The Gypsies are the largest nation on Earth, without their own statehood. Dark-skinned black-haired people were persecuted almost always and everywhere. They were ousted from their native India, and since then the Roma have not found a place for compact residence. The gypsies themselves joke that this is not exile and persecution, it was God who gave them the whole world to settle.
A lot of bad things are said about gypsies, and much of this is true. Gypsies - for the most part - really are not inclined to productive work and often do not make a living in the most righteous ways. It is impossible to unambiguously blame the entire people, just as it is impossible to say unequivocally whether it is such a national character or was brought in by external pressure. Indeed, for many centuries the gypsies could earn a living only by the work that the locals disdained. On the other hand, in the USSR, where the Gypsies were provided with work, and it was possible to go to jail for a nomadic way of life, some of the Gypsies continued to live in nomadic camps and trade in theft.
It is unequivocal that the Roma are a people with a very difficult history and a very difficult present. Living at least in an indifferent, and more often hostile environment, they manage to preserve their customs and often live, almost not assimilating with the environment.
1. From a scientific point of view, a single people “Gypsies” do not exist - ethnically this community is rather heterogeneous. However, both the Roma themselves and those around them find it easier to unite the Roma into one group - all these Sinti, Manush, Kale and others hardly differed in their lifestyle.
2. In view of the understandable absence of any written sources, scientists are trying to determine the origin of the Roma by indirect, primarily linguistic features. An example of how it is possible to reconstruct the history of a nation based on linguistic grounds was demonstrated by Mikhail Zadornov. According to his "research", all the peoples of the world descended from the Russian, who scattered ("Scatter") around the world during the Ice Age. However, in relation to the Roma, such research is considered serious. According to the generally accepted version, the Gypsies no later than the 3rd century BC. e. migrated from India, which was their homeland, to the west, reaching Persia and Egypt.
3. Gypsies live everywhere. Their number varies greatly depending on the country, but it is hardly possible to find a country in which the Roma would be completely absent. Most Roma live in the United States, Brazil, Spain, Bulgaria and Argentina. Russia, with 220,000 Roma, ranks sixth on this list. There are significant Roma communities in Canada, Serbia, Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
4. Despite the fact that the Gypsy peoples are originally from India, there are no indigenous Gypsies left in this country - all at one time moved to Persia. But there is a Gypsy population in India - some of the Gypsies migrated back from Persia. Gypsies in India are a sedentary and respected people - Indians revere people whose skin is even slightly lighter than theirs. And there are also false gypsies in India. The British who colonized India did not really strive to figure out which people these or those Indians belong to. Seeing beggars or dark-skinned people on the street, for the sake of being engaged in some kind of craft, the British drew an analogy with the Motherland (the gypsy even mentions Conan Doyle in the "Colorful Ribbon") - the gypsies! So the word gypsies began to refer to representatives of some roaming Indian castes.
5. Stereotypes about Roma are interpreted differently in different countries. It is well known that in Russia and the USSR the musicality of the Gypsies and their love of dancing were appreciated. The general attitude towards the Roma was negative, but it was believed that “even though they sing and dance well”. In European countries, the musicality of the gypsies was considered a negative trait - loafers, they also dance and sing.
6. A resident of the UK with the surname Smith is highly likely to have British roots. When the British authorities began to try to somehow accustom the Roma to a civilized life, they began to massively take the name Smith. In English “smith” is a blacksmith. Where there is a blacksmith, there are horses, where there are horses, there are gypsies. And Smith is one of the most common surnames in England, go at the beginning of the 19th century, identify all the swarthy Smiths. Despite all the efforts of the government, nomadic gypsies in the UK live to this day, they just changed their horses to mobile homes.
7. The speed with which the Roma spread across Europe is impressive. The first evidence of them dates back to 1348, when the Roma settled in what is now Serbia. And already in the middle of the next century, gypsy camps became a familiar detail of the cityscape in Barcelona and the British Isles.
8. At first, the Europeans were friendly to the Roma. They showed them documents, allegedly issued by the secular and spiritual authorities, according to which the Roma were allowed to beg and wander. The illiterate Roma were told that a penance was imposed on them, forbidding them to live in stationary dwellings. The term of penance was calculated in years. However, very quickly the gypsies acquired a reputation for skillful thieves, and the period of good fortune for them ended once and for all. From about the end of the 15th century, they began to be persecuted.
9. Quite quickly, the persecution of the Roma brought a religious motive. Indeed, somewhere in the steppe a bonfire is burning, around which people are circling, speaking an incomprehensible language, dancing strange dances to strange music - why not a witches' Sabbath? And the gypsies skillfully trained animals and knew a lot about medicinal and not very herbs. Such knowledge and skills were also attributed to sorcerers and witches.
10. Hypothetically, the Roma could have assimilated in European countries, if not for the guild structure of the then industry. Only members of workshops or guilds who had undergone certain training could be engaged in a certain craft. The emergence of new blacksmiths, saddlers, jewelers, shoemakers, etc., hit the interests of the guilds, and the Roma initially found themselves in the marginal strata of society.
11. In the Middle Ages, which are now considered to be cruel - thousands of people gathered for public brutal executions, etc. - Gypsies were evicted from their lands. So they got to America and Australia. In Sweden, England, and some Germanic lands, there were laws prescribing the execution of Roma, but due to the nomadic way of life of the latter, they were rarely used. And in the twentieth century, Hitler's regime killed about 600,000 Roma exclusively on the basis of nationality.
12. Laws against Roma were almost universally abolished by the end of the 19th century. It is believed that the abolition of these laws began the integration of the Roma into the societies of the countries where they lived. However, practice has shown that there were isolated cases of real integration, and in general the Roma continued to lead their usual way of life.
13. The Roma entered Russia in the middle of the 19th century from Germany through Poland. Many Gypsies then served in the Russian army, occupying non-combatant positions. They served as grooms, saddlers, blacksmiths, etc. However, in the general gypsy environment, such a service was considered shameful.
14. Despite the general intolerance of Islam towards the Gentiles, the Ottomans were surprisingly tolerant of the Roma. True, this tolerance concerned only sedentary Roma who were engaged in crafts related to metalworking - blacksmiths, gunsmiths, jewelers. They paid less taxes than Christians, and gunsmiths were completely exempt from taxes. Gypsies readily accepted Islam. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, such a soft attitude left the Gypsies sideways - the liberated local population, unable to reach the Turks, rushed to take revenge on the Gypsies. They were publicly tortured and executed. Those who were fortunate were enslaved. According to newspaper ads, in the middle of the 19th century in Moldova and Hungary, they were sold in lots of dozens of people.
15. A gypsy mobile home is called a wardo. It has a stove, wardrobes, a bed - everything you need for life. However, if the weather permits, the Gypsies preferred to sleep in Bender - a combination of tents and yurts of the nomadic peoples of the north. Children were given birth and died only in Bender - vardo should not be associated either with the arrival of a person in life or with the departure from it. Now wardos have become expensive collectibles - tens of thousands of dollars are paid for them.
16. The most successful way to assimilate Roma was in the Soviet Union. True, the official data on 90% of the settled Roma are distrustful, but there were indeed a lot of settled Roma. There were peasant collective farms, children attended schools and continued their education, gypsies served in the army. There was also a whip - gypsies were easily condemned to several years of imprisonment for parasitism or vagrancy. After the collapse of the USSR, systematic work on the integration of the peasants ceased, but the Roma did not return to their former way of life. Now about 1% of Russian gypsies roam.
17. After the collapse of the USSR and the entry of the former socialist countries into the European Union, the Roma became a real disaster for the countries of “old” Europe. Hundreds of thousands of gypsies flooded the streets of major European cities. Gypsies engage in begging, fraud and theft. If in Russia the Roma are actively involved in the drug trade, then in Europe this business is controlled by more serious ethnic structures, so the Roma live very poorly.
18. Even assimilated Roma retain many of the old customs, especially with regard to family relations. The head of the family is, of course, the husband. A couple of sons and daughters are picked up by parents. Previously, this was done when the children were 15 - 16 years old, now they are trying to pick up a groom or a bride even earlier - acceleration has also touched the gypsies. The fact that the bride was a virgin must be demonstrated with the help of a sheet. Neither the official age of marriage, nor the age difference of young people play a role - the wedding of a 10-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl is quite possible, and vice versa.
19. There are no drunks at gypsy weddings, although the three-day feasts are organized very magnificently. Gypsies drink only beer on them, and specially designated people monitor the condition of the guests, who quickly remove the drunken guest from the table.
20. Gypsy Timofey Prokofiev posthumously became a Hero of the Soviet Union - he participated in the Olshansky Landing Force, when 67 people held back the attacks of the entire German garrison of Nikolaev for two days. Prokofiev, like 59 of his comrades, fell in battle.
21. Perhaps the seven-string guitar is not an invention of the gypsies, but it gained popularity thanks to the rums. Many Russian romances that are considered classics are either borrowed from the Gypsies or bear the imprint of Gypsy music. The music of Emir Kusturica and Petar Bregovich is also very similar to the gypsy one.
22. Due to the perpetual restlessness and bad reputation of Roma, there are practically no Roma among prominent figures in science, culture, art or sports. Perhaps they were, but their gypsy origin was reasonably hidden. After all, even now someone's loud statement "I am a gypsy!" will make the overwhelming majority of those present want to check the contents of their wallet. It is known that Elvis Presley and Charlie Chaplin had a particle of gypsy blood. The founders of the rather famous group "Gypsy Kings" are gypsies. In the USSR / Russia, the singer and actor Nikolai Slichenko enjoys well-deserved popularity. But much more famous are fictional gypsies like Esmeralda, Carmen, the gypsy of Aza or the main gypsy of the USSR, Budulai.
23. Some kind of special striving of the gypsies for freedom, freedom - a myth invented by idle writers. The behavior of the Roma within the community is highly regulated and surrounded by many taboos. And outside the community, the life of a gypsy is unthinkable - expulsion from the camp is considered the most severe punishment. There are also quite a few quirks. The whole camp comes running to see the birth, and the gypsy will go to the gynecologist only on pain of death.
24. The immense power of the “baron” (in fact, “baro” - “chief”) is the same myth. Baro is, as it were, an official representative of the Roma, who is delegated authority to communicate with the official authorities or other communities. Some of the Gypsies are poorly socialized outside the camp - they do not know the language well, do not understand documents, or simply cannot read and write. Then, on their behalf, the baro speaks, who is supplied with kilograms of gold jewelry and other attributes of luxury and power for solidity. However, on serious issues, the decision is made by the so-called. "Kris" - advice from the most authoritative men.
25. The attitude of Roma towards learning is gradually changing. If earlier children were sent to school only under pressure from government agencies, now young Roma willingly study. Fortunately, in many European countries they have great benefits. In general, the Roma treat children very well, while closing their eyes to the fact that the kids can be dirty or poorly dressed.
