Who are the gypsies and where is their homeland? Gypsies: who are they and where are they from? Livelihood and recreation

Gypsies are perhaps one of the most incomprehensible and mythologized peoples on our planet, and this has been the case for many centuries. There are rumors around the world that when gypsies come to a city, they seduce men and women and then steal everything in sight, including children. There are also many myths about cunning and mysterious gypsy fortune tellers and gypsy camps. In any case, even if we put all myths and misconceptions aside, the Roma remain one of the most interesting ethnic groups in history.

1. Where did they come from?

The origins of the Gypsies are shrouded in mystery. At times it seemed that they appeared on the planet in some mysterious way. This in itself may have created a sense of fear among Europeans and contributed to the atmosphere of mystery surrounding the Gypsies. Modern scholars suggest that the Gypsies originally migrated en masse from India in the fifth century.

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

2. Nomadic lifestyle of gypsies

Many stereotypes have long been formed around the gypsies. Who doesn’t know the phrase “gypsy soul” (which is used in relation to freedom-loving people). According to these stereotypes, gypsies prefer to live outside the “mainstream” and eschew social norms in order to be able to lead a nomadic lifestyle full of fun and dancing. The truth is much darker.

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

3. Gypsies have no homeland

Gypsies are people without a specific citizenship. Most countries refuse to grant them citizenship, even if they were born in that country. Centuries of persecution and their closed community have led to the fact that the Roma simply have no homeland. In 2000, the Roma were officially declared a non-territorial nation. This lack of citizenship makes the Roma legally "invisible".

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

4. Gypsy persecution.

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

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

5. Nobody knows how many gypsies there are in the world

Nobody knows how many gypsies live around the world today. Due to the discrimination that Roma often face, many of them do not publicly register or identify themselves as Roma. In addition, given their “legal invisibility”, the birth of children without documents and frequent moves, many Roma are listed as missing.

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

6. Gypsies are an offensive word

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

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

7. Future, inexpensive...

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

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

8. Lack of formal religion

European folklore often claims that the Roma made a temple out of cream cheese. Presumably, they ate it during a period of severe famine, so they were left without an official religion. Generally, Gypsies join the church that is most widespread in the country in which they live. However, there are many traditional Romani beliefs. Some scholars believe that there are many connections between Roma beliefs and Hinduism.

9. Modesty

Although gypsy weddings are often accompanied by mass celebrations and luxurious attire, the everyday clothing of gypsies reflects one of their main life principles - modesty. Gypsy dancing is most often associated with women's belly dancing. However, many Romani women have never performed what is considered today belly dancing.

Instead, they perform traditional dances that use only their bellies for movement, not their thighs, as moving the hips is considered immodest. Additionally, the long, flowing skirts typically worn by gypsy women serve to cover their legs, as exposing their legs is also considered immodest.

10. The Gypsy contribution to world culture is enormous

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

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1. "Gypsies" is a collective term, the same as "Slavs", "Caucasians", "Scandinavians" or "Latin Americans". Several dozen nationalities belong to the gypsies.

2. The Roma have a national anthem, a flag and an artistic culture, including literature.

3. Gypsies are conventionally divided into Eastern and Western.

4. The Gypsies as a nation were formed in Persia (eastern branch) and the Roman Empire (aka Romea, aka Byzantium; western branch). In general, when talking about gypsies, they usually mean Western gypsies (Roma and Kale groups).

5. Since the Roma gypsies are Caucasians and arose as a nation in a European country, they are Europeans, and not a “mysterious eastern people,” as journalists like to write. Of course, like the Russians and Spaniards, they still have some heritage of Eastern mentality.

6. “Eastern” gypsies began to be called gypsies only in the 19th and 20th centuries, when Europeans visiting Asia drew attention to their external resemblance to gypsies, as well as some common crafts and traditions. “Eastern” gypsies have a culture that differs sharply from the “general gypsy” (i.e., the culture of the noticeably more numerous and culturally developed “western” gypsies), although both have a common cultural heritage of Indian ancestors. “Eastern” and “Western” gypsies practically do not communicate.

7. The Romani languages ​​are overwhelmingly descendants of Sanskrit. Ethnically, the Gypsies are descendants of the Aryans, with a Dravidian admixture (the Dravidians are the indigenous population of India, conquered by the Aryans, one of the oldest literate cultures, at the time of the conquest they were more developed than the culture of the nomadic Aryans).

8. Contrary to the statements of some people who are far from ethnography and history, there was never any “expulsion of the Gypsies” from India and the Roman Empire.

In India there were no gypsies at all, there were Hindus. According to recent genetic and linguistic studies, the ancestors of the Gypsies, a group of Hindus of the "house" caste of approximately 1,000 people, left India sometime in the 6th century. It is assumed that this group of musicians and jewelers was presented by the Indian ruler to the Persian, as was the custom of that time. Already in Persia, the size of the group grew greatly, and a social division appeared within it (mainly by profession); In the 9th–10th centuries, part of the Roma began to gradually move westward and finally reached Byzantium and Palestine (two different branches). Some remained in Persia and from there spread to the east. Some of these gypsies eventually reached the homeland of their distant ancestors - India.

9. The gypsies left Byzantium during the period of its conquest by Muslims, in the hope of receiving help from fellow Christians (the people and times were naive). The exodus from the Roman Empire lasted for decades. Some Gypsies, however, remained in their homeland for various reasons. Their descendants eventually converted to Islam.

10. There is a hypothesis that the gypsies received the nickname “Egyptians” back in Byzantium, for their dark complexion and for the fact that the most noticeable part of the gypsies, like the visiting Egyptians, were engaged in circus art. Another nickname was associated with circus art and fortune telling, from which the word “gypsies” came: “atsingane”. Initially, this was the name given to certain sectarians seeking secret knowledge. But over time, apparently, the word has become a household word, ironic for anyone involved in esotericism, magic tricks, fortune telling and divination. The gypsies even then called themselves “Roma” and gave themselves the nickname “kale”, that is, dark-skinned, dark-skinned

11. It is believed that it was the gypsies who widely spread belly dancing in Muslim countries. However, there is no evidence or refutation of this.

12. Traditional areas of activity for Gypsies include the arts, trade, horse breeding and crafts (from the prosaic of brick making and basket weaving to the romantic art of jewelry and embroidery).

13. Soon after coming to Europe, the Gypsies became one of the victims of great socio-economic crises and were subjected to severe persecution. This has led to severe marginalization and criminalization of Roma. What saved the Gypsies from complete extermination was the generally neutral or friendly attitude of the majority of the common people, who did not want to implement bloody laws against the Gypsies.

14. They say that the famous Papus learned fortune telling from the gypsies.

15. The Inquisition was never interested in the gypsies.

16. Medicine knows no cases of leprosy among the Roma. The most common blood types among Roma are III and I. The percentage of III and IV blood is very high compared to other European peoples.

17. In the Middle Ages, Gypsies, like Jews, were accused of cannibalism.

18. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with increasing tolerance towards them in European society, the crime rate of the Roma decreased sharply and greatly. In the 19th century, a very rapid process of integration of Roma into society began in Europe.

19. Gypsies came to Russia more than 300 years ago. Like other now established peoples (for example, Kalmyks), they received imperial permission to live in Russia and engage in traditional crafts (trade, horse breeding, fortune telling, singing and dancing). After some time, these gypsies began to call themselves Russian Roma, which is still the largest gypsy nationality in Russia. By 1917, the Russian Roma were the most integrated and educated Gypsies in Russia.

20. At various times, Kelderars (Kotlyars), Lovaris, Servas, Ursaris, Vlachs and other gypsies also immigrated to Russia.

21. Almost all names of Roma nationalities are either the names of key professions or reflect the name of the country they consider their homeland. This says a lot about Roma priorities.

22. The famous gypsy national costume was invented in the 19th century. The Kalderars were the first to wear it. The Russian Roma national costume was invented by artists to create a more exotic stage image. Historically, Gypsies have always tended to wear clothing typical of their country of residence.

23. Gypsies are famous pacifists. However, at various times they served with the armies and in the armies of Germany, Prussia, Sweden and Russia.

In 1812, Russian Roma voluntarily donated large sums of money for the maintenance of the Russian army. Young Roma boys fought as part of the Russian troops.

At the same time, what’s funny is that quite a few French gypsies fought in Napoleon’s army. There is even a description of a meeting between two gypsies from different sides during the battle between the Spaniards and the French.

During the Second World War, Gypsies participated in hostilities as part of both regular armies (USSR, France; privates, tank crews, military engineers, pilots, orderlies, artillerymen, etc.) and partisan groups, mixed and purely Gypsy (USSR , France, Eastern Europe). The guerrilla actions of the Roma against the Nazis are sometimes called “Aryans against Aryans.”

24. As a result of the systematic targeted extermination of the Gypsies by the Nazis, about 150,000 Gypsies (for comparison, in the USSR lived from 60,000, according to the census, to 120,000, according to assumptions) died in Europe. "Gypsy Holocaust" is called Kali Thrash (there are also variants Samudaripen and Paraimos).

25. Among the outstanding Roma there are scientists, writers, poets, composers, musicians, singers, dancers, actors, directors, boxers (including champions), football players, historians, politicians, priests, missionaries, artists and sculptors.

Some are better known, for example, Marishka Veres, Ion Voicu, Janos Bihari, Cem Mace, Mateo Maximov, Yul Brynner, Tony Gatlif, Bob Hoskins, Nikolay Slichenko, Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagren, others less, but can also boast of significant contributions to gypsy culture.

26. If you see the phrase “nomadic people” without quotation marks in an article about Russian gypsies, you don’t have to read it. The author will not write anything truly reliable if he does not even know the fact that only 1% of Russian Gypsies are nomadic.

27. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, despite the fact that in the media Roma fraud is in first place when mentioned in criminal articles, in statistics they are in last place. Ethnographers believe that the situation with gypsy fraud and drug trafficking is similar in Russia.

28. During Stalin's time, the Roma were subjected to targeted repression.

29. The term “gypsy baron” has been used by gypsies only for the last couple of decades, and not by everyone. This is borrowed from the media and romantic literature. The term is used specifically to communicate with non-Gypsies.

30. There are several notable gypsy theaters in the world: in Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Germany, as well as smaller theaters and studios in these and other countries.

31. One of the most interesting gypsy concepts is the concept of “filth”. It is associated with the lower part of the body of a married or just an adult woman. All she has to do is walk over something and the place becomes “desecrated.” Clothing worn by a woman below the waist and shoes are automatically considered “defiled.” Therefore, the women's national costume of many gypsies around the world includes a large apron. And for the same reason, in order not to be desecrated, gypsies prefer to live in small, one-story houses.

32. Short hair among gypsies is a symbol of dishonor. The hair of the exiled and isolated was cut. Until now, gypsies avoid very short haircuts.

33. Gypsies understand many simple phrases spoken in Hindi. That's why gypsies love some Indian films so much.

34. Roma have “undesirable” professions, which are usually hidden so as not to “fall out” of Roma society. These are, for example, factory work, street cleaning and journalism.

35. Like every nation, gypsies have their own national dishes. Since ancient times, gypsies lived in or near the forest, so they ate animals caught in hunts - hares, wild boars and others. A special national dish of the gypsies is hedgehog, fried or stewed.

36. Carriers of gypsy genes are called Romano rats. Romanians are recognized as having the right, if they wish, to become gypsies. Romano Rath is the guitarist of the Rolling Stones group Ronnie Wood, Sergei Kuryokhin, Yuri Lyubimov, Charlie Chaplin and Anna Netrebko.

37. The word “lave” in Russian slang is borrowed from the Gypsy language, where it has the form “lowe” (Gypsies do not “akayut”) and the meaning “money”.

38. An earring in one ear of a gypsy means that he is the only son in the family.

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Gypsies are a people without a state. For a long time they were considered to have come from Egypt and were called the “pharaoh’s tribe,” but recent research disproves this. In Russia, the gypsies have created a real cult of their music.

Why are gypsies “gypsies”?

Gypsies don't call themselves that. Their most common self-name for gypsies is “Roma”. Most likely, this is the influence of the life of the gypsies in Byzantium, which received this name only after its fall. Before that, it was considered part of Roman civilization. The common “Romale” is the vocative case of 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, “zingani”), 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 “atsingani” (αθίγγανος, ατσίγγανος), which means “untouchable”. This term first appears in the “Life of George of Athos,” written in the 11th century. “Conventionally,” because in this book “untouchables” is the name given to one of the heretical sects of that time. This means that it is impossible to say with certainty that the book is specifically about gypsies.

Where did the gypsies come from?

In the Middle Ages, Gypsies in Europe were considered Egyptians. The word Gitanes itself is a derivative of the Egyptian. There were two Egypts 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 region, where their migration came from. Belonging to the cults of lower Egypt is visible in the life of even modern gypsies.

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

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

The Indian tradition has been preserved in Gypsy culture in the form of practices for working with consciousness. The mechanisms of meditation and gypsy hypnosis are largely similar; gypsies are good animal trainers, just like Hindus. In addition, gypsies are characterized by syncretism of spiritual beliefs - one of the features of current Indian culture.

The first gypsies in Russia

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

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

“In addition, for the maintenance of these regiments, determine taxes from the gypsies, both in Little Russia and in the Sloboda regiments and in the Great Russian cities and districts assigned to the Sloboda regiments, and for this collection, identify a special person, since the gypsies 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 horses, since they “proved themselves to be natives here” (that is, they had lived here for more than a generation).

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

On equal terms

In the Russian Empire, Gypsies were treated quite friendly. On December 21, 1783, a Decree of Catherine II was issued, classifying the Gypsies as a peasant class. Taxes began to be collected from them. However, no special measures were taken to force the enslavement of the Roma. Moreover, they were allowed to be assigned to any class except nobles.

Already in the Senate decree of 1800 it is said that in some provinces “gypsies became merchants and townspeople.”

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

In Russia, the musical and performing culture of the Roma is appreciated. Already in 1774, Count Orlov-Chesmenky summoned the first gypsy choir to Moscow, which later grew into a choir and marked the beginning of professional gypsy performance in the Russian Empire.

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

Gypsies also helped Russians during wars. In the War of 1812, Gypsy communities donated large sums of money to support the army, supplied the best horses for the cavalry, and 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 kolderar.

Currently, the number of European gypsies, according to various estimates, ranges from 8 million to 10-12 million people. There were officially 175.3 thousand people in the USSR (1970 census). According to the 2010 census, about 220 thousand Roma live in Russia.

According to linguistic and genetic studies, the ancestors of the Roma left India in a group of about 1,000 people. The time of migration of the ancestors of the Roma from India is not precisely established, as is the number of migration waves. But it is known that the padishah from India gave 1000 people as a token of gratitude to the Shah of Persia. Various researchers approximately determine the outcome of the so-called “proto-Gypsy” groups in the 6th-10th centuries AD. e. According to the most popular version, based on an analysis of loanwords in the languages ​​of the Roma, the ancestors of modern Roma spent about 400 years in Persia before the Roma branch moved west into the territory of Byzantium. They were the ancestors of European gypsies: Roma, Kale, Sinti, Manush. Some migrants remained in the Middle East. There is an opinion that another branch passed to Palestine and through it to Egypt.

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

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

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

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

World Gypsy Day - 04/08/1971.

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