Direct access to the astral plane is how to get out instantly. Astral travel: out-of-body technique

Gypsies are one of the most amazing peoples you can find in the world. Many would envy their inner emancipation and lifelong optimism. The gypsies never had their own state, and, nevertheless, they carried their traditions and culture through the centuries. By the degree of their presence on the planet, they can compete with another, until recently, scattered people around the world - the Jews. It is no coincidence that Jews and Gypsies were at the very top of the list of those representatives of the human race that were subject to complete destruction, according to Hitler's racial laws. But if about the genocide of Jews - the Holocaust - many books have been written and many films have been shot, dozens of museums in different countries are devoted to this topic, then few people know about Kali Thrash - the genocide of the Roma. Simply because there was no one to intercede for the gypsies.

Figure 1. Gypsy girl. Eastern Europe
Source unknown

Both Jews and Gypsies are united by a belief in their own special destiny, which, in fact, helped them to survive - after all, both Jews and Gypsies for centuries lived as minorities among other nations, with foreign languages, customs, religion, but the same time they were able to maintain their identity. Like the Jews, the Gypsies were scattered across different countries Europe, Middle East, Caucasus, North Africa. Both peoples "kept to their roots", practically not mixing with the local population. Both Jews and Gypsies have divisions into "friends" and "outsiders" (rum-gazhё among the Gypsies, Jews-goyim among the Jews). It is noteworthy that neither one nor the other nowhere constituted the majority of the population - and therefore found themselves without statehood by the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the creation of the State of Israel, Jews from different regions of Eurasia used it in everyday life. different languages... Thus, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe spoke almost exclusively in Yiddish, the language of the Germanic group, very similar to German, but using the Hebrew alphabet. Persian Jews and Jews of Central Asia spoke Hebrew-Persian and other Hebrew-Iranian languages. Jews in the Middle East and North Africa spoke different Hebrew-Arabic dialektah. The Sephardim, the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th-16th centuries, spoke a Sephardic language (Ladino), close to Spanish.Roma, who do not have their own statehood, also speak several dialects that differ significantly from each other. Each locality uses its own dialect, with a lot of borrowed vocabulary. So, in Russia, in Ukraine, in Romania, dialects with a great influence of Romanian and Russian are used. Roma in Western Europe speak dialects with borrowings from German and French. On the periphery of the Roma settlement area (modern Finland, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Armenia, etc.), they use local languages ​​interspersed with Roma vocabulary.

It is noteworthy that not only the Gypsies absorb vocabulary into their language, but also the "aboriginal" peoples borrow some words. For example, widespread Russian jargon is of gypsy origin: love (money), steal (steal), hawala (eat, eat), labat (play a musical instrument). English words lollipop (lollipop), pal (buddy), chav (gopnik), tiny (small, tiny) - similarly. Changes also took place in the cultural environment: in Russia, especially in the twentieth century, gypsy ensembles became widespread, enjoying immense popularity among all strata of society. In the southern part of Spain, the gypsies created the flamenco musical style.

So where did the gypsies come from, why did they end up scattered all over the world, and why are they so disliked wherever they have the misfortune to live? The swarthy skin color and dark hair color clearly indicate that the ancestors of the Roma came to Europe from the south. Several tribes still live in the north Indian state of Rajasthan, which are considered to be related to the current Roma. The largest of these are the Banjars; In addition to the Banjars, the possible ancestors of the Gypsies also include the Chamars, Lohars, houses and Khajars.

Figure 2. Teenage Banjar in a festive costume. Rajasthan (Northwest India).
Photo by the author.

Historians have not yet been able to establish for certain when exactly the gypsies set out on their great journey, but it is assumed that this happened in the interval between VI and X centuries AD. The route of movement is more precisely known. Leaving Northwest India, the nomadic tribes at first long time lived on the territory of modern Iran and Turkey, from there they began to move north - to the territory of modern Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. Later, from about Xv century, the Roma through the territory of modern Romania began to settle first in the countries of Central Europe (modern Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia), then moved to Scandinavia, to the British Isles, to Spain. Around the same time ( XV - XVI century), another branch of the Gypsies, passing from the territory of modern Iran and Turkey through Egypt, settled in the countries of North Africa and also reached modern Spain and Portugal. At the end XVII centuries, the Gypsies found themselves in the outlying territories of the Russian Empire (modern Baltic, Crimea, Moldavia).

Why did the gypsies leave their homes and set off on a long journey? Scientists do not yet know the exact answer, but they assume that, most likely, several nomadic Indian tribes at some point began to go beyond the boundaries of the traditional settlement area. Currently in India, about five percent of the population is constantly migrating - as a rule, these are itinerant artisans, whose route is more or less constant. The basis of the nomadic way of life of the Gypsies and their Indian ancestors was not a “romatic craving for changing places,” as some readers may think based on the stories of M. Gorky and films by E. Lotianu, but an economic factor: the artisans of the camp needed markets for their products, artists needed a new audience for their performances, fortune-tellers needed a change of clientele. In each specific case, the nomadic area was relatively small - about 300-500 square kilometers. This explains the fact that it took the nomads several centuries to reach Western Europe.

As the nomadic tribes farther and farther away from their historical homeland, they consolidated more and more. In India, many tribes form a separate caste - the total number of castes in this country exceeds 3000, transitions between castes are difficult or even prohibited. Most likely, the ancestors of modern gypsies who came out of the territory of Hindustan belonged to different castes (their main occupations were blacksmithing and pottery, weaving baskets, making and tinning cauldrons, street performances, fortune telling, etc.). While they were in the territory of present-day Iran and Afghanistan, they did not stand out too much from the indigenous people - they were almost as dark-haired and dark-skinned. In addition, there were many nomadic pastoralists around, so the lifestyle of the gypsies did not seem to be something special to others.

As the Roma moved further and further from their historical homeland, their differences in dress and traditions became more noticeable in comparison with the local population. Apparently, then various Indian tribes-castes gradually began to grow together, forming a new community, which we call "gypsies".

There were other changes as well. One of the largest and most powerful states in X - XIV centuries on the territory of Europe and Asia Minor was Byzantium, which at that time occupied the territory of modern Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Several hundred years of living in the territory of Christian Byzantium led to the fact that the Roma adopted Christianity, apparently, this happened around XII - XIV centuries. Byzantine written sources of that time do not distinguish the Roma from other social and ethnic groups in any way. This indirectly indicates that at that time the Roma were not perceived as a marginal or criminal group.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the longest-lived empires in history. It existed for over a thousand years, but by the middle Xv century completely died out and fell under the pressure of the Ottoman Turks. As Byzantium faded away, the Gypsies set off again - they began to settle in the lands of the neighboring countries. It was then that the process of marginalization of the Roma began.

Europe XV century lost to many countries of the East in technology and in the standard of living. The era of great sea voyages, which opened up new lands and rich opportunities for Europeans, was just beginning. The industrial and bourgeois revolutions, which had set Europe to a height unattainable for other countries, were still far away. Europeans at that time lived poorly, there was not enough food for everyone, and they did not need other people's mouths at all. The negative attitude towards the Gypsies as "extra mouths" was aggravated by the fact that during the collapse of Byzantium, the most mobile, most adventurous groups of Gypsies, among whom there were many beggars, petty thieves, fortune-tellers, moved to Europe, as is usually the case during social cataclysms. Honest workers, who at one time received numerous letters of privilege in Byzantium, apparently were in no hurry to move to new lands, hoping to adapt to the new orders of the Ottoman Turks. By the time artisans, animal trainers, artists and horse traders (representatives of typical gypsy professions) found themselves in Central and Western Europe, they fell under the already existing negative stereotype of perception and could not change it.

An additional factor in the marginalization of the Roma was the guild and territorial restrictions of medieval Europe. The right to engage in crafts was then inherited - so the son of a shoemaker became a shoemaker, and the son of a blacksmith became a blacksmith. It was impossible to change the profession; moreover, most residents medieval towns in their entire life they had never been outside the city walls and were wary of all strangers. Gypsy artisans who arrived in Central Europe faced a hostile and negative attitude from the local population and the fact that, due to shop restrictions, they could not engage in crafts, which they had long earned for a living (first of all, working with metal).

Since XVI century, economic relations in Europe began to change. Manufacturers arose, which led to the massive ruin of artisans. In England, the need for pasture meadows for the textile industry led to a fencing policy, in which peasants were driven from their communal lands and the vacated land was used to graze sheep. Since unemployment benefits and other mechanisms for supporting socially vulnerable segments of the population did not exist at that time, the number of vagrants, petty robbers and beggars grew. Violent laws were passed against them throughout Europe, often suggesting the death penalty for the fact of begging. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, and also trying to settle, but ruined gypsies became victims of these laws.

Fleeing from persecution by the authorities, the Roma became more secretive - they moved around at night, lived in caves, forests and other secluded places. This contributed to the emergence and widespread dissemination of myths about gypsies as cannibals, Satanists, vampires and werewolves. Then there were rumors about gypsies kidnapping children (allegedly for eating and performing satanic rituals).

The spiral of mutual mistrust and rejection continued to unfold. Due to the limited or complete absence of legal opportunities for earning money, the gypsies who had to somehow find themselves to feed themselves increasingly began to engage in theft, robbery and other not entirely legal activities.

Figure 5. Nikolay Bessonov. "Fortune Telling".

In a hostile external environment, the Roma (especially the Roma from Western Europe) began to culturally “withdraw into themselves,” literally and unswervingly following ancient traditions. In search of a better life, the Roma gradually began to settle in the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe, moved to the countries of the New World, but practically nowhere did they switch to a sedentary lifestyle and practically nowhere could they integrate into the local society - everywhere they remained strangers.

In XX century, many countries have made attempts to destroy the traditionalism of the Roma, to tie them to a permanent place of residence, to give them the opportunity to earn money through official employment. In the USSR, this policy was relatively successful - about ninety percent of all Roma settled.

The collapse of the countries of the Soviet bloc led to the destruction of the way of life of the Roma of Eastern Europe and the former USSR... Until the mid-1990s, the Roma of the USSR and other countries of Eastern Europe were actively engaged in small-scale clandestine production, speculation and other similar illegal businesses. The disappearance of the deficit, the development of a market economy in the countries of the Soviet bloc deprived the Roma of the niche due to which they succeeded in the second half. XX century. The low level of education, the lack of a long-term outlook on the development of their own business led to the fact that the majority of Roma were squeezed out of the sphere of small trade, thanks to which Roma flourished in the 1980s and 1990s.

The impoverished Roma returned to begging, and also became more active in the sale of drugs, fraud and petty theft. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain in the USSR and the opening of borders in Europe contributed to an increase in Roma migration. For example, Romanian Roma in the 2010s. began to actively move to the countries of Western and Northern Europe, where they are also mainly engaged in begging and other socially condemned ways of earning money.

So, the gypsies, having left India about a thousand years ago, gradually dispersed as artisans in the Middle East and Asia Minor. As it fades away Byzantine Empire, that is, approximately from the beginning Xv century, the Roma gradually began to settle in the countries of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western Europe, and starting from Xviii centuries began to move to the countries of the New World. Faced with the guild restrictions of feudal Europe, the Roma gradually sank to the social bottom, everywhere interrupting with dubious, not entirely legal means of earning money.

In XX century in many countries began to pursue a policy of forcing the ancient nomadic people to a sedentary lifestyle. The younger generation of Roma began to attend schools, secondary special and higher educational establishments; among the representatives of the centuries of illiterate people there were engineers, doctors, scientists.

What will happen next? It seems that the Roma will either be marginalized again, sinking to the social bottom, or they will gradually merge into the society around them, raising their educational and cultural level, mastering modern professions and adopting skills and customs from more successful peoples. A path of gradual assimilation is also possible - for example, even now the Roma groups of the British Isles, Transcarpathia and Central Asia have completely or almost completely lost their native language. In countries where they can gain access to education, Roma will gradually become more and more embedded in the world on decent terms. In these regions, while preserving their identity, they will be able to create a new level of culture, rethink traditions - as South Koreans or Finns rethought their traditions, who have gone from a primitive economy to economic prosperity in several decades. XX century. Where it works, friction between the Roma and the indigenous population will decrease, and the distinctive vibrant customs of the ancient nomadic people will attract the interest not of law enforcement officials, but of tourists, historians and the general public.

In addition to Jews and Gypsies, the list also included those born with congenital neurological and somatic diseases, homosexuals, mentally retarded persons, persons with mental illness and many other categories of people - from Hitler's point of view, they were all inferior, and because of this, they were initially subject to all kinds of restrictions. then - isolation and destruction.

Most modern states, especially European ones, were formed in the 17th - 19th centuries on the basis of the national identity of the peoples inhabiting the corresponding territory. In the bulk of modern states, representatives of the titular people make up the overwhelming majority of the population.

Most modern Roma consider themselves Christians, although the Roma version of Christianity differs from all other denominations and trends. At the same time, the Roma who lived in the territory Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states actively converted to Islam.

It is noteworthy that the attitude towards Jews and Gypsies among European peoples was very similar. Despite the fact that many Jews were able to find a way to socially integrate into the life of European society, at the everyday level they were presented with the same claims as the Gypsies: the abduction of babies, satanic rituals, etc. within their community (they did not communicate with non-Jews, did business only with fellow believers, did not marry non-Jews, etc.), which caused even greater rejection. At the everyday level, anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Gypsy sentiments, were widespread - without them the terrible Germanic racial laws would not have been enforced.

Both the stick and the carrot methods were used. Thus, laws were passed that provided for the criminal prosecution of vagrant gypsies (they were equated with parasites). At the same time, local authorities really made efforts to integrate and assimilate the Roma - they were employed, they were provided with housing, and their level of education was raised. In the USSR, the world's first gypsy theater "Romen" was created, which still exists today.

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

Why are gypsies "gypsies"?

Gypsies don't call themselves that. Their most common self-name of the Roma is “Roma”. Most likely, this is the influence of the life of the Gypsies in Byzantium, which received this name only after its fall. Before that, it was thought to be part of the Roman civilization. The widespread "Romale" is the 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, conventionally goes back to the Greek word "atzingani" (αθίγγανος, ατσίγγανος), which means “untouchable”. This term first appears in the "Life of St. George", written in the XI century. "Conditionally", because in this book one of the heretical sects of that time is called "untouchable". This means that it is impossible to say with certainty that the book deals specifically with 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 Egypt in the Middle Ages: upper and lower. The gypsies were so nicknamed, obviously, by the name of the upper one, which was located in the Peloponnese, from where their migration took place. Belonging to the cults of lower Egypt is visible in the life of even modern gypsies.

The 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 from Egypt the art of embalming the dead.

Of course, the gypsies were in Egypt. The route from Upper Egypt was probably the main route of their migration. However, modern genetic research has proven that the gypsies are not originally from Egypt, but from India.

The Indian tradition has been preserved in the Gypsy culture in the form of practices for working with consciousness. The mechanisms of meditation and gypsy hypnosis are in many ways similar, gypsies are good animal trainers, just like Indians. In addition, the Roma are characterized by syncretism of spiritual beliefs - one of the features of today's Indian culture.

The first gypsies in Russia

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

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

“In addition to the maintenance of these regiments, to determine the fees from the Roma, both in Little Russia they are collected from them, and in the Slobod regiments and in the Great Russian cities and districts assigned to the Slobod regiments, and for this collection to determine a special person, since the Roma are not included 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 lived here for more than the first generation).

A further increase in the Roma contingent in Russia proceeded with the expansion of its territories. With the annexation of a part of Poland to the Russian Empire, “Polish Roma” appeared in Russia, with the annexation of Bessarabia - Moldovan Roma, after the annexation of Crimea - Crimean Roma. It should be understood that the Roma are not a mono-ethnic community, therefore the migration of different ethnic groups of the Roma took place in different ways.

Equal rights

In the Russian Empire, the Roma were treated quite friendly. On December 21, 1783, a decree of Catherine II was issued, which ranked the gypsies as a peasant class. Taxes began to be levied on them. At the same time, no special measures were taken to enforce the enslavement of the Roma. Moreover, they were allowed to be assigned to any class, except for the nobles.

Already in the Senate decree of 1800 it is said that in some provinces "Gypsies became merchants and burghers."

Over time, sedentary 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 gymnasium and studied French. And Sanko Arbuzov was not alone.

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

V early XIX centuries the serf Gypsy choirs were liberated and continued their independent activity in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gypsy music was an unusually fashionable genre, and the Gypsies themselves often assimilated among the Russian nobility - marriages to Gypsy girls were concluded enough famous people... Suffice it to recall Leo Tolstoy's uncle Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy the American.

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

By the end of the 19th century, not only Ukrainian, Moldavian, Polish, Russian and Crimean gypsies lived in the Russian Empire, but also Lyuli, Karachi and Bosha (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 calderars.

Currently, the number of European Roma, according to various estimates, is determined from 8 million to 10-12 million people. In the USSR, there were officially 175.3 thousand people (1970 census). In Russia, according to the 2010 census, there are about 220 thousand Roma.

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 (officially)
USA:
1 million Handbook of Texas
Ukraine:
48,000 (2001 census)
Croatia:
from 9463 to 14,000 (2001 Census)

Language: Gypsy, Domari, Lomavren

Religion: Christianity, Islam

Gypsy is a collective name for 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, that is, "rum-like", has been proposed as such.

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 (Pharaoh must ("Black"), Turks - Çingeneler; Azerbaijanis - Qaraçı (Garach, that is, "black"); Jews - צוענים (tso'anim), from the name of the biblical province of Zoan in Ancient Egypt; Bulgarians - Tsigani. Currently, more and more spread in different languages get ethnonyms from the self-designation of a part of the Gypsies, "Roma" (English Roma, Czech Romové, Finn. Romanit, etc.).

Three types prevail in the traditional names of gypsies:

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

Now Roma live in many countries of Europe, Western 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. There were 175.3 thousand people in the USSR (1970 census). According to the 2002 census, about 183 thousand Roma lived in Russia.

National symbols

Gypsy flag

On April 8, 1971, the first World Roma Congress was held in London. The result of the congress was the recognition of themselves as the Roma of the world as a single non-territorial nation and the adoption of national symbols: the flag and the anthem, based on the folk song “Dzhelem, Djelem”. The author of the words is Yarko Jovanovic.

A peculiarity of the anthem is the absence of a clearly established melody, each performer arranges the folk motive in his own way. There are also several versions of the lyrics, in which only the first verse and chorus are exactly the same. All options are recognized by the Roma.

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

These symbols are usually used to decorate Roma books, newspapers, magazines and websites, one of these symbols is usually included in the logos of events dedicated to Roma culture.

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

History of the people

The most widespread self-designation of the Roma, taken from India by them, 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 doma and loma Asia and the Caucasus were the three main "flows" of migrants from India. different areas in modern India, there are low caste groups these days. Despite the fact that modern houses in India are difficult to directly correlate with the Gypsies, their name has the most direct relation to them. The difficulty lies in understanding what was the connection in the past between the ancestors of the Roma and Indian houses. The results of linguistic research conducted back in the 20s. XX century by the great Indologist-linguist R.L. Turner, and which are shared by modern scientists, in particular, linguists-romologists J. Matras and J. Hancock, show that the ancestors of the Roma lived in the central regions of India and for several centuries before the exodus (approximately in the 3rd century BC) migrated to the Northern Punjab.
A number of data indicate the settlement in the central and north-western regions of India of the population with the self-designation d "om / d" omba starting from the 5th-4th centuries. BC. This population originally represented tribal groups of common origin, possibly associated with the Austroasians (one of the largest autochthonous strata in 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 perceived as caste groups. At the same time, the integration of houses into the caste system took place primarily in the central parts of India, and 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, whose resettlement in the period before the migration of the Roma ancestors from India took on a mass 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 has retained its nomadic and semi-nomadic type over the centuries. Also, the very ecology of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, arid and marginal soils near the Indus River contributed to the development of a semi-cattle-semi-commercial mobile model of management for a number of local population groups. Russian authors believe that during the exodus, the ancestors of the Gypsies represented a socially structured ethnic population common origin (and not a number of separate castes), engaged in commercial transport and trade in transport animals, and, if necessary, as auxiliary occupations - a number of crafts and other services that were part of everyday skills. The authors explain the cultural and anthropological difference between the Gypsies and modern houses of India (which have 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 Roma 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 Roma originated from India in a group of about 1000 people. The time of migration of the ancestors of the Roma from India has not been precisely established, as well as the number of migration waves. Various researchers roughly determine the outcome of the so-called "proto-Gypsy" groups in the 6th-10th centuries AD. According to the most popular version, based on the analysis of borrowed words in the Roma languages, the ancestors of modern Roma spent about 400 years in Persia before the Roma branch moved westward 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 moved from there to the region of modern Armenia (the branch of Lom, or Gypsies-Bosha). The rest moved westward. They were the ancestors of the European gypsies: Roma, Kale, Sinti, Manush. Some of the migrants stayed in the Middle East (ancestors of the houses). It is believed 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 Roma population, having absorbed various flows of migrants from the Punjab (including the Baluch group) over the centuries, has historically been heterogeneous.

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

Documents indicate that the Roma lived in the center of the empire and on its outskirts, and there most of these Roma adopted Christianity. In Byzantium, the Roma quickly integrated into society. In a number of places, their leaders were given certain privileges. Written references to Roma from this period are scarce, but they do not seem to generate any particular interest or perceived as a marginal or criminal group. Gypsies are referred to as metalworkers, horse harness makers, saddlers, fortunetellers (in Byzantium, this 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, whole villages of gypsy blacksmiths are mentioned.

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

Gypsies in Western Europe (15th - early 20th century)

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

Meanwhile, in Europe, an economic and social crisis... Its result was the adoption of a number of cruel laws in Western Europe, directed, among other things, against representatives of vagrant professions, as well as simply vagrants, whose number has greatly increased due to the crisis, which, apparently, created a criminogenic situation. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, or attempted to settle but ruined Gypsies also fell victim to these laws. They were singled out into 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 Roma. A new look ”(N. Bessonov, N. Demeter) examples of anti-Roma laws are given:

Sweden. A law of 1637 prescribes the hanging of male gypsies.

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

England. Under 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 was expected for "those who lead or will lead friendship or acquaintance with the Egyptians." Already in 1577, seven Englishmen and one Englishwoman fell under this decree. They were all hanged in Aylesbury.
Historian Scott-Mackfie has 148 laws passed in the German states from the 15th to the 18th century. They were all roughly the same, the diversity is manifested only in the details. So, in Moravia, gypsies had their left ear cut off, in Bohemia, their right. In the Archduchy of Austria, they preferred to stigmatize, and so on.

The stigma used in Germany during the anti-Roma laws

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

As a result of the persecution, the Roma of Western Europe, firstly, were strongly criminalized, since they did not have the opportunity to legally obtain food for themselves, and secondly, they were practically culturally conserved (until now, the Roma of Western Europe are considered the most distrustful and committed to literally following ancient traditions). They also had to lead a special way of life: to move at night, hide in forests and caves, which increased the suspicion of the population, and also gave rise to rumors about cannibalism, Satanism, vampirism and werewolfism of gypsies, the consequence of these rumors was the emergence of related myths about kidnapping and especially children (for eating or for satanic rites) and the ability to evil spells.

A picture from a french entertainment magazine depicting a gypsy cooking human meat

Some of the Roma managed to avoid reprisals by enlisting in the army as soldiers or servants (blacksmiths, saddlers, grooms, etc.) in those countries where the recruitment of soldiers was actively going on (Sweden, Germany). Thus, their families were also removed from the blow. The ancestors of Russian Gypsies came to Russia through Poland from Germany, where they mainly served in the army or in the army, so at first they bore a nickname among other Gypsies, which roughly translates as "army gypsies."

The abolition of anti-Romani laws coincides in time with the beginning of the industrial revolution and the emergence of Europe from the economic crisis. After the abolition of these laws, the process of integrating Roma into European society began. Thus, during the 19th century, Roma in France, according to the testimony of Jean-Pierre Lejoy, the author of the article "Bohemiens et pouvoirs publics en France du XV-e au XIX-e siecle", mastered professions, thanks to which they were recognized and even appreciated: they Sheared sheep, weaved baskets, traded, 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. Now their traces can be seen in fiction linking gypsies with a passion for kidnapping (whose goals are becoming less and less clear over time), werewolf and vampire service.

By that time, the abolition of anti-Romani laws did not occur in all European countries. So, in Poland on November 3, 1849, a resolution was adopted to arrest nomadic Gypsies. For each detained Roma, the police were paid bonuses. As a result, the police seized not only nomadic, but also sedentary Roma, registering the detainees as vagrants, and children as adults (in order to get more money). After the Polish uprising of 1863, this law became invalid.

It can also be noted that, since the abolition of anti-Gypsy laws, among the Gypsies, gifted individuals in certain areas began to appear, stand out and receive recognition in non-Gypsy society, which is another evidence of the prevailing more or less favorable situation for the Gypsies. For example, in Great Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these are preacher Rodney Smith, football player Rabie Howell, radio journalist and writer George Bramwell Evens; in Spain - Franciscan Seferino Jimenez Malia, tokor Ramon Montoya Salazar Sr. in France - the jazzmen brothers Ferre and Django Reinhardt; in Germany - boxer Johann Trollmann.

Gypsies in Eastern Europe (15th - early 20th century)

Roma 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 on the basis of kinship and profession. The main crafts were working with iron and precious metals, carving household items from wood, weaving baskets. Lived in these areas and nomadic gypsies, who also engaged in crafts or circus performances using trained bears.

In 1432, King Zsigmond of Hungary granted tax exemptions to the Roma 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 the Muslims, most of the artisans remained in their places, since their work remained in demand. In Muslim sources, gypsies are described as craftsmen who are capable of any delicate metal work, including the manufacture of guns. Roma Christians often obtained security guarantees for themselves and their families by serving the Turkish army. A significant number of Roma came to Bulgaria with the 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 Roma, but freed the gunsmiths from it, as well as those Roma who lived in the fortresses. Even then, some Roma began to convert to Islam. This process was accelerated as a result of the subsequent policy of Islamization by the Turks of the conquered lands, which included increased taxes for the Christian population. As a result of this policy, the Roma 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 enumerate the Roma. Ottoman documents detail age, occupation, and other data required for taxation. Even nomadic groups were included in the register. The list of professions was very extensive: documents from the Balkan archives list blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool-bearers, walkers, tailors, shepherds, etc.

In general, the Ottoman policy in relation to the Roma can be called soft. This had both positive and negative consequences. on the one hand, the Roma 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. Thus, in the Moldavian and Volosh principalities, the gypsies were declared slaves "from birth"; each gypsy belonged to the owner of the land on which the decree caught him. There, for several centuries, the Roma were subjected to the most severe punishments, torture for entertainment and mass executions. The trade and torture of gypsy serfs was practiced until the middle of the 19th century. Here's an example of a sale ad: 1845

The sons and heirs of the deceased Serdar Nicholas Niko, in Bucharest, are selling 200 Roma families. Men are mostly locksmiths, goldsmiths, shoemakers, musicians and farmers.

And 1852:

The monastery of St. Elijah the first lot of gypsy slaves is put up for sale, 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 Kiselyov was temporarily appointed as the ruler of the principalities. He insisted on amending the civil code of Moldova. Among other things, in 1833 the Roma were granted personal status, which meant that they were prohibited from killing them. A paragraph was introduced according to which a gypsy woman, forced to become a concubine of her master, was released after his death.

Under the influence of the progressive minds of Russia, the idea of ​​abolishing serfdom began to spread in Moldovan and Romanian society. Students who studied abroad also contributed to their dissemination. 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 displease them, the governments of Moldavia and Wallachia acted in a roundabout way: they ransomed slaves from their owners and freed them. Finally, in 1864, slavery was prohibited by law.

After the abolition of slavery, active emigration of Kelderars from Wallachia to Russia, Hungary and other countries began. By the beginning of World War II, Kelderar 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 Roma dates back to 1733 - Anna Ioanovna's decree on new taxes on the upkeep of the army.

The next mention in the documents takes place a few months later, shows that the Roma came to Russia relatively shortly before the adoption of the decree on taxes and secures their right to live in Ingermanlandia. Before that, apparently, their status in Russia was not determined, 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 where they want to live, and put them in the layout on the Horse Guards regiment

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

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

2004 year. Modern gypsy serfs in Ukraine.

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

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

The decree of Catherine II of December 21, 1783 ranked the gypsies as a peasant class and ordered them to levy taxes and taxes consistent with the class. However, the Gypsies were also allowed, at will, to ascribe themselves to other estates (except, of course, the noble, and with an appropriate lifestyle), and by the end of the 19th century there were already quite a few Russian Gypsies of the bourgeois and merchant estates (for the first time, Gypsies were mentioned as representatives of these estates, however , back in 1800). During the 19th century, there was a steady process of integration and settling of Russian Gypsies, usually associated with an increase in the financial well-being of families. A layer of professional artists has emerged.

Gypsies from the city of Novy Oskol. Photo of the early XX century.

At the end of the 19th century, children were sent to schools not only by sedentary gypsies, but also by nomadic ones (staying in the village in winter). In addition to the groups mentioned above, the population of the Russian Empire included Asiatic Lyuli, Caucasian Karachi and Bosha, and at the beginning of the 20th century, also Lovari and Kelderars.

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

After the Civil War, the Roma from the ranks of the former merchants, who became nomadic, tried to limit the communication of their children with non-Roma, were not allowed to go to schools, in fear that the children would accidentally betray the non-poor origins of their families. As a result, illiteracy became almost universal among the nomadic Gypsies. In addition, the number of sedentary Gypsies, who were mainly merchants and artists before the revolution, has sharply decreased. By the end of the 20s, the problems of illiteracy and a large number nomadic in the Gypsy population was noticed by the Soviet Power. The government, together with activists from among the remaining Roma artists in the cities, tried to take a number of measures to address these problems.

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

At the end of the 1920s, Gypsy pedagogical technical schools were opened, literature and the press were published on Romani, there are gypsy boarding schools.

Gypsies and World War II

During the Second World War, according to the latest research, about 150,000-200,000 Roma in Central and Eastern Europe were exterminated by the Nazis and their allies (see Genocide of the Roma). 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 (Kyrymitika Roma), were deported.

The Roma were not only passive victims. The gypsies of the USSR took part in hostilities as privates, tankmen, drivers, pilots, artillerymen, medical workers and partisans; were in the Resistance Roma of France, Belgium, Slovakia, the Balkan countries, as well as Roma from Romania and Hungary who were there during the war.

Gypsies in Europe and the USSR / Russia (second half of XX - early XXI century)

Ukrainian gypsies, Lviv

Ukrainian gypsies.

After World War II, the Roma of Europe and the USSR were conditionally divided into several cultural groups: the Roma of the USSR, 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 drifted away from each other. The cultural rapprochement of the Gypsies of the USSR took place on the basis of the culture of the Russian Gypsies, as the most numerous Gypsy ethnic group.

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

On October 5, 1956, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued "On the introduction to labor of Gypsies engaged in vagrancy", equating nomadic Gypsies with parasites and prohibiting the nomadic way of life. The reaction to the decree was twofold, both on the part of the local authorities and on the part of the Roma. Local authorities carried out this decree, either by providing Roma with housing and encouraging or forcing them to officially find employment instead of handicraft and fortune-telling, or simply driving Roma out of their camps and subjecting nomadic Roma to discrimination at the household level. Gypsies, on the other hand, either rejoiced in their new housing and quite easily transitioned to new living conditions (often they were Gypsies who had Gypsy friends or settled relatives in 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. dissolve the gypsies as an ethnos and in every possible way avoided its execution. Those Gypsies who at first adopted 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.

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

In the late XX - early XXI century, Europe and Russia were swept by a wave of Roma migrations. Impoverished or marginalized Roma from Romania, western Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia - former Socialist. countries in which economic and social difficulties arose after the collapse of the USSR - 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, albeit a slower, but noticeable impoverishment, marginalization and criminalization of the Roma population. The average educational level has decreased. The problem of drug use by adolescents has become acute. Quite often, Roma began to be mentioned in criminal chronicles in connection with drug trafficking and fraud. The popularity of the 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.

IN SEARCH OF THE GYPSE ​​RESTAURANT

The ancestral home of the gypsies is India. Ethnographers, historians and the gypsies themselves know about this. The discovery of this scientific fact dates back to the middle of the eighteenth century. A Hungarian student of Leiden University I. Vaya noticed the similarity of the Roma language with the language of his fellow students, whose homeland was the Malabar Coast. 1 An article about these observations in a Vienna newspaper fell into the hands of the German scientist G. Grelman, who, comparing the Gypsy language with the Indian Sanskrit, put forward a hypothesis about the Indian ancestral home of the Gypsies. 2 But only a century later, thanks to the studies of the German philologist A.Pott, the hypothesis acquired the form of a demonstrative theory, which has not lost its scientific significance to the present 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 could be used by Gypsy scholars - 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.
In the literature, many other, sometimes unproven, sometimes fantastic, assumptions about the origin of the gypsies have been expressed. The homeland of the Gypsies was sought 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 its disappearance. 4
If the question of the ancestral home of the Roma has been resolved in ethnographic science, then a lot of controversial things remain in Roma history. Due to the lack of reliable historical sources, the mysteries of early Roma history have not been fully disclosed, although hypotheses and assumptions have been expressed by scientists more than once. Most controversial is the question of when and why the ancestors of the Gypsies left their ancestral home, which Indian people went to look for a new homeland.
Scientists still argue about when the ancestors of the gypsies left India. Some authors call it 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 one camp, having a predetermined goal. Some of the Roma settled along the road, laying the foundation for the current ethnic groups. Some of them moved on with rare deliberation, 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 gypsies E. Druts and A. Gessler argue that the exodus of the Gypsies from India lasted for about a thousand years, and its culmination fell on the turn of the first and second millennia, and separate waves of migration continued in subsequent times. 6 Researchers associate the reasons for migration with internecine wars, constant raids of Muslim conquerors. 7
What kind of people went to a distant nomad? Ethnographers give different answers to this question. Some consider the Gypsies to be the descendants of not one, but many Indian peoples. Others, such as E. Druts and A. Gessler, note that the Gypsies are 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. The caste belongs to the lower strata of Indian society. 8
N. Demetr, 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. Studying the way of gypsies, they came to the conclusion that at the courts of Indian princes there was a special social stratum, whose representatives entertained them with music and dances, and were also busy with the household, were engaged in crafts, which explains the craving of the gypsies for gold and jewelry, a nomadic image life. 9
The path followed by the Gypsies 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 the Gypsies that still exist in this region (Mugat, Karachi, Bosha, etc.). Then there was a division, some of the Gypsies moved towards Palestine and Egypt, where they stayed, some went ... to the territory of Byzantium. " 10

From field observations
The question of the origin of the Roma has always been the focus of our field research: what the 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 Kulai (born in 1914), the oldest in the camp, also told us that the gypsies left 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 Roma 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 - Ghana. But they began to call them not Ghans, but added the letter c and it turned out - Gypsies. "

Indian films also remind Roma of their community with India: Roma understand some words. Someone speaks even more definitely: "They sing Indian songs, we understand the first verse, but we can sing along on the second verse."
Preserved in the tabor and more ancient "their" legends and legends about the origin of the gypsy people. Here are just a few of them that we managed to record.
There is a legend about how different peoples appeared in the world, why they differ from each other: “Previously, there were no different peoples on earth. And God brought people to his garden of Eden. And there were different trees, and pears, and plums, and apples. And each went to the tree that he liked. So different peoples went, who ate which fruit. The gypsy went and ate one plum for herself. So our parents went from the plum. She did not go where the apples are, where the pears are, but went where the plums are, so the gypsies went. The Tatars ate peas. When they ate peas, they said: “God helps. How much peas grow, so much so that people have health ”. The Uzbek ate an olive, black, juicy. Even now they are black, like an olive in their face. We ate Russian apples. She went and saw a beautiful apple hanging on a branch, went and ate it. And, it is true, they love Russian apples. And the Jews went where the pears were. And pears, you know, they are as long as a nose. The nose and long of the Jews, like a pear. Romanians, they are beautiful, they are not more beautiful, they are beautiful like grapes. They used to have chariots too. They drove and looked: this is an apple, this is a pear, this has passed, and where the grapes are - they stopped, took two or three branches, ate, these became beautiful, cute, each other more beautiful. And the Bulgarians ate apricots, they are also beautiful. And the gypsies went to the drain. The first girl was, she was three or four years old, she ate a plum, one, two, three, so the gypsies are as dark 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 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 everyone land, but did not give me?" Then God said to this: “I will give you a mind, so that you live with your mind, cunning. And so that he could get his own piece of bread. And the whole world will be at your feet. And you will get your piece of bread with your wits and cunning, you will survive wherever you go ”.
Another gypsy legend explains why the gypsies are allowed to cheat: “God allowed the gypsies to cheat. When Jesus Christ was carried on crucifixion, then the gypsy stole a nail, the last nail with which they wanted to pierce the heart. And the gypsy stole this nail. When asked, he said: “By God, I didn’t take it!“. Took and swallowed this nail. And thus he slightly extended the life of Jesus Christ. God again told him that you will live by your cunning. From this, the cunning appeared among the gypsies. There is a legend that it was God who invented for us so that our people would guess, so that with our minds we would live, with our cunning ”. This legend in different options widespread not only among the Roma, but also among other peoples.

BYZANTINE

Historians attribute the appearance of gypsies in Byzantium to the 12th - 13th centuries. There is also an earlier date - the 11th century. In Byzantium, the Gypsies stayed long enough before moving on towards Eastern and Western Europe.
The Byzantine period of Gypsy history, according to historians, was significant enough for the ethnos. Researchers of the Gypsy ethnic history argue that the formation of the 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 In the few surviving historical sources mention of such activities of the gypsies as fortune-telling and training of animals (spell snakes and driving a bear), making sieves and sieves, blacksmithing. It was in Byzantium that the Gypsies became acquainted with Christianity. In one of the sources of the XIV century. we read: "These people ... adhered to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church." 12 Christianity became the main religion of most ethnographic groups of Roma in Western and Eastern Europe. The Greek language had a noticeable influence on the Gypsy 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 Roma history. 14 Some gypsy scholars believe that gypsies also learned fortune telling in Byzantium, where at that time superstitions were strong enough, belief in the possibility of predicting fate. 15
The 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 Roma population increased, which, apparently, was the reason for the "great gypsy campaign" in Western Europe, which began in 1417.

From field observations
How the gypsies dispersed around the world is quite difficult to imagine. However, probably, each camp has preserved its own legends, which reveal the gypsy history. There are also Permian gypsies-Kelderars. Here is one of them, told by Grancho Dodovich Buco (born 1941): “My grandfather had six brothers. From one brother, the camp is located in Russia, and the rest spread throughout 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 out in the camp, they argued, maybe because of the daughter-in-law, they quarreled, a petty matter. And they decided to part ways for a while, thinking 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 knew nothing about them. And only recently our Roma from Penza traveled to Argentina. It so happened that the Penza gypsies (also Kelderars) have relatives living in Argentina. Gypsies came from Argentina to Penza and said that our relatives also lived in Argentina. There my father's cousin, his children live. We each have a nickname. We are a kind of ruvoni (from the gypsy ruv - wolf). Our family has a camp in Perm and Argentina. "

THE HISTORY OF THE GYPSY AFTER THE 15TH CENTURY

The Roma who resettled in Western Europe formed the basis of the modern ethnographic groups of the Roma population (Kale, Travels, Sinti, Polish Roma) living in England, Germany, France, Poland and other countries. A special ethnographic group, the Russian Gypsies, originated from the Western European branch.
However, not all Roma 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 Arlia, Rumelia, Fichira, Jambaz subsequently formed. Quite a few Roma found themselves in adjacent territories: in Serbia, Albania, Romanian and Hungarian lands. These Gypsies formed the basis of the Eastern European branch of the Gypsy people - ethnographic groups of Servas, Vlahurya, Ursars, Crimea, Chisinau residents, Lovar, Kelderars, etc. They performed with trained animals, led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Among the gypsies were blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool-bearers, runners, tailors. 16 Part of the Roma, having found themselves under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, converted to Islam.
The situation of the Roma in the Moldavian and Volosh principalities, dependent on the Ottoman Empire, was difficult. Here, from the 15th century, the Roma became a dependent population - slaves and serfs belonging to a boyar, a monastery or the state. According to the Moldovan Civil Code, until the middle of the 19th century, serfs were not allowed to marry free ones, they could only marry with the permission of their owners, or they could be sold. Only state serfs were allowed to lead a nomadic lifestyle. Since 1829, when Moldova 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
The Roma who lived in the territory ruled by the Habsburg empire (Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia) were also under pressure from the local authorities, who outlawed them. Since 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 sedentary lifestyle on the Roma. However, the Roma 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, especially the Kelderars in the 19th century. began to leave the area of ​​formation. Gypsy camps of Kelderars appeared in Western Europe, Poland, Russia and other countries. 18

As a result of a complex ethnic history, different ethnographic groups of the Roma people have formed, each of which is distinguished by a special dialect, religion, occupation, its own way of life (including food, utensils, housing), traditional costume, and worldview. Many ethnocultural features of a particular ethnographic group are due to the factor of interaction of the Roma with the local population.

From field observations
When conducting surveys, we were surprised how well the Perm Roma are aware of other ethnographic groups of Roma. We were told about the differences in language, everyday life, occupations, "laws". Perm Moldovan Gypsies are aware of such ethnographic groups as the Russian Gypsies Laetsi (as Moldovan Gypsies call Russian Gypsies), Crimea (Crimean Gypsies), Lovari, Vlakhuri, Shrimp, Serves, that is, almost all groups that inhabit Russia.
Moldovan Gypsies believe that in their language of Russian Gypsies there are many words borrowed from the Russian language, differs from the dialect of Moldovan Gypsies and the pronunciation of certain sounds and words. It is also noted that there are more Laets in Russia and they are settled practically all over the country: "In any region you can meet Russian Gypsies, even if a little, but there are two or three families, even in the Far North." Unlike Russian and Moldovan Gypsies, the Crimea professes Islam, therefore their way of life differs markedly from the way of life of Russian and Moldavian Gypsies. Moldovan Gypsies note that Russian Gypsies have fewer old traditions. For example, women have long abandoned the traditional costume and wear dresses. The Crimean Roma, on the contrary, strictly adhere to the old "laws".

Gypsies in Russia and in the Kama region

Ethnographic groups of Roma in different ways and at different times penetrated the territory of Russia. The question of the time of the appearance of the Roma in Russia has always caused difficulties among researchers. Boundaries 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 not only Gypsies from the largest ethnographic groups - Russian Gypsies (self-name - Russian Roma) and Kelderars (Kotlyars), but also Gypsies, migrants from Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia, Ukrainian Gypsies (Serves), Crimean Gypsies, Gypsies - Vlachs, Lovari, Chisinau residents, 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 focus only on those historical events, who brought Gypsies to Russia from the ethnographic groups Russian Roma, Crimean Gypsies and Kelderars.
Russian Gypsies - Russian Roma are 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, you can read: "Gypsies are people in Poland, but from the Germans ...". 19 This is the way the Gypsies came to Russia. A lot of German and Polish words found in the language of Russian Gypsies speaks about the places of their former residence. Already on the territory of Russia, a special ethnographic group was formed from the newly arrived gypsies - the Russian gypsies. This is one of the largest ethnographic groups of Roma 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 made transfers, roamed, and for the winter they stayed 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 the Russian Gypsies at the beginning of the 19th century in Moscow who formed the basis of the Gypsy choirs so popular in Russia.
Crimean gypsies (kyrymitika roma) got their name from their place of residence - 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, a lot of borrowed Tatar words are noted in their language. Blacksmithing and jewelry making became the traditional occupations of the Roma of this group. Among them were also musicians, cabbies, horse traders. Along with fortune-telling, women were engaged in the cosmetics trade. Since the annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Gypsies have been part of the Russian Empire. 20
Gypsies of the third ethnographic group, the Kelderars, appeared in Russia only in the 19th. century. The area of ​​their formation and residence until the middle of the 19th century, as we noted, was the Romanian lands. The first Kelderar camps entered Russia in the 70s. XIX century from Moldova, where many Roma of this group lived. A particularly powerful wave of their resettlement occurred at the turn of the late 19th - early 20th century.
Among the Permian gypsies of this group, there are also many legends about the time of the resettlement of this or that camp to Russia. According to the stories of the oldest resident of the Gypsy camp Zambila Georgievna Kulai (born in 1914), her father's camp from Moldova came to Russia in 1923. Grancho Dodovich Butso (born 1941) recalls, from the words of his parents, that one of the camps of the clan Ruvoni came to Russia from Moldavia in the 1930s and for a long time roamed in the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia.
The traditional occupation for men was craft - making and tinning boilers, for women - fortune telling. Today Kelderar Roma 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 in 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 Roma population of Russia. Decrees were adopted on the priority allotment of land to the Roma, on assistance in the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, on the creation of Roma artels. Literature appeared in the Gypsy language. However, by the end of the 1930s, all these endeavors had been reversed.
On the other hand, the traditional way of providing for the Roma was destroyed, and many sources of Roma 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 Roma population, which was accused of espionage, sabotage, and counter-revolution. 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 Roma found their place in Soviet society. Until the 1970s and 1980s, Gypsy craft and trade continued to be in demand in the Soviet Union against the backdrop of a shortage of consumer goods.
Of particular importance for the nomadic Gypsies of Russia was the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 685 of October 20, 1956 "On the introduction to labor of Gypsies engaged in vagrancy." It provided for severe punishments, up to and including imprisonment for 5 years, for the nomadic lifestyle of the Roma population. As a result, almost all groups of Roma have moved to a sedentary lifestyle. 22 The peculiarities of the history of Roma in the Soviet period are easy to see in the example of a Roma 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 now constitute the bulk of the Gypsy population of the Kama region. The Perm land was a place of nomadism for other groups of gypsies. The population census of the city of Perm in 1890 did not record a single Roma in the city. 23 A significant number of Roma settled in the city of Perm and the Perm region after the adoption of the aforementioned resolution of 1956. According to the 1989 census, 1,492 Roma lived in the Kama region. However, the information received does not always reflect the true situation. Thus, among Crimean Roma in their passports and other official documents, one can often find the entry “Tatar” rather than “Gypsy”, and Moldovan Roma do the same, registering themselves as Moldovans, Bessarabs, and Romanians. We can say with confidence that, in particular, in the census materials, under the Roma of the Kama region, apparently, only representatives of the ethnographic group of Russian Roma are noted. Among the three ethnographic groups of 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 Roma have diasporas only in the city of Perm.
In the city of Perm, the outskirts with wooden buildings remain the traditional places of compact residence of the Roma population. It is in such conditions that the Gypsy way of life can be preserved. Russian Gypsies live on Gaiva, Yuzhny, Zapruda, Verkhnyaya Kurye and other districts of the city. There are only a few families of Crimean Roma in Perm. Moldovan Gypsies (Kelderars / Kotlyars) live in the Chapaevsky and Yanvarsky microdistricts.

From field observations
During our stay in the gypsy camp, we got to know 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 our second visit to the camp, and since then we have visited her at every visit. Zambila Georgievna was born in 1914 in Moldova, from where her parents' camp migrated to Russia in the 1920s. Today, many of Zambila Georgievna's stories about nomadic life, family legends can be called gypsy history.
Zambila Georgievna is one of the few residents of the camp who remember the nomadism in gypsy carts. She is an excellent connoisseur of gypsy folklore. It was from her that we were able to write down stories about how different peoples appeared on earth, why it snows and rains, how spots appeared on the moon and many, many others. Telling once an ancient legend about the appearance of spots on the moon, she took us outside. It was already deep evening, and there was a full moon in the sky. “Do you see spots on the moon? That's where the shepherd is with his sheep. Granny Zambila does not deceive. "
More than once we have heard from Zambila Georgievna and her children a family legend about parents. Her father, Georgy, starred in the film "The Last Camp" in the 1930s. Mother Maritsa played in the film "Tabor Goes to Heaven", 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? An old man had a bear there. And this was my father with a bear. When this movie "The Last Camp" is on, I cry. I look at my father with the bear, and my tears are flowing. And the old woman, my mother, “Tabor goes to the sky” of the movie, she goes, wonders, says: “Hey, brilliant, let me tell fortunes”. I also cry when I see my mother. "

1. Tales and songs of the Gypsies of Russia. M., 1987.S. 4.

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

3. Fairy tales and songs of the Gypsies of Russia. M., 1987.S. 4.

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

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

6. Fairy tales and songs of the Gypsies of Russia. M., 1987.S. 5.

7. Ibid. C.5.

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

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

10. Ibid. P.13.

11. Ibid. P.79.

12. Ibid. P.17.

13. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990.S. 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.S. 18.

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

17. Ibid. S.44-48.

18. Ibid. P.52.

19. Druts E., Gessler A. Gypsies. M., 1990.S. 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 - twentieth centuries. P.36.

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

Ursari gypsies. Image courtesy of the wikimedia foundation

In the beginning a legend
Previously, gypsies lived in Egypt between the Tsin and Gan rivers. But then he came to power in this country bad king who decided to turn all Egyptians into slaves. Then the freedom-loving gypsies left Egypt and settled around the world. I heard this story as a child in the Belarusian city of Slutsk from an old gypsy grandfather who traded in a local bazaar. Then I had to hear and read it in different versions. For example, about the fact that the Roma originate from the island of Tsi on the Ganges River. Or that the gypsies dispersed in different directions, crossing the Tsi-Gan River.
Oral history does not last long. As a rule, more or less truthful information about historical events is preserved for only three generations. There are exceptions, such as the ancient Greek poems about Trojan War or Icelandic sagas. They passed on the news of the events of centuries ago. But this happened thanks to professional storytellers. The gypsies did not have such storytellers, so myths took the place of truthful information. They were created on the basis of legends of local peoples, biblical stories and outright fables.
The gypsies do not remember that the name of their people comes from the Greek word atsigganos. This was the name of the medieval Christian sect of sorcerers and fortunetellers from Phrygia (now the territory of Turkey). By the time the gypsies appeared in Balkan Greece, it was destroyed, but the memory of it was preserved and was transferred to the still little-known people.
In some countries, gypsies are still called Egyptians (remember english word Gypsies or Spanish Gitano). This name also originates in the Balkan Peninsula, where immigrants from Egypt have long hunted tricks and circus performances. After the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, the flow of magicians from there dried up, but the word "Egyptian" became a household word and was transferred to the gypsies.
Finally, the self-designation of European Gypsies "Roma" sometimes refers them to immigrants from Rome. We will talk about the real origin of this word below. But, if we remember that in the Middle Ages the inhabitants of Byzantium called themselves nothing other than the Romans, then we again return to the Balkan Peninsula.
It is curious that the first written records of the Roma are also associated with the Balkan Peninsula. In the life of the Greek monk George of Athos, written in 1068, it is said that shortly before his death, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh appealed to some Indians to clear his gardens of wild animals. In the 12th century, to the displeasure of Orthodox monks, Gypsies traded amulets in Constantinople, predicted fate and performed with trained bears. In 1322, the Irish pilgrim Simon Fitz-Simons met them on the island of Crete. In 1348, the record of Roma appears in Serbia, in 1378 - in Bulgaria, in 1383 - in Hungary, in 1416 - in Germany, in 1419 - in France, in 1501 - in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the Middle Ages, the arrival of immigrants was always welcomed by feudal lords, as they relied on cheap labor. In 1417, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg even issued a certificate of protection to the Gypsies. But very soon the European monarchs became disillusioned with the newcomers. They did not want to settle in specific location and more like tramps. Already in the 15th century, laws began to be adopted aimed at expelling the Roma. Moreover, in some cases, violators were threatened with the death penalty. The gypsies left and returned. They had nowhere to go, since they did not remember where their homeland was. If the homeland is not the Balkan Peninsula, where did they come from?

Ancestral home in India
In 1763, the Transylvanian pastor Istvan Vali compiled a dictionary of the Gypsy language and came to the conclusion that it is of Indo-Aryan origin. Since then, linguists have found many facts to support his conclusion. In 2004 - 2012, the works of geneticists appeared, who determined that the ancestral home of the Roma should be sought in the northwest of India. They found that most Roma men come from a small group of relatives who lived 32 to 40 generations ago. Fifteen centuries ago, they left their homes and for some reason moved west.
The evidence for the Indian origin of the Roma is so clear that in 2016 the Indian Foreign Ministry declared Roma to be part of the overseas Indian community. Therefore, if you want to know how many Indians live, for example, on the territory of Belarus, add 7079 Belarusian Roma to the 545 immigrants from India!
At the same time, neither linguists nor geneticists have yet precisely determined which ancestors of which modern Indian people (after all, there are many peoples living in India!) Are related to the Gypsies. This is partly due to the fact that different tribes live in the northwest of India. There are especially many of them in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Perhaps the ancestors of the Gypsies were one small tribe. After they left for the west, in India they did not have any close relatives and descendants.
“Wait, how is it! - someone will exclaim. "After all, there are gypsies in India!" Travelers write about Indian Gypsies in blogs, shoot them on video. I myself have seen in the north of India representatives of the people who are called there "banjara", "garmati", "lambani" and so on. Many of them continue to lead a nomadic lifestyle, live in tents, begging or petty trade. The attitude of the Indians towards them is about the same as that of the Europeans towards the Roma. That is, despite all the tolerances and romantic fairy tales, it is very bad. However, "banjara-garmati" are not gypsies. This nation has its own history. He comes from Gujarat, but the "gypsy" way of life began to lead only in the 17th century. The "Banjara-garmati" and the Gypsies are indeed distant relatives, but not to a greater extent than other tribes and peoples of northwest India.

How the gypsies ended up in the west
In 2004, British historian Donald Kendrick published the book The Gypsies: From the Ganges to the Thames. He tried to summarize all the known information that can shed light on the appearance of the Roma in Europe. His work is only a version, there are many indirect facts and controversial conclusions in it. Nevertheless, it looks believable, and it is worth retelling it very briefly to Russian-speaking readers.
The migration of Indians westward to the neighboring Persian Empire began more than 1,500 years ago. The Persian poem "Shahnameh" tells about this in lyrical form. Shah Brahram Gur, who allegedly ruled in the 5th century, turned to one of the Indian kings with a request to send luri musicians. Each musician received a cow and a donkey, as the shah wanted the settlers to settle on the earth and bring up new generations of musicians. But more often the Indians moved to Persia as mercenary soldiers and artisans. D. Kendrick notes that in Iran the ancestors of the gypsies could get acquainted with the wagons. Later, the wardo wagon would become a symbol of the Gypsy nomads in Europe.
In 651, Persia was conquered by the Muslim Arabs. The Arabs knew the Indian settlers under the name "Zott". Perhaps it comes from the Jat people, who nowadays live just in the northwest of India. The Zott formed a kind of state in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, collecting tribute from passing merchants for the use of trade routes. Their arbitrariness angered the Caliph Al-Mutasim, who defeated the Zott in 834. He moved some of the prisoners to the area of ​​the city of Antioch on the border with Byzantium. Now it is the border between Turkey and Syria. Here they served as shepherds, guarding the herds from wild animals.
In 969, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus captured Antioch. Thus, the ancestors of the Gypsies ended up within the Byzantine Empire. For some time they lived in the east of Anatolia, where a significant part of the population was made up of Armenians. It is not without reason that many linguists find borrowings from Armenian in the Gypsy language.
From Eastern Anatolia, part of the Roma moved to Constantinople and the Balkan Peninsula, and then to other European countries. These gypsies are known to us as "rum". But another part of the Roma remained in Anatolia and, already during the Turkish conquests, mastered the expanses of the Middle East, Transcaucasia, Iran, Egypt. They are known as "home". Gypsies "home" still live in Muslim countries, profess Islam, but separate themselves from the Arabs, Turks and Persians. It is characteristic that in Israel they cooperate with the authorities and even serve in the Israeli army. In neighboring Egypt, Domari live near large cities. Among the Egyptians, their women have the dubious reputation of being good dancers and cheap prostitutes.

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

In Armenia, the "lom" gypsies, also known as "bosha", adopted Christianity and now hardly differ from the rest of the Armenians. In Central Asia, the house began to be spoken in Tajik language and call themselves "Mugat", although the surrounding peoples often call them "Lyuli". In Western China, on the southern slopes of the Tien Shan mountains and in the oases of the Taklamakan desert, one can meet quite exotic gypsies "einu". They speak a strange language in which Indo-Aryan and Tajik words are combined with Turkic grammar. Einu are ordinary peasants and artisans who are not prone to theft, begging or drug dealing. However, the Chinese and Uyghur neighbors treat them with contempt. Einu themselves say that they came to China from Iran, that is, they are descendants of medieval Zott or all the same Gypsies "house".
The names "rum" and "house" have a common origin, differ only in pronunciation. But, if "rum" refers our fantasy to Rome, then "home" clarifies the true roots of the self-designation of the gypsies. In the Punjabi language, the word "dam-i" means a man or a man.

Second coming
So, in the XIV century, the Roma began to leave the cozy Balkan Peninsula, where they spent several centuries, and move to other European countries. There is nothing surprising in this, if we remember that during this period the Turkish conquest of the lands of the former Byzantine Empire took place. However, the number of immigrants cannot be called huge. This is evidenced by the materials about the persecution of the Roma by the authorities. As a rule, until the 18th century, the Roma communities in European countries numbered only a few hundred people each. In Russia, Gypsies are not mentioned until 1733, and even then they lived only in the Baltic States.
TO XIX century many European Gypsies left their nomadic way of life, somehow fit into existing social structures, served in the army, and participated in the colonial expansion of European peoples. Negative image the gypsy gradually eroded. Romantic poets sang the love of gypsies for freedom. But in the middle of the 19th century, a new stream of Roma settlers poured from the Balkan Peninsula, to whom the definition of free was never matched.
Where did they come from? Despite the Turkish invasion, most of the medieval Roma chose to stay where they used to be. V early XVII century we find gypsy suburbs near the Athos monastery, a settlement of gypsy craftsmen in Bulgaria and even a gypsy soldier in the Ottoman army. While the Roma were persecuted in European countries, in the Ottoman Port they were recognized as subjects of the Sultan, paid taxes and in some cases enjoyed a certain degree of independence.
It is not surprising that there were many sedentary among the Ottoman gypsies. Some converted to Islam, others remained Christians, and still others tried to merge with the local population. Thus, a small group of Ashkali Roma appeared in Kosovo, who lived in permanent villages, practiced gardening and spoke Albanian. In Bulgaria, Roma more often adopted the Turkish language and culture.

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

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