The ancient Bharatiyas who live among us
The ancient Bharatiyas who live among us
Historian from India on the ancient origins of Roma culture
Dear friends, today we are excited and honored to share a piece by Jhanvi Pinara written for you, the audience of The Sky and Earth Know.
Jhanvi is from Gujurat, India. He has done his undergraduate degree in History and Psychology in the Sophia College in Mumbai and is currently applying for his MA. His article is rich in fascinating history and sheds light on the ancient culture of the Romani, including the reasons why it was so fiercely rejected by Medieval Europe, with the ripples being felt to this day.
Jhanvi writes with a lot of knowledge and a lot of heart. We invite you to read his piece below.
The story of our Ancient Bharatiya brothers and sisters is 1,000 years old. It is like the layers of an onion; at their core, they are from Bharat, and as they moved away, they’ve adapted the identities of the journeys that they’ve traveled.
The Romani’s break with their motherland
The Romani were the first people from the Indian subcontinent that ventured out. There are several theories about what made them leave.
In the older times, the North-Western frontier of the country was the only passageway to enter the mainland and thus has gone through many invasions. One particular invasion, that of Mahmud Ghazni in the 11th century, shook the lives of a very large group of Indians: Roma. He conducted raids between 1,000 - 1,027 CE, during which he also took many slaves. The majority belonged to the “Melechhacs” caste (service providers), and men were also taken from the Shastriya caste (warriors,) to be used as soldiers in Ghazni’s army.
“Hindu Kush” is the name of the mountain range in Afghanistan, west of the Himalayas. It translates to “the killer of Hindus.” Many historians believe that if proper digging is conducted, there are high chances of finding bodily remains which could strengthen the many theories that it was indeed the proto-Romani population that traveled through these mountains. They were pushed further west by the events that transpired between Mahmud Ghazni and the Seljucks, who were locked in a fierce fight. As the Romani moved further west, they intermingled with the local populations they encountered and the caste system gradually diminished.
Another theory suggests that the early Romani people were taken out of the country even before the invasion of Ghazni. At the beginning of the 10th century, a Persian historian named Hamza wrote about the Shah of Persia, Bahram Gur. In time period between 420 and 438 AD, Gur imported 12,000 musicians or “Zotts.” The Arabs used the term “Zott” for all Indians. The epic called Shah Nameh or “Book of the Kings” written by Persian poet Firdausi also mentioned this supply of musicians. It is believed that this was the initial event that tore the Romani from their motherland and turned them into wanderers of the Earth.
After they arrived in Europe, around 13th to 14th, the question of their origin became very common. When asked where do they come from, the Roma themselves had no concrete answer as India and Bharat did not exist. So, instead, they referred themselves to the caste to which they belonged, “Dom” or “Doma.”
Devil-worship or Goddess-worship?
The Romani who first arrived in Europe still practiced Shaktism which is the worshipping of the Mother Goddess in Hinduism, or the worshipping of the female deity, which is still practiced widely all over India.
The concept of Shaktism depicts the worship of a female goddess as she is known as the medium to help the devotee achieve ultimate consciousness or salvation.
The ancestors of the present-day Romani were Hindus and, in the eyes of the Europeans, they were devil-worshippers. In secular Medieval Europe, anything outside of Christianity was considered Satan worship or Anti-Christ. The Romani did gradually adopt Christianity and Islam (depending on the regions in which the specific tribes traveled.) But they found ways to incorporate their own beliefs and value system into the dominant religion they were converting to. For instance, the worshipping of Kali Sara in France by the French Roma. The Goddess that resembled the most Saint Kali Sara is the Goddess Kali in Hinduism. It may have happened that the Goddess Kali of Hinduism whom the Hindus worship was changed by the Romani to a Christian saint as a way to protect themselves from persecution by the Church or the people themselves.
Living outside of society
There was so much enmity against the Romas that strict laws were passed that they’d have to eat in the open as they were accused of killing children and eating them. Some people would come and throw over the stove and the food which they cooked because they thought the Romas eat their children. Their association with stealing things and fortune-telling became a way of living because no one would give them work.
The Romanis from the start would have very high ideals about almost everything in life: family, food, clothing, thoughts. Their association with stealing would have never happened if they had not been forced into the conditions they went through. Anyone thrown in the same circumstances would resort to stealing food and amenities, and it would be totally justified. If one would just imagine the atrocities they’ve gone through, generation after generation, even the present-day Romani around the world. Books on their history or suffering are neither enough nor just.
The concept of gadje (non-Romani person) and not mingling with outsiders was so prevalent and still is today because of the centuries of aversion, being treated like outsiders, and not belonging to any country.
Regardless of what the Roma have gone through they have not left their core roots, which is just unimaginable in itself. Many Indians of today forget where they come from the minute they step outside the country, adopt Western culture, distance themselves from the culture they came from, refrain or feel embarrassed in speaking the language of their nation; whereas the Romas are the true Indians. Some would not agree to call themselves that but, at their core, they’ll always be because it’s the place where they came from, and their culture and traditions will continue to keep them unique.
My prayer
In the previous 1,000 years of their history, the Romain were forced to leave the place of their home, their ancestral home. In the coming 1,000 years I pray they come back to their home just like a child comes back to her home.
In India, almost 500 years ago, the temple of the Hindu God Ram was desecrated by the Islamic ruler Babur. When it was constructed again by our present Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, we called the event as returning of God Ram after 500 years of exile. Now it’s the era of the Romani to come back to their motherland. A lot of them would not want that, and it’s okay, but I feel many would want to return.
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