My father used to carry a colourful ceramic pearl in his pocket, gifted decades ago by a gypsy, signifying good luck. Such belief is still prevalent across European, Northern and Southern American nomadic cultures of South Asian origin. Free-spirited gypsies represent a beautiful mix of an oracular culture of fortune-telling tarot cards, astrology, hand-knotted rugs, and the acrobatic circus that often enjoin human skills with a bear and or monkey in some regions, are common acceptable traditions struggling to survive under the post-World War-II reconfigured nation-state border restrictions.
When we think of the South Asian diaspora dispersed across the globe, the general consideration often appears to be the fairly recent phenomenon that revolves around Indians, Pakistanis, or Bangladeshis going to developed countries in the Gulf and the West for better employment opportunities. This is because young nations with less developed industries and huge labour forces can meet demand in emerging and developed nations with low populations. It was hallmarked in the 1970s with the ['Dubai Chalo'] (Let's go Dubai) mass employment-related overseas immigration movement that brought the Arabic cultural transformation graft to Pakistan.
However, history tells us this was never the first case of South Asian migration. The movement of people across this region has been a centuries-old phenomenon. South Asians, just like various other tribes and ethnic groups across the world, have been going to foreign lands for centuries, whether temporarily for trade or long-term to escape the wrath of a ruler or invader.
There are multiple cases of South Asians present in other parts of the world, whether it is the discovery of Indian Jatts in medieval Baghdad, the Hussaini Brahmins in Karbala -- present-day Iraq, or the gypsies who migrated to Western Asia and Europe in the medieval to early modern era.
Of all these groups, one of the most popular ones is the 'gypsies’. These people have always been the subject of fascination and ridicule in European culture but have been an integral part of the popular representation of many European cultures, especially the Eastern ones.
But who are these people? What language do they speak? And what is their current status? And how are they linked to South Asia?
Due to a lack of written records, the global history of gypsies is shrouded in mystery. One thing is for certain: they are not native to Europe. Based on some studies and observations, it is certain that their place of origin is likely to be India. One factor that proves their Indian origin is their language. The Romani language is a cluster of several languages that share a lot of common words with Indo-Aryan languages such as Sanskrit. For instance, 'pa'ni' and 'pa'nch' hold the same literal meaning in the Romanian language for 'water' and 'five', respectively, as in contemporary Urdu and Hindi languages. There are a few more similarities if you compare Romanian and Punjabi. Another proof is the genetic studies. A lot of studies have shown that their genes have immense similarities with the genes of the people from Northwest India. This is visible in some of their facial features as well.
A country like Romania, despite having a large Romani population, did not get its name from these people. Romania got its name because of its historical connection with the Roman Empire
But how did they come to - or from - India? This is quite uncertain, and very few written records about it exist. One record by Hamza al-Isfahani tells us that the Persian King Bahram-V hired some musicians from India in the 5th century CE, a century marked by migration and political instability across Eurasia. The king gave them an Ox, a donkey, and some wheat as payment. Later, the musicians ate the wheat and the Oxen, but then they approached the king, imploring him for assistance to stave off starvation. Angered by this behaviour, the king punished them by ordering them to wander across the world.
Another strong possibility is that they were forced to leave India due to invasions by Persian and Central Asian rulers in the medieval era. A famous example is that of Mahmud Ghaznavi, whose repeated raids into India threatened the lives of many defeated people, compelling them to flee India and migrate to other regions.
Most of these people began to live a nomadic lifestyle and continue to do so. Due to this, they travelled across multiple places. Most of them migrated westwards, with some travelling to Egypt, while many moved to the prosperous Byzantine Empire during the 13th to 14th centuries and eventually arrived in Europe. Many continued to live in the Eastern parts of Europe and the Byzantine Empire (later replaced by the Ottoman Empire), while some moved further westwards, into countries such as present-day Spain, France, and even the British Isles. Much later, some gypsies travelled to the Americas and Australia as slaves and servants of colonisers or as free migrants after the abolition of slavery.
It was in Europe that they earned the monikers 'Romani' and 'Gypsy'. The term 'Romani' was given to them because 'Rom' means man in their language, while ['Gypsy’] is a corruption of the word 'Egyptian', as they were sometimes mistaken for Egyptians due to their clothing. However, they see the latter term as an offensive slur.
It is interesting to note, that a country like Romania, despite having a large Romani population, did not get its name from these people. Romania got its name because of its historical connection with the Roman Empire.
It must be kept in mind that moving to Europe did not significantly improve the lifestyle of Romani. They continued to live a nomadic lifestyle as the social structure of Europe then was far less inclusive, and since Europe was overwhelmingly Christian, the Romani were seen as heathens. However, their lifestyle was comparatively better as many of them were valued for their skills as craftsmen and musicians, especially in the Byzantine Empire and later in the Ottoman Empire.
Still, they continued to face persecution. This happened to the point that many rulers even passed laws against them. One example is the 1545 Diet of Augsburg, in which representatives of the Holy Roman Empire declared, "whosoever kills a gypsy is not guilty of murder". Later, in the 16th century, Empress Maria Theresa of the Habsburg Empire threatened the Romanis to settle down and give up their language or face persecution.
Such persecution continued for decades. Assimilation, and later the emphasis on human rights due to the Enlightenment era tempered the discrimination, but it was not very significant. Many Romanis remained ostracised and poor. When the Nazis ruled Germany (and annexed other European countries), the persecution and cruelty increased. Even after the war, far-right politicians in Europe continued to discriminate against them.
Despite this, there are attempts in modern-day Europe with the European Union's policies against their discrimination in the 21st century, such as the European Union (EU) framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) till 2020 and human rights groups like Amnesty International who work to improve their status via education. With these changes, it is hoped that their situation may improve as it is certain that their status is a lot better if we compare it with their past.