Gypsies. The Romani, colloquially known as Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally itinerant, living mostly in Europe and the Americas and originating from the northern Indian subcontinent, from the Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab regions of modern-day India.
Genetic findings appear to confirm that the Romani came from a single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago. Genetic research published in the European Journal of Human Genetics revealed that over 70% of males belong to a single lineage that appears unique to the Roma.
They are a dispersed people, but their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The Romani originated in northern India and arrived in Mid-West Asia and Europe around 1,000 years ago.
They have been associated with another Indo-Aryan group, the Dom people: the two groups have been said to have separated from each other or, at least, to share a similar history. Specifically, the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left North India sometime between the 6th and 11th century.
The Romani are widely known among English-speaking people by the exonym Gypsies, which is considered to be pejorative due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity. Beginning in 1888, the Gypsy Lore Society started to publish a journal that was meant to dispel rumors about their lifestyle. Since