Turcoman Gypsies

The intersectional/multiple identities of a peripatetic group and its historical segmentation

Bibliographic Data

ID6450722
AuthorsEgemen Yılgür (0000-0001-6269-6523, Yeditepe University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume35
Issue1
Pages33-66
Publication date2025-06-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRomani Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1528-0748 • E-ISSN: 1757-2274
PublisherLiverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3828/rost.2024.21
OpenAlexW4411320237
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited55

The early eighteenth-century Ottoman state correspondences reference a peripatetic group in Rumelia identified as the “Turcoman Gypsies” ( Türkmān Ḳibṭīleri ). This group originated from Southern Anatolia and actively engaged with Turkic tribal organizations, notably the Zulkadriyye spin-offs ( ifrāz-ı Ẕūlkadriyye ). In response to discontent with Ottoman policies that sought to settle mobile populations in the late seventeenth century, they modified their traditional migratory routes. This led to their dispersion across Anatolia and Rumelia. Both state authorities and local communities labelled these groups as Gypsies ( Ḳibṭī or Çingene ), which assigned them an intersectional identity typically associated with peripatetic communities within the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, the “Turcoman Gypsies” embraced multiple identities, including Abdal and Turcoman, as well as specific band names such as Çobān , Tarḫāneci , and Baṣdırmacı , reflecting their enduring connections to Turkic tribal organizations. The archival and ethnographic materials examined in the article uncover the historical links between the “Turcoman Gypsies” and other peripatetic groups in the Near East and Crimea, illustrating how they emerged from the segmentation of an ancestral community in Southern Anatolia. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0

Group (periodic table · Linguistics · Physics · Segmentation · Sociology · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Philosophy · Romani and Gypsy Studies · Soviet and Russian History · Artificial Intelligence

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