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The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani, colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent; in particular, the region of present-day Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE. Their original name is from the Sanskrit word डोम (doma) and means a member of a Dalit caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Roma population moved west into the Persian Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially central, eastern, and southern Europe, as well as western Asia.
The Romani Holocaust or the Romani genocide—also known as the Porajmos, the Pharrajimos, and the Samudaripen —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.
Romani music is the music of the Romani people who have their origins in northern India but today live mostly in Europe.
The Ashkali, also Hashkali, and Balkan Egyptians are Albanian-speaking Muslim ethnic cultural minorities, which mainly inhabit Kosovo and southern Serbia as well as Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. Prior to the Kosovo War of 1999, the Balkan Egyptians or Ashkali people registered themselves as Albanians. While some Ashkali speak Romani language, Egyptians do usually not. The two groups are not clearly delineated. On the other hand, they differ linguistically and culturally from the Roma, even though they have often been grouped together under the acronym RAE.
In 2008 there were about 500-700 Romani people in Mitrovica refugee camps. These three camps were created by the UN in Kosovo. The camps are based around disused heavy metals mines which have fallen out of use since the end of the Kosovo War of 1999. There have been complaints that the residents are suffering severe lead poisoning. According to a 2010 Human Rights Watch, Romani displaced from the Romani quarter in Mitrovica, due to its destruction in 2000, continued to be inmates of camps in north Mitrovica, where they were exposed to environmental lead poisoning.
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 are unclear, central India is a notable point of origin. Their language shares a common origin with, and is similar to, modern-day Gujarati and Rajasthani, borrowing loan words from other languages 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 almost non-existent, with the exception of their language. Romani culture focuses heavily on family. The Roma traditionally live according to relatively strict moral codes.
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.
Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. She was nicknamed "the Queen of the Gypsies" per her contribution to Romani culture and music.
Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of bigotry which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people. Non-Romani itinerant groups in Europe such as the Yenish, Irish and Highland Travellers are frequently given the name "gypsy" and as a result, they are frequently confused with the Romani people. As a result, sentiments which were originally directed at the Romani people are also directed at other traveler groups and they are frequently referred to as "antigypsy" sentiments.
The Romani people have several distinct populations, the largest being the Roma and the Calé, who reached Anatolia and the Balkans in the early 12th century, from a migration out of the Indian subcontinent beginning about 1st century – 2nd century AD. They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Roma population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.
Romani people in Kosovo are part of the wider Romani people community, the biggest minority group in Europe. Kosovo Roma speak the Balkan Romani language in most cases, but also the languages that surround them, such as Serbian and Albanian. In 2011 there were 36,694 Romani, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians living in Kosovo. However, the minorities are unrelated to each other and were only put together based on appearance.
Its members are referred to as Turkish Gypsy, Türk Çingeneler, Turski Tsigani, Turkogifti (τουρκο-γύφτοι), Țigani turci, Török Cigányok, Turci Cigani. Through self-Turkification and Assimilation in the Turkish culture over centuries, this Muslim Roma have adopted the Turkish language and lost Rumelian Romani language, in order to establish a Turkish Identity to become more recognized by the Host population and deny their Romani background to show their Turkishness. At Population Census they declared themself as Turks instead as Roma and said How happy is the one who says I am a Turk, however, the Turks consider them as fake-Turks, and the Christian Romani do not consider them as part of the Romani society. They are Cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab and Religious male circumcision at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire. Their legendary leader was Mansur ibn Yakub Han, called Çingene Han. He built his karavansaray in Malatya in 1224. Today it can still be seen as a ruin. Mansur bin Yakup Han is buried in the Ulu Mosque in Malatya.
Muslim Romani people are people who are ethnically Roma and profess Islam. There are many different Roma groups that predominantly practice Islam, as well as individual Romani people from other subethnic groups who have accepted Islam. Xoraxane Roma in Balkan Romani language, are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Some of them are Derviş of Sufism belief, and the biggest Tariqa of Jerrahi is located at the largest Arlije and Gurbeti Muslim Roma settlement in Europe in Šuto Orizari, locally called Shutka in North Macedonia have their own Romani Imamand the Muslim Roma in Šuto Orizari use the Quran in Balkan Romani language. Many Romanlar in Turkey, are members of the Hindiler Tekkesi a Qadiriyya-Tariqa, founded in 1738 by the Indian Muslim Sheykh Seyfullah Efendi El Hindi in Selamsız. Roma Muslims in Turkey and Balkan are mostly cultural Muslims or nominal Muslims.
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 and St. Louis.
Muharem "Mumo" Serbezovski is a Muslim Roma singer, popular in former Yugoslavia. He is also a writer and translator and was briefly in Bosnian politics in the 2000s. Although born in Yugoslav Macedonia, he has been living in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina since 1975.
The Cinematography in Kosovo in the Albanian language began its activities after the foundation of Kosovafilm, which produced short films, documentaries, cartoons and later feature films. Since 2008, the central authority for cinematography in Kosovo has been Kosova’s Cinematography Center (KCC) though there are numerous independent film companies active in Kosovo. Before Kosovafilm, there were no fully Kosovan films.
The Romani people in Canada are citizens of Canada who are of Romani descent. According to the 2011 Census there were 5,255 Canadians who claimed Romani ancestry. They are sometimes referred as "Gypsies", but that is considered to be a racial slur.
Usnija Redžepova was a Serbian and Macedonian singer of Romani and Turkish origin. She was born in Skopje but spent much of her life in Belgrade where she died.
Roma have been living in Italy since the 15th century. The Sinti, who regard themselves as a subgroup distinct from the Roma, arrived from the north. Other Romani groups migrated from the Balkans and settled in Southern Italy and Central Italy. From Bosnia and Kosovo, Muslim Roma the so called Xoraxane came to Italy at the time of the Balkan wars
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Sani Rifati – Bio". 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 "Sani Rifati". romaarchive.eu.
- ↑ Pareles, Jon (12 December 2016). "Esma Redzepova Dies at 73; Sang of Her Roma Heritage to Generations". The New York Times.
