Doms in Iraq
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50,000–200,000[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Domari[2] and Mesopotamian Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Shia and Sunni)[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Romani in Syria |
The Kawliya, Qawliya or Awaz, Keche-Hjälp (Arabic: كاولية or كاولي), also known as Zott and Ghorbati (known in English as Gypsies), is a community in Iraq of Indian origin, estimated to number over 60,000 people. Today, they speak mostly Arabic, while their ethnolect is a mixture of Persian, Kurdish and Turkish, which only spoken by the older generations. The largest tribes are the Bu-Baroud, Bu-Swailem, Bu-Helio, Bu-Dakhil, Bu-Akkar, Bu-Murad, Bu-Thanio, Bu-Shati, Al-Farahedah, Al-Mtairat, Bu-Khuzam, Bu-Abd, Bu-Nasif, Bu-Delli and Al-Nawar. Their main occupation is entertainment, and also small trades.
The Kawliya migrated from India approximately 1,000 years ago.
Kawliya is also the name of a former village in the Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate near Al Diwaniyah, located about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, where they live.[3]
See also
References
 |
- ^ a b Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Iraq : Roma". Refworld.
- ^ https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11597/iz
- ^ Shadid, Anthony (3 April 2004). "In a Gypsy Village's Fate, An Image of Iraq's Future". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
Further reading
- Zeidel, Ronen (2014). "Gypsies and Society in Iraq: Between Marginality, Folklore and Romanticism". Middle Eastern Studies. 50: 74–85. doi:10.1080/00263206.2013.849696. S2CID 144448156.
- "Minorities in Iraq: Memory, Identity and Challenges (Chapter of Gypsies in Iraq), Masarat Publication, Baghdad, 2013".
- Chris Chapman; Preti Taneja (10 January 2009). Uncertain refuge, dangerous return: Iraq's uprooted minorities. Minority Rights Group International. ISBN 978-1-904584-90-2.
