224–241 Persia: In the reign of Shah Ardashir, Gypsies first come from India to work.
420–438 Persia: Bahram Gur, Shah of Persia, brings Gypsy musicians from India.
661 Arab Empire: Indians (Zott) brought from India to Mesopotamia.
669 /670 Arab Empire: Caliph Muawiya deports Gypsies from Basra to Antioch on the Mediterranean coast.
c. 710 Arab Empire: Caliph Walid resettles Zott from Mesopotamia to Antioch.
720 Arab Empire: Caliph Yazid II sends still more Zott to Antioch.
820 Arab Empire: Independent Zott state established in Mesopotamia.
834 Arab Empire: Zott defeated by Arabs and many of them resettled in border town of Ainzarba.
855 Arab Empire: Battle of Ainzarba fought. Greeks defeat the Arabs and take Zott soldiers and their families as prisoners to Byzantium.
c. 1050 Byzantium: Acrobats and animal doctors active (called athingani) in Constantinople.
1192 India: Battle of Terain fought. Last Gypsies leave for the west. 1290 Greece: Gypsy shoemakers appear on Mount Athos. 1322 Crete: Nomads reported on the island.
1347 Byzantium: Black Death reaches Constantinople. Gypsies move west again.
1348 Serbia: Gypsies reported in Prizren.
1362 Croatia: Gypsies reported in Dubrovnik.
1373 Corfu: Gypsies reported on the island.
1378 Bulgaria: Gypsies living in villages near Rila Monastery.
1384 Greece: Gypsy shoemakers reported in Modon.
1385 Romania: First transaction recorded of Gypsy slaves.
1399 Bohemia: The first Gypsy is mentioned in a chronicle.
1407 Germany: Gypsies visit Hildesheim. Germany: Gypsies expelled from Meissen region.
Holy Roman Empire: King Sigismund issues safe conduct to Gypsies at Lindau.
France: First Gypsies reported in Colmar. Switzerland: First Gypsies arrive.
Belgium: First Gypsies reported in Antwerp.
Holland: First Gypsies reported in Deventer.
Italy: Gypsies come to Bologna.
Italy: Andrew, Duke of Little Egypt, and his followers set off to visit Pope Martin V in Rome. Slovakia: Gypsies reported in Spissky.
1425 Spain: Gypsies reported in Zaragoza.
1447 Catalonia: Gypsies first reported.
1453 Byzantium: Turks capture Constantinople. Some Gypsies flee westward. Slovenia: A Gypsy smith is reported in the country.
1468 Cyprus: Gypsies first reported.
Switzerland: Parliament meeting in Lucerne banishes Gypsies.
Rhine Palatinate: Duke Friedrich asks his people to help the Gypsy pilgrims.
1485 Sicily: Gypsies first reported.
1489 Hungary: Gypsy musicians play on Czepel Island.
Spain: First draft of the forthcoming law of 1499 drawn up.
Italy: Gypsies expelled from Milan.
Germany (Holy Roman Empire): Expulsion of Gypsies ordered.
Spain: Expulsion of the Gypsies ordered (Pragmatica of the Catholic Kings).
Russia: Gypsies first reported.
France: Expulsion of Gypsies ordered.
Denmark: Two groups of Gypsies enter the country. Scotland: Gypsy pilgrims arrive, probably from Spain.
1510 Switzerland: Death penalty introduced for Gypsies found in the country.
1512 Catalonia: Gypsies expelled. Sweden: First Gypsies arrive.
England: Gypsies first mentioned in the country.
Germany: Bavaria closes its borders to Gypsies.
Portugal: Gypsies mentioned in literature.
1525 Portugal: Gypsies banned from the country. Sweden: Gypsies ordered to leave the country.
1526 Holland: Transit of Gypsies across country banned.
1530 England and Wales: Expulsion of Gypsies ordered.
1534 Slovakia: Gypsies executed in Levoca.
1536 Denmark: Gypsies ordered to leave the country.
Portugal: Deportation of Gypsies to colonies begins.
Spain: Any males found nomadizing to be sent to galleys.
Scotland: Gypsies allowed to live under own laws.
1541 Czech lands: Gypsies accused of starting a fire in Prague.
1544 England: Gypsies deported to Norway.
1547 England: Boorde publishes specimens of Romani. 1549 Bohema: Gypsies declared outlaws and to be expelled.
Estonia: First Gypsies appear in the country.
England: The death penalty is imposed for any Gypsies not leaving the country within a month.
1557 Poland and Lithuania: Expulsion of Gypsies ordered. 1559 Finland: Gypsies appear on the island of Aland.
England: Provisions of previous acts widened to include people who live and travel like Gypsies.
Italy: Council of Trent affirms that Gypsies cannot be priests.
Scotland: Gypsies to either settle down or leave the country.
Ottoman Empire: Gypsy miners working in Bosnia.
Portugal: Wearing of Gypsy dress banned. Wales: Gypsies first reported.
Finland: First Gypsies reported on the mainland. 1584 Denmark and Norway: Expulsion of Gypsies ordered. 1586 Belarus: Nomadic Gypsies expelled.
1589 Denmark: Death penalty imposed for Gypsies not leaving the country.
1595 Romania: Stefan Razvan, the son of a slave, becomes ruler of Moldavia.
1611 Scotland: Three Gypsies hanged (under 1554 law).
1633 Spain: Pragmatica of Felipe IV takes effect. Gypsies expelled.
1637 Sweden : Death penalty introduced for Gypsies not leaving the country.
1692 Austria: Gypsies reported in Villach. 1714 Scotland: Two female Gypsies executed.
1715 Scotland: Ten Gypsies deported to Virginia.
1728 Holland: Last hunt clears out Gypsies.
1746 Spain: Gypsies to live in named towns.
Sweden: Foreign Gypsies expelled.
Spain: Round-up and imprisonment of all Gypsies ordered.
Austro–Hungarian Empire: Maria Theresa begins assimilation program.
Russia: Gypsies banned from St. Petersburg.
1765 Austro –Hungarian Empire: Joseph II continues assimilation program.
1776 Austria: First article published on the Indian origin of the Romani language.
Hungary: Two hundred Gypsies charged with cannibalism.
Russia: Settlement of nomads encouraged. Spain: Gypsy language and dress banned. United Kingdom: Most racial legislation against Gypsies repealed.
1791 Poland: Settlement Law introduced.
1802 France: Gypsies in Basque provinces rounded up and imprisoned.
1812 Finland: Order confines nomadic Gypsies in workhouses.
1822 United Kingdom: Turnpike Act introduced: Gypsies camping on the roadside to be fined.
1830 Germany: Authorities in Nordhausen remove children from their families for fostering with non-Gypsies.
1835 Denmark: Hunt for Travelers in Jutland. United Kingdom: Highways Act strengthens the provisions of the 1822 Turnpike Act.
1837 Spain: George Borrow translates St. Luke’s Gospel into Romani.
Transylvania: Serfs (including Gypsies) emancipated.
Denmark: Gypsies allowed into the country again.
1855 Romania: Gypsy slaves in Moldavia emancipated.
1856 Romania: Gypsy slaves in Wallachia emancipated.
1860 Sweden: Immigration restrictions eased.
1865 Scotland: Trespass (Scotland) Act introduced.
1868 Holland: New immigration of Gypsies reported.
1872 Belgium: Foreign Gypsies expelled.
Ottoman Empire: Muslim Gypsies given equal rights with other Muslims.
Denmark: Gypsies barred from the country once more.
Bulgaria: In a pogrom, villagers massacre the Muslim Gypsies in Koprivshtitsa.
1879 Hungary: National conference of Gypsies held in Kisfalu. Serbia: Nomadism banned.
1886 Bulgaria: Nomadism banned. Germany: Bismarck recommends expulsion of foreign Gypsies.
1888 United Kingdom: Gypsy Lore Society established.
1899 Germany: Police Gypsy Information Service set up in Munich by Alfred Dillmann.
Germany: Prussian Parliament unanimously adopts proposal to regulate Gypsy movement and work.
Bulgaria: Sofia conference held, demanding voting rights for Gypsies. Germany: A census of all Gypsies in Bavaria is taken.
Finland: Mission to the Gypsies set up. France: Identity card introduced for nomads. Germany: Prussian minister issues special instructions to police to “combat the Gypsy nuisance.”
1914 Norway: Some 30 Gypsies are given Norwegian nationality. Sweden: Deportation Act also makes new immigration of Gypsies difficult.
Holland: Caravan and House Boat Law introduces controls.
Bulgaria: Istiqbal organization founded.
Germany: In Baden, all Gypsies are to be photographed and fingerprinted.
Bulgaria: Journal Istiqbal [Future] starts publication.
Slovakia: A group of Gypsies is tried for cannibalism; they are found innocent.
USSR: All-Russian Union of Gypsies established.
Germany: Bavarian state parliament brings in a new law “to combat Gypsy nomads and idlers.” Switzerland: Pro Juventute starts a program of forced removal of Gypsy children from their families for fostering. USSR: First moves to settle nomadic Gypsies.
Germany: Legislation requiring the photographing and fingerprinting of Gypsies instituted in Prussia. Bavaria institutes laws forbidding Gypsies to travel in large groups or to own firearms. Norway: The Aliens Act bars foreign Gypsies from the country. USSR: Journal Romani Zorya (Romany Dawn) starts publication.
Germany: Nomadic Gypsies in Germany are to be placed under permanent police surveillance. Prof. Hans F. Günther writes that it was the Gypsies who introduced foreign blood into Europe. Slovakia: Pogrom takes place in Pobedim.
USSR: Nikolai Pankov’s Romani book Buti i Dzinaiben [Work and Knowledge] published.
Norway: A doctor recommends that all Travelers be sterilized. USSR: First issue of the journal Nevo Drom [New Way] appears.
USSR: Teatr Romen opens in Moscow.
1933 Austria: Officials in Burgenland call for the withdrawal of all civil rights for Gypsies. Bulgaria: Journal Terbie [Education] starts publication.Germany: The National Socialist (Nazi) Party comes to power, and measures against Jews and Gypsies begin. Gypsy musicians barred from the State Cultural Chamber. Sinto boxer Johann Trollmann stripped of his title as light-heavyweight champion for “racial reasons.” Act for the Prevention of Hereditarily Ill Offspring, also known as the Sterilization Act, instituted. During “Beggars’ Week,” many Gypsies arrested.
Latvia: St. John’s Gospel translated into Romani. Romania: General Association of the Gypsies of Romania founded. National conference held. Journals Neamul Tiganesc [Gypsy Nation] and Timpul [Time] start publication. USSR: Teatr Romen performs the opera Carmen.
Germany: Gypsies who cannot prove German nationality expelled. Romania: Bucharest “international” Congress.
Germany: Marriages between Gypsies and Germans banned. Yugoslavia: Journal Romano Lil starts publication.
Germany: The right to vote removed from Gypsies. June-Internment camp at Marzahn opened. General Decree for Fighting the Gypsy Menace instituted. November-Racial Hygiene and Population Biological Research Unit of the Health Office begins its work. The minister of war orders that Gypsies should not be called up for active military service.
Poland: Janusz Kwiek elected king of the Gypsies.
Germany: April-Decree on the Preventative Fight against Crime: All Gypsies classed as antisocial. Many Gypsies arrested to be forced labor for the building of concentration camps. June-Second wave of arrests to provide labor to build the camps. Autumn-Racial Hygiene Research Center begins to set up an archive of Gypsy tribes. October-National Center for Fighting the Gypsy Menace established. December-“Fight against the Gypsy Menace” ordered. USSR: Government bans Romani language and culture.
Germany: September-Deportation of 30,000 Gypsies planned. October-Settlement Decree: Gypsies not allowed to travel. November– Gypsy fortune-tellers arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.German–occupied Czech lands: Nomadism forbidden. German–occupied Poland: Special identity cards issued for Gypsies.
Austria: August-Internment camp built in Salzburg. October– Internment of the Gypsies in Burgenland ordered. November– Internment camp for Gypsies set up in Lackenbach. Czech lands: August-Labor camps set up in Lety and Hodonín. France: April– Government opens internment camps for nomads. Germany: Heinrich Himmler orders the resettlement of Gypsies in western Poland.
Baltic States: December-Governor Hinrich Lohse orders that Gypsies should “be given the same treatment as Jews.” Croatia: Jaseno-vac concentration camp opened. Czech lands: October-Decision that Gypsies from the so-called Protectorate are to be sent to a concentration camp. Germany: March-Exclusion of Gypsy children from school begins. July-Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler’s deputy, brings the Gypsies into the plans for a Final Solution to the “Jewish problem.” Latvia: December-All 101 Gypsies in the town of Libau are executed. Poland: October-A Gypsy camp is set up in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz for 5,000 inmates. Serbia: May-German military commander states that Gypsies will be treated as Jews. November-German military command orders the immediate arrest of all Jews and Gypsies, to be held as hostages. Slovakia: April-Decree separating the Gypsies from the majority population. USSR: June–Schutzstaffel (Storm Troopers) Task Forces move into the occupied areas and systematically kill Jews and Romanies. September-Task forces carry out mass executions of Jews and Romanies in the Babi Yar valley. December-Task Force C murders 824 Gypsies in Simferopol. Yugoslavia: October-German army executes 2,100 Jewish and Gypsy hostages (as reprisal for soldiers killed by partisans).
Bulgaria: August-6,500 Gypsies registered by the police on one day. Croatia: May-The government and the Ustasha order the arrest of all Gypsies and their deportation to the extermination camp in Jasenovac. Germany: March-A special additional income tax is levied on Gypsies. July-A decree of the army general staff again orders that Gypsies not be taken for active military service. September– Himmler and Justice Minister Otto Thierack agree to transfer any Gypsies in prison to concentration camps. December-Himmler issues the order to deport the Gypsies in Greater Germany to the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Poland: January-All Sinti and Romanies from the Lodz ghetto are transported and gassed at Chelmno. April-Romanies are brought into the Warsaw ghetto and kept in the prison in Gesia Street. May-All Gypsies in the Warsaw district to be interned in Jewish ghettoes. July-Several hundred Polish Romanies killed at Treblinka extermination camp. Romania: Spring and Summer -Some 20,000 Romanies are deported to Transnistria. Serbia: August-Harald Turner, head of the German military administration, announces that “the Gypsy question has been fully solved.”
Poland: January-Gypsies from Warsaw ghetto transferred to the extermination camp at Treblinka. February-First transports of Sinti and Romanies from Germany are delivered to the new Gypsy Section in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. March – At Auschwitz, the Schutzstaffel (Storm Troopers) (SS) gasses some 1,700 men, women, and children. May-A further 1,030 men, women, and children gassed by the SS at Auschwitz. SS major Dr. Josef Mengele transferred at his own request to Auschwitz. July-Himmler visits the Gypsy Section in Auschwitz and orders the Gypsies killed. USSR: November-Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories orders all nomadic Gypsies in the territories are to be treated as Jews.
Belgium: January-A transport of 351 Romanies and Sinti from Belgium dispatched to Auschwitz. Holland: May-A transport of 245 Romanies and Sinti sent to Auschwitz. Poland: 2 August -1,400 Gypsy prisoners are sent from Auschwitz to Buchenwald concentration camp. The remaining 2,900 Gypsies are killed in the gas chamber. Slovakia: Autumn-Romanies join the fight of partisans in the National Uprising.
27 January -At 3:00 p.m., the first Soviet soldiers reach the main camp at Auschwitz and find one Romany among the survivors. May-World War II ends in Europe. All surviving Gypsies freed from camps. Bulgaria: Gypsy Organization for the Fight against Fascism and Racism set up. Germany: Nuremburg Trials of Nazi leaders begin. Crimes against Gypsies are included in the charges.
France: Mateo Maximoff’s novel The Ursitory published. Poland: Roma Ensemble founded.
Bulgaria: Teatr Roma established in Sofia.
Bulgaria: Teatr Roma in Sofia closed.
France: The Pentecostal movement among Gypsies starts.
Denmark: Gypsies readmitted to the country.
Source: Historical dictionary of the Gypsies. Donald Kenrick.
