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International Romani and Travelers Pride is a group in the process of being formed. Currently we are a group of Romani friends who are working to create a non-profit 501k organization that supports various needs in the extended Romani community. We seek to generate ties between Romani families, communities and tribes. We are one family. And as a large, world wide family we embrace Travelers, and others who live and/or support a "Gypsy" lifestyle. We also welcome those who support the civil rights of those of us who live the "Gypsy" life or have actual "Gypsy" DNA. Yes, actual Gypsy DNA, because we are an authentic ethnic group despite the lack of recognition or understanding of who we are, in most non-Romani communities.
The RTP seeks to facilitate greater knowlegde of who Romany people are, our unique history and to dispell myths that surround "Gypsy" people. We work on various human rights issues and petitions with media, and local and global governments. We also work to increase literacy rates and self-sufficiency programs among Romani people. Please check out our other page (link at the top of this page), with information about the World Wide Romani and Traveler Gathering, being held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 2013.
The RTP seeks to facilitate greater knowlegde of who Romany people are, our unique history and to dispell myths that surround "Gypsy" people. We work on various human rights issues and petitions with media, and local and global governments. We also work to increase literacy rates and self-sufficiency programs among Romani people. Please check out our other page (link at the top of this page), with information about the World Wide Romani and Traveler Gathering, being held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 2013.
Our people originally came from India. We probably started leaving India in the 9th or 10th century. How and why we left is the subject of many a debate. The earliest known reference to Romany people outside of India is usually assumed to be the laws made in England during the 13th and 14th centuries. However, there is an earlier reference.
The earliest record of their reaching Europe comes from about 1050 A.D. This takes a little explaining. The Byzantine empire, Greek-speaking and Christian, based on the great city of Byzantium which is now Istanbul, ruled over what is now roughly Greece and Turkey. A document that happens to be in the Georgian language tells a story of how the emperor Constantine IX was plagued by certain fierce animals in his game park in Byzantium. So he appealed to "a Samaritan people, descendants of Simon the Magician, who were called Adsincani, and were notorious for soothsaying and sorcery". These people set out charmed pieces of meat which killed the wild animals. (It sounds as if the Gypsies played a simple trick, passing off poison as magic.) "Adsincani" seems to be the Georgian version of the Greek name "Athinganoi"; and the Athinganoi were a sect of heretics who had been stamped out a couple of centuries earlier. So it seems the Byzantines nicknamed these people after an earlier group who may have had a similar reputation for sorcery. The Greek word for the Gypsies came to be Atsinganoi; from which later came many of the names used in other languages: Tsigan in Romanian, Ciganyok in Hungarian, Zigeuner in German, Zingari in Italian, Tsiganes in French.
http://www.universalworkshop.com/xenophil/pages/Gypsies.htm
The earliest record of their reaching Europe comes from about 1050 A.D. This takes a little explaining. The Byzantine empire, Greek-speaking and Christian, based on the great city of Byzantium which is now Istanbul, ruled over what is now roughly Greece and Turkey. A document that happens to be in the Georgian language tells a story of how the emperor Constantine IX was plagued by certain fierce animals in his game park in Byzantium. So he appealed to "a Samaritan people, descendants of Simon the Magician, who were called Adsincani, and were notorious for soothsaying and sorcery". These people set out charmed pieces of meat which killed the wild animals. (It sounds as if the Gypsies played a simple trick, passing off poison as magic.) "Adsincani" seems to be the Georgian version of the Greek name "Athinganoi"; and the Athinganoi were a sect of heretics who had been stamped out a couple of centuries earlier. So it seems the Byzantines nicknamed these people after an earlier group who may have had a similar reputation for sorcery. The Greek word for the Gypsies came to be Atsinganoi; from which later came many of the names used in other languages: Tsigan in Romanian, Ciganyok in Hungarian, Zigeuner in German, Zingari in Italian, Tsiganes in French.
http://www.universalworkshop.com/xenophil/pages/Gypsies.htm
Today Romani people live on every continent and in most countries. We are a people without a country and without a government to protect us. We are also a people who have endured every form of discrimination and quite often torture at the hands of both government and non-government individuals and groups. And yet, we have never caused a war or caused the suffering of another group of people. We welcome you to our community. If you are interested in attending or participating in the World Wide Romani and Traveler Gathering in 2013 please see our other page and submit your contact info.
