Romani society and culture

The Romani people have similar value systems and worldviews.

Linguistic and phonological research has traced the Roma people's first place of origin to places in the Indian subcontinent, specifically linking Proto-Romani groups to Central India. Many report in extracts from popular literature that Romani emerged from the North-west regions of India, rather than from Central India. Features of phonological developments which emerged during the early transition stage from Old to Middle Indic prove that the history of Romani began in Central India. The Romani language shares many features with the Central Indo-Aryan languages such as the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Rajasthani languages; it also shares connections with Northern Indo-Aryan languages like Kashmiri, and the language itself contains a cluster of Persian and Arabic words. Linguists use these phonological similarities as well as features of phonological developments which emerged during the early transition stage from Old to Middle Indic to conclude that the history of Romani began in Central India. Other factors such as blood groups and unwritten customs also suggest Central Indian origins of the Roma. The Roma find issues with recalling their own exact origin due to a lack of specific records left by ancestors. Their history however is retold by clan family customs, such as singing and storytelling. Records cannot identify exactly why the Roma migrated from India; there are a number of possible motives, such as famine and military invasions on the part of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) and/or Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030 CE).

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