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Turkish Roma
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Turkish Roma
Turkish Roma are Turkish speaking Muslim Roma (Xoraxane) who have adopted Turkish culture, language and identity over the centuries. It is believed that, in many cases, they did so to elevate their social status, they cannot openly state that they are Roma due to fear of discrimination. They have always been allowed to live in Turkish communities, but face discrimination. While Christian Romani (Desikane) do not consider them as part of their community. They are cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire.
Their legendary leader was Mansur ibn Yakub Han, called Çingene Han. He built his Kervansaray in Malatya in 1224. Today it can still be seen as a ruin. Mansur bin Yakup Han is buried in the Ulu Mosque in Malatya.
Hamza al-Isfahani wrote about 12,000 musicians from India who was taken by Bahram Gur to Persia, also did Ferdowsi. Evliya Çelebi told that Mehmed II take after 1453 from Balat, Muslim Roma to Istanbul, their descendants became musicians. They spoke only Turkish with very few Romani words in their jargon. They migrated from Anatolia to Marmara region and finally settled in the Balkans at the time of the Ottoman Empire.
The Greek Doctor A. G. Paspati made the statement in his book from 1860, that Turks married often Roma women and the Rumelian Romani dialect is nearly lost by the Muslim Turkish Roma, who speak entirely Turkish. Ernest Gilliat-Smith, explained in 1915, that this Turkish Roma in Bulgaria can not speak Romani language, and compared them with very poor Turks rather than Romani people. The French orientalist Henri Bourgeois referred to the Turkish Roma as Pseudo Roma, especially the newspaper Laço who was published in 1910 by Emin Resa.
Indeed, there are people in Edirne who are not Romani people at all but are still said to be Roma. Their story is as follows: In the Ottoman Empire, some families who saw military service as risky and did not want to send their sons as Soldiers, saw no problem to take a Roma (Coptic) identity for registration their population, because they knew that Roma were not recruited as combatants, until 1874 when equal rights with other Muslims was given for Muslim Roma. These families still continued to appear as Roma in the records. In the past, there were also classified groups of Turks as "Roma" or "Tatars" in Bulgaria.
The majority of Turkish Roma live in Turkey, but also significant Turkish Roma communities live in Bulgaria, Greece (Western Thrace), North Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, in lesser case Romania (Dobruja) and Kosovo. In East Thrace -Turkey, they are called Şopar. The meaning of the name comes from the Rumelian Romani and has different meanings.
A small Muslim Turkish Roma community live in Dobruja in Romania. They are the descendants of Muslim Roma who intermingled with Turks at the time of Ottoman Empire Romanian Christian Roma Groups regard them simply as "Turks" and are distinct for them.
In Western Thrace, Greece, in cities like Alexandroupoli (Dedeağaç), Komotini (Gümülcine) and Xanthi (İskeçe) Muslim Roma called Turko-Roma, i.e. such as Sepečides or Sevljara and Kalpazaja who are Turkish speaking.
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Turkish Roma
Turkish Roma are Turkish speaking Muslim Roma (Xoraxane) who have adopted Turkish culture, language and identity over the centuries. It is believed that, in many cases, they did so to elevate their social status, they cannot openly state that they are Roma due to fear of discrimination. They have always been allowed to live in Turkish communities, but face discrimination. While Christian Romani (Desikane) do not consider them as part of their community. They are cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire.
Their legendary leader was Mansur ibn Yakub Han, called Çingene Han. He built his Kervansaray in Malatya in 1224. Today it can still be seen as a ruin. Mansur bin Yakup Han is buried in the Ulu Mosque in Malatya.
Hamza al-Isfahani wrote about 12,000 musicians from India who was taken by Bahram Gur to Persia, also did Ferdowsi. Evliya Çelebi told that Mehmed II take after 1453 from Balat, Muslim Roma to Istanbul, their descendants became musicians. They spoke only Turkish with very few Romani words in their jargon. They migrated from Anatolia to Marmara region and finally settled in the Balkans at the time of the Ottoman Empire.
The Greek Doctor A. G. Paspati made the statement in his book from 1860, that Turks married often Roma women and the Rumelian Romani dialect is nearly lost by the Muslim Turkish Roma, who speak entirely Turkish. Ernest Gilliat-Smith, explained in 1915, that this Turkish Roma in Bulgaria can not speak Romani language, and compared them with very poor Turks rather than Romani people. The French orientalist Henri Bourgeois referred to the Turkish Roma as Pseudo Roma, especially the newspaper Laço who was published in 1910 by Emin Resa.
Indeed, there are people in Edirne who are not Romani people at all but are still said to be Roma. Their story is as follows: In the Ottoman Empire, some families who saw military service as risky and did not want to send their sons as Soldiers, saw no problem to take a Roma (Coptic) identity for registration their population, because they knew that Roma were not recruited as combatants, until 1874 when equal rights with other Muslims was given for Muslim Roma. These families still continued to appear as Roma in the records. In the past, there were also classified groups of Turks as "Roma" or "Tatars" in Bulgaria.
The majority of Turkish Roma live in Turkey, but also significant Turkish Roma communities live in Bulgaria, Greece (Western Thrace), North Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, in lesser case Romania (Dobruja) and Kosovo. In East Thrace -Turkey, they are called Şopar. The meaning of the name comes from the Rumelian Romani and has different meanings.
A small Muslim Turkish Roma community live in Dobruja in Romania. They are the descendants of Muslim Roma who intermingled with Turks at the time of Ottoman Empire Romanian Christian Roma Groups regard them simply as "Turks" and are distinct for them.
In Western Thrace, Greece, in cities like Alexandroupoli (Dedeağaç), Komotini (Gümülcine) and Xanthi (İskeçe) Muslim Roma called Turko-Roma, i.e. such as Sepečides or Sevljara and Kalpazaja who are Turkish speaking.