Groups
Roma in Bulgaria are not a unified community in terms of culture and lifestyle. The most widespread group of the Roma in the country are the yerlii or the 'local Roma', which are in turn divided into Bulgarian Gypsies (daskane roma) and Turkish Gypsies (horahane roma). The former are mostly Christian (Eastern Orthodox and Protestant), while the latter are Muslim. Many of the Muslim Roma or the so-called Turkish Gypsies are usually well integrated within the ethnic Turkish society in Bulgaria and many possess Turkish ethnic identity and speak Turkish in addition to Romani.
A subgroup of the Bulgarian Gypsies in Southern Bulgaria, the Asparuhovi bâlgari ('Asparuh Bulgarians') – that is known also as either stari bâlgari ('Old Bulgarians'), sivi gâlâbi ('Grey Doves', 'Grey Pigeons'), or demirdzhii – self-identify as the descendants of blacksmiths for Khan Asparuh's army. Some deny any connection with the Roma and most do not speak Romani.
Other Roma group include the conservative wandering Kalderash (sometimes referred to by the exonym Serbian Gypsies) that are Eastern Orthodox and the Rudari (or Ludari) who speak a dialect of Romanian and are known as Vlax Gypsies. They are further subdivided into three groups by their traditional craft: the Ursari or Mechkari ('bear trainers'), the Lingurari or Kopanari ('carpenters', primarily associated with wooden bowls) and the Lautari ('musicians'). They migrated from Wallachia to present-day Bulgaria after 1856, the year of their liberation from slavery.
Read more about this topic: Roma In Bulgaria
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