History of the Romani people

The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti, or Kale, depending on the subgroup, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that primarily lives in Europe. The Romani may have migrated from what is the modern Indian state of Rajasthan,^[1] migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent) around 250 BC.^[1] Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 AD.^[2] It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire.^[3]

The author Ralph Lilley Turner has theorised a central Indian origin of the Romani, followed by a migration to northwest India, as the Romani language shares a number of ancient isoglosses with Central Indo-Aryan languages in relation to realization of some sounds of Old Indo-Aryan. This is lent further credence by its sharing exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as Kashmiri and Shina through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers. The overall morphology suggests that Romani participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of New Indo-Aryan languages, thus indicating that the proto-Romani did not leave the Indian subcontinent until late in the second half of the first millennium.^[4]^[5]

^ ^a ^b Marinov, Aleksandar G. (3 October 2019). Inward Looking: The Impact of Migration on Romanipe from the Romani Perspective. Berghahn Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-78920-362-2. It is unclear what made this people leave the Indian sub-continent but they are generally believed to have originated from central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest around 250 BC.
^ Bhanoo, Sindya N. (10 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
^ Hancock, Ian F; Dowd, Siobhan; Djurić, Rajko (2004). The Roads of the Roma: a PEN anthology of Gypsy Writers. Hatfield, United Kingdom: University of Hertfordshire Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-900458-90-3.
^ Matras, Yaron (2006). "Romani" (PDF). In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 656–658. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04471-0. ISBN 9780080448541. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
^ Taylor, Becky (2014). Another Darkness Another Dawn. London: Reaktion Books. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-78023-257-7.

[:03-1] Marinov, Aleksandar G. (3 October 2019). Inward Looking: The Impact of Migration on Romanipe from the Romani Perspective. Berghahn Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-78920-362-2. It is unclear what made this people leave the Indian sub-continent but they are generally believed to have originated from central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest around 250 BC.

[Bhanoo-2] Bhanoo, Sindya N. (10 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

[3] Hancock, Ian F; Dowd, Siobhan; Djurić, Rajko (2004). The Roads of the Roma: a PEN anthology of Gypsy Writers. Hatfield, United Kingdom: University of Hertfordshire Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-900458-90-3.

[Elsevier-4] Matras, Yaron (2006). "Romani" (PDF). In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 656–658. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04471-0. ISBN 9780080448541. Retrieved 30 August 2009.

[5] Taylor, Becky (2014). Another Darkness Another Dawn. London: Reaktion Books. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-78023-257-7.

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