Gabbasov Sergey - Banyan Leaves. Gypsies and Travellers

Banyan Leaves

Gypsies and Travellers

Sergey Gabbasov

© Sergey Gabbasov, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0055-9367-2

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Banyan Leaves  The Route From Maharajas to Pharaohs

INTRODUCTION

Gypsies are the people originated from Central and North regions of Indian subcontinent. The word Gypsy is an exonym, like tsigane, gitano and many other names connected with Greek athinganos (untouchable), which based on athinganoi  the name of a Christian sect with whom gypsies were associated. The English term Gypsy originates from the Middle English Gypcian, short form of Egipcien, which ascend from Greek Aigyptioi meaning Egyptian. This name was given because of the common belief that gypsies are from Egypt. Self-designation varies but Roma is the most common.

Who were the ancestors of the Gypsies? Genetics proved that modern gypsies are descendants of the comparatively small and homogeneous group which has emigrated or been captured from South Asia (North-West India and North Pakistan) (Martínez-Cruz et al. 2016; Gresham et al. 2001; Kalaydjieva et al. 2001). Linguistic analyzes of self-designation and language make a theory that Roma originate from Domba (Dom) people (Matras 1995).

It is almost impossible to say who the Domba were at the period when the ancestors of the Roma left India, but now this is a widespread ethnic group scattered across India and Nepal. The term Domba may be connected with the analogs in Indian Hindu and Buddhist literature for a segregated and enslaved population. It can also be associated with damara (Sanskrit term for the drum).

Nowadays Dom can be found in Himachal Pradesh (former hunter-gatherers indigenous groups), Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal where they are agricultural workers, basket weavers and small scale agriculturalists. They speak Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages and show very few connections with modern or ancient Roma people except low social level. Very few groups of modern Dom have any elements of semi-sedentary lifestyle, but some former hunter-gatherers groups of honey-hunters in Nepal and Himachal Pradesh. Ive been in villages in Nepal (Far West and Chitwan regions) and Himachal Pradesh (Dharamsala region) inhabited by different ethnic groups (Tharu and Magar in Chitwan, Kangri in India) but in Dom cast division. In all regions they were small-scale agriculturalists, with spear-fishing of Tharu and honey-hunting of Kangri.

There are several nomadic gypsy-like groups in modern Europe who have no connections with Roma (Yenish) or absorbed a few amount of Roma in recent times (Pavee, an lucht siúil in Irish, or Irish Travelers in English). Some of not well-received names of Travelers is Pikey. It is a slang word, used in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales to refer to Irish or Scottish Travelers and gypsies. In a pejorative sense it means a lower-class person, perhaps coarse or disreputable. In this case it is very important to say some words about modern nomadic gypsy-like groups of Rajasthan.

Actually, they are not pure nomadic, because nomadism based upon livestocks pasture and non-sedentary lifestyle of nomads is strongly non-random and systematically necessitated. Rajasthani gypsy-like groups can wander very randomly, they have no nature or animal caused seasons of movements, so they are wandering, non- or semi-sedentary groups (or groups with flexible sedentarism).

Trying to find any connections and relationships between modern semi-sedentary groups and castes of Rajasthan with the gypsies is completely mistakable. What should we based on? Languages and self-designations are different. Occupations and lifestyles? But how can we compare Roma with the modern non-sedentary peoples and groups like Sansi or Banjara (both are wandering traders)? Other gypsy-like groups of Rajasthan demonstrate higher percent of sedentarism (like castes of professional singers and musicians Langa / Manganiyar) and change their place of living very seldom (for example occasionally to some religious festivals or fairs like Pushkar camel fair). Non-sedentary wandering blacksmiths Gadia Lohar (gadi means cart, and lohar is a blacksmith) may consist of different ethnic groups.

Gypsies of Middle East call themselves Dom and their language is Domari. Recent researches suggest that the differences between Domari and Romani are significant enough to treat them as two separate languages. The Dom and the Roma are therefore likely to be descendants of two different migration waves from the Indian subcontinent, separated by several centuries.

As weve known from publications of Nazarov (Назаров 1980) and Oranski (Оранский 1983), there were many waves of arriving of gypsies and gypsy-like groups in Central Asia, and now there are (or were in recent past time) Mughati tubzhon (local gypsies), Hindusthoni Mughat (Indian gypsies), Agha (gypsies from Kashgar), Mazang and Kavol (probably from city of Kabul, wandering cosmetics and haberdashery traders), Parya (sedentary small-scale agriculturalists and workers), and Tavoktarosh / Sogutarosh / Kosatarosh (semi-sedentary wooden bowls makers). The last group names reflect the main occupation of the community, making of wooden kitchen utensils: tavok (different types of plates); sogu (storage containers); kosa (bowls). In the past, they led a semi-nomadic way of life; in winter they lived in villages and in the warm season arranged their camps along rivers with lots of trees, which were used for producing the utensils sold afterwards in nearby villages.

In the past there was also a very small group of wandering monkey-trainers in Fergana valley  Balyuj (distinguish themselves quite clearly from the true Baloch or Baluch, some of whom had migrated from Baluchistan to Central Asia) (Marushiakova & Popov 2016).

The designation Mazang (translated as dark, dark-faced) often leads to confusion, because the Parya and the Jughi (Mughat), living in Hissar valley, call each other by this same name (Оранский 1971), which makes it necessary to distinguish clearly between these two communities and the real Mazang. The same problem arises when the Parya and the Kavol call each other Chachgarak / Shashgorak (Marushiakova & Popov 2016; Оранский 1977).

Very interesting group of semi-sedentary Chistoni (probably from the Sistan region in Iran and Afghanistan), who were robbers (xalq-i kisabur) and killers (mardum-i kalabur), that makes a distant parallel with a Thuggee of India. The Kavol and Chistoni had been semi-nomadic, with winter settlements and longer or shorter travels during the warm season. The Kavol made a living by peddling small wares and cosmetics and producing and selling homemade jewelry. The Chistonis livelihood depended on various occupations, including begging and basket-making (Marushiakova & Popov 2016; Хакимов 2010).

Dom people now can be found also in Azerbaijan (where they have the exonym Karachi), in neighboring Armenia their name changed to Lom (with the Armenian exonym Bosha), who spread to South Georgia also. Dom and Lom are mostly basket-weavers, musicians and fortune-tellers, in big cities begging is widespread. Their migration route didnt go further north (though there are some theories of arriving of gypsies to Crimea peninsula from West Caucasus through the Kerch strait (Торопов 2004), but in 20

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In many countries Dom have different external names, which became their endonyms. One of them is Nawar, which is well-known because of their ghawazee traveling dancers groups in Egypt. Most of Nawar in Middle East were musicians, fortune-tellers, sorcerers and animal-trainers with a low social status in the society. Now there is a strong tendency of losing traditional occupations and marginalization. Nawar is an Arabic umbrella -term to non-Dom who share a wandering lifestyle and the same social status  Kurds, Turkmen, and Bedouin.