History of the Roma people
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The Roma people, often referred to as Gypsies, are an ethnic group who live primarily in Europe. They are believed to have originated in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. They began their migration to Europe and North Africa via the Iranian plateau about 1,000 years ago. The reason for their diaspora remains an enigma.
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[edit] Origin and diaspora
Both linguistic and genetic evidence indicate that the Roma originated on the Indian subcontinent. Turner postulates Roma origins in central India before migrating ca. 250 B.C. to the Punjab region where they resided until beginning a massive exodus ca. 1000 A.D..
The Roma migration began shortly before 1000 A.D., when the Roma make their first appearance in recorded history in the Shahnameh, or Persian Book of Kings. Romany loanwords indicate a plausible route of further westward migration to Europe and beyond. People recognized by other Roma as Roma still live as far east as Iran, including some who migrated to Europe and returned.
The cause of the Roma diaspora is unknown. One theory suggests the Roma were originally low-caste Hindus recruited into an army of mercenaries, granted warrior caste status, and sent westwards to resist Islamic military expansion. Or perhaps the Muslim conquerors of northern India took the Roma as slaves and brought them home, where they became a distinct community; Mahmud of Ghazni reportedly took 500,000 prisoners during a Turkish/Persian invasion of Sindh and Punjab. Why the Roma did not return to India, choosing instead to travel west into Europe, is an enigma, but may relate to military service under the Muslims.[citation needed]
Contemporary scholars have suggested one of the first written references to the Roma, under the term "Atsingani", (derived from the Greek atsinganoi), dates from the Byzantine era during a time of famine in the 9th century. In the year 800 A.D., Saint Athanasia gave food to "foreigners called the Atsingani" near Thrace. Later, in 803 A.D., Theophanes the Confessor wrote that Emperor Nikephoros I had the help of the "Atsingani" to put down a riot with their "knowledge of magic".
"Atsinganoi" was used to refer to itinerant fortune tellers, ventriloquists and wizards who visited the Emperor Constantine IX in the year 1054.[1] The hagiographical text, The Life of St. George the Anchorite, mentions that the "Atsingani" were called on by Constantine to help rid his forests of the wild animals which were killing off his livestock. They are later described as sorcerers and evildoers and accused of trying to poison the Emperor's favorite hound.
[edit] Europe
In 1322 a Franciscan monk named Simon Simeonis described people in likeness to the "atsingani" living in Crete and in 1350 Ludolphus of Sudheim mentioned a similar people with a unique language who he called Mandapolos, a word which some theorize was possibly derived from the Greek word mantes (meaning prophet or fortune teller).[2]
Around 1360, an independent Romani fiefdom (called the Feudum Acinganorum) was established in Corfu and became "a settled community and an important and established part of the economy."[3]
By the 14th century, the Roma had reached the Balkans; by 1424, Germany; and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching Europe via Spain in the 15th century. The two currents met in France. Roma began immigrating to the United States in colonial times, with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Roma also settled in Latin America.
According to historian Norman Davies, a 1378 law passed by the governor of Nauplion in the Greek Peloponnese confirming privileges for the "atstingani" is "the first documented record of Romany Gypsies in Europe." Similar documents, again representing the Roma as a group that had been exiled from Egypt, record them reaching Braşov, Transylvania in 1416; Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire in 1418; and Paris in 1427. A chronicler for a Parisian journal described them as dressed in a manner that the Parisians considered shabby, and reports that the Church had them leave town because they practiced palm-reading and fortune-telling.[4]
By the 16th century, Roma had reached Scotland and Sweden (although DNA evidence from mid 11th century skeletons in Norwich suggest that at least a few individuals may have arrived earlier, perhaps due to Viking enslavement of Romani from the eastern Mediterranean or liaisons with the Varangians[5]). Some Roma migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching Europe via Spain in the 15th century. Both currents met in France.
Their early history shows that many European leaders valued them, or at least did not wish harm upon them. A 1596 English statute gave Roma special privileges that other wanderers lacked; France passed a similar law in 1683. Most states in the Holy Roman Empire, however, banned Roma altogether. Catherine II of Russia, seeking a middle ground, declared the Roma "crown slaves" (a status superior to serfs), but also kept them out of certain parts of the capital.[6]
Wherever they arrived in Europe, curiosity was soon followed by hostility and xenophobia. Roma were enslaved for five centuries in Romania until abolition in 1864.[citation needed] Elsewhere in Europe, they were subject to expulsion, abduction of their children, and forced labor.
In the late 1800s, the Roma culture inspired in their neighbors a wealth of artistic works. Among the most notable works are Carmen and La Vie de Bohème.[7]
[edit] Porajmos
During World War II, the Nazis murdered 200,000 to 800,000 Roma in an attempted genocide known as the Porajmos. Like the Jews, they were sentenced to forced labour and imprisonment in concentration camps. They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front.
[edit] Post-war history
In Communist central and eastern Europe, Roma experienced assimilation schemes and restrictions of cultural freedom. The Romany language and Romany music were banned from public performance in Bulgaria. In Czechoslovakia, tens of thousands of Roma from Slovakia, Hungary and Romania were re-settled in border areas of Czech lands and their nomadic lifestyle was forbidden. In Czechoslovakia, where they were labeled as a “socially degraded stratum,” Romani women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future social welfare payments, misinformation, and involuntary sterilization.[8]
In the early 1990s, Germany deported tens of thousands of migrants to central and eastern Europe. Sixty percent of some 100,000 Romanian nationals deported under a 1992 treaty were Roma.
During the 1990s and early 2000s many Roma from central and eastern Europe attempted to migrate to western Europe or Canada. The majority of them were turned back. Several of these countries established strict visa requirements to prevent further migration.
In 2005, the Decade of Roma Inclusion was launched in nine Central and Southeastern European countries to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of the Roma minority across the region.
[edit] The Americas
Roma began immigrating to the United States in colonial times, with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Roma also settled in Latin America.
[edit] Roma Internationalism
The first World Romani Congress was organized in 1971 near London, funded in part by the World Council of Churches and the Government of India. It was attended by representatives from India and 20 other countries. At the congress, the green and blue flag from the 1933 conference, embellished with the red, sixteen-spoked chakra, was reaffirmed as the national emblem of the Romani people, and the anthem, "Gelem, Gelem" was adopted.
The International Romani Union was officially established in 1977, and in 1990, the fourth World Congress declared April 8 to be International Day of the Roma, a day to celebrate Roma culture and raise awareness of the issues facing the Roma community.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Turner, Ralph L. (1926) The Position of Romani in Indo-Aryan. In: Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 3rd Ser. 5/4, pp. 145–188.
- Donald Kenrick (1993) From India to the Mediterranean: the migration of the Gypsies. Paris: Gypsy Research Centre (University René Descartes).
- Will Guy (2001) Between past and future: the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe. Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press.
- Isabel Fonseca (1996) Bury me standing: the Gypsies and their journey New York: Vintage Books.
- Ian Hancock (1987) The pariah syndrome: an account of gypsy slavery and persecution. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers.
- Deyan D. Kolev (2004) Shaping modern identities: social and ethnic changes in Gypsy community in Bulgaria during the Communist period. Budapest: CEU Press.
- Michael Burleigh (1996) Confronting the Nazi past: new debates on modern German history. London: Collins & Brown.
- Guenter Lewy (2000) The Nazi persecution of the Gypsies. New York: Oxford University Press.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Indian studies
- ^ Gypsy Culture
- ^ A Chronology of significant dates in Romani history
- ^ Norman Davies (1996). Europe: A History, p. 387-388. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.
- ^ Pitts, M. (2006) DNA Surprise: Romani in England 440 years too early. British Archaeology 89 (July/August): 9
- ^ Norman Davies (1996). Europe: A History, p. 387-388. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.
- ^ Norman Davies (1996). Europe: A History, p. 387-388. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.
- ^ Silverman, Carol. “Persecution and Politicization: Roma (Gypsies) of Eastern Europe.” Cultural Survival Quarterly, Summer 1995. Helsinki Watch. Struggling for Ethnic Identity: Czechoslovakia’s Endangered Gypsies. New York, 1991.
