The Roma, Gypsies, Roma are a traditionally itinerant people originally from North India, spread all over the world, mainly in Europe.
Language and origins
Most Roma speak a form of Romani, closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of North India, and also the main language of the country in which they live. It is generally accepted that Romani groups left India many times, and by the 11th century they were already in Persia, at the beginning of the 14th century. - in South-Eastern Europe, and in the XV century. reached Western Europe. By the second half of the twentieth century. they spread across all inhabited continents.
Persons of Roma nationality refer to themselves by the common name "Roma" (which means "man" or "husband"), and all non-Roma by the term "gadzho" or "gadzho" (a word with a derogatory connotation that means "hillbilly " or "barbarian"). Many Roma consider the name "gypsies" offensive.
Demography
Due to their nomadic lifestyle, lack of official census data, and their mixing with other nomadic groups, estimates of the total global number of Roma are in the range of two to five million people. No reliablestatistical data based on sporadic reporting in different countries is not available. The majority of Roma still live in Europe, especially in the Slavic-speaking states of Central Europe and the Balkans. Many of them live in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, the countries of the former Yugoslavia and neighboring Bulgaria and Romania.
Permanent migrants
The stereotype of nomadic gypsies is often at odds with the fact that fewer and fewer of them are truly constantly migrating. However, their travel is limited. All nomadic Roma migrate along established routes that ignore national borders. They also follow a chain of kinship or tribal ties.
Gypsies' predisposition to a nomadic way of life is caused by forced expulsions or deportations. 80 years after their first appearance in Western Europe in the 15th century, they were expelled from almost all countries of Western Europe. Despite the fact that the Roma nationality became the cause of systematic persecution and export abroad, however, the Roma continued to appear in one form or another in the countries they left.
Objects of persecution
All non-sedentary groups living among settled peoples seem to be making convenient scapegoats. The same is true of the Roma, who were regularly accused by the local population of many atrocities, which was a prelude to further official and legal persecution. Their relationship with host country authorities was notedsuccessive contradictions. Official edicts were often aimed at their assimilation or forced sedentary life, but local authorities systematically denied them the right to set up their camp.
During the Holocaust, the only fault of the Roma was their Roma nationality. This led to the murder of 400,000 Roma by the Nazis.
French laws nowadays forbid them to camp and made them the object of police surveillance, taxed them and conscripted them into military service as ordinary citizens.
Spain and Wales are two countries often cited as examples of countries where the Roma have become settled, if not fully assimilated.
Recently, the countries of the socialist camp in Eastern Europe have tried to implement forced settlement programs to end their nomadic lifestyle.
Gypsy professions
Traditionally, the Roma were engaged in jobs that allowed them to maintain a nomadic lifestyle, on the periphery of a settled society. The men were cattle dealers, animal trainers and entertainers, tinkers, blacksmiths, kitchen utensils menders, and musicians; women told fortunes, sold potions, begged and entertained the public.
Before the advent of veterinary medicine, many farmers sought out gypsies for advice on livestock and herd he alth issues.
Modern life of Roma reflects the "progress" of the gadjo world. Journeys are now madeon caravans of cars, trucks and trailers, and the trade in livestock was replaced by the sale of used cars and trailers. Although the mass production of kitchen utensils has put tinkers out of work, some urban gypsies have become auto mechanics and repair car bodies. If some Roma people still lead a nomadic lifestyle, then many have settled down, practicing their skills or working as laborers. Traveling circuses and amusement parks also provide jobs for modern gypsies as trainers, stall holders and fortune tellers.
Family
The classic Roma family consists of a married couple, their unmarried children and at least one married son, his wife and their children. After marriage, the young couple usually lives with the husband's parents until the young wife gets to know the way of life of her husband's family. Ideally, by the time the eldest son is ready to leave with his family, the youngest son will marry and bring his new wife into the family. Previously, marriages were traditionally organized by family or group elders to strengthen political and kinship ties with other families, groups, or, occasionally, confederations, although this practice was greatly reduced in the late twentieth century. The main feature of the Roma marriage unions was the payment of kalym to the parents of the bride by the parents of the groom.
Ethnic groups
The distinctive features of a representative of the Roma nationality are determined by territorial differences, reinforced by certain cultural and dialectal features. There are three main branches, or nations, of the gypsies:
- Kelderars are tinkers who came from the Balkans and then from Central Europe, being the most numerous.
- Iberian gypsies, or zhitanos, are a Romani nationality whose representatives live mainly in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and southern France. Strong in the art of entertainment.
- Manouche (from the French manouche), also known as Sinti, is a Romani ethnic group whose representatives live mainly in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany. Among them are many traveling showmen and circus performers.
Each Roma nationality is divided into two or more subgroups, distinguished by professional specialization or territorial origin.
Political organization
Officially, no body, congress was ever created and no "king" accepted by all Roma was elected, although "international" congresses of gypsies were held in Munich, Moscow, Bucharest, Sofia (in 1906) and in the Polish city of Ruvne (in 1936). Nevertheless, the existence of political authorities among the Roma is an established fact. Those who received noble titles such as "duke" or "count" in their early historical dealings with the local population were probably nothing more than chieftains of groups that moved in numbers from 10 to several hundred households. These leaders (voivods) were elected for life from among prominent families. Their strength and power varied independing on the size of the association, traditions and relationships with other entities within the confederation.
The voivode was the treasurer for the entire group, determined the route of its migration and participated in negotiations with the local municipal authorities. He led through a council of elders who also consulted with the senior woman of the association. The influence of the latter was strong, especially in relation to the fate of women and children, and was based on the obvious ability to earn and organize women within the group.
Social control
The strongest institution of social control of Roma people was the "kris" - the norms of customary law and justice, as well as the ritual and tribunal of the group. The basis of the Gypsy code was all-encompassing fidelity, coherence and reciprocity within a recognized political unit. The highest pen alty of the tribunal, which de alt with all disputes and violations of the code, was excommunication from the group. The sentence of ostracism could exclude a person from participation in certain activities and punish him by performing unskilled work. In some cases, the elders granted rehabilitation followed by a feast of reconciliation.
Social organization
Roma groups are made up of vics, that is, associations of extended families with a common origin both on the paternal and maternal lines, numbering at least 200 people. A large vice may have its own boss and council. You can apply for participation in vice as a result of marriage with a member of the genus. Loy alty and economic cooperation is expected at the household level, not at the vice level. The Romani language does not have a common term for household. A person can probably count on the support of a circle of significant relatives with whom he is physically close and not in a quarrel.
Spiritual beliefs
Gypsies have no official faith, and in the past they tended to despise organized religion. Today, the Roma often convert to the dominant religion of the country they live in and describe themselves as "many stars scattered in the eyes of God". Some groups are Catholic, Muslim, Pentecostal, Protestant, Anglican and Baptist.
Gypsies follow a complex set of rules that govern things like neatness, cleanliness, respect, honor and justice. These rules are called "romano". Romano means to behave with dignity and respect like a Roma person. "Romanipe" is the gypsy name for their worldview.
Tradition Keepers
The Roma were the spreaders of folk beliefs and practices in the areas where they settled (eg Romania), preserving national customs, dances and the like, which had largely disappeared from rural life at the turn of the 21st century. Their musical heritage is vast and includes, for example, flamenco. Although the Gypsies have a rich oral tradition, their written literature is relatively poor.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Roma continue to struggle with the contradictions in their culture. Although they are less likely to have to defend themselves against persecutionsides of a hostile society, some distrust and intolerance still remained. Perhaps an even greater problem they faced was the erosion of their way of life under the influence of the city in industrialized societies. The themes of familial and ethnic loy alty, typical of Roma music, helped to preserve certain notions of what Roma nationality is, but some of the younger and more talented exponents of this music, under the influence of material rewards, moved away into the outside world. Individual housing, economic independence and intermarriage with non-Romans have become more common.
