Why are the Gypsies regarded as of Indian origin? 1. They follow Indian religious practices. 2. Their language, called Romani, is an Indo-Aryan language. 3. They believe that they came from India. 4. Epigraphic evidence locates their original home in Uttar Pradesh. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

The Gypsies, or Romani people, are regarded as being of Indian origin primarily due to linguistic evidence. Their language, Romani, is classified as an Indo-Aryan language, sharing significant grammatical features and vocabulary with North Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, and Rajasthani. Most Romani vocabulary is of Sanskrit origin, though it has acquired loanwords from Persian, Armenian, and Greek during their westward migration. While some customs show Indian traces [1], the claim that they follow Indian religious practices is generally incorrect as they typically adopted the religions of their host countries (e.g., Christianity or Islam). There is no historical or epigraphic evidence locating their original home specifically in Uttar Pradesh; rather, they are part of an 'Indic diaspora' that migrated from Northwest India around the 11th century. Their own oral traditions regarding their origin were often vague or attributed to Egypt, hence the term 'Gypsy'.

Sources

1. [1] https://anthro.du.ac.in/common/people_of_India.pdf