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Dom people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For caste in India, see Doma (caste).

Doms
دومري (Domari)
Domari encampment north of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem (1914)
Total population
2.2 million (estimated)[1]
Regions with significant populations
The Levant, North Africa, Eastern Anatolia, Iraq, and Azerbaijan
 Syria300,000[2]
 Iraq200,000[3]
 Egypt100,000[4]
 Jordan70,000[5]
 Sudan50,000[6]
 Tunisia20,000[6]
 Libya10,000[6]
 Israel9,600[7]
 Lebanon8,000[8]
 Palestine700-7,900[9][10]
Languages
Majority: Domari[11]
Minority: Arabic · Hebrew · Kurdish
Religion
Islam, irreligion[12]
Related ethnic groups
Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians,[12] Domba,[11] Ghorbati,[11] Lom,[11] Romani,[11] Abdals

The Dom (also called Domi; Arabic: دومي / ALA-LC: Dūmī, دومري / Dūmrī, Ḍom / ضوم or دوم, or sometimes also called Doms) are descendants of the Dom caste with origins in the Indian subcontinent, who through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Middle East and North Africa, the Eastern Anatolia Region, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. The traditional language of the Dom is Domari, an endangered Indo-Aryan language, thereby making the Dom an Indo-Aryan ethnic group.[11][13]

The Doms were formerly grouped with other traditionally itinerant ethnic groups originating from medieval India: the Rom and Lom peoples.[11] However, these groups left India at different times and used different routes.[14] The Domari language has a separate origin in India from Romani,[11] and Doms are not closer to the Romani people than other Indians, such as Gujaratis.[15] Dom people do not identify themselves as Romanis.[16]

Culture

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The Dom have an oral tradition and express their culture and history through music, poetry, and dance.[11] Initially, it was believed that they were a branch of the Romani people, but recent studies of the Domari language suggest that they departed from the Indian subcontinent[17] at different times and using different routes.[14]

Among the various Domari subgroups, they were initially part of Ghawazi who were known for their dancing and music business.[11] Some Muslim Roma may share Dom ancestry too, because in the travel book Seyahatnâme, written by the Ottoman Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi in 1668, he explained that the Romani from Komotini (Gümülcine) believe that their ancestors originated in Ottoman Egypt.[18] Also the sedentary Romani groups from Serres region in Greece believe their ancestors were once taken from Ottoman Egypt by the Turks after 1517 to Rumelia, to work on the tobacco plantations of Turkish feudals that were based there.[19]

Muslim Roma settled in Baranya and the city of Pécs in southwestern Hungary. After the Siege of Pécs (1686), when the Habsburgs took it back, Muslim Roma and some other Muslim ethnic minorities abandoned Islam and converted to Christianity, choosing the Roman Catholic faith in the years 1686–1713.[20][relevant?] The Ghagar, a subgroup of the Doms in Egypt, say that some of them went to Hungary.[21]

Domari cuisine includes dishes such as Kufta bi Tahineh (meatballs in tahini sauce), musakhan (chicken with caramelized onions and almonds served on flatbread), and danan al aut (delicate dumplings). Reflecting their nomadic past and present-day community in Jerusalem, Domari cooking features spices from diverse regions and commonly uses seasonal vegetables, rice, and meat. The Domari Society, a non-profit organization based in Jerusalem, supports this distinctive culinary tradition by offering traditional Domari meals prepared by women from the community.[22] Domari cuisine includes dishes influenced by local Arab cuisine and Palestinian cuisine, such as stuffed vegetables like Mahshi Beitinjan and Kusa. Common ingredients include olive oil, yogurt, lemon juice, curry leaves, and dried mint. In Domari culture, food is not just about cooking but also about hospitality and sharing meals within the community. Despite living in very poor conditions, the Domari people value inviting others to eat together, as it brings happiness to all. Their spices originate from the various regions where nomadic Domari Gypsies have lived and have been handed down through generations.[23]

Historically, earlier generations of the Dom were nomadic, engaging in nomadic professions such as blacksmithing, horse trading, music, dance, and animal healing. However, for more than a century, the Dom community has adopted a sedentary way of life.[24][25]

Language

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Domari shows Turkic, Kurdish and Arabic influence.[26] Domari in the Middle East is known as Nawari.[26]

Distribution

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The Dom people, with an estimated population of 1.4 million,[27] predominantly inhabit regions spanning Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. The actual population is believed to surpass this estimate, given that some Dom individuals are left out of official national censuses, and others identify themselves using national labels rather than the term "Dom."[28]

There is a large concentration of Doms in Jordan, where they call themselves Bani Murra.[29] Researchers have written that "they accommodate Arab racism by hiding their ethnic identity", since they would not be accepted into Arab societies once their true identity is revealed due to the anti-Romani sentiment that is prevalent in the Arab world.[29] Their community numbers around 70,000 in Jordan, according to estimates in 2015.[30]

A small community in east Jerusalem lives in Bab Huta neighborhood, in the Old City of Jerusalem.[31][32][33][34] The population in Jerusalem is around 15,000.[35]

The population in Lebanon is estimated to be around 3,112.[36]

The population of Doms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is estimated to be about 7900.[10]

Al-Nawar

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Al-Nawar (Arabic: نور) is an Arabic term for several nomad communities used primarily in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.[37] The term, regarded as derogatory, is used by Arabs for several diverse ethnic groups.[37] They have historically been called "Gypsies", though as a whole they are not Romani. The Dom people are especially known as Nawar.[26] While both they and Romani people originated from the Indian subcontinent, they came from two drastically different ethnicities and cultures. The Nawar in Palestine are also known as Ghajars (gypsies).[26]

The Nawar in Syria number 100,000 to 250,000 people according to estimations.[38] The vast majority is sedentary.[38]

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Maltby, Kate (June 2014). "Bordering isolation: Attitudes to minorities in Turkey". Index on Censorship. 43 (2): 62–66. doi:10.1177/0306422014536301. ISSN 0306-4220. S2CID 147052237.
  2. ^ Tarlan, Kemal Vural (1 January 2017). "The Dom The Other Asylum Seekers from Syria Report.pdf". Kırkayak Kültür.
  3. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Iraq : Roma". Refworld.
  4. ^ "Gypsy, Domari of Egypt" (PDF). Nehemiahteams.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Jordan's Gypsies Maintain Identity Amid Stigmatization | محمد الفضيلات". assafirarabi.com. 31 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Phillips, David J. (6 September 2001). "Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World". William Carey Library – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Domari Romani in Israel". Joshua Project. Frontier Ventures. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  8. ^ "The Gypsies of Lebanon, with estimated number of 8,000 people: By Dr. G. A. Williams". WLCU. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Domari Romani in West Bank / Gaza". Joshua Project. Frontier Ventures. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  10. ^ a b al-Ghoul, Asmaa (14 June 2013). "Gaza's Gypsies Face Daily Racism". al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Matras & Tenser 2020, pp. 14–17.
  12. ^ a b Ismaili, Besa (2013). "Kosovo". In Nielsen, Jørgen S.; Akgönül, Samim; Alibašić, Ahmet; Racius, Egdunas (eds.). Yearbook of Muslims in Europe. Vol. 5. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 369–381. doi:10.1163/9789004255869_025. ISBN 978-90-04-25586-9. ISSN 1877-1432.
  13. ^ "Türki̇ye'de Rom, Dom Ve Lom Gruplarinin Görünümü".
  14. ^ a b Hubschmannova, Milena; Kalinin, Valdemar; Kenrick, Donald (2000). Bakker, Peter; Kichukov, Khristo (eds.). What is the Romani language?. Centre de recherches tsiganes. p. 18. ISBN 1-902806-06-9. OCLC 45827711.
  15. ^ Hancock, Ian F. (2002). We are the Romani People. Centre de recherches tsiganes. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-902806-19-8. OCLC 52312737.
  16. ^ Özateşler, Gül (1 December 2013). "The "Ethnic Identification" Of Dom People In Diyarbakir". Journal of Modern Turkish History Studies. 13 (27): 279. ISSN 1300-0756.
  17. ^ Matras, Yaron (December 2012). "Domari". [romani] project. School of Languages, Linguistics, and Cultures The University of Manchester. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  18. ^ Friedman, Victor A.; Dankoff, Robert (1991). "The Earliest Text in Balkan (Rumelian) Romani: A Passage from Evliya Çelebi's Seyaḥât‑nâmeh" (PDF). Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Fifth Series. 1 (1): 1–20. ISSN 0017-6087. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2022 – via The University of Chicago.
  19. ^ Zachos, Dimitrios (2011). "Sedentary Roma (Gypsies): The case of Serres (Greece)". Romani Studies. 21: 23–56. doi:10.3828/rs.2011.2. S2CID 144321480 – via ResearchGate.
  20. ^ Gattermann, Claus Heinrich (6 September 2005). "Die Baranya in den Jahren 1686 bis 1713: Kontinuität und Wandel in einem ungarischen Komitat nach dem Abzug der Türken". Universitätsverlag Göttingen – via Google Books.
  21. ^ Capt. Newbold (1856). "The Gypsies of Egypt". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 16: 285–312. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00156382. JSTOR 25228684. S2CID 163220134. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Romany Holiday - Haaretz Com - Haaretz.com".
  23. ^ Sleem, Amoun (1 July 2023). "Jerusalem's Dom People". This Week in Palestine. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  24. ^ "→ What is Domari?". Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem.
  25. ^ "Middle East Gypsies". Kırkayak Kültür. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  26. ^ a b c d Law 2014, pp. 138–139.
  27. ^ "PeopleGroups.org - Doms".
  28. ^ O'Haodha, Micheal (2 October 2009). Migrants and Memory: The Forgotten "Postcolonials". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4438-1474-4.
  29. ^ a b Marsh, Adrian & Strand, Elin (red.) (2006). Gypsies and the Problem of Identities: Contextual, Constructed and Contested. Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (Svenska forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul), p. 207
  30. ^ Mohammad Al-Fdeilat (8 August 2013). "Jordan's Gypsies Maintain Identity Amid Stigmatization". Almonitor. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  31. ^ Selig, Abe. Jerusalem’s Herod’s Gate receives face-lift, retrieved 6 September 2025 06/29/2010. Jerusalem Post
  32. ^ A People Apart: The Romani community seeks recognition. By Eetta Prince-Gibson. Dom Research Center. 2001
  33. ^ Rubinstein, Danny (3 November 2005). "People Steve Sabella: Blurring the Lines". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  34. ^ Joseph B. Glass and Rassem Khamaisi. Report on the Socio-Economic Conditions in the Old City of Jerusalem. Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. p.4
  35. ^ "The social exclusion of the Domari society of Gypsies in Jerusalem". Identities Journal. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  36. ^ Lebanon: "Acute social marginalization" of Dom community (Report). IRIN. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  37. ^ a b Berland & Rao 2004, p. 71.
  38. ^ a b Berland & Rao 2004, p. 73.

Bibliography

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