History

As per Cangár (2003), the researchers consider the oldest allusion of the Roma (Gypsies) in Europe and at the same time the first written record of their currently most spread designation, a writing from the year 1100 in a monastery at the Athos hill, on the Greek peninsula Khalkidhiki, which mentions a group of people known as Athsinganos. According to Cangár (2003), sources from the 14th Century prove that at that time the Gypsies were living all around the Balkans and in middle Europe. The European population was forthcoming to the Roma at the beginning - they were perceived as penitent Christian pilgrims they claimed to be. Individual nomadic groups let European feudalists issue various protection charters for themselves, which they then demonstrated in other countries.

The year 1427 brought upon a major change when they were excommunicated from the Church by a Paris archbishop. It was at that time that the attitude of the European population changed. Four and a half centuries of severe discrimination had started. In Slovakia, the attitude to them was probably more forthcoming, which was reflected in the settlement and can be observed until the present time. The end of the 18th century, also known as enlightenment, pervaded Slovakia wiith normative acts and placitums of Maria Theresa and Joseph II. The goal was the assimilation of the Roma population (prohibitions of nomadism, use of their own language, closing of mutual marriages). The regulations of Joseph II. were focused on the education and Christianization of the Roma. We can view the acceptance of the Roma as a real part of the population as positive, even though it was this program of assimilation that started the intervention to their law of customs and their traditional way of life. In the 19th century there was a forceful downfall of their traditional crafts and services as well as the disruption of territorial integrity. In the year 1873 there was a Roma census in the territory of today’s Slovakia, without strict rules set in advance on whom to consider as the Roma and based on what identification features. The 1893 census, for the first time in our territory, used the ethnological bases for the determination of Roma ethnicity by using the “expert opinion“ on the ethnic affiliation of given citizens or a specific village. Based on this census there were 274,940 Roma living in the territory of Hungarian Empire, which represented 1.8% of the total population of the country. However, the Budapest Roma were excluded from the census, even though their number reached approx. 1,500. In the territory of today’s Slovakia belonging at the time to the Hungarian Empire there were approx. 40 to 42,000 Roma. The biggest Roma communities were living in the vicinity of Šamorín, Nitra, Komárno, Nové Zámky, Levice, Lučenec, Rimavská Sobota, Rožňava, Košice and Kežmarok. These are the territories containing the biggest part of the Roma population in Slovakia even at this day.

When the Roma came to Europe, the domestic population started to call them by names, which were based on the guesses of their origin. Based on the alleged Egyptian origin, names like Gypsy, Gitanas etc. came to be. Based on the statements on whose members they were, the Athinganoi sect from Little Asia, names like Cigán, Zigeuner, Zingar, Tsigan, etc. came to be. The Roma themselves address each other variously, depending on the sub-ethnicity, while the name “Roma“ originally belonged only to one big branch of the ethnic group or nation originating in India.

Preferring the term “Roma“ is criticized because of several reasons. It lacks historic use substantiation. Except for this, its use as a summary naming doesn’t respect the existence of other groups of the Gipsy ethnic group and no matter how politically correct it is, it is discriminating others. For example, the German Sinti, which are strictly named “non-Roma Gypsies“, as well as their official association consider the term “Gipsy“ as neutral and correct. The circumstances of the creation of the term Gipsy are contradictory, while the biggest problems are negative associations tied to it (e.g. “cigániť“ = lie). Therefore, despite the fact that the Roma themselves usually use this term to describe themselves, the world Roma organizations at the beginning of the 70’s and two decades later as well as the Language institute of Ľudovít Štúr preferred the term Roma (Valent, D., 2015).

 

Source: http://www.losbosques.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Hungarian_Gypsies.jpg

 

References:

  • Cangár, J. 2003. Ľudia s rodiny Rómov. Nové Zámky. Crocus, 2003. 239 s. ISBN 80 – 88992 – 42 – 7.
  • Havalda, R. 1997. Kto sú Rómovia - rozhovor pre NonProfit, 1997, číslo 2. Dostupné na: www.tolerancia.sk
  • Mruškovič, V. Európa jazykov a národov na prahu tretieho tisícročia. Martin : Matica slovenská, 2008. 517 s. ISBN 978-80-7090-858-7. S. 284.
  • Valent, D. 2015. Rómovia: Odkiaľ sa vzali? In in vivo. 2015 [cit. 26.04.2015], Dostupné na: http://invivomagazin.sk/romovia-odkial-sa-vzali_206.htm