Where do the Romani people come from? To find the answer, researchers have studied their common language, Romani chib, and learnt from this that their ancestors lived in central India. At some point in the past they migrated to northern India where they remained for a while.

Between the 8th and the 12th centuries, the Romani ancestors continued their wanderings, moving west. Why they left India is not known, but it may have been as a result of famine and social unrest. It may also be that they fled from the Islamic conquest of India. In time, the Romani reached the Byzantine Empire via Persia and Armenia and settled in the vicinity of present day Turkey and Greece.