Gypsies: who are they and where are they from? The history of the origin of the gypsies What peoples belong to the gypsy nationality

In reference literature, instead of the usual word "gypsies", the term "Roma" is often found. The answer to the question of why this particular name is preferred should be sought in the distant past. In this article, you can read about the history of this people and find out what the gypsy flag looks like.

Ancestors of modern gypsies

It is worth noting that the term "Roma" is common only in European countries and on the American continent. The Armenians call these people “crowbars”, while the Palestinians and Syrians call them “houses”. Among linguists, there are two versions of the origin of modern gypsies:

1. A very long time ago, the northwestern regions of India were inhabited by a people, some of which migrated to neighboring states.
2. Many centuries ago, the gypsies settled on the territory of the Roman Empire (Byzantium), where they lived for almost three hundred years. Accordingly, they called each other Romans. Thus, after the ending was isolated from this name and introduced into the gypsy language, it acquired a new sound, i.e. "roms". Despite the logically sound explanation, the ancestors of the wandering gypsies must still be sought in India.

It would be wrong to think that the Roma set off on a journey without a specific goal, wherever their eyes look, or wandered in search of adventure. Apparently, they left their homes, as they say, not from a good life. Gypsies were forced to roam for serious reasons. Most likely, they were driven by economic considerations. Only in uncharted lands was there an audience for camp artists, many new clients who were interested in divination. Artisans were given the opportunity to trade the result of their labor. The history of the gypsy people is filled with pain, but at the same time, the people did not forget about fun and dancing.

passionate people

There are differences between Roma depending on the country of their residence. It is not easy to understand the composition. There are different ones with different dialects, and other specific characteristics of culture and ethnic group.

Gypsies are for whom generally recognized human values ​​are in the background. A completely different attitude to gold and freedom. Representatives of this nationality are unsurpassed thieves. Roma tend to take revenge on anyone. Passionate gypsy love is also legendary, and songs overflowing with emotions touch the soul. The music of the gypsies has a special flavor, so it is always a pleasure to listen to the works of the camp.

Problems with education

But among the Roma, with rare exceptions, one can find representatives of intelligent and creative professions: architects, painters, writers, etc. These freedom-loving people sacredly honor their national identity, do not "dissolve" in the culture of the area where they have to live by the will of fate. There is even a Gypsy flag of its own.

Despite the fact that representatives of the gypsy nationality are found in almost all corners of the globe where civilization is present, they managed to preserve their cultural identity. Including the caste division of community members characteristic of India. Once upon a time there was a custom among the Gypsies, according to which the Gypsy family took on the upbringing of other people's street children. Every mother taught her daughters the tricks of divination.

The role of men and women in the camp

According to the Gypsy tradition, several families united in a camp. Each of them had the right to withdraw from this team when the desire arose. The maximum number of mobile tents reached 25. Everything that was earned had to be equally divided among all members of the community, including the disabled and the elderly. The exception was representatives of both sexes who did not start families, each of them could count on only half of the due share. Men's and women's groups went to earn money, between which communication and mutual assistance were established.

Gypsy culture is a shock to civilized peoples, but despite this, many traditions have remained to this day.

Rules of life in the camp

Everyone who lived in the camp had to strictly observe the laws of morality established in the collective. The punishment was exile for some time or forever. At the head of the camp was an authoritative leader, to whom everyone had to obey implicitly. He, if necessary, could play the role of a judge. But as soon as the leader committed an unfair act once, he was immediately deprived of his powers and expelled from the camp.

In the camp, men occupied a leading position, i.e. a woman, regardless of age, had to obey her husband or father, respectively. Moreover, it was the duty of women to ensure that men and families were fed. The Gypsy flag can be seen in almost every camp. Some are surprised that the nomads have their own symbols.

A man was given the opportunity to acquire several wives, who actually became his workers. It was beneficial. Polygamy guaranteed not only comfort, but also, to some extent, material well-being. No wonder, because the peculiarity of the gypsy family is that fortune tellers and beggars provided their closest people with money.

Women's share in the camp

According to the gypsy tradition, the father, giving his daughter in marriage, paid a bride price. Girls of 15 or even 12 years old were suitable for creating a marriage. A woman who became a mother for the first time wore a special headdress, confirming the fact of her marriage.

From that moment on, she could go out into the street and beg for alms. A gypsy family has a large number of children. Therefore, the mother-woman had to work very hard to clothe and feed them all. When she left for "work", the children remained, at best, under the supervision of elderly grandmothers. Such living conditions of the younger generation explain why not all of them managed to survive.

Such gypsy customs are shocking. The question of how the children of this people grow up has been repeatedly raised, but traditions remain, and not everyone is ready to destroy them.

Origin and other features

Due to the prevalence of Roma, there are dialects in their language. Nomadic or settled gypsies have to learn the language of the region in which they want to live. The historical relationship of the Gypsies with India is confirmed by the fact that their vocabulary contains almost thirty percent of Sanskrit (Old Indo-Aryan) borrowings. The Gypsy flag appeared relatively recently precisely for these reasons.

As far as religion and beliefs are concerned, there is no constancy. Gypsies quickly adapt, i.e. adopt the customs of the local people. In any case, they remain superstitious.

Also, the environment has a significant impact on the diet and style of clothing. In the crowd, a gypsy is easily recognizable by her long, wide and colorful skirt; traditionally, she decorates her ears with earrings, her neck with necklaces, her wrists with bracelets, and her fingers with rings. And the music of the gypsies is the most recognizable and sincere.

National flag

In 1971, the World Gypsy Congress took place in the capital of England, which approved the national sign. The upper part of the cloth is painted blue, symbolizing the sky and spirituality. The lower half primarily symbolizes the surface of the earth, the green field; focuses on such character traits of the gypsies as practicality and their inherent cheerfulness. The Gypsy flag carries a special meaning.

Multi-colored horizontal stripes have the same height. The boundary between them is the center line that runs through the center of the eight-spoked red wheel, the symbol of the path. This element of the flag indicates that the gypsies prefer a nomadic lifestyle. The wheel is painted in a color associated with the blood of those gypsies who died during the Second World War. Initially, the Gypsy flag was with a golden wheel.

According to an optimistic explanation, the wheel has a festive red color, since the representatives of this people are very fond of holidays. Gypsies, who belong to different ethnic groups, use different shades when depicting a wheel (chakra) on the flag's cloth.

There is also a gypsy anthem. It can often be heard in camps near cities.

Gypsies are a whole ethnic group that has a common origin and language. Today, Roma live all over the planet, except for Antarctica. Nobody knows the true number of Roma in the world, because they do not participate in the population census, they do not keep an independent record either. And some countries do not know if there are Roma on their territory at all, because many of them still lead a nomadic lifestyle.

Where are they from

A very interesting question - where did the gypsies come from. More than one study has been conducted on this topic, and today a single point of view has been formed - the Roma are from India.

In fact, this group of peoples was formed at the end of the 1st millennium AD. At that time, the dominance of Muslim culture began in India. Then the gypsies came to Asia Minor and lingered there while Byzantium reigned.

Worldwide distribution

Where did the gypsies come from? Even if they are the ancestors of the Hindus, how did they spread throughout the world? It is believed that in the period from the 13th to the 15th century, the Roma were actively settled throughout Europe. Until the 15th century, they were perceived quite benevolently. But then they began to perceive them as vagabonds, they were evicted outside the states, that is, the people were outside the law. By the 18th century, some countries began to be more tolerant of Roma. And from the same time, a division into settled and nomadic gypsies appeared.

How did the Roma get to Russia?

It is believed that the gypsies came to the territory of Russia in two ways:

• through the Balkans, and it was around the XV-XVI centuries;
• through Germany and Poland in the XVI-XVII centuries.

Until the October Revolution, the Roma were engaged in the theft and exchange of horses, and women were guessing. Nomads also guessed and begged, but some were engaged in blacksmithing.

The same gypsies who settled in Moscow and St. Petersburg were in choral ensembles.

After the revolution, they tried to teach the gypsies to settle down and work. And in 1931, the gypsy theater "Romen" was even opened in the capital. During World War II, many settled Roma went to war.

In 1956, there was a second attempt to make the entire gypsy people settled, they were given the right to work and education. But not many wanted to live like everyone else, not even all families took the opportunity to educate their children for free.

Modern settlement

In the last century, numerous attempts were made in many countries to improve the legal status of the Roma, committees and institutions were created. Festivals were held, even in the country where the gypsies came from. For example, the "International Gypsy Festival" in Chandigahr, 1976.

However, these activities began to take place only after the Second World War. During the military conflict, many groups of gypsies throughout Europe were almost completely destroyed by the fires of the Holocaust. And only from the 70s of the last century did the gypsy national movement begin. And it does not matter that the people do not have their own state, the gypsies are supporters of the fact that they are a non-territorial nation, but with a rich culture and traditions.

Since the 90s, quite professional representatives of this ethnic group have appeared: journalists, politicians, educators. Language standardization rules are being formed that allow them to communicate even at the international level.

gypsy language

According to the generally accepted international classification, the gypsies are carriers of one of the variants of the medieval Indo-Aryan dialect - shaurasena apabhransha.

In different countries, the Roma formed their language in close contact with the language of the country where they lived. Therefore, for different groups, speech can be radically different from the language used on another continent. And some gypsies have lost their language altogether and completely switched to the one they use in the country where they live. That is, regardless of where the gypsies came from, namely from India, each ethnic group demonstrates a different degree of preservation of their native language. To date, the simplest classification is represented by four groups:

1. Balkan group. This is the dialect used by the gypsies living in Europe, in particular, in the historical part of the settlement: Kosovo, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and a number of other countries.
2. Central group. The language used in Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Moravia and the Carpathians.
3. Vlach group. This dialect is the most common and studied, since there are most speakers of this particular gypsy language in the world. Initially, the language was formed in Romania.
4. Northern group. Conventionally, the group is further divided into two subgroups. The first is the dialect of the gypsies of Finland and some Western European countries. The second is the language used by the Roma in the northern part of Russia, the Baltic states and Poland.

Borrowing words

An interesting fact is that not only the Roma borrowed words from other languages. In modern Russian, there are many examples when gypsy words have firmly entered our speech. For example, the word "lave" in the gypsy language means money, and "hawt" means to eat, eat, "steal" - to steal. The word "dude" means "your boyfriend", and "labat" is translated as playing a musical instrument.

social organization

Where did the gypsies come from? From the Indians, but their genetic and cultural heritage has been so influenced by the culture of the countries where they settled that it is rather difficult to draw a generalized portrait. Although some characteristic differences of this large ethnic group can still be identified.

A group of kinship ties forms a clan, which is headed by a single leader - "baro", that is, the king, as modern media interpret. This person can represent his family even at the international level, he can consult with the elders.

The family plays a dominant role in all respects. There is a disapproving attitude towards marriages with non-gypsies. Even if the young are from different families, then such marriages are also not a very good attitude. Usually the couple is united for life, but in extreme cases divorce is allowed.

If we analyze the history of the gypsy people, then they always had a kind of internal court “kris”, consisting of a male assembly. This court exists to this day. The competence of the assembly includes the decision of marital affairs, material and moral. The court has the right to impose a fine and even expel from the community.

To this day, gypsies are very kind to their own children. If an heir is not born in the family - a son, then the family decides to adopt a boy. It does not matter if he is blond or freckled. It is believed that it was against the background of this tradition that the legend that gypsies steal children was born.

Religion

Over the course of many centuries, there were many attempts to plant their own religion on the gypsies in the places where they lived. But in fact, most of the Roma became adherents of Christianity or Islam, their own, almost pagan religion, did not have much influence on the way of life of these people, as well as others religious cults.

Surprisingly, many Gypsies quickly adopted Christianity, many Roma living in Europe adhere to Catholicism and celebrate all holidays.

Livelihood, household

As in the old days, the Roma prefer freedom, and even if they agree to work, it is only with a minimum contract term. In some countries they are hired for seasonal work picking vegetables and fruits, in other places they trade, still tell fortunes and steal. Some Roma are still engaged in entertaining the public, one of the most striking examples is Charlie Chaplin. There are gypsy choirs in Romania and Hungary to this day.

Traditionally, the Roma have preserved their love for stews and soups. That is, the kitchen consists of dishes that can be made in a cauldron or in a pot on a fire. In Europe, Roma, even settled ones, prefer very spicy and spicy dishes.

Children are rarely sent to school, and even if they are sent, they graduate at the very least from grade 3, that is, if they can write and read, then they don’t need more, it’s better to help their parents.

And still, as it was before, where the homeland of the gypsies, women wear two skirts and an apron. After all, the lower part of the gypsy is “unclean”.

Finally

Despite the partiality towards the gypsies, many representatives of this ethnic group have fully adapted to the modern world, lead a traditional way of life for European and other countries, study at institutes, master professions and live in ordinary houses, women do not wear two skirts and resolve disagreements in an ordinary court.

- Bohemiens("Bohemians", "Czechs"), Gitans(corrupted spanish Gitanos) or Tsiganes(borrowing from Greek - τσιγγάνοι, qingani), Germans - Zigeuner, Italians - Zingari, Dutch - Zigeuners, Hungarians - Cigany or faraok nepe("Pharaoh's tribe"), Georgians - ბოშები (boshebi), Finns - mustalaiset("black"), Kazakhs - sygandar, Lezgins - karachiyar("hypocrites, pretenders"); Basques - Ijitoak; Albanians - Jevgjit("Egyptians"); Jews - צוענים (tso'anim), from the name of the biblical province of Tsoan in Ancient Egypt; Persians - کولی (if); Lithuanians - Čigonai; Bulgarians - Tsigani; Estonians - "mustlased" (from "Must" - black). At present, ethnonyms from the self-name of a part of the gypsies, "Roma" (eng. Roma, Czech Romové, Fin. romanite, etc.).

Thus, in the "external" by origin names of the gypsy population, three prevail:

• reflecting the early idea of ​​them as coming from Egypt;
• distorted versions of the Byzantine nickname "atsinganos" (meaning "fortunetellers, magicians");
• designations of "blackness" as a distinctive feature of appearance, made in different languages ​​(which is typical, one of the self-names of gypsies is also translated as "black")

Gypsies live in many countries in Europe, as well as in North Africa, the Americas and Australia. Groups related to European gypsies also live in the countries of Western Asia. According to various estimates, the number of European gypsies ranges from 8 million to 10-12 million people. In the USSR, there were officially 175.3 thousand people ( census). In Russia, according to the 2010 census, there are about 220,000 Roma.

National symbols

In honor of the first World Roma Congress, April 8 is considered Gypsy day. Some gypsies have a custom associated with it: in the evening, at a certain time, to carry a lit candle down the street.

History of the people

Indian period

The most common self-name of the gypsies, which they carried out from India, is “rum” or “roma” among the European gypsies, “house” among the gypsies of the Middle East and Asia Minor. All these names go back to the Indo-Aryan "d'om" with the first cerebral sound. Cerebral sound, relatively speaking, is a cross between the sounds "p", "d" and "l". According to linguistic studies, the Roma of Europe and the Dom and Lom of Asia and the Caucasus were the three main "flows" of migrants from India. Under the name d'om, low-caste groups appear in various areas of modern India today. Despite the fact that the modern houses of India are difficult to directly correlate with the gypsies, their name has a direct bearing on them. The difficulty is to understand what was the connection in the past between the ancestors of the Gypsies and the Indian houses. The results of linguistic research conducted back in the 20s. XX century by a prominent Indologist-linguist R. L. Turner, and which are shared by modern scientists, in particular, romologists J. Matras and J. Hancock, show that the ancestors of the Gypsies lived in the central regions of India and several centuries before the exodus (approximately in the 3rd century BC) migrated to Northern Punjab.

As for the so-called Central Asian gypsies, or lyuli, they, as they are sometimes figuratively said, are cousins ​​or even second cousins ​​​​of European gypsies. Thus, the Central Asian gypsy population, having absorbed various flows of migrants from the Punjab (including the Baloch groups) over the centuries, has historically been heterogeneous (see, for example, an early description of the Central Asian gypsies: Vilkins A. I. Central Asian bohemia // Anthropological exhibition T. III. M., 1878-1882).

In the book "History of the Gypsies. A new look ”(N. Bessonov, N. Demeter) examples of anti-Gypsy laws are given:

Sweden. A 1637 law mandates the hanging of male Gypsies. Mainz. 1714. Death to all gypsies captured within the state. Flogging and branding with a red-hot iron of women and children. England. According to 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 awaited "those who lead or will lead friendship or acquaintance with the Egyptians." Already in 1577, seven Englishmen and one Englishwoman fell under this decree. All of them were hanged in Aylesbury. Historian Scott McPhee lists 148 laws adopted in the German states from the 15th to the 18th centuries. All of them were approximately the same, the diversity is manifested only in the details. So, in Moravia, the gypsies cut off the left ear, in Bohemia, the right. In the Archduchy of Austria, they preferred to stigmatize and so on. Perhaps the most cruel was Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. In 1725, he ordered that all male and female gypsies over eighteen years of age be put to death.

Picture from a French entertainment magazine depicting gypsies cooking human meat

As a result of the persecution, the gypsies of Western Europe, firstly, were heavily criminalized, because they did not have the opportunity to legally earn their living, and secondly, they were practically culturally conserved (until now, the gypsies of Western Europe are considered the most distrustful and committed to literally following the old traditions). They also had to lead a special way of life: moving around at night, hiding in forests and caves, which increased the suspicion of the population, and also gave rise to rumors about cannibalism, satanism, vampirism and werewolf gypsies, the result of these rumors was the emergence of myths associated with them about kidnapping and especially children (for eating or for satanic rites) and about the ability to evil spells.

Some of the gypsies managed to avoid repression by enlisting in the army as soldiers or servants (blacksmiths, saddlers, grooms, etc.) in those countries where soldiers were actively recruited (Sweden, Germany). Their families were thus also taken out from under the blow. The ancestors of Russian Gypsies came to Russia through Poland from Germany, where they mainly served in the army or with the army, so at first they had a nickname among other Gypsies, translated roughly as “army Gypsies”.

The abolition of anti-gypsy laws coincides in time with the beginning of the industrial revolution and Europe's exit from the economic crisis. After the abolition of these laws, the process of integration of the Roma into European society began. So, during the 19th century, the gypsies in France, according to Jean-Pierre Lejoie, author of the article “Bohemiens et pouvoirs publics en France du XV-e au XIX-e siecle”, mastered professions due to which they were recognized and even began to be appreciated: they they sheared sheep, weaved baskets, traded, were 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 children (whose goals are becoming less and less clear over time), werewolves and serving vampires.

The abolition of antigypsy laws by that time did not occur in all European countries. So, in Poland on November 3, 1849, a decision was made to arrest nomadic gypsies. For each detained gypsy, the policemen were paid bonus amounts. As a result, the police seized not only nomadic, but also settled gypsies, recording the detainees as vagrants, and children as adults (in order to get more money). After the Polish uprising of 1863, this law lost its force.

It can also be noted that, starting with the abolition of anti-gypsy laws, among the gypsies, individuals who were gifted in certain areas began to appear, stand out and receive recognition in non-gypsy society, which is another evidence of the situation that has developed more or less favorable for gypsies. So, in Great Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these are preacher Rodney Smith, football player Rayby Howell, radio journalist and writer George Bramwell Evens; in Spain, the Franciscan Ceferino Jimenez Mallya, tokaor Ramon Montoya Salazar Sr.; in France, the jazzmen brothers Ferre and Django Reinhardt; in Germany - boxer Johann Trollmann.

Gypsies in Eastern Europe (XV - early XX century)

Gypsy 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 (see slavery in Romania) and Hungary. They settled in villages or urban settlements, gathering compactly according to the signs of kinship and profession. The main crafts were working with iron and precious metals, carving household items from wood, weaving baskets. Nomadic gypsies also lived in these areas, who were also engaged in crafts or circus performances using trained bears.

The sons and heirs of the deceased serdar Nikolai Niko, in Bucharest, are selling 200 families of gypsies. The men are mostly locksmiths, goldsmiths, shoemakers, musicians and farmers.

Monastery of St. Elijah put up for sale the first lot of gypsy slaves, May 8, 1852, consisting of 18 men, 10 boys, 7 women and 3 girls: in excellent condition.

Gypsies in Europe and the USSR / Russia (the second half of the 20th - the beginning of the 21st century)

In contemporary Eastern Europe, less commonly in Western Europe, Romani people are often the object of discrimination in society, especially by right-wing extremist parties, in 2009 attacks on Romanian Romani people were reported in Northern Ireland

At the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, Europe and Russia were swept by a wave of gypsy migrations. Impoverished or marginalized Roma from Romania, western Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia - former socialist countries that experienced economic and social difficulties after the collapse of the USSR - 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 massively returned to the old traditional occupation - begging, drug trafficking and petty theft are also common.

In Russia, there is also a slower but noticeable impoverishment, marginalization and criminalization of the Roma population. The average educational level has decreased. The problem of drug use by teenagers has become acute. Quite often, gypsies began to be mentioned in the criminal chronicle in connection with drug trafficking and fraud. The popularity of 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.

Gypsies outside Europe

Gypsies in Israel

• Gypsy house. There is a Romani community in Israel and neighboring countries known as the Dom people. By religion, the house is Muslim, they speak one of the dialects of the gypsy language (the so-called Domari language). Until 1948, in the ancient city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, there was an Arabic-speaking dom community whose members took part in street theater and circus performances. They became the subject of the play "Gypsies of Jaffa" (Hebrew הצוענים של יפו ‎), the last to be written by Nissim Aloni, a famous Israeli playwright. The play has come to be considered a classic of Israeli theatre. Like many Jaffa Arabs, most members of this community left the city at the call of neighboring Arab countries. The descendants of the community, as suggested [ Who?], now live in the Gaza Strip, and it is not known to what extent they still maintain a separate Domari identity. Another Dom community is known to exist in East Jerusalem, whose members hold Jordanian citizenship; in Israel have the status of permanent residents, the nationality is defined as "Arabs". In total, the community home in Israel has about two hundred families, most of them from the Bab al-Khuta area, which is in East Jerusalem near the Lion's Gate. Members of the community live in very poor conditions: most of them are unemployed and subsist only on Israeli social security benefits, they have no education, and some of them can neither read nor write. Domari have a high birth rate, they marry at an early age and only to members of their community, including relatives (in an effort to avoid assimilation and dissolution), so some of the children suffer from hereditary diseases, defects or are disabled. In October 1999, Amun Slim founded the non-profit organization Domari: Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem to protect the name of the community. ,

In October 2012, the mayor of the capital, Nir Barkat, was approached by the mayor of the capital, Nir Barkat, with a request for assistance in obtaining Israeli citizenship for his compatriots. According to him, the gypsies are much closer in their views to the Jews than to the Arabs: they love Israel, and their children would like to serve in the IDF. According to the leader of the community, the Israeli Gypsies have practically forgotten their language and speak Arabic, while the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs consider the Gypsies to be "second-class" people.

Gypsies in North Africa

North Africa is home to the Kale Gypsies, also known as the Andalusian Gypsies, and Dom. Film director Tony Gatlif is a Kale from Algeria. The Calais of North Africa are nicknamed “Moors” in the gypsy world and often use it themselves (for example, both Tony Gatlif and Joaquin Cortes, whose father is from North Africa, call themselves “Moor” or “half-Moor”).

Gypsies in Canada and the USA

Gypsies in Latin America

The first documented mention of the presence of gypsies (kale) in Latin America (in the Caribbean) dates back to 1539. The first gypsies were exiled there against their will, but later the Spanish Calais and Portuguese Calons (groups related to each other) in small groups began to move to Latin America in search of a better life.

The largest wave of European Gypsy migration to Latin America occurred in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The most noticeable part of the settlers were kelderars, among the rest of the gypsies one can mention the Lovars, Ludars, as well as groups of Balkan gypsies, known collectively as the Khorakhane. They continued to move to America and Calais and Calons.

Among all the gypsies in Latin America, it is very popular to run a small business selling cars.

Gypsies in the Caucasus

Gypsies in different countries are characterized by uneven development of areas of high culture. So, most of the gypsy artists are natives of Hungary, the musical culture is most developed among the gypsies of Russia, Hungary, Romania, Spain, the Balkan countries, gypsy literature is currently more developed in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia, acting art - in Russia, Ukraine , Slovakia. Circus art - in the countries of South America.

With all the diversity of gypsy culture among different ethnic groups, one can note a similar system of values ​​and perception of the world.

Gypsy "big" ethnic groups

There are six main branches of the Gypsies. Three Western:

• Roma, the main territory of residence is the countries of the former USSR, Western and Eastern Europe. These include Russian gypsies (self-name Ruska Roma).
• Sinti, living mainly in the German-speaking and French-speaking countries of Europe.
• Iberian (gypsies), living mainly in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries.

And three eastern ones:

• Lyuli, the main territory of residence is Central Asia, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
• Scrap (known mainly as bosha or posha) living in the Caucasus and northern Turkey.
• House living in Arabic-speaking countries and Israel.

There are also "small" gypsy groups that are difficult to attribute to any particular branch of the gypsies, such as British Kale and Romanichels, Scandinavian Kale, Balkan Khorakhane, Arkhangelsk gypsies.

In Europe, there are a number of ethnic groups that are similar in lifestyle to the Gypsies, but of a different origin - in particular, Irish Travelers, Central European Yenish. Local authorities tend to view them as a variety of gypsies, and not as separate ethnic groups.

The image of gypsies in world art culture

Gypsies in world literature

• Notre Dame Cathedral - novel by V. Hugo France
• Ice House - novel by A. Lazhechnikov Russia
• Living corpse - a play by L. N. Tolstoy Russia
• The Enchanted Wanderer - a novel by Nikolai Leskov Russia
• Olesya - story, Alexander Kuprin Russia
• Pharaoh's tribe - essay, Alexander Kuprin Russia
• Cactus - story by Afanasy Fet Russia
• Nedopyuskin and Chertop-hanov - I. Turgenev Russia
• Carmen - novel by Prosper Merimee France
• Stars of Eger - a novel by Geza Gordoni Hungary
• Makar Chudra, Old Woman Izergil - short stories by M. Gorky Russia
• Gypsy Aza - play by A. Staritsky Ukraine
• Gypsy Girl - M. Cervantes Spain
• Gypsy Romancero - a collection of poems by Federico Garcia Lorca Spain
• Pipe - a story by Yuri Nagibin USSR
• Gypsy - story, novel Anatoly Kalinin USSR
• The Gypsy Lady - a novel by Sh.Busby USA
• Losing Weight - a novel by S. King USA

Many famous poets also dedicated cycles of poems and individual works to the gypsy theme: G. Derzhavin, A. Apukhtin, A. Blok, Apollon Grigoriev, N. M. Yazykov, E. Asadov and many others.

Songs about gypsies

• Slavich Moroz: "Gypsy love" ( Video , video)
• Vysotsky: “A gypsy with cards is a long road ..” ( Video)
• "Fortuneteller" - a song from the movie "Ah, vaudeville, vaudeville ..."
• "Gypsy Choir" - Alla Pugacheva
• "Boots" - Lidia Ruslanova
• "Gypsy wedding" - Tamara Gverdtsiteli ( Video)
• "Shaggy Bumblebee" - a song from the movie "Cruel Romance" on the verses of R. Kipling
• "The Gipsy" and "A Gipsy's Kiss" - Deep Purple
• "Gypsy" - Mercyful Fate
• "Hijo de la luna" - Mecano
• "Gypsy" - Black Sabbath
• "Gypsy" - Dio
• "Cry Of The Gypsy" - Dokken
• "Zigeunerpack" - Landser
• "Gypsy In Me" - Stratovarius
• "Gitano Soy" - Gipsy Kings
• "Ocean Gypsy" - Blackmore's Night
• "Electro Gypsy" - Savlonic
• "Gypsy/Gitana" - Shakira
• "Gypsy" - Uriah Heep
• "Gypsy Boots" - Aerosmith
• "Gypsy Road" - Cinderella
• "Gypsy Nazi" - S.E.X. Department
• "Gypsy" - Ektomorph
• "Cigany" - Ektomorph
• "Gipsy King" - Patrick Wolf
• "Hometown Gypsy" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Gypsy Blues" - Night Snipers
• "The camp goes to the sky" - Calvados

Films about gypsies

• "Guardian Angel", Yugoslavia (1986), director Goran Paskalevich
• "Run, gypsy!"
• "Snatch" directed by Guy Ritchie
• "Time of the Gypsies", Yugoslavia, director Emir Kusturica
• "Gadjo (film)", 1992, Director: Dmitry Svetozarov Russia
• "Sinful Apostles of Love" (1995), director Dufunya Vishnevsky Russia
• "Drama in the camp of gypsies near Moscow" - Khanzhonkov's workshop 1908, director Vladimir Siversen Russia
• Yesenia, (Spanish Yesenia; Mexico, 1971) director Alfred B. Crevenna
• "Hare over the abyss" 2006, director Tigran Keosayan Russia
• "Carmelita" 2005, directors Rauf Kubaev, Yuri Popovich Russia
• "Cassandra", Genre: Series, melodrama Production: Venezuela, R.C.T.V. Released: 1992 Screenplay: Delia Fiallo
• "King of the Gypsies" - director Frank Pearson (1978) USA
• "Lautari", directed by Emil Loteanu USSR
• "The Last Camp", (1935) Directors: Evgeny Shneider, Moses Goldblat, USSR
• " On my own"(gypsy Korkoro, 2009) - drama film, directed by Tony Gatlif.
• "Feathers", 1967, Yugoslavia, (Serb. Skupljaci perja), director Alexander Petrovich
• Strange Stranger (1997) Gadjo Dilo Gadjo dilo, directed by Tony Gatlif
• "The camp goes to the sky", director Emil Loteanu USSR
• "Difficult Happiness" - Directed by Alexander Stolper. 1958

For centuries, the origin of the Gypsies has been shrouded in mystery. Appearing here and there, the camps of these swarthy nomads with unusual customs aroused the curiosity of the settled population. Trying to unravel this phenomenon and penetrate the mystery of the origin of the gypsies, many authors have built a variety of and incredible hypotheses. In the 19th century, when a well-founded answer was found thanks to scientific research, the most fantastic stories were still being born.

This heap of frank prejudices and dubious hypotheses was destroyed with the beginning of serious studies of the gypsy language. Scientists had some ideas about it already in the Renaissance, but at that time they did not associate it with any group of languages ​​and did not establish its place of origin. Only at the end of the XVIII century. on the basis of scientific data, it was possible to establish the origin of the gypsies.

Since then, prominent linguists have confirmed the conclusions of these first research scientists: in terms of grammar and vocabulary, the Romani language is close to Sanskrit and such modern languages ​​as Kashmiri, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Nepali.

And if modern scientists no longer have any doubts that the gypsies come from, then many questions related to ethnography, sociology and the history of the first migrations of the gypsies are still waiting for an answer.

Linguistics plays a leading role in establishing the origin of the Gypsies, but scientific disciplines such as anthropology, medicine and ethnography can also make a contribution.

Written evidence of an era that could be called the "prehistoric period of the gypsies" is very scarce. The ancient Indian writers focused on gods and kings rather than the people known as aott, jat, lyuli, nuri, or dom.

However, already from the time of the first migrations to the West, we have somewhat more accurate data on the Gypsies, contained primarily in two texts in which history and legend merged. Written in the middle of the X century. Hamza from Isfahan tells of the arrival in Persia of 12,000 Yaott musicians; Fifty years later, the great chronicler and poet Firdousi, the author of Shahnameh, mentions the same fact.

This mention most likely belongs to the field of legends, but it testifies that there were many gypsies in Persia who arrived from India, they were known as good musicians, did not want to engage in agriculture, were prone to vagrancy and did not miss the opportunity to grab what lies badly.

These ancient texts are the only source of data on gypsy migrations in Asia. To learn more about this, you need to turn to language factors.

In Persia, the Gypsy language was enriched with a number of words that were subsequently found in all its European dialects. Then, according to the English linguist John Sampson, they split into two branches. Some of the Gypsies continued their journey to the west and southeast, others moved in a northwesterly direction. These Gypsies visited Armenia (where they borrowed a number of words carried by their descendants all the way to Wales, but completely unfamiliar to representatives of the first branch), then penetrated further into the Caucasus, borrowing words from the Ossetian vocabulary there.

Ultimately, the gypsies end up in Europe and the world. From that moment on, they are mentioned in written sources more and more often, especially in the notes of Western travelers who made pilgrimages to holy places in Palestine.

In 1322, two Franciscan monks, Simon Simeonis and Hugo the Enlightened, noticed in Crete people who looked like the descendants of Ham; they adhered to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church, but lived, like the Arabs, under low black tents or in caves. They were called "atkinganos" or "atsinganos" after the name of the sect of musicians and fortune tellers.

But most often Western travelers met with gypsies in Modon - the fortified and largest port city on the western coast of the Morea, the main transit point on the way from Venice to Jaffa. "Black as Ethiopians", they were mainly engaged in blacksmithing and, as a rule, lived in huts. This place was called "Little Egypt", perhaps because here in the middle of the withered lands lay a fertile region, like the valley of the Nile; that is why the European gypsies were called "Egyptians", and their leaders often called themselves dukes or counts of Lesser Egypt.

Greece enriched the gypsy vocabulary with new words, but most importantly, it gave them the opportunity to get acquainted with the way of life of other peoples, since it was in Greece that they encountered pilgrims from all countries of the Christian world. The gypsies realized that the pilgrims enjoyed the status of privileged wanderers, and, moving back on the road, they already pretended to be pilgrims.

After a long stay in Greece and neighboring states such as the Romanian principalities and Serbia, many Roma moved further west. The position of the Gypsies in the territories that repeatedly passed from the Byzantines to the Turks was not easy. About this, trying to inspire confidence in themselves, they told the spiritual and secular rulers of those places where their fate led; the gypsies said that, having left Egypt, they were first pagans, but then they were converted to Christianity, then they returned to idolatry again, but under pressure from the monarchs they converted to Christianity for the second time: they claimed that they were forced to make a long pilgrimage around the world.

In 1418, large groups of gypsies crossed Hungary and Germany, where Emperor Sigismund agreed to give them safe conduct. They appeared in Westphalia, in the Hanseatic cities and in the Baltic, and from there they moved to Switzerland.

In 1419, the gypsies crossed the borders of the territory of modern France. It is known that on August 22 they presented documents signed by Emperor Sigismund and the Duke of Savoy in the city of Châtillon-en-Dombes, 2 days later in Macon, and on October 1 in Sisteron. Three years later, other groups of gypsies appeared in the southern regions, arousing curiosity among the inhabitants of Arras. There, as in Macon, they were told that they were on royal lands, where the emperor's safe-conduct was invalid.

It was then that the gypsies realized that in order to move freely in the Christian world, they needed to have a universal safe-conduct issued by the pope. In July 1422, Duke Andrew, at the head of a large camp, passed Bologna and Forli, announcing that he was on his way to meet the pope. However, neither in the Roman chronicles nor in the archives of the Vatican is there any mention of this visit by the Gypsies to the capital of Christendom.

Nevertheless, on the way back, the gypsies talked about how they were received by the pope, and showed letters signed by Martin V. Whether these letters were genuine is unknown, but one way or another they enabled the gypsy camps to roam freely for more than a hundred years where they will be pleased.

In August 1427, the Gypsies first appeared at the gates of Paris, which at that time was in the hands of the British. Their camp, spread out at the Chapelle-Saint-Denis, attracted crowds of curious people for three weeks. It was not without curiosities: they said that while dexterous fortune-tellers read the line of life from the palm of their hands, their wallets disappeared. The bishop of Paris, during a sermon, condemned the gullible and superstitious flock in connection with this, so the "Egyptians" had no choice but to roll up their tents and go to Pontoise.

Bypassing France far and wide, separate groups of gypsies soon penetrated into Aragon and Catalonia under the pretext of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. They passed through all of Castile and arrived in Andalusia, where the former chancellor of Castile, Count Miguel Lucas de Iranso, gave a warm welcome to the gypsy counts and dukes in his Jaena.

A number of authors, despite the absence of any data, argue that the gypsies, having sailed along the Mediterranean coast, arrived in Andalusia from Egypt. However, there is not a single Arabic word in the vocabulary of the Spanish gypsies, and their route was fully indicated: in Andalusia they referred to the patronage of the pope, the kings of France and Castile.

The first mention of gypsies (Ciganos) in Portuguese written sources date back to the 16th century. Around the same time, gypsies appear in Scotland and England. How they got there is unknown. Perhaps they attracted less attention there than at their former sites in Germany, France or the Netherlands, since the British Isles have been inhabited for centuries by nomadic "tinkers", whose lifestyle in many ways resembled that of the gypsies.

It was much more difficult for the gypsies in Ireland, where by that time the numerous “tinkers” perceived the newcomers as competitors and did everything possible to arouse hostility towards them.

Count Anton Gagino of Egypt Minor arrived in Denmark aboard a Scottish ship in 1505, presenting the recommendations of James IV of Scotland to the Danish king John. On September 29, 1512, Count Antonius (probably the same person) solemnly arrived in Stockholm, to the great surprise of the locals.

The first "Egyptians", who appeared in Norway in 1544, did not have such recommendations. These were prisoners whom the British got rid of by forcibly taking them out of the country on ships. In Norway, the gypsies were expected to meet with nomadic "fanters", similar to the one that was provided to their fellow tribesmen in England and Scotland by the "tinkers".

From Sweden, some groups of gypsies penetrated into Finland and Estonia. Around the same time, "mountain gypsies" from Hungary and "plain gypsies" from Germany came to Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

By 1501, some groups of gypsies roamed the south of Russia, others moved from Poland to Ukraine. Finally, in 1721, the gypsies from the Polish plains reached the Siberian city of Tobolsk. They announced their intention to advance to the borders of China, but the governor of the city prevented this.

Thus, in the period of the XV-XVIII centuries. gypsies penetrated all European countries; they also ended up in colonies on the American and African continents, but this time not of their own free will. Spain sent some groups of gypsies overseas, setting the example of Portugal, which from the end of the 16th century. deported them in large numbers to their colonies, primarily to Brazil, but also to Angola, Sao Tome and the Cape Verde Islands. In the 17th century Gypsies were sent from Scotland to the plantations of Jamaica and Barbados, and in the 18th century. - to Virginia.

In the reign of Louis XIV, gypsies sentenced to hard labor were released by royal decree, subject to departure to the "American Isles". Among the colonists recruited by the "Indian Company" for the development of Louisiana, there were "bohemians". Like other colonists, they settled in New Orleans. A century later, their descendants who settled in Biloxi, Louisiana still spoke French.

Since the 19th century many Romani families voluntarily migrated from Europe to the New World. They can be found in Canada, in California, in the suburbs of New York and Chicago, in Mexico and Central America, and much further south - in Chile and Argentina. They have the same occupation as the gypsies in Europe, the same customs, and everywhere they feel at home, because the place where the tent is pitched becomes their homeland.

P.S. Ancient chronicles say: By the way, it’s interesting how things are now with the immigration of gypsies to various countries, especially since now even for non-gypsies it is sometimes difficult to get a visa to certain countries, such as, for example, Canada. Look at the CanadianVisaExpert website, the rules for immigration to Canada for residents of Eastern Europe, South and Central America and even countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar are described. And they, these rules are very difficult, even for people who can be conditionally classified as the “middle class”, not to mention the poor segments of the population who go to Canada solely to earn money as cheap labor.

IN SEARCH OF THE GYPSY HOMELAND

The ancestral home of the gypsies is India. This is known to ethnographers, historians and the gypsies themselves. The discovery of this scientific fact dates back to the middle of the 18th century. A student of Leiden University, the Hungarian I.Vaja, noticed the similarity of the Romany language with the language of his fellow students, whose homeland was the Malabar Coast. 1 An article about these observations in a Viennese newspaper fell into the hands of the German scientist G. Grelman, who, comparing the Romani language with Indian Sanskrit, put forward a hypothesis about the Indian ancestral home of the Roma. 2 But only a century later, thanks to the research of the German philologist A. Pott, the hypothesis acquired the form of a demonstrative theory that has not lost its scientific significance to this 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 gypsies could use - 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.
There are many other, sometimes unproven, sometimes fantastic, assumptions about the origin of the gypsies in the literature. They searched for the homeland of the gypsies 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 her disappearance. 4
If the issue of the ancestral home of the Gypsies is resolved in ethnographic science, then a lot of controversy remains in Gypsy history. Due to the lack of reliable historical sources, the mysteries of the early gypsy history have not been fully revealed, although scientists have repeatedly expressed hypotheses and assumptions. The most controversial questions are about when and why the ancestors of the gypsies left their ancestral home, which Indian people went to look for a new home.
About when the ancestors of the Gypsies left India, scientists argue to this day. Some authors call 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 in one camp, having a predetermined goal. Some of the gypsies settled along the road, laying the foundation for the current ethnic groups. Some of them moved on with rare slowness, 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 gypsyologists E. Druts and A. Gessler argue that the exodus of gypsies from India lasted about a thousand years, and its culmination occurred at the turn of the first and second millennia, and separate waves of migration continued into the subsequent time. 6 The reasons that caused the migration, researchers associate with internecine wars, constant raids by Muslim conquerors. 7
What people went to a distant nomad? Ethnographers answer this question in different ways. Some consider the gypsies to be the descendants of not one, but many Indian peoples. Others, such as, for example, E. Druts and A. Gessler, note that the gypsies are the 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. Caste refers to the lower strata of Indian society. 8
N. Demeter, 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. Exploring the way of life of the 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 engaged in household chores, were engaged in crafts, which explains the craving of gypsies for gold and jewelry, a nomadic image life. 9
The path that the gypsies took 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 Gypsies in this region that exist to this day (Mugat, Karachi, Bosha, etc.). Then there was a division, part of the gypsies moved towards Palestine and Egypt, where they remained, part went ... to the territory of Byzantium. 10

From field observations
The question of the origin of the Gypsies has always been at the center of our field research: what 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 Kulay (born 1914), the oldest in the camp, also told us that the gypsies came out of 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 gypsies 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 are Ghana. But they didn’t call them Gans, but added the letter c and it turned out - gypsies. ”*

Gypsies are also reminded of their commonality with India in Indian films: Gypsies understand some words. Someone speaks out more definitely: “Indian songs are sung, we understand the first verse, and we can already sing along on the second verse.”
Preserved in the camp and more ancient "own" legends and legends about the origin of the gypsy people. Here are just a few of the ones we managed to record.
The following legend is known about how different peoples appeared in the world, why they differ from each other: “There were no different peoples on earth before. And God brought people to his Garden of Eden. And there grew different trees, and pears, and plums, and apples. And everyone went to the tree that he liked. So different peoples went, who ate what fruit. The gypsy went and ate one plum for herself. So our parents went from plums. She did not go where the apples are, where the pears are, but went where the plums are, and so the gypsies went. Tatars ate peas. When they ate peas, they said: “God helps. How many peas grow, so many for people to be healthy.” The Uzbek ate olives, black and juicy. Even now they are black, like an olive in their face. Russian apples ate. She went, she sees a beautiful apple hanging on a branch, she went and ate it. And, true, Russian apples love. And the Jews went where the pears are. And pears, you know, they're as long as a nose. The nose and the Jews are long, like a pear. Romanians, they are beautiful, there is no more beautiful, they are beautiful like grapes. They used to have chaises too. They rode and looked: this is an apple, this is a pear, this is over, and where the grapes are, they stopped, took two or three branches for themselves, ate, they became beautiful, pretty, each other more beautiful. And the Bulgarians ate apricots, they are also beautiful. And the gypsies went to the plum. The first girl was, she was three or four years old, she ate a plum, one, another, a third, so the gypsies are as swarthy 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 such 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 the land to everyone, but didn’t give it to me?” Then God said to this: “I will give you a mind, so that you live with your mind, cunning. And so that he gets his piece of bread. And the whole world will be at your feet. And you will get your piece of bread with your mind and cunning, you will survive wherever you go.”
Another gypsy legend explains why gypsies are allowed to cheat: “God allowed gypsies to cheat. When Jesus Christ was carried to the crucifixion, then the gypsy stole the nail, the last nail with which they wanted to pierce the heart. And the gypsy stole that nail. When asked, he said: “By God, I didn’t take it!”. I took and swallowed this nail. And thus slightly extended the life of Jesus Christ. God told him again that you would live by your cunning. From this cunning appeared among the gypsies. There is such a legend that it was God who came up with us so that our people would guess, so that we would live with our mind, with our cunning. This legend in different versions is widespread not only among the gypsies, but also among other peoples.

BYZANTINE PERIOD

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

From field observations
It is quite difficult to imagine how the gypsies dispersed around the world. However, probably, each camp has its own legends, which reveal the gypsy history. Perm gypsies-Kelderars also have such. Here is one of them, told by Grancho Dodovich Buto (born 1941): “My grandfather had six brothers. From one brother, the camp is located in Russia, and the rest dispersed all over 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 up in the camp, they argued, maybe because of the daughter-in-law, they quarreled, a petty matter. And they decided to disperse for a while, they thought 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 didn't know anything about them. And just recently, our gypsies from Penza went to Argentina. It so happened that Penza gypsies (also Kalderars) have relatives living in Argentina. Gypsies came from Argentina to Penza, they said that our relatives also live in Argentina. My father's cousin is there, his children live. We have a nickname for each camp. We are kind of ruvoni (from the gypsy ruv - wolf). Here is our family camp in Perm and in Argentina.

HISTORY OF THE GYPSIES AFTER THE 15TH CENTURY

The Gypsies who settled in Western Europe formed the basis of the modern ethnographic groups of the Gypsy population (Kale, Travelers, Sinti, Polish Roma) living in England, Germany, France, Poland and other countries. A special ethnographic group originates from the Western European branch - Russian gypsies.
However, not all gypsies 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 of Arlia, Rumelia, Fichira, Jambaz subsequently formed. Many gypsies also ended up in neighboring territories: in Serbia, Albania, Romanian and Hungarian lands. These gypsies formed the basis of the Eastern European branch of the gypsy people - the ethnographic groups of the Servs, Vlahurs, Ursars, Crimeas, Chisinau, Lovars, Kalderars, etc. They performed with trained animals, led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. There were blacksmiths, tinkers, butchers, painters, shoemakers, watchmen, wool beaters, walkers, tailors among the gypsies. 16 Part of the Gypsies, being under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, converted to Islam.
The position of the Gypsies in the Moldavian and Volosh principalities, dependent on the Ottoman Empire, was difficult. Here, from the 15th century, the gypsies became a dependent population - slaves and serfs belonging to a boyar, a monastery or the state. According to the Moldavian Civil Code, until the middle of the 19th century, serfs were not allowed to marry freemen, they could marry only with the permission of their owners, or they could be sold. Only state serfs were allowed to lead a nomadic lifestyle. Since 1829, when Moldavia 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
Gypsies who lived in the territory subject to the Habsburg Empire (Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia) also experienced pressure from local authorities who outlawed them. From 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 settled way of life on the Roma. However, the gypsies 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, primarily the Kalderari in the 19th century. began to leave the formation area. Gypsy camps of Kalderars appeared in Western Europe, Poland, Russia and other countries. 18

As a result of a complex ethnic history, different ethnographic groups of the Gypsy people were formed, each of which is distinguished by a special dialect, religion, occupation, its own way of life (including food, utensils, housing), traditional costume, worldview. Many ethnocultural features of one or another ethnographic group are determined by the factor of interaction between the gypsies and the local population.

From field observations
When conducting surveys, we were surprised how well Perm Roma are aware of other ethnographic groups of Roma. We were told about the differences in language, life, occupations, "laws". Perm Moldavian gypsies know such ethnographic groups as the Russian gypsies Laetsi (this is how the Moldavian gypsies call Russian gypsies), Crimeas (Crimean gypsies), Lovaris, Vlahuris, Plaschuns, Serves, that is, almost all groups that inhabit Russia.
Moldavian gypsies believe that in their language of Russian gypsies there are many words borrowed from the Russian language, the pronunciation of individual sounds and words differs from the dialect of Moldavian gypsies. It is also noted that there are more laets in Russia and they are settled almost throughout the country: “In any region you can meet Russian gypsies, even if not many, but there are two or three families, even in the Far North.” Unlike Russian and Moldovan gypsies, the Crimeans profess Islam, so their way of life differs markedly from the life of Russian and Moldovan gypsies. Moldovan gypsies note that Russian gypsies have less preserved old traditions. For example, women have long abandoned the traditional costume and wear dresses. Crimean gypsies, on the contrary, strictly adhere to the old "laws".

Gypsies in Russia and the Kama region

Ethnographic groups of gypsies penetrated the territory of Russia in different ways and at different times. The question of the time of the appearance of gypsies in Russia has always caused difficulties for researchers. The borders of the Russian state changed in different periods of its history. Often in the annexed territories there were already gypsies who settled there before they became part of the Russian Empire.
Today in Russia you can meet gypsies not only from the largest ethnographic groups - Russian gypsies (self-name - Russian Roma) and Kalderars (Kotlyars), but also gypsies - immigrants from the Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia, Ukrainian gypsies (serves), Crimean gypsies, gypsies - Vlachs, Lovaris, Kishinevtsy, 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 dwell only on those historical events that brought the Gypsies of the ethnographic groups to Russia - the Russian Roma, the Crimean Gypsies and the Kalderars.
Russian gypsies - Russian Roma - 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, one can read: "Gypsies are people in Poland, but they are from Germans ...". 19 This is the way that the gypsies came to Russia. Many German and Polish words found in the language of Russian gypsies also speak about the places of their former stay. Already on the territory of Russia, a special ethnographic group was formed from the newcomer gypsies - Russian gypsies. This is one of the largest ethnographic groups of gypsies 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 moved, wandered, and for the winter they stopped 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 Russian gypsies who at the beginning of the 19th century in Moscow formed the basis of the gypsy choirs so popular in Russia.
The Crimean gypsies (kyrymitika Roma) got their name from the place of residence - the 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, many borrowed Tatar words are also noted in their language. The traditional occupations of the Gypsies of this group were blacksmithing and jewelry making. Among them were also musicians, cabbies, horse traders. Along with fortune-telling, women were engaged in the trade in cosmetics. The Crimean Gypsies have been part of the Russian Empire since the annexation of Crimea. 20
Gypsies of the third ethnographic group, the Kalderars, appeared in Russia only in the 19th century. century. The area of ​​their formation and residence until the middle of the 19th century, as we noted, was the Romanian lands. The first Kalderar camps entered Russia in the 70s. XIX century from Moldova, where many gypsies of this group lived. A particularly powerful wave of their resettlement occurred at the turn of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Among the Permian gypsies of this group, there are also many legends about the time of the resettlement of one or another camp in Russia. According to the stories of the oldest inhabitant of the gypsy camp, Zambila Georgievna Kulay (b. 1914), her father’s camp came from Moldova to Russia in 1923. Grancho Dodovich Butso (b. 1941) recalls, according to his parents, that one of the camps of the clan The Ruvoni came to Russia from Moldova in the 1930s and for a long time roamed the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia.
The traditional occupation for men was the craft - the manufacture and tinning of boilers, for women - fortune-telling. Today, Kalderar gypsies 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 of 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 gypsy population of Russia. Decrees were adopted on the priority allocation of land to the Gypsies, on assistance in the transition to a settled way of life, on the creation of Gypsy artels. Literature in the gypsy language appeared. However, by the end of the 1930s, all these initiatives were brought to naught.
On the other hand, the traditional way of gypsy support was destroyed, many sources of gypsy 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 gypsy population, which was accused of espionage, sabotage, and counter-revolution. The 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 gypsies found their place in Soviet society. Until the 1970s and 80s, gypsy craft and trade continued to be in demand in the Soviet Union against the backdrop of a shortage of consumer goods.
Particularly significant for the nomadic gypsies of Russia was the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 685 of October 20, 1956 "On the introduction of vagrant gypsies to work." It provided for severe punishments, up to 5 years in prison, for the nomadic way of life of the gypsy population. As a result, almost all groups of gypsies switched to a settled way of life. 22 It is not difficult to see the features of the history of gypsies in the Soviet period on the example of a gypsy 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 still make up the main part of the Gypsy population of the Kama region. Perm land was also a place of nomadism for other groups of gypsies. The population census of Perm in 1890 did not record a single gypsy in the city. 23 A significant number of gypsies settled in the city of Perm and the Perm region after the adoption of the above-mentioned resolution in 1956. According to the 1989 census, 1,492 gypsies lived in the Kama region. However, the information received does not always reflect the true situation. So, in the Crimean Gypsies in the passport and other official documents, you can often find the entry “Tatar”, and not “Gypsies”, the Moldavian Gypsies do the same, recording as Moldavians, Bessarabians, Romanians. It can be said with certainty that, in particular, in the census materials, under the Gypsies of the Kama region, apparently, only representatives of the ethnographic group of Russian Gypsies are noted. Among the three ethnographic groups of the 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 gypsies have diasporas only in the city of Perm.
In the city of Perm, the outskirts with wooden buildings remain traditional places of compact residence of the gypsy population. It is under such conditions that the gypsy way of life can be preserved. Russian Gypsies live in Gaiva, Yuzhny, Zaprud, Upper Kurya and other parts of the city. There are only a few families of Crimean Gypsies in the city of Perm. Moldavian gypsies (Kelderars/Kotlyars) live in the Chapaevsky and Yanvarsky microdistricts.

From field observations
During our stay in the gypsy camp, we met 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 the second visit to the camp, and since then we have visited her on every visit. Zambila Georgievna was born in 1914 in Moldova, from where her parents' camp migrated to Russia in the 1920s. Today, many stories of Zambila Georgievna about nomadic life, family traditions can be called gypsy history.
Zambila Georgievna is one of the few inhabitants of the camp who remembers wandering on gypsy carts. She is an excellent connoisseur of gypsy folklore. It was from her that we managed to record stories about how different peoples appeared on earth, why it snows and rains, how spots appeared on the moon, and many, many others. Telling somehow an ancient legend about the appearance of spots on the moon, she took us out into the street. It was already deep evening, and there was a full moon in the sky. “See the spots on the moon? That's where the shepherd is with his sheep. Grandma Zambila doesn't cheat."
More than once we heard from Zambila Georgievna and her children a family tradition about their parents. Her father, George, starred in the film The Last Camp in the 1930s. Mother Maritsa played in the film "The camp goes to the sky", 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? There was an old man who had a bear. And that was my father with the bear. When this movie “The Last Camp” is on, I cry. I look at my father with a bear, and my tears flow. And the old woman, my mother, “The camp goes to the sky” movie, she goes, guesses, says: “Hey, diamond, let me guess.” I also cry when I see my mother.”

1. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.4.

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

3. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.4.

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

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

6. Tales and songs of the gypsies of Russia. M., 1987. P.5.

7. Ibid. C.5.

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

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

10. Ibid. P.13.

11. Ibid. P.79.

12. Ibid. P.17.

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

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

17. Ibid. pp.44-48.

18. Ibid. P.52.

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