All Gypsy communities who subsisted on commercial nomadism before the spreading of industry have their own histories. Roma, as one of the most crowded Gypsy groups of Balkans, have their own history which started with a migration process from India to Europe. Roma individuals have to know this history very well if they want to be able to defend their personality and their society against prejudices and stereotypes targeting Romani identity.
There are almost no written sources evidencing Roma history. On the other hand, the biggest witness of the Roma history is the Roma language, Romanes. Linguists who have studied on Romanes since the last decades of 18th century related some features of the Roma language with the Roma history. According to them, existing of Romanes as the only European language related with the Indian languages show that the Roma history started in India. Indeed, the Roma history, which started in India, continued with the proces which made Roma a European society.
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In the first period of the Roma history, there were neither Roma language or Romani identity. But there were various Gypsy groups in India subsisting on commercial nomadism who were speaking different languages. However, neither of them were Roma. Neither of them were speaking Romanes.
The second period of the Roma history started with the leaving of different Gypsy groups from India with an unknown reason almost 1000 years ago. Some members of these Gypsy groups, who were moving to the west, settled in the countries they stopped and united with local Gypsy populations. Some others continued to move to the west. The second period of the Roma history ended with arriving of the Gypsy groups to the Byzantium Empire.
In the third period of the Roma history, different Gypsy groups living in the Byzantium Empire started to unite and transform to a new Gypsy group. Thus either the Gypsy groups who came from India and the Gypsy groups who had lived in the Byzantium Empire for hundreds of years became integrated to eachother. As a result of this process, the Roma language and the Romani identity emerged. The first Gypsies who define themselves as Roma and who speaks Romanes spreads in the borderline of Byzantium Empire.
The fourth period of the Roma History comes until today. Roma people who became crowded in each part of the Balkans and became an important element of the Balkans migrated to the other part of the Europe with smaller groups. Roma people also migrated to Asia and Amerika in 19th and 20th centuries.
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The First World Roma Congress gathered in London in 1971 could be accepted as a turning point for the Roma history. A flag representing world Roma approved and an initiative to represent Roma people in the international arena were started in the congress. Altough there are some decision of the congress which have to be critisized like the denying of the name Gypsy (Cigany) completely, the congress made an important contribution to the development of national identity of Roma people who are also a part of Gypsy Universal Community in the context of universal caste system. The flag approved in the congress is spreading among Roma people living in different parts of Europe and the other peoples Roma live together are also accepting Romani identity step by step.
Roma history is the founder element of the Roma culture. Everything primarily the Roma language which compose Romani identity are the direct results of the Roma history. Roma, as a part of Gypsy Universal Community, will be able to introduce themselves better to the other peoples they live together if they know their history better and this will improve empathy and dialogue among Roma and the other European nations.
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