Roma (Gypsies) originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries C.E. They were called "Gypsies" because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. This minority is made up of distinct groups called "tribes" or "nations."
Historical and cultural definitions
Gypsies are thought to have arrived in Britain from the northern Indian sub-continent around 1500. The Romany language has its roots in Hindi but suggests a migration via the Middle East into South Eastern Europe.
countable noun. A Gypsy is a member of a race of people who travel from place to place, usually in caravans, rather than living in one place. Some Gypsies object to this name, and prefer to be called Romany.
Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkan peninsula, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. The total number of Romani living outside Europe are primarily in the Middle East and North Africa and in the Americas, and are estimated in total at more than two million.
The Roma do not follow a single faith, but are Catholic Manouche, Mercheros, and Sinti; Muslim Ashkali and Romanlar; Pentecostal Kalderash and Lovari; Protestant Travellers; Anglican Gypsies; and Baptist Roma.
Romani, the common language of the Roma, the Sinti, the Kale and other European popula- tion groups summarised by the pejorative denomination gypsies, belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family and is the only New-Indo-Aryan language spo- ken exclusively outside of the Indian subcontinent.
TODAY, over 25,000 Romani Gypsies secretly live and work in Australia. They have been here since the arrival of the First Fleet but do not reveal their ethnic identity to outsiders, due to fears of being stereotyped.
Common Gypsy names
You may have Romani, Traveller or Gypsy ancestry if your family tree includes common Romani or Gypsy surnames such as Boss, Boswell, Buckland, Chilcott, Codona, Cooper, Doe, Lee, Gray (or Grey), Harrison, Hearn, Heron, Hodgkins, Holland, Lee, Lovell, Loveridge, Scamp, Smith, Wood and Young.
The Romani began to leave India about 1,000 years ago. They probably left to escape the invasion of Afghan general Mahmud of Ghazni early in the 11th century. Mahmud's troops likely pushed the Romani out of northern India and into the area that is now Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
'Gypsy' is actually a term for Romani people—a whole different culture. However, if you have a free spirit, too, that wants to explore the world, meet new people, and live a worry-free life, a modern-day gypsy lifestyle is what you need.
To earn a living today, gypsies might weave furniture, make bricks, resell clothing and goods, or trade horses, but employment is typically a side note in their existence.
Rom: Gypsies of East European origin who arrived after 1880. Mostly urban, they are scattered across the entire country. One of the larger groups in the US, possibly in the 55-60,000 range. Romnichels: English Gypsies who arrived beginning in 1850.
Heterogeneity between countries has become apparent and has led to the conclusion that the European Roma are composed of two different populations, characterised respectively by a high and a low frequency of blood group B [23], or defined as East and West European Roma, with the former closely related to Indian ...
Roma, singular Rom, also called Romany or Gypsies (considered pejorative), an ethnic group of traditionally itinerant people who originated in northern India but live in modern times worldwide, principally in Europe.
As the Roma traveled, they took the DNA and genetic history that they picked up along the way with them. Consequently, it's not uncommon for a Roma individual to get DNA results that reflect a mix that includes South Asian DNA, Middle Eastern DNA, and one or even several European ethnicities.
Gypsy leaders. The Boswells were for centuries one of England's largest and most important Gypsy families. The Boswell clan were a large extended family of Travellers, and in old Nottinghamshire dialect the word bos'll was used as a term for Travellers and Roma in general.
Both Rom and Romany have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy.
a member of a group of people who travel from place to place esp. in Europe and who originally came from northern India, or anyone who travels often and does not live in one place for long.
Romani in Australia
There is very little data on Australian Romani; we don't know how many people identify as Romani or practise their culture. It is not known when the first Roma arrived in Australia; some claim that it was as early as the. late 18th century.
Gypsy Roma Travellers are not currently recognised as indigenous, but could be. These communities have distinct cultural practices and experience colonisation. These communities have higher mortality, morbidity and infant mortality.
Today, roughly 25,000 call Australia home. Political correctness has not yet defeated the term Gypsy, but most identify as Romani or Roma. An individual is a Rom.
The Doma/Roma arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially central, eastern and southern Europe (notably southern France), as well as western Asia (mainly Turkey).
There is no king or queen. Traveller families often have someone that makes the main decisions that will affect the family as a whole, and is usually a patriarch or matriarch of the family. This is often the same for Romany people, who have no tradition of royalty.
The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti or Kale, depending on the sub-group, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group which primarily lives in Europe.