Doms in Iraq

Romani (Kawliya / Zott / Ghorbati)
in Iraq

Total population
50,000+ (est.)
Languages
Arabic and Domari
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Romani in Syria

The Kawliya, Qawliya or Awaz, Keche-Hjälp (Arabic: كاولية or كاولي), also known as Zott and Ghorbati (known in English as Gypsies), is a community in Iraq of Indian origin, estimated to number over 60,000 people. Today they speak mostly Arabic, while their ethnolect is a mixture of Persian, Kurdish and Turkish, only spoken by the older generations. The largest tribes are the Bu-Baroud, Bu-Swailem, Bu-Helio, Bu-Dakhil, Bu-Akkar, Bu-Murad, Bu-Thanio, Bu-Shati, Al-Farahedah, Al-Mtairat, Bu-Khuzam, Bu-Abd, Bu-Nasif, Bu-Delli and Al-Nawar. Their main occupation is entertainment, and also small trades.

The Kawliya migrated from India approximately 1,000 years ago.

Kawliya is also the name of a former village in the Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate near Al Diwaniyah, located about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, where they live.

See also

• Doms in Syria
• Nawar (people)
• Ghorbati

Further reading

• Zeidel, Ronen (2014). "Gypsies and Society in Iraq: Between Marginality, Folklore and Romanticism". Middle Eastern Studies. 50: 74–85. doi:10.1080/00263206.2013.849696. S2CID 144448156.
• "Minorities in Iraq: Memory, Identity and Challenges (Chapter of Gypsies in Iraq), Masarat Publication, Baghdad, 2013". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Chris Chapman; Preti Taneja (10 January 2009). Uncertain refuge, dangerous return: Iraq's uprooted minorities. Minority Rights Group International. ISBN 978-1-904584-90-2.