Neither Muslims nor Zimmis: The Gypsies (Roma) in the Ottoman State

Abstract

This study explores the place of the Gypsies (kιpti) in Ottoman society as depicted in the sicil, the records of the seriat court, of eighteenth-century Salonica. I argue that the Gypsies are the salient example of a Salonican group that was fully segregated from the other segments of local population, at least for administrative purposes. The Ottoman administration’s suspicious attitude toward the Gypsies was expressed in the general disapproval of the nomadic way of life. Drawing on the Balkan Gypsies as an example of a group that was pushed to the margins of Ottoman society, I demonstrate what it meant to be part of such a group and describe the various features and techniques by which the marginal people were relegated to the fringes: stigmatization, segregation, exclusion and punishment. The various strategies and techniques that were adopted by the Gypsies in order to alleviate their position are also examined.