Just an FYI to other HNers reading this, in Europe there is more than one group of (somewhat, complicated) unrelated people referred to as “Gypsy/Gipsy” (which is often but not always seen as a slur) which includes Irish travelers in the UK and Ireland as well as Yenish people in Northwestern Europe (and a few other groups). That’s in addition to Romani people that Parent is referring to which is what most people worldwide probably associate with that word.

Thanks for the clarification. Totally forgot about the other groups. Also worth noting, in the UK many people confuse Romani with Romanian. The history and culture of the Romani is widely misunderstood and under appreciated.

There isn't any proof that the Romani left because of their caste.

There is a strong evidence that they might have been driven away by the Islamic invasions, because their timelines coincide.

This is another instance of right wing upper caste hindu nationalists making up pseudo history on the fly.

Gypsy — India connect, would be interesting TIL for me. Is there a reputed citation on this?

Read the history of the Roma on Wikipedia. It is commonly accepted that they migrated from the Punjab in the Middle Ages.

India also has a non trivial number of nomadic groups/tribes. In my part or India they are called “Lambani”. Their lifestyle closely resembles that of Gypsy, however I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment if they are related.

Here’s an article from DDG search:

https://indiantribalheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/Lambanis...

From wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people#Origin)

Genetic findings suggest an Indian origin for Roma. Because Romani groups did not keep chronicles of their history or have oral accounts of it, most hypotheses about the Romani migration's early history are based on linguistic theory. There is also no known record of a migration from India to Europe from medieval times that can be connected indisputably to Roma.