Origin of Euroean Roma/Gypsies

choi

Rai N et al, The phylogeography of y-chromosome haplogroup h1a1a-m82 reveals the likely Indian origin of the European romani populations. PLoS One,  Epub Nov 28, 2012.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23209554

My comment:
(a) The full report is free.

(i) Introduction: "The Roma in England are traditionally known as gypsies because it was thought that they came from Egypt and were therefore ‘gypcians’. * * * On linguistic grounds, Grellmann [in 1783] pointed out that the Roma must have originated in the Indian subcontinent. A detailed linguistic study by Pott [in 1844] established that the various dialects spoken by the Roma derive specifically from North India. * * * Although the Indian origin of the European Roma populations is linguistically and genetically well-established, accurate identification of their South Asian source has remained a matter of debate. * * * In contrast with the maternal lineages [through research on mitochondrial DNA], where three South Asian-specific lineages were reported, the paternal lineage [through research on Y chromosome]of Roma carries only a single currently discernible South Asian-specific Y-chromosomal founder hg [short for haplogroup] H1a1a-M82 * * * There are examples where a single Y-chromosomal hg is associated with the expansion of a population from a homeland, e.g. hg C3 with Genghis Khan's army, spread of hg O1-M110 bearing Austronesians from Taiwan to the Admiralty Islands of Melanesia * * * The most popular model proposes an origin in northwestern India, but this model has not been tested using an adequately large collection of data from Y-chromosomes of the Indian subcontinent [the authors now do the extensive study, confirm the model, trace European Roma to Doma people, the untouchables, of northwest India, but that not ].

(ii) Results and Discussion: "The genetic data analysed here for the first time provide strong population genetic support for the linguistic based identification of the ancestral Roma with the presumed aboriginal Doma of northwestern India and the Gangetic plain. * * * The Doma are indigenous to the Punjab as well as to the entire Gangetic plain as far east as the lower course of the Brahmaputra. Yet not all Doma groups were historically ancestral to the European Roma, and in fact most descendants of the aboriginal oma reside in the Indian subcontinent today.

(b) The Indian (Hindi) surname Rai is from Sanskrit raja ‘king.’
(c) For Roma, which is the plural form of Rom, see
Rom (n; plural Romans also Roma; Romany, married man, husband, male Gypsy, from Sanskrit ḍomba, ḍoma low caste male musician; First Known Use 1841):
"Gypsy"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rom
(d) Admiralty Islands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_Islands
(in the Bismarck Archipelago, the latter forming part of Manus Province, the smallest and least-populous province of Papua New Guinea)
(e) Within Figure 1:  KYA = thousand (abreviated as "K") years ago
(f) For Gangetic plain, see Indo-Gangetic Plain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Gangetic_Plain
(The region is named after the Indus and the Ganges, the twin river systems that drain it)

* Ganges.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ganges
(From Sanskrit ganga, literally meaning "swift-goer")
(g) Indus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus
(section 1 Etymology)