What is Domari?
Dom is the gypsy people living in the Middle East and North Africa and they call their culture and the language Domari. Dom gypsies are originally from India as well as Roma or Lom.
Domari History
It is largely believed that the Doms left India in several migratory waves, beginning in the 3rd century and lasting until the 10th century.
There are many stories about why or how gypsies left India. But we cannot say which story is correct because the early gypsy history is undocumented. Here we introduce three stories about it.
Luri story in the epic Shanama by the Persian poet Firdousi
Firdousi tells the tale of the Shah of Persia inviting ten thousand musicians and dancers of the Luri
tribe in India to work in his court. It is believed that these people belonged to a low caste of indigenous people (non-Aryans) who were known for their skills in music and dance and it might be origin of gypsies.
2. As foot soldiers against Turko-Perusian Muslim general
Another argument put forward is in the 11th century, India was attacked by a Turko-Persian Muslim general, whose aim was to push Islam into India. To counteract the attack, Indian troops were formed out of the various non-Aryan Indian populations, which were often the lower castes of society, including the Luri as foot soldiers. At one point, the Indian troops headed West into Persia, and stayed there at the end of the hostilities, rather than return to the discrimination that faced them in India. While they stayed in Persia for a long period of time, much of the population continued moving as far west as Armenia and Greece. While some arrive in Europe, others went to Syria, Egypt, and North Africa.
3. A legend among the Jerusalem Dom
One legend among the Dom of Jerusalem explains their origin, stating they had resided in Syria as early as the Jahiliyya period, before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century. In the legend, there was once two tribes living in Syria, led by two cousins. One cousin, upon killing the King of Syria, aroused the wrath of the Kings daughter. By way of revenge, the Kings daughter turned the two tribes against each other, eventually causing a war between the tribes and the death of both cousins. When the fighting ended, a decree was passed against the tribes: they must always wander in the wilderness during the hottest hours
of the day, ride only donkeys, and live only off of singing and dance. From there some Dom travelled to India, while others travelled to Iraq and even back to Syria.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, there are many documents by travelers and pilgrims that reference the presence of Gypsies in the Middle East.
Jerusalem Dom community
Today approximately 1,500 Dom people reside near the Lion's Gate, behind the ancient walls of the Old City, while larger populations live in Gaza and the West Bank. And there are a lot of Dom families from Jerusalem in Jordan because the immigrations occurred after the 6 Day War of 1967 and many of Dom people fled there with Arab people.
While prior generations of Dom were nomadic, holding occupations such as blacksmiths, horse dealers,
musicians, dancers, and animal healers, for over one hundred years Dom people have been living a sedentary lifestyle. Typical of Gypsy populations, they accepted the local language and religion, in this case, Arabic and Islam.
Nowadays, the younger generation have become less interested in the ancient traditions and culture, preferring to assimilate into the neighboring Arab communities. Because of this, the Dom language is rarely used in everyday speech, and the traditional dress and other customs have largely been
abandoned. This self-afflicted and imposed assimilation is contributed to the discrimination and marginalization the Gypsies face from both the Jewish and Arab population, and as a result the economic and social limitations that come from being identified and recognizable as Gypsy. These problems are perpetuated by a high drop-out rate, leading to high illiteracy.