There are at least a few theories about where gypsies came from. Many believe they arrived from India/Pakistan, or with Muslim invaders. There's a website if you're interested: http://herso.freeservers.com/gypsies.html

G'day JakeTKD, Thank you for your question. The Roma people are the group most frequently referred to as gypsies. They are believed to come originally from the Punjab and Rajastan areas of India and migrated to Europe via Iran. These days they are found mainly in Europe, North and South America and the middle East. However, there are groups of travelling people also referred to as gypsies including: *Lyuli, an ethnic group in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia *Irish Travellers, also known as Pavee, a nomadic people living in Ireland, Great Britain, and the United States *Sea Gypsies, different peoples of Southeast Asia * Yeniche of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Belgium * Dom people, mostly in the Middle East; and the * Lom people, mostly in the Caucasus. In response to your comment, flamenco comes from the Andalusia region of Spain. The gypsies contributed to it but it also contains Andalusian, Islamic and Sephardic Jewish influences. There is more information about the history of flamenco in the Cambridge History of the Guitar published by Cambridge University Press. I have attached sources for your reference. Regards Reference Wikipedia Gypsy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy Wikipedia Roma people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_people Roma links http://www.rroma.org/ Wikipedia Flamenco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco

they definatly had nothing to do with Muslims

Gypsies originate being arabic and/or muslim, but there is a muslim country very close to spain (morocco) and the gypsies traveled to spain. By living there they added new customs. Plus Cordoba, Spain was a place where many Muslims and/ or arabics so thers a clue. In Spain there are also many muslim/arabic style buildings! p.s i know cause i live in Spain!

Gipsies or gypsies traditionally are a culture displaced from India thousands of years ago, they settled across Europe where they were mistaken for Egyptians.. hence the name Gypsies. They are more accurately known as Roma, of Romani descent, and their language is the sister language of Hindi; although wherever they have settled their language has mingled with the native tongues developing many new 'dialects'.. in England they developed a hybrid language kown as Anglo-Romani, very interesting vocabulary. Their hybrid languages, at least in England, have been a well kept secret as a means of defense in alien cultures. Check these two links for more info. http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/index.html http://www.gypsy-jib.com/index.htm Although their culture and tongues remain somewhat mysterious there is a wealth of information on the subjects, and efforts are underway to preserve their culture.

The Gypsies are all Indian people whether they are Gitanos from Spain, Manouche from France or other types from Romania, Hungary or Greece etc. Indian has the most complex and oldest music in the world which is an inherited trait the Gypsies have aquired from India Indians with their long dresses and colorful outfits same as present day Indians from Punjab and Gujarat. Thier voice style is the same Indian singing, listen to old Gypsy music from wherever and listen old bollywood songs from the 40's onwards. Most of them look like present day Indian people especially Punjabi's whose language Punjabi is very close to Gypst language Romani. Gypsies dance like old Indian women seen in old Bollywood movies. Their culture is Indian like wedding ceremony, extended family, virginity, respect etc. They do not marry out of their Indian gypsy families just like all Indians and are a proud people. They have nothing to do with Muslims or Arabs as music is forbidden in these cultures whereas in India, it is very important everyday. Genetics show they are from India. All gypsies actually know theyre from India and modern day genetics has proven that. They are not European like Spanish, French, Italian etc, and are the first people who migrated out of India into Europe. Flamenco is an Indian dance not Spanish because of all the music in Spain, it looks completely different nothing like any other dance, it looks eastern and Indian. Flamenco does not sound like Arab music in Spain, which you can compare by listening to arab andalus music. They sound very different with the only similarity being the use of the Phrygian mode used by both cultures in thier music.

The Gypsies are all Indian people whether they are Gitanos from Spain, Manouche from France or other types from Romania, Hungary or Greece etc. Indian has the most complex and oldest music in the world which is an inherited trait the Gypsies have aquired from India Indians with their long dresses and colorful outfits same as present day Indians from Punjab and Gujarat. Thier voice style is the same Indian singing, listen to old Gypsy music from wherever and listen old bollywood songs from the 40's onwards. Most of them look like present day Indian people especially Punjabi's whose language Punjabi is very close to Gypst language Romani. Gypsies dance like old Indian women seen in old Bollywood movies. Their culture is Indian like wedding ceremony, extended family, virginity, respect etc. They do not marry out of their Indian gypsy families just like all Indians and are a proud people. They have nothing to do with Muslims or Arabs as music is forbidden in these cultures whereas in India, it is very important everyday. Genetics show they are from India. All gypsies actually know theyre from India and modern day genetics has proven that. They are not European like Spanish, French, Italian etc, and are the first people who migrated out of India into Europe. Flamenco is an Indian dance not Spanish because of all the music in Spain, it looks completely different nothing like any other dance, it looks eastern and Indian. Flamenco does not sound like Arab music in Spain, which you can compare by listening to arab andalus music. They sound very different with the only similarity being the use of the Phrygian mode used by both cultures in thier music.

Gypies originated from Northern India/Pakistan. Such Indians have lighter skin tones, and modern day Gypies have even more lighter skin tones due to genetic adjustment since the 11th century. A lighter skinned Indian often looks Egyptian/Arab - therefore the confusion by Europeans as to their origin.