“ The origins of the Roma, as many know, are subject to vociferous debate, but it seems likely that they originated in India, migrating westward through Persia in the early Middle Ages. By the 1600s they had spread throughout Europe, although they frequently faced persecution and expulsion.
Could they have brought henna with them from India? It's possible, but unlikely, since (as I explore in this post and this one) henna did not become commonly used in India until the very late Middle Ages, centuries after we believe the Roma left. Could they have picked up henna in Persia? It's certainly possible, although we lack any historical documentation. It's more likely, in my opinion, that the use of henna was a practice that developed in the Ottoman Empire; my reasons will become clear below.
I haven't been able to find records of Romani henna use prior to the 20th century, although I suspect this is largely due to the paucity of (available) sources combined with my own unfamiliarity with Romani Studies. By the 1900s, though, it appears that henna was used among Roma communities in south-east Europe and the Balkans as a regular cosmetic for hair, nails, and skin, as well as for weddings and celebrations. For example, Robert Scott Macfie recorded in 1913 that Roma women in Athens dyed their hair and nails with henna (1913: 43), and Juliette de Baïracli Levy described in the early 50s how Elif, a Roma girl in Turkey, "stained the palms of her hands and soles of her feet red with henna... in honour of my parting visit" (1952: 13). Xoraxane (Muslim Roma) in Bulgaria still henna their hands for the end of Ramadan, known as Sheker Bayram, "The Festival of Sweets" (Marushiakova 1997: 140; Kjučukov 1998: 60).
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