Dom people

"Doms (people)" redirects here. For a Bengali Hindu caste, see Doms.

Dom

Domari / Romani flag
Total population
2.2 million (estimated)
Regions with significant populations
Middle East, North Africa
Languages
Domari, Persian, Arabic (also various dialects), Azeri, Kurdish, Turkish, Pushtu, Syriac, Hebrew
Religion
Romani religion, Islam, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Romani people, Lom people, Domba, other Indo-Aryans

The Dom (also called Domi; Arabic: دومي‎ / ALA-LC: Dūmī, دومري / Dūmrī, Ḍom / ضوم or دوم, or sometimes also called Doms) are a people with origins in the Indian subcontinent which through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Western Asia, North Africa, Caucasus, Central Asia, Eastern Anatolia Region 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 other traditionally itinerant ethnic groups, called the Rom/Roma/Romani people and Lom people: the three groups have been said to have separated from each other or, at least, to share a similar history. Specifically, the ancestors of the Dom, the Domba left the Indian subcontinent sometime between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.

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 later than the Romani, probably around the 6th century.

The word Dom are used to describe peoples who remained in Persia and Eastern Anatolia Region/Turkey.

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 Iran, Eastern Anatolia Region in Turkey and Egypt 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, the former meaning "poor" and the latter meaning "foreigners".

There is a large concentration of Dom in Jordan. Researchers have written 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. In Jordan, they call themselves Bani Murra.

See also

• Jat of Afghanistan
• Lyuli
• Nawar (Syria)
• Zott

References

• Tarlan, K. V (2018). "Encouraging Integration and Social Cohesion of Syrian Dom Immigrants Proposal for a Regional Social Inclusion Strategy Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan". Gaziantep: Kırkayak Kültür.
• Tarlan, K. V., Faggo, H (2018). "The 'Other' Asylum Seekers from Syria: Discrimination, Isolation, and Social Exclusion. Syrian Dom Asylum Seekers in the Crossfire". Gaziantep: Kırkayak Kültür - Kemal Vural Tarlan, Hacer Foggo.

External links

• Dom Research Center
• "The Gypsies of Jerusalem: the Forgotten People" By Amoun Sleem
• Domari The society of Gypsies in Jerusalem
• "The Gypsy People of Israel, Gaza & the West Bank" by Valery Novoselsky
• "Evolving, educating: Israel's Gypsy community" by Roi Mandel
• "The Dom People and their Children in Lebanon" by Terre des Hommes
• "From The Occupation of Iraq to 'The Arab Spring': Gypsies in the Middle East" by Kemal Vural Tarlan
• Middle East Gypsies

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