The Dom are a people with origins in the Indian subcontinent which through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, Central Asia and still parts of the Indian subcontinent. The traditional language of the Dom is Domari, an endangered Indo-Aryan language, thereby making the Dom an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. They have been associated with another traditionally itinerantethnic group of Indo-Aryans variously called the Rom/Roma/Romani people : the two groups have been said to have separated from each other or, at least, to share a similar history. Specifically, the ancestors of both the Dom and the Rom/Roma/Romani left the Northern Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 11th century.
Culture
The Dom have an oral tradition and express their culture and history through music, poetry and dance. 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 earlier than the Romani, probably around the 6th century. The name used worldwide by Gypsies to identify themselves is the term "Rrom", which in the Romani language means a man. The wordsRom, Dom and Lom are used to describe Romani peoples who diverged in the 6th century. Several tribes moved as far as Western Europe and are called Rom, while the ones who remained in Persia and Turkey are called Dom. Among the various Domari subgroups, the Ghawazi are the most famous for their dancing and music. The Ghawazi dancers have been associated with the development of the Egyptian raqs sharqi style.
Distribution
The majority of the estimated population of 2.2 million live in Turkey, Egypt and Iran with significant numbers in Iraq. Smaller populations are found in Afghanistan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Jordan, Syria and other countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The actual population is unknown as some Dom are excluded from national censuses and others label themselves in national terms rather than as Dom. Nowadays, they speak the dominant languages of their larger societies, but Domari, their national language, continues to be spoken by more insular communities. Iranians called them gurbati or kouli, both meaning "foreigners". There is a large concentration of Dom/Gypsies in Jordan. Researchers claim that "they accommodate Arab racism by hiding their ethnic identity," since they would not be accepted into Arabian society once their true identity is revealed. There is also a similar small community with some colonial Romanichal ancestors in Malta. That community is called the Maltese Romanichal.
