merchant classes (for the first time, gypsies were mentioned as representatives of these classes, however , as early as 1800). During the 19th century, a steady process of integration and settling of Russian Gypsies took place, usually associated with an increase in the financial well-being of families. A layer of professional artists appeared.

Gypsies from the city of Novy Oskol. Photo from the beginning of the 20th century.

At the end of the 19th century, not only settled gypsies sent their children to schools, but also nomadic ones (standing in the village in winter). In addition to the groups mentioned above, the population of the Russian Empire included Asian Lyuli, Caucasian Karachi and Bosha, and at the beginning of the 20th century also Lovaris and Kalderars.

The revolution of 1917 hit the most educated part of the gypsy population (since it was also the most wealthy) - representatives of the merchant class, as well as gypsy artists, whose main source of income was performances in front of nobles and merchants. Many wealthy gypsy families abandoned their property and went to the nomads, since nomadic gypsies during the Civil War were automatically assigned to the poor. The Red Army did not touch the poor, and almost no one touched the nomadic gypsies. Some gypsy families emigrated to European countries, China and the USA. Young gypsy guys could be found both in the Red Army and in the White Army, since the social stratification of Russian gypsies and servis by the beginning of the 20th century was already significant.

After the Civil War, gypsies from among the former merchants who became nomads tried to limit the contact of their children with non-gypsies, they did not let them go to schools, in fear that the children would accidentally betray the non-poor origin of the families. As a result, illiteracy became almost universal among the nomadic gypsies. In addition, the number of settled gypsies, the basis of which were merchants and artists before the revolution, has sharply decreased. By the end of the 1920s, the problems of illiteracy and a large number of nomads in the gypsy population were noticed by the Soviet authorities. The government, together with activists from among the gypsy artists who remained in the cities, tried to take a number of measures to solve these problems.

So, in 1927, the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine adopted a resolution on helping nomadic gypsies in the transition to a "working settled way of life."

At the end of the 1920s, gypsy pedagogical colleges were opened, literature and the press were published in gypsy, and gypsy boarding schools were operating.

Gypsies and World War II

During the Second World War, according to recent studies, about 150,000-200,000 Roma in Central and Eastern Europe were exterminated by the Nazis and their allies (see Gypsy Genocide). Of these, 30,000 were citizens of the USSR.

On the Soviet side, during the Second World War, from the Crimea, along with the Crimean Tatars, their co-religionists, the Crimean gypsies (Roma Kyrymitika), were deported.

Gypsies were not only passive victims. Gypsies of the USSR participated in hostilities as privates, tankers, drivers, pilots, gunners, medical workers and partisans; Gypsies from France, Belgium, Slovakia, the Balkan countries, as well as Gypsies from Romania and Hungary who were there during the war, were in the Resistance.

Gypsies in Europe and the USSR / Russia (the second half of the 20th - the beginning of the 21st century)

Ukrainian gypsies, Lviv

Ukrainian gypsies.

After World War II, the Gypsies of Europe and the USSR were conditionally divided into several cultural groups: the Gypsies of the USSR, the socialist countries, Spain and Portugal, Scandinavia, Great Britain and Western Europe. Within these cultural groups, the cultures of different Roma ethnic groups converged, while the cultural groups themselves moved away from each other. The cultural rapprochement of the Gypsies of the USSR took place on the basis of the culture of Russian Gypsies, as the most numerous Gypsy ethnic group.

In the republics of the USSR there was an intensive assimilation and integration of gypsies into society. On the one hand, the persecution of Roma by the authorities, which took place shortly before the war, did not resume. On the other hand, original culture, in addition to music, was suppressed, propaganda was carried out on the theme of the liberation of the gypsies from total poverty by the revolution, a stereotype was formed of the poverty of the gypsy culture itself before the influence of Soviet power (see Culture of the gypsies, Inga Andronikova), the cultural achievements of the gypsies were declared achievements in the first turn of the Soviet authorities (for example, the Romen Theater was universally called the first and only gypsy theater, the appearance of which was attributed to the merit of the Soviet authorities), the gypsies of the USSR were cut off from the information space of European gypsies (with which some connection was maintained before the revolution), which cut off Soviet gypsies also from the cultural achievements of European compatriots. However, the help from the Soviet authorities in the development of artistic culture, in raising the level of education of the gypsy population of the USSR was high.

On October 5, 1956, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the inclusion of gypsies engaged in vagrancy in labor” was issued, equating nomadic gypsies with parasites and prohibiting a nomadic lifestyle. The reaction to the decree was twofold, both from the local authorities and from the Roma. The local authorities carried out this decree, either by giving the Roma housing and encouraging or forcing them to officially find employment instead of handicrafts and fortune-telling, or simply driving the Roma from the camps and subjecting the nomadic Roma to discrimination at the household level. The gypsies, on the other hand, either rejoiced at the new housing and quite easily moved into new living conditions (often they were gypsies who had gypsy friends or settled relatives at their new place of residence who helped them with advice in establishing a new life), or they considered the decree the beginning of an attempt to assimilate, to dissolve the gypsies as an ethnic group and in every way evaded its implementation. Those gypsies who at first accepted the decree neutrally, but did not have informational and moral support, soon perceived the transition to settled life as a misfortune. As a result of the decree, more than 90% of the Roma of the USSR settled down.

In modern Eastern Europe, less often in Western Europe, Roma often become the object of discrimination in society.

At the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, Europe and Russia were swept by a wave of gypsy migrations. Impoverished or marginalized Roma from Romania, western Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia - the former social. countries in which, after the collapse of the USSR, economic and social difficulties arose, they went to work in the European Union and Russia. Nowadays, they can be seen literally at any crossroads of the world, the women of these gypsies have returned en masse to the old traditional occupation - begging.

In Russia, there is also a slower but noticeable impoverishment, marginalization and criminalization of the Roma population. The average educational level has decreased. The problem of drug use by teenagers has become acute. Quite often, gypsies began to be mentioned in the criminal chronicle in connection with drug trafficking and fraud. The popularity of gypsy musical art has noticeably decreased. At the same time, the gypsy press and gypsy literature were revived.

In Europe and Russia, there is an active cultural borrowing between gypsies of different nationalities, a common gypsy music and dance culture is emerging, which is strongly influenced by the culture of Russian gypsies.

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.

Gypsies are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not have their own state. They can be found in any country in Europe, the CIS, in the countries of 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 transferred by the padishah of India as a gift to the Shah of Persia. According to historical information, they were jewelers and musicians, and the donation of representatives of valuable professions was a common thing for that time. After living there for about 400 years, the gypsies headed west and soon ended up 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 harness, 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. Unburdened by family and household, seekers of an easy life, they were engaged in theft, swindling and begging. This led to the reputation of vagrants and swindlers for the Roma, it was increasingly difficult for them to find work and become part of European society. In search of a better life, gypsies from Spain and Portugal began to move to Latin America.

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

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

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 to maintain 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 kolderari.

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.