Legend on the origin and the curse of Romani people

One of the legends says:

A prophet warned the Indian king that the enemy will attack his kingdom and destroy his family. However, the attacker will be powerless, if they assault Romani people. The king called on the Roma chieftain and secretly handed him his only daughter Ghan. She was raised by the chieftain as his own child. Ghan grew up in the same family as the chieftain’s son Chen. One day the chieftain died and the Romani tribe forced their new chieftain into marrying. However, Chen rejected every woman and threatened to kill himself, if they would continue with the pressure. He only loved his sister. 

His mother told him one day that Ghan is not his real sister. Nevertheless, he had to keep it a secret since the enemy could have killed Ghan, knowing she is the king’s daughter. The tribe was divided in two groups. The first group supported their new chieftain and the second group did not – they accused him due to his marriage to his sister and did not acknowledge him as their tribal chieftain. The second group coerced Chen and his followers to move out of India. Since then, Chen and his countrymen have migrated from one city into another for they were cursed by the prophet saying that they cannot spend two nights in the same city, drink water twice out of the same well, cross the same river twice in one year.

 

Reference: Portal projekta Romska hiša, On the Origin of Roma, available at: www.romsvet.si/sl-si/romi-v-sloveniji/o-izvoru-Romov