The Roma are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group found mainly in Europe. In English, they are often called Gypsies. Some Roma but not all consider "Gypsy" to be a slur. The old word "Chingar" is now rarely used. The Roma are people that originally came via the Silk Road from the Indian subcontinent during the Plague of Justinian (541-542 AD) and settled in Egypt. 
A DNA study by Indian and Estonian researchers shows that the Roma people's ancestors originate from the Chandala (untouchables), Dalit and Shudra community of their ancestral homeland.. Gene flow caused by the Ottoman conquest came from the Balkan Roma and non-Roma population, in place that used to belong to the Ottoman Empire.
There are populations of Roma all over Europe, but the largest populations are in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans. The Roma's religions are Eastern Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Baptism by the Dasikane (Christian Roma) and male circumcision by the Xoraxane (Muslim Roma) are practiced. Their ancient religion was Hinduism and Buddhism. Most Romani people practise endogamy and arranged marriage. Exoogamy, marrying a Gadjo (non-Roma), is very rare. Cousin marriage is prohibited.

There are various groups of Roma: the Roma of East European birth; the Sinti in Germany and the Manouches in France and Catalonia; the Kaló in Spain, Ciganos in Portugal and Gitans of southern France; the Romanichals of Britain; and the Romanlar in Turkey.

The Romani language is now an official language in many European countries under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

History 

The 18th-century idea on the Indian birth of the Roma is based on the likeness between Romani and the languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The theory is now supported by genetic evidence. The origins of the Roma were not known until 1763, when a theology student, Stefan Vali, met Indian medical students. He noticed that they were physically similar to the Roma he saw in Hungary. He also noticed that they used similar words.

It is believed to have been around 542-542 AD, during the Plague of Justinian, that the ancestor of the Roma, the Chingari tribe, left the Indian subcontinent as traders with Indo-Roman trade via the Silk Road through th r Byzantine Empire to Egypt, where they live for centuries and intermarried with Copts. The Copts named them ⲣⲱⲙⲁ (man or human, also these people there) in Coptic. Around the 12th or the 13th centuries, the Roma reached the Balkans, in the wake of the Crusades. From there, they dispersed in Western Europe.

The first arrivals were well accepted. European people thought they were Christian pilgrims. The local people of Europe were fascinated by their nomadic way of life and their new sciences. A Roma was often recruited as a musician, for Horse training and circus artists, a lion tamer, a nlacksmith, a town crier, a hawker, avgroundskeeper, a dishwasher, a cleaner, a lumberjack, a [caretaker]], a locksmith, and other low jobs. Roma were crossing Europe aboard large caravans, which contained their luggage.

The Egyptians Act of 1530 expelled Roma people from England, and 10,000 expelled Roma people went to the Ottoman Empire and became Muslims. Their descendants have , call themself until today Egyptians.

During World War II, Roma people suffered from the Nazis' persecution and ethnic cleansing policies. Statistics show that about 500,000 Roms died in Nazi concentration camps.

Ancestors  
The ancestors of the Romani people were the 150,000 slaves who was deported after the Kalinga War. Their descendants became the nomadic Chingari tribe, which belongend to the untouchable Chandala Group, which wandered as nomads from Central India to northwestern india. 

The children born from low-caste Shudra men and high-caste Brahmin women were called Chandala and are untouchables as per Manusmriti, an ancient legal constitution text of Hinduism.

Culture 
The Roma left a musical heritage. Guitars and violins are part of their traditions. The Roma influenced musical styles in Europe, such as the belly dance, flamenco, rumba, and jazz. 

On 8 April 1971, the Roma nationality was legally recognized in Europe. Since then, 8 April is the Roma national day.

Beliefs 
When the Yugoslav Wars ended in 2001, a small group of Dasikane (Christian) and Xoraxane (Muslim) Balkans Roma made their own Romani folk religion, Devlaism (Romani: Devleske Dīn), which was created from their own mythology and folklore of oral tradition. Also, rites like male circumcision and infant Baptism are practised. Devla is the name for God and I'd derived from Deva. Their new religious movement is very secretive. There is no holy books or spiritual leaders. Only Roma may be members.

Persecutions 
Even though they have been recognized, they still suffer from discrimination and antiziganism. Some countries still apply discriminatory attitudes towards Roma, especially in workplaces and schools, where they are not accepted.

Their squatting communities also irritate locals. The Romani created an association in 1978 to defend their rights.

References

Other websites 

The Health of Gypsies: Problem of caring for travellers is also British, not just European

Roma people
Ethnic groups in Europe
 
Ethnic minorities