Domari

The Dom (in Arabic-speaking countries called Nawar, also Halebi and Ghagar) are an Indo-Aryan peripatetic people originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are distinct from the European Romani (Roma), though both share ancient roots in northern India. The Dom descend from the Dom/Domba caste of northern India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan), historically occupying low-caste occupational niches.

The name "Nawar" (Arabic: النور) is used across the Arab world and carries strongly pejorative connotations — it is commonly used as an insult meaning "lowly" or "uncivilized." Arabic-speaking neighbours call the Dom by several names:

• Nawar — the most commonly used designation
• Halebi — possibly linked to Aleppo (Halab) in Syria, suggesting a migration route
• Ghagar — a term used for the Dom in Egypt

The Dom migrated westward from India during the Byzantine period (4th-7th century CE), arriving in the Levant and North Africa via Persia and Mesopotamia. Arabic texts from the 8th-9th centuries document Dom-like itinerant entertainers and service providers in the region.

The Dom are related to but distinct from European Roma. Both groups share Indo-Aryan linguistic roots, but they separated early and followed different migration paths — the Roma went through Anatolia into Europe, while the Dom spread across the Middle East and North Africa.

Most Dom communities have left their historically nomadic life for settled neighbourhoods, but they keep strong cultural boundaries with the society around them through:

• Strict endogamy: Marriage within the community is strongly enforced, including cousin marriages. This preserves cultural and linguistic isolation but limits social mobility and integration.
• Self-segregation: The community has self-separated from the dominant culture for centuries, maintaining distinct neighborhoods and social networks.
• Patrilineal kinship: Social organization follows patrilineal lines, with the *tabur* (localized sub-tribal groups of 5-15 families) functioning as the primary economic and social unit.
• Gender roles: Men handle external negotiations and economic activities; women manage domestic spheres.

Traditional occupations that defined Dom identity include:

• Musical entertainment at weddings and celebrations — the primary cultural role that kept them visible to their neighbours
• Blacksmithing and metalwork (tinsmithing, tool fabrication)
• Peddling and itinerant trade

Modern occupations have shifted toward informal activities including street vending, waste recycling, and construction labor, reflecting broader urbanization trends across Dom communities in the region.

The Dom have an oral tradition and express their culture and history through music, poetry, and dance. No written literary tradition exists in Domari.

The Dom have adopted the dominant religion of the societies they live among: Sunni Islam in most countries, Shia Islam in Iran and much of Iraq, with small Christian minorities in places. However, as with Dom communities elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, religious practice is likely nominal rather than strictly orthodox for many community members.

Syncretic elements documented among Dom communities broadly include:

• Animistic beliefs in supernatural entities
• Fortune-telling through coffee-ground reading and palm reading
• Protective rituals against the evil eye (*ain*)
• Practices related to spirits and omens

These folk practices blend with Islamic observance in daily life.

• Bible translation status: Portions of Scripture are available in Domari (JP bibleStatus: 3). No complete New Testament or full Bible exists.
• Audio recordings: GRN has recordings in Domari, including audio-visual Bible lessons in 40 sections. Available through 5fish app. GRN lists separate recordings for Domari sub-dialects including Helebi (Halebi), Nawar, Kurbati, and Luli.
• Jesus Film: Available in Domari (per IMB).
• Engagement status: Unengaged (IMB). No known evangelicals (IMB).
• Religious freedom: most countries where the Dom live restrict or punish evangelism among Muslims; each presence describes its country. The Dom community's tight endogamy and social isolation create additional barriers.
• Specific barriers: Oral culture (low literacy), social isolation from the surrounding society and outside workers, strong Muslim identity tied to community belonging, pejorative social status makes community resistant to outside engagement.

Joshua Project's 'Romani, Iranian' (1.71 million) and IMB's 'Domari' in Iran (111,000) cover several distinct peripatetic communities rather than one Dom people: Ghorbati or Qorbati (Fars, Khorasan, Kerman), Kowli (the general Persian word, used for groups in the Kurdish west, Lorestan and Bakhtiari country), Luti or Luli hereditary entertainers (Fars, Kohgiluyeh, Kerman), Mugat Ghorbati and Juki (Mazandaran, Khorasan), Qarachi or Chareshmal (Azerbaijani areas), and occupational groups such as Tushmal musicians, Mehtar, Haddad (Ahangar) smiths and Kurbat. They speak their host region's language with Persian-based argots and are not known to speak Domari. The Zargari Roma of Qazvin, who speak Balkan Romani, belong to the Balkan Romani group.