Roma in the Medieval Islamic World

Literacy, Culture, and Migration

Kristina Richardson

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780755635818
• eBook ISBN: 9780755635795
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: Social Sciences

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 Honorable Mention in the 2023 Middle East Medievalists Book Prize 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction: how the Ghurabā’ Fell Out of History
• Chapter 1 The Roma, Banū Sāsān, and the Ghurabā’
• Chapter 2 Sīn: The Language of the Banū Sāsān and the Ghurabā’
• Chapter 3 Gharīb Literary Cultures in Mamluk Cairo
• Chapter 4 Housing, Neighborhoods, and Cemeteries of Urban Ghurabā’
• Chapter 5 Bulhāns: Illustrated Shiʿi Astrological Books
• Chapter 6 A New Narrative of Premodern Afro-Eurasian Printing
• 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
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright