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The Romani are a people that had, for several centuries, lost the identity of their roots, their origin, their “Baro Than" (“homeland" in the Romani tongue). Over years of not having a written language to remain constant with, the spoken language has splintered and evolved. For many centuries the Romani people have been known by the names that the mainstream, non-Romani societies have called them. Names such as Gypsies, Tsiganes, Czigany, Cigany, Zigeuner, Gitanos, Heiden and other names — all of which have had negative connotations in their history. It was not until November of 2000 that the “Library of Congress officially changed its subject heading from ‘Gypsies' to ‘Romanies'".
Also, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and all but two Romani organizations have adopted the spelling Romani. The variation Romany is also acceptable but is considered more out-of-date (xxi). The Romanian government supports the word Rromani instead, because they feel that it more effectively aids the populace in setting them apart from being mistakenly identified with the Romanian people (Hancock, xvii, xx, xxi, xxii). For an ancient people who have had negative names imposed on them for centuries, it is about time they were able to officially adopt a name that truly describes them and validates them universally as a societal and biological group.
Due to the hegemonies' powerful hands in their affairs, the Romanies have been divided and isolated from each other. There are a great many tribes and language variations as a result of this separation. Amazingly, despite the many hundreds of years of separation between the groups, a great many similarities exists, still containing the unique signature imprints of their origins.
It has been established conclusively that they are not aliens from another planet sent to pollute and destroy us. So then, where are they from? What are their origins as far back as can be adequately proven? Since the Romanies have had no known written language over the centuries, the clues and proof rest upon the development of their spoken language and serologic genetic findings. Many theories have been formulated and published, making it extremely difficult to find the most accurate origins. However, the most recent and most reliable source of information is the book, We are the Romani people, by Ian Hancock. It is from his book that I will present the findings of my search. The initial clue to the discovery of the Romanies' main country of origin was found by ‘chance'.
It happened in Holland in the year 1760. A Hungarian student named Valyi Stefan was at the University of Leiden in the common room. He overheard a conversation spoken in Sanskrit (an ancient east Indian language) and recognized key words and phrases that mimicked the words used by Romani workers in his homeland. He happened to mention the similarities of the two languages to a printer named Nemeth Istvan, who related the discovery of the similarities to an army captain named Szekely von Doba, who mentioned it to a scholar named Georg Pray. If this linguistic “game of telephone" was not unusual enough, it was sixteen years later when the scholar named Pray, published that observation in the Vienna Gazette in 1776 (2)! This produced a starting point for other researchers and specialists who were interested in studying these peoples' origins. “Romani Studies had begun" (2). A great many more years passed before the correct origins were more precisely pinpointed. Even recent publications are in error and this fact is proven by Ian Hancock's findings in We are the Romani people. Ian cites the language clues to various possibilities and historic markers. He writes of the historic connection between the Rajput warriors from Northern India that fought against the Ghaznavids some time after the year 1000 A.D. at Nishapur in Khorasan (today's east Iran). “The Indian militia was composed principally of Rajputs, whose name means ‘sons of princes'" (10).
The antecedents of the [Rajput] tribes are unknown…it is possible that some of these tribes came from Central Asia in the wake of the invasion of the Huns and became part of local tribes…in the year 747…all Rajput clans were purified and admitted to the status of Kshatriyas…the constant division of Rajput tribes into small exogamous clans led to the development of a complicated network of martial alliances. This in turn produced a fusion of the leadership of the Rajputs and gave rise to a common Rajput culture, which is still characteristic of Rajasthan today (10, 11).
The Rajput warriors were taken as prisoners of war and were pressed into military service. The Seljuks of Rum defeated the Ghaznavids between 1038 and 1040, bringing the Rajput captives with them to the Byzantine Empire (8).
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