LONDON — The Romany people constitute Europe’s largest and,
arguably, now its most persecuted minority. A new genetic study
published this week suggests their ancestors arrived in Europe
from northwestern India in a single wave around 1,500 years ago,
half a millennium earlier than previously thought. The
international authors of the peer-reviewed paper in the journal
Current Biology said their study was the most comprehensive ever
of the demographic history of the Romany. They said it revealed
the origins of a people who “constitute a mosaic of languages,
religions, and lifestyles while sharing a distinct social
heritage.” Scientific American noted that earlier studies of the
Romany language and cursory analysis of genetic patterns had
determined India was the group’s place of origin. But the new
study points to a single migration from northwestern India
around the year 500. Previous studies largely overlooked the
place of Europe’s 11 million Romany in the continent’s gene
pool. That was partly a consequence