Crimean Roma

The Crimean Roma (also known as Crimean gypsies, Tatar gypsies, Ayuji (Crimean Tatar for 'bear cub'), Krymy, or Çingene, Tajfa or Dajfa) are a sub-ethnic group of the Muslim Roma heavily assimilated among Crimean Tatars to the point that they are often considered to be the fourth subgroup of Crimean Tatars. Currently, they live in many countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia. They speak the Crimean Tatar language and their own Crimean Romani dialect. Crimean Roma traditionally practice Islam.

History and ethnogenesis
Gypsies arrived on the territory of Crimea with the Golden Horde. In the Crimean Khanate, the Roma, like people of other nations, were not harassed; the authorities did not persecute them and they were not treated with contempt. In Crimea, they led a sedentary and semi-sedentary lifestyle, engage in productive labor and music. In the 18th century, Islam became the traditional religion of the Crimean gypsies. Roma researcher Nikolai Stieber wrote in his essay on Roma in Crimea:

Settlement and migration
Crimean Roma lived in Crimea and in the Kuban steppe, which was part of the Crimean Khanate. The Crimean Roma were the first Roma to appear in the Kuban steppe. Today, the descendants of the first Roma who settled in the Kuban do not call themselves Crimean gypsies, but Kuban gypsies, while they retain the Crimean dialect of the Romani language and follow Islam and boys are circumcised.

From 1854 to 1862, Tatar Roma together with the Crimean Tatars were expelled to the Ottoman Empire. Most settled in Northern Bulgaria, especially in Dobruja, near the Danube, and in the Vidin region.

Crimean Tatar intervention saved the lives of many Crimean Roma from the Nazis; the estimates of what percent of Crimean Roma survived the Holocaust vary, with some estimates 30%, but there is widespread disagreement on how many survived due to the fluid identity of Crimean Roma who often self-designated themselves as Crimean Tatars. In 1944, the Crimean Roma were deported to Central Asia alongside their Crimean Tatar brethren, partially because many of the surviving Crimean Roma were registered as Crimean Tatars in their Soviet passports.

In 1948–1949, some of the Crimean Roma began to return to Crimea, although many remained in exile with Crimean Tatars and further assimilated into the Crimean Tatar people.

Currently, the majority of Crimean Roma live outside of Crimea in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. There are also families living in Ukraine, namely in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, and Kherson.

Demographics
According to the 2014 Crimean census, the Roma were the youngest ethnic group in Crimea with an average age of 28.3 years, while the average age of the entire republic was 40.9 years.

Note
