Roma in the medieval Islamic world : literacy, culture, and migration

In Middle Eastern cities as early as the mid-8th century, the Sons of Sasan begged, trained animals, sold medicinal plants and potions, and told fortunes. They captivated the imagination of Arab writers and playwrights, who immortalized their strange ways in poems, plays, and the __Thousand and One Nights__. Using a wide range of sources, Richardson investigates the lived experiences of these Sons of Sasan, who changed their name to __Ghuraba'__ (Strangers) by the late 1200s. This name became the Arabic word for the Roma and Roma-affiliated groups also known under the pejorative term 'Gypsies'. This book uses mostly __Ghuraba'__-authored works to understand their tribal organization and professional niches as well as providing a glossary of their language Sin. It also examines the urban homes, neighborhoods, and cemeteries that they constructed. Within these isolated communities they developed and nurtured a deep literary culture and astrological tradition, broadening our appreciation of the cultural contributions of medieval minority communities. Remarkably, the __Ghuraba'__ began blockprinting textual amulets by the 10th century, centuries before printing on paper arrived in central Europe. When Roma tribes migrated from Ottoman territories into Bavaria and Bohemia in the 1410s, they may have carried this printing technology into the Holy Roman Empire. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Figures Tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: how the Ghurabā’ Fell Out of History Genetic Purity and Languages Orientalist Discourses on Sīn-Speakers Unthinkability Constructing a Roma Racial Subject in Modern Europe Conclusion Chapter 1: The Roma, Banū Sāsān, and the Ghurabā’ Who Were the Banū Sāsān? Tribal Nomenclature Ancestral Tribal Leader Professional Subtribes Renaming the Banū Sāsān to Ghurabā’ Late Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Aleppo: Private Journal Premodern Romani History Chapter 2: Sīn: The Language of the Banū Sāsān and the Ghurabā’ Buyid Iraq and Iran: Two Qaṣīdas Buyid Iran and Abbasid Iraq: Maqāmāt Artuqid Mosul: Didactic Prose Mamluk Cairo: Shadow Theater A Qaṣīda in Artuqid Mardin Additional Sīn Sources Sīm and Sīn in the Modern Era Conclusion: Literary and Historical Implications Chapter 3: Gharīb Literary Cultures in Mamluk Cairo Gharīb Oral Culture Maqāmāt Illustrations Bāb al-Lūq, a Gharīb Neighborhood in Mamluk Cairo Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmār, a Gharīb Poet Conclusion Chapter 4: Housing, Neighborhoods, and Cemeteries of Urban Ghurabā’ Maṣṭaba Housing Historical Implications Ghurabā’ Quarters and Cemeteries Damascus Ghurabā’ Quarter Cemeteries Aleppo Ghajar and Ghurabā’ in Aleppo Fez Andalusian Cities Conclusion Chapter 5: Bulhāns: Illustrated Shiʿi Astrological Books Uses of the Bulhān Translations and Adaptations Conclusion Chapter 6: A New Narrative of Premodern Afro-Eurasian Printing Johann Gutenberg Pre-1500 Blockprinting in East and Central Asia Printing Paper Money and Striking Coins West Asian Printing as a Minority Enterprise Ghurabā’ Printing Printing Ink ṭarsh of Tin Knowledge Classification Chapter 7: Ghurabā’ Astrologers and Print in Fifteenth-Century Central Europe Epilogue Appendix 1: Glossary of Premodern Sīn Appendix 2: Tarot Cards, Treasure-Hunting Manuals, and Books of Shadow Plays Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Epilogue Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Bibliography Unpublished Sources Published Primary Sources Modern Studies Index Winner of the 2022 Dan David Prize for outstanding scholarship that illuminates the past and seeks to anchor public discourse in a deeper understanding of history Winner of the 2023 Medieval Academy of America Monica H. Green Prize for Distinguished Medieval Research In Middle Eastern cities as early as the mid-8th century, the Sons of Sasan begged, trained animals, sold medicinal plants and potions, and told fortunes. They captivated the imagination of Arab writers and playwrights, who immortalized their strange ways in poems, plays, and the Thousand and One Nights . Using a wide range of sources, Richardson investigates the lived experiences of these Sons of Sasan, who changed their name to Ghuraba' (Strangers) by the late 1200s. This name became the Arabic word for the Roma and Roma-affiliated groups also known under the pejorative term 'Gypsies'. This book uses mostly Ghuraba' -authored works to understand their tribal organization and professional niches as well as providing a glossary of their language Sin. It also examines the urban homes, neighborhoods, and cemeteries that they constructed. Within these isolated communities they developed and nurtured a deep literary culture and astrological tradition, broadening our appreciation of the cultural contributions of medieval minority communities. Remarkably, the Ghuraba' began blockprinting textual amulets by the 10th century, centuries before printing on paper arrived in central Europe. When Roma tribes migrated from Ottoman territories into Bavaria and Bohemia in the 1410s, they may have carried this printing technology into the Holy Roman Empire. "The recorded history of gypsy communities in Europe begins with the arrival of the Roma in the fourteenth century, although genetic and linguistic evidence demonstrates that this group left northwest India sometime before the seventh. Remarkably, this leaves a 700-year unexplored void as the communities migrated across the Middle East. The main problem facing historians studying so-called gypsies and gypsy-like communities is a linguistic one - namely not knowing how to identify or recognise them in the medieval Arabic and Persian sources. Drawing on ground-breaking linguistic research, Kristina Richardson here demonstrates that the Banu Sasan - literally 'from the tribe of Sasan' and commonly identified in scholarship as a fringe criminal gang or underworld brotherhood - should be less creatively imagined and viewed as an ordinary tribal confederation: the 'missing' gypsy community. Having established this, Richardson fleshes out the existence of these communities across the medieval Middle East, touching on topics as diverse as their professions, their migration patterns, the art they left behind, the urban spaces they lived in and influenced, their daily life and their literature. Richardson's ground-breaking book will provide the foundation for future studies of the Romani in the period, in addition to revealing a great deal about the cities, communities, religions and cultures that they lived within as they moved and settled across the medieval Islamic world."-- Provided by publisher