The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.
The Kalderash of the Balkans and Central Europe, in addition to the Gitanos and Manouche/Sinti, are seen as one of the three main confederations (natsiya) of Romani people in Europe by certain ethnographers. The Kalderash are recognized as the most numerous confederation of the three. Each main confederation is further split up into two or more subgroups (vitsa) based on a combination of factors such as occupation, ancestry, or territorial origin. Although originally referring to a specific vitsa of traditional coppersmiths, the name Kalderash is now applied to several Vlax-Speaking Roma groups. Because of this, significant differences in speech and culture can be seen in Western and Eastern Kalderash populations; as evidenced in the differences between the eastern Kalderash of Russia and the western Kalderash of Serbia. Certain scholars have suggested a connection between occupational Romani subgroups and the Caste System of India; with the Kalderash being described as an ancestral stock of the Lohar caste.
The name Kalderash (kalderash in Romani, căldărari in Romanian, kalderás in Hungarian, калдараш (kaldarash) in Bulgarian, kalderaš in Serbo-Croatian, 'котляри (Kotlyary) in Ukrainian, and кэлдэрары (kelderary) in Russian) is an occupational ethnonym which descends ultimately from the Romanian word căldăraș (coppersmith) derived from Latin caldāria, in effect describing their trade as tinkers.
The Kalderash Roma are hypothesized to originate in the territory of modern-day Romania and to have migrated to different parts of the world following the abolition of Slavery in Romania in the late 1800s in a phenomenon known as the great Kalderash migration. There are estimated to be about 200,000 Căldărari still living in Romania, although the exact number is unknown.
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The Romani people, also referred to as Roma, Sinti or Kale, depending on the sub-group, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group which primarily lives in Europe. The Romani may have migrated from what is the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent) around 250 BCE. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 CE. It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni.
The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani (ˈroʊməni or ˈrɒməni ), colloquially known as the Roma (: Rom), are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent; in particular, the region of present-day Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE.
Romani (ˈrɒməni,_ˈroʊ-; also Romany, Romanes ˈrɒmənɪs, Roma; rromani ćhib) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to Ethnologue, seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their own. The largest of these are Vlax Romani (about 500,000 speakers), Balkan Romani (600,000), and Sinte Romani (300,000). Some Romani communities speak mixed languages based on the surrounding language with retained Romani-derived vocabulary – these are known by linguists as Para-Romani varieties, rather than dialects of the Romani language itself.