Who Are the Gypsies?

True Gypsies call their race Romany.They are a group of people who originally came from India.Many Romany words that they use are similar to Sanskrit, the ancient language of that country.

In the fourteenth century, Gypsies wandered through North Africa and then on into Europe.The name 'Gypsy' was given to them in the fifteenth century when they said they had been driven from Egypt for not giving up their Christian beliefs. They probably hoped that people would feel sorry for them.

Gypsies have lived like nomads for centuries. They have survived by begging, fortune-telling, giving musical performances and sometimes mending pots and pans. They were often accused of stealing children of which they were quite innocent and of cheating and thieving. They were cruelly persecuted in almost every country in which they moved. Hitler, the German dictator, had thousands of them killed by sending them to the gas chambers. Nevertheless, there are many Gypsies today who jealously guard their customs and traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation.

Thousands of Gypsies, all speaking dialects of the same language, roam the world. Every continent has them, including Australasia. They seldom remain in an area for long, so home for them is generally a caravan. They used to rely on horses for pulling their carts and homes but now they are motorised.