Romanistan

Last updated

Flag of the Romani people, a national symbol of the Romani Flag of the Romani people.svg
Flag of the Romani people, a national symbol of the Romani

Romanistan, Romastan or Romanestan is the name of a proposed country for the Romani people. [1]

Several times during the 1920s and 1930s, ideas of an autonomous Romani state within the USSR were raised. Such efforts were dropped by 1936-7. [2] In the early 1950s, Roma leaders petitioned the United Nations for the creation of their own state, but their petition was rejected. [1] There was a proposal briefly considered by Josep Tito, leader of Socialist Yugoslavia to create an autonomous region for the Romani based in North Macedonia but the idea never materialized. [3] Creation of such a state was also reportedly suggested by the leaders of Romani party in Hungary and party in North Macedonia known as the Party for the Complete Emancipation of Roma in the early 1990s at Šuto Orizari. [4]

Given the origin of the Romani people in medieval India, Romanistan has been envisaged as being within the borders of India. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani people</span> Ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin

The Romani people, also known as the Roma, are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Roma originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of Rajasthan. Their first wave of westward migration is believed to have occurred sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries. They are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are believed to be in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani Holocaust</span> Genocide against Romani in Europe

The Romani Holocaust was the planned effort by Nazi Germany and its World War II allies and collaborators to commit ethnic cleansing and eventually genocide against European Roma and Sinti peoples during the Holocaust era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinti</span> Indo-Aryan ethnic group

The Sinti are a subgroup of Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France and Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today only a small percentage of Sinti remain unsettled. In earlier times, they frequently lived on the outskirts of communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Serbia</span> Serbian nationalist concept for a Serb state

The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group, including regions outside modern-day Serbia that are partly populated by Serbs. The initial movement's main ideology (Pan-Serbism) was to unite all Serbs into one state, claiming, depending on the version, different areas of many surrounding countries, regardless of non-Serb populations present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization</span> Secret revolutionary society (1893–1934)

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All-India Muslim League</span> Political party in British-ruled India

The All-India Muslim League (AIML), simply called the Muslim League, was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when some well-known Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests in British India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Autonomism</span> Non-Zionist Jewish political movement

Jewish Autonomism, not connected to the contemporary political movement autonomism, was a non-Zionist political movement and ideology that emerged in the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, before spreading throughout Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the late 19th century, Jewish Autonomism was seen "together with Zionism [as] the most important political expression of the Jewish people in the modern era." One of its first and major proponents was the historian and activist Simon Dubnow. Jewish Autonomism is often referred to as "Dubnovism" or "folkism".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuremberg Laws</span> Antisemitic and racist laws enacted in 1935 in Nazi Germany

The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans and the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households; and the Reich Citizenship Law, which declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens. The remainder were classed as state subjects without any citizenship rights. A supplementary decree outlining the definition of who was Jewish was passed on 14 November, and the Reich Citizenship Law officially came into force on that date. The laws were expanded on 26 November 1935 to include Romani and Black people. This supplementary decree defined Romani people as "enemies of the race-based state", the same category as Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian nationalism</span> Political ideology

Croatian nationalism is nationalism that asserts the nationality of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats.

The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti, or Kale, depending on the subgroup, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that primarily lives in Europe. The Romani may have migrated from what is the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest around 250 BC. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 AD. It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani society and culture</span> Cultural traits of Romani ethnic groups

The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins were unclear, recent studies show Kashmir in Northwest India is the most probable point of origin. Their language shares a common origin with, and is similar to, modern-day Gujarati and Rajasthani, borrowing loanwords from languages they encountered as they migrated from India. In Europe, even though their culture has been victimized by other cultures, they have still found a way to maintain their heritage and society. Indian elements in Romani culture are limited, with the exception of the language. Romani culture focuses heavily on family. The Roma traditionally live according to relatively strict moral codes. The ethnic culture of the Romani people who live in central, eastern and southeastern European countries developed through a long, complex process of continuous active interaction with the culture of their surrounding European population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of the Romani people</span> Ethnic flag

The Romani flag or the flag of the Roma is the international ethnic flag of the Romani people, historically known as "Gypsies", which form a stateless minority in countries across Eurasia, Africa, the Americas, and Australasia. It was approved by the representatives of various Romani communities at the first and second World Romani Congresses (WRC), in 1971 and 1978. The flag consists of a background of blue and green, representing the heavens and earth, respectively; it also contains a 16-spoke red dharmachakra, or cartwheel, in the center. The latter element stands for the itinerant tradition of the Romani people and is also an homage to the flag of India, added to the flag by scholar Weer Rajendra Rishi. It superseded a number of tribal emblems and banners, several of which evoked claims of Romani descent from the Ancient Egyptians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Romani Congress</span> International meetings for discussion of issues relating to Roma people

The World Romani Congress is a series of forums for discussion of issues relating to Roma people around the world. As of 2023, there have been eleven World Romani Congresses. Among the chief goals of these congresses have been the standardization of the Romani language, improvements in civil rights and education, preservation of the Roma culture, reparations from World War II, and international recognition of the Roma as a national minority of Indian native origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Šuto Orizari</span> Place in Šuto Orizari municipality, North Macedonia

Šuto Orizari, often shortened as Šutka, is a neighbourhood in the City of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Šuto Orizari Municipality. It is often regarded as the cultural capital of the Romani people in North Macedonia. An independent Romanistan was proposed here in the early 1990s by leaders of the Party for the Complete Emancipation of Roma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Republic of Serbia</span> Federated state of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)

The Socialist Republic of Serbia, previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia, commonly abbreviated as Republic of Serbia or simply Serbia, was one of the six constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in what is now the modern day states of Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo. Its formation was initiated in 1941, and achieved in 1944–1946, when it was established as a federated republic within Yugoslavia. In that form, it lasted until the constitutional reforms from 1990 to 1992, when it was reconstituted, as the Republic of Serbia within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in terms of population and territory. Its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilirida</span> Proposed autonomy within the state of North Macedonia

Ilirida or the Republic of Ilirida is a proposed state in the western regions of North Macedonia, declared twice by the politician Nevzat Halili, once in 1992 and again in 2014. The proposal has been declared unconstitutional by the Macedonian government. The secessionist concept of Ilirida emerged in the early 1990s and was advocated by some Albanian politicians as a solution to concerns and disputes the Albanian community had regarding constitutional recognition and minority rights within Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani people in North Macedonia</span> Ethnic group

Romani people in North Macedonia are one of the constitutional peoples of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Types of Zionism</span> Different approaches to the subject of creating a Jewish homeland

The common definition of Zionism was principally the endorsement of the Jewish people to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine, secondarily the claim that due to a lack of self-determination, this territory must be re-established as a Jewish state. Historically, the establishment of a Jewish state has been understood in the Zionist mainstream as establishing and maintaining a Jewish majority. Zionism was produced by various philosophers representing different approaches concerning the objective and path that Zionism should follow. A "Zionist consensus" commonly refers to an ideological umbrella typically attributed to two main factors: a shared tragic history, and the common threat posed by Israel's neighboring enemies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romani Americans</span> Group of people

Romani Americans are Americans who have full or partial Romani ancestry. It is estimated that there are one million Romani people in the United States. Though the Romani population in the United States has largely assimilated into American society, the largest concentrations are in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Southwestern United States, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Northeast as well as in cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party for the Full Emancipation of the Roma of Macedonia</span> Ethnic Roma political party in North Macedonia

The Party for the Full Emancipation of the Roma of Macedonia is a political party in North Macedonia representing the Roma minority.

References

  1. 1 2 James Minahan (1996). Nations Without States: A Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements. Greenwood Press. p. 464. ISBN   978-0-313-28354-3.
  2. O'Keeffe, Brigid. "The Roma homeland that never was".
  3. Crowe, David M. (2000). "Muslim Roma in the Balkans". Nationalities Papers. 28 (1): 93–128. doi:10.1080/00905990050002470. ISSN   0090-5992.
  4. Charles Vance; Yongsun Paik (2006). Managing a Global Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities in International Human Resource Management. M.E. Sharpe. p. 760. ISBN   978-0-7656-2016-3.
  5. Mieder, Wolfgang; Scrase, David (2001). Reflections on the Holocaust: Festschrift for Raul Hilberg on His Seventy-fifth Birthday. Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Vermont. p. 232. ISBN   978-0-9707237-4-1.