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History of The Roma There are more than 12,000,000 Roma located in many countries around the world. There is no way to obtain an exact number since they are not recorded on most official census counts. Many Roma themselves do not admit to their true ethnic origins for economic and social reasons. The Roma are a distinct ethnic minority, distinguished at least by Rom blood and the Romani, or Romanes, language, whose origins began on the Indian subcontinent over one thousand years ago. No one knows for certain why the original Roma began their great wandering from India to Europe and beyond, but they have dispersed worldwide, despite persecution and oppression through the centuries.
The Roma (Gypsies) are one of the worlds least known and most misunderstood people. Based on linguistic research of the origins of language of the Roma (Sindhi -Multani /Hindi Punjabi) scholars agree the Romany originally came from North Central India in about 300 BC. According prominent scholars in the field, Romani migrated in various time periods out of India and towards Southeastern Europe. In the Persian "Book of Kings" it is said the Indian King Shankel sent 12,000 musicians to the Shah of Persia. It is assumed by some that those musicians were ancestors of the Roma, however other scholars dispute this as not based in fact. Other theories have stated that the Roma were at one time a warrior caste that left India due to "military" jargon in Romanes. Various theories and why they left India are still debated amongst scholars. There have been several great migrations, or diaspora, in Romani history. The 1st. migration was the initial dispersal from India about a 1000 years ago. Many scholars suggest that there were several migrations from India. The 2nd. great migration, known as the Aresajipe, was from southwest Asia into Europe in the 14th century. They were taken from many different ethnic groups who spoke many different languages and dialects. Some were Lohars & Gujjars, Tandas, & even Rajputs, a non-Indian people who had come to live in India several centuries before. Some may also have been Siddhis, Africans from the East African coast who fought as mercenaries for both the Hindus and the Muslims. This composite army moved out of India through the mountain passes and west into Persia, battling with Muslim forces all along the eastern limit of Islam. While this is to an extent speculative, it is based upon sound linguistic and historical evidence, and provides the best-supported scenario to date. Because Islam was not only making inroads into India to the east, but was also being spread westwards into Europe, this conflict carried the Indian troop, the early Roma, further & further in that direction, until they crossed over into southeastern Europe in approximately 1300 AD. The 3rd. migration was from Europe to the Americas in the 19th and early 20th centuries after the abolition of Romani slavery in Europe in 1856-1864. Many scholars feel that there is another great migration occurring today since the fall of the Soviet Union & the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe.
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