Gypsy Origins
Contrary to popularized societal convention, gypsies are believed to have originated from India, migrating to parts of Eastern Europe more than a thousand years ago, instead of having originated from the continent of Europe itself. Although the reasons for which this initial migration took place are still unknown, some theories suggest the ancestors of these people, mainly artists and artisans by profession, left India with troops after military conflicts that took place in the time.
This emigration is widely accepted to have happened in the wake of defeat of raids by Mahmud of Ghazni, leader of multiple military campaigns and one of the most prominent figures during the Ghaznavid dynasty which ruled large portions of Persia and northern India. The defeated soldiers and their families would often move to the west, into the Eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, the start of their migration into Eastern Europe.
This is supported by linguistic evidence as the Romani language shares many similarities with Modern Indo-Aryan languages, spoken throughout Northern India to parts of Eastern Europe, strengthening the case that the emigration happened sometime after 1000 AD as forms of the language preceding it were not as closely related as later forms.
This emigration is widely accepted to have happened in the wake of defeat of raids by Mahmud of Ghazni, leader of multiple military campaigns and one of the most prominent figures during the Ghaznavid dynasty which ruled large portions of Persia and northern India. The defeated soldiers and their families would often move to the west, into the Eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, the start of their migration into Eastern Europe.
This is supported by linguistic evidence as the Romani language shares many similarities with Modern Indo-Aryan languages, spoken throughout Northern India to parts of Eastern Europe, strengthening the case that the emigration happened sometime after 1000 AD as forms of the language preceding it were not as closely related as later forms.