A Brief History of the Rom

Gypsies have been misunderstood and, therefore, persecuted since their exodus from India a millenium ago. That misunderstanding — though not the persecution — penetrates the SCA and influences both those who are trying to portray Gypsies and those who are audience to our portrayals. Over the last fifteen years the interest in Gypsies has grown in the SCA, particularly as a new and different persona to have. Due to both the relative lack of documentation about Roma and difficulty in obtaining much of that documentation, many of us who have portrayed Roma have done so enjoying the fact that few can knowledgeably argue our choice of names, clothing or history. This article stems from my research on the Rom (and my own persona) during the past decade. It begins with a brief introduction to the Roma before exploring their origins, motivations for traveling and the extent of their migrations. I hope this will help others researching the Rom as personas for themselves or just for interest's sake. Throughout this article I will be referencing the Rom by their modern name: Rom (singular), Roma (plural) and Romani (adjective), as well as by the term Gypsy. Gypsy is used as a connection mostly to the historical texts, acknowledging that most Roma prefer not to be referred to by that name. Who are the Rom? Over the last thousand years, Roma have been referred to by a seemingly endless variety of names, many of them occurring through error and prejudice. Wanderers, Vagrants, Bohemians, Travellers, Gypsies, Sinti, Zott, Luri, Nawar, Jats are only a sampling of these names. Many of these names are linguistically similar. For example, in the 11th century the Gypsies were referred to in a Byzantine text,Life of St. George the Athonite 1. In this text the Gypsies are referred to as Adsincani, which is interpreted as a form of the Greek wor