The Origins Of The Gypsies

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 15

The Origins Of The Gypsies

(By JAN KOCHA NOWSKI for U.N.E.S.C.O. Features)

Tsigane, Cygan, Zigeuner, Egyptian, Gypsy, Gifto, Gitan, Romany who are these people ?

In almost every European country—particularly in Cen-i tral Europe—you can see' them, travelling in small groups and wearing gay costumes. Each country has one or more names to describe them. Most of these names are variants of the one given them in Greece: “athinganos,” “athictos” meaning “untouched,” and by extension, “do not touch me.” Now the usual manner of i greeting in India is to make the “anjali”—placing the' palms together and bowing: slightly—and say “hamaste,” I or, in Rajasthan: “Ram! [ Rom!” so “athinganos” is no more than an amusing nickname for foreigners who do not shake hands, but join their palms in the “anjali.” Not Appreciated As for “Egyptian” and its many derivatives, such as Gypsy, this is a name they gave themselves in the Middle Ages. Knowing that Isabella,' the Queen of Castile, was persecuting the Jews, they pretended to be descendants of the Egyptians who had enslaved the Israelites, explaining that for this reason God had condemned them to perpetual wandering. Everywhere they attracted attention by their beauty, their fine horses and their valuable weapons. And the dances of their womenfolk captivated all the noblemen of Europe.

But. in spite of the colour and vigour of their performances. the Romanies soon

came into bad odour with the clergy and a section of the laity. Imagine a company of 50 to 100 arriving on horseback, putting up their tents and turning loose their animals on fine pastureland ready to be cropped. Not everybody was prepared to overlook this kind of behaviour for the excellence of the performance. Their most bitter opponents were the craftsmen —members of the various guilds, who were jealous of the admiration their lords lavished on these intruders, who were so gifted in the forging of weapons and in their use. Near Integration Nevertheless, up to the fifteenth century, noblemen still continued to protect these brave, gay and, at the same time, lazy Romanies and shelter them in their castles. Some were even allowed to fight in the army of a nobleman or monarch—Henry IV of France, for instance, had a Romany company—and became practically integrated in society. But around the beginning of the sixteenth century the Romanies’ “good life” came to an end. The Church’s influence extended over all social institutions, and it began to persecute them with a fanaticism equal to that of the Roman persecution of the Christians. In Spain, France and other European countries, the Inquisition pursued the Gypsies, accusing them of all kinds of witchcraft. A man captured dead or alive was worth £lB, a woman just half that amount. Lived Like Animals The survivors of the Inquisition are the ancestors of the modern Gypsies It is remarkable that, reduced during this period to the conditions of

wolves and foxes, they were able to preserve their natural character and dignity. Much Literature Men of learning and even statesmen have always been interested in these indomitable people since they first appeared in Europe. It would not be possible to analyse here all that has been written about the Romanies: however it is worth noting in passing that if all the books and documents about them were to be collected they would make up a sizeable library. With the exception of the book by Eugene Pittard, the Genovese anthropologist, most of the speculations on the origins of the Romanies are unfortunately, based on traditional linguistics. But after studying the relationship of European Gypsies, I have reached a conclusion that a people or group of tribes who speak a common language must have lived in one country for many centuries, sharing common interests, a common administration and an army: in short, that they must have formed a state. Language Lesson It thus followed that the Gypsy people could not have been of nomadic origin. What is more, an analysis of the Romany vocabulary shows that its original speakers were more the home-loving type. We find no words like “cave,” “tent,” “bison,” but, on the contrary, words like “house,” “cow,” pig,” etc. Some months later I went to Northern India. After observing the features, customs, some of the costumes and, above all, the music and dances of the people there, I decided I had strong evidence of the Gypsies’ homeland in India, of the date and cause I of their leaving India, and of ! their original caste. I In the 12th century, Prithiviraj Chauhan, the most glorious ancester not only of the Gypsies but of the other Rajputs, organised a confederation of 150 Rajput clans against the army of the Moslem invader, Mohammed Ghori. The resulting battle of Taraim was a resounding victory for the Rajputs, but the generous Pithviraj par-

doned his enemy and let him withdraw. The next year (1192), Mohammed Ghori returned with 300,000 crack horsemen from the Moslem imperial armies and attacked treacherously during the night (it had been agreed to commence the battle the next day), taking the Rajputs unawares and scattering them. Three Groups Prithiviraj’s defeated army split up into three groups: the first took to the hills and organised a resistence movement which continued until the arrival of the British. The survivors of this group, interbred with the aboriginal inhabitants, were the ancestors of the modern Indian Gypsies, who, until Independence, were hunted down as outlaws. The second group remained organised as a fighting unit, unconquered by the Moslems, causing considerable trouble to the Moslem invaders, and later to the British. The third group, which called themselves Romane Chave—the sons of Rama, — crossed Afghanistan towards Europe. At this period, the two major factions of Islam, the Shiites and the Sunnites, were almost perpetually feuding; all the Romanies had to do to ensure their free passage was to tell the Shiites that they were being pursued by the Sunnites and vice versa. Greek In Dialects The first European country they reached was Greece. All the Romany dialects, including that of Spain, show borrowings from Greek, proof that the Gypsies all arrived in Europe by the same route and not by way of North Africa. From Greece, one branch pushed straight up to the Baltic countries, while the rest dispersed across Central Europe and eventually permeated Western Europe. It was the Northern Gypsies —those who went up to the Baltic countries —who had the easiest existence. At that time, the Teutonic order was playing much the same role in north-eastern Europe as the Moslems in India: under the pretext of preaching Christianity, they laid waste with fire and sword. The Prussians were exterminated

and their land occupied by German settlers; but when the Germans tried to push on further into Lithuania and Poland the two countries united, and in the forest of Grunwald, in 1410, they defeated the Teutonic knights once and for all time. The Rajputs must have taken part in this battle, for Alexander Jagiello, in his famous charter giving privileges to the Gypsies, claimed to be reaffirming more ancient rights granted by his predecessors, the polish and Lithuanian princes. Free Choice This is why the Baltic Gypsies seem to have adapted better than other Gypsies to European civilisation, while preserving their ancestral customs such as the “Swayambar,” or “free choice,” which in other areas was one of the causes of persecution, the Church considering that this “free choice” in marriage, without official ratification, was tantamount to concubinage. The Romany dialects fall between Hindi and Rajasthani, the Gypsies have the same blood group distribution as the high warrior castes of Northern India, and the heroic music and dances of Northern India, especially “kathak,” are very similar to authentic Gypsy music and dances.