''Zott'' (; singular ''Zottī'') is the Arabic term for

gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, and

Dom people The Dom (also called Domi; / ALA-LC: ', / , Ḍom / or , or sometimes also called Doms) are descendants of the Dom caste with origins in the Indian subcontinent, who through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Middle East and ...

. The Zott were musicians who migrated in great numbers from northern India to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

about 1000 years ago. Their name was later applied to any itinerant entertainer of Indian origin; and came to be the common name of the Dom people in the Middle East, as English ''

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

'' or ''tinker'' with contemptuous connotations. '' Al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ'' glosses the term as equivalent to '' Nawar'' (singular ''Nawarī'').

References

*M. J. de Goeie, ''A Contribution to the History of the Gypsies'', Amsterdam (1875
2007 reprint
* * Dom in Asia Dom people Indian diaspora Nawar people Nomadic groups in Eurasia Iranian nomads Pakistani diaspora Romani in Iran Ethnic groups in Iran {{Iran-stub

See also

References