The main archival source of MapRom database is the “Census of the population or Statistics of the Principalities (Wallachia and Moldova) of 1838”, ANIC, Fond Catagrafii, part I, Inventory number 501, volumes numbered I/8 to I/107 from the Historical National Archives, Bucharest, mostly unpublished and now digitized and automatized for the first time, in regard to Romani population.
This Census was conducted by the Interior Ministry in February 1838. It is the first preserved Romanian modern census of population and dwellings, which introduced new techniques of reviewing, such as the nominal lists and the great number (24) of demographic variables, including ethnicity. The unit of observation was the “household”, and the scope was to obtain detailed information about: 1) the settled population by age group, and sex; 2) the number of households and their structure; 3) the number of residential buildings and their distribution according to the material from which they are built; 4) population distribution according to their participation in economic activity; 5) distribution of population by skills and occupations.
Based on this information, the MapRom database presents: statistics of the Roma households per village, number of Roms per village, number of different Romani ethnic sub-groups (Lăieș, Vătraș, Rudar, Zlătar, etc), average Romani household size per village, age distribution, sex distribution, number of Roms per skill, geographic distribution of the Roms (in uplands and lowlands), cultivated land area by Roms per village, etc. We found insignificant number of free Roms, rest of them were slaves. For more than 50% of them, we have reconstructed, from other (unpublished) sources the name of the owners (private noblemen, or Monasteries and churches).
We searched for other statistical documents to complete our data from 1838 Census, such as the Statistics of the Turkish Gypsies (1833, manuscript ANIC, Vornicia temnitelor, file 354/1833), Statistics of Boyar Gypsy slaves (1832, manuscript ANIC, Diplomatice, dos. 147/1832) and Statistics of Monastery Gypsy slaves (1844, manuscript ANIC, Logofeția Pricinilor Bisericești, dos. 25/1844). etc. When we compared these statistics, we found major discrepancies leading to the important source critical conclusion that the 1838 census concerns mostly the permanently settled Gypsies and included few of the nomadic people. Further examination showed that the number of nomadic Gypsies was relatively small. We also found documents that indicated that Gypsies of the Muslim faith were not either registered in the 1838 census.
Over time the nominal lists of the 1838 Census for four counties (Ialomiţa, Gorj, Mededinţi and Vâlcea) as well as some two rural sub-districts and two towns has been lost, but that for 14 Wallachian counties has been preserved and entered in MapRom.
The five volumes of nominal material for the capital city Bucharest (with a very large and multi-ethnic population) was not researched in this project as the census there was complexly different from that of the rural provinces in form and execution, but it is hoped that it can be researched at a later date.
We estimate that MapRom gathers information on between two-thirds and three-fourths of Wallachia’s Romani population. Show less..

Data contains personal data

Language

English

Romanian

Method and outcome

Unit of analysis

Household

Housing unit

Population

Romani people in the historical Romanian province Wallachia

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Time period(s) investigated

1838-01-01 – 1838-12-31

Variables

Number of individuals/objects

49689

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Data collection

Mode of collection: Transcription
Time period(s) for data collection: 2017-01-10 – 2019-12-20
Instrument: Transcription (Data collection guidelines: Self-administered writings guide)
Source of the data: Registers/Records/Accounts

Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic location: Romania, Eastern Europe

Geographic description: The data covers the Wallachia historical region of Romania in 1838

Lowest geographic unit

Parish

Highest geographic unit

Region

Administrative information

Responsible department/unit

School of Culture and Education

Contributor(s)

Florin Rotaru - Metropolitan Library of Bucharest

Nikoloz Kobakhidze - Södertörn University, Center for Baltic and East European Studies

Ryan Dias - Södertörn University, Department of Science, Environment and Technology

Funding

Funding agency: The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies
Funding agency's reference number: 2017-0027

Topic and keywords

Research area

Social sciences interdisciplinary (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

History (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Demography (population, vital statistics, and censuses) (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Censuses (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Keywords

Family environment, Ministers of religion, Labour and employment, Demography, Demographic statistics, Family members, Place of residence, Romani people, Wallachia, Romania

Publications

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Julieta Rotaru, David Gaunt. “Slavery, socio-economic inequalities and proletarianization in non-agro-pastoral Gypsy groups in early Nineteenth century Wallachia.” Condizioni di vita e disuguaglianze. Una prospettiva storico-demografica, Luca Mocarelli, Giulio Ongaro ed., Società Italiana Di Demografia Storica, 2023, 61-77.
ISBN: 978-88-3283-363-8

Julieta Rotaru. 2023. “Women breadwinners in Gypsy socio-professional groups of pre-industrial Wallachia.” Romani Studies, Continuing Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, series 5, 33 (1): 141-157. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/rost.2023.7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/rost.2023.7

Julieta Rotaru & David Gaunt. The Wallachian gold-washers. Unlocking the golden past of the Rudari woodworkers. Brill Series in Roma Culture and History. Brill Schöningh: Leiden, Boston. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657790388
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657790388

David Gaunt and Julieta Rotaru. “The Living Conditions of Gypsy Slaves in Early Nineteenth Century Wallachia.” In: Romani Studies. Continuing Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, series 5, volume 31, issue 1/2021
ISSN: 1528-0748
EISSN: 1757-2274
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/rs.2021.3

Rotaru, Julieta. “Considerations about the ‘Turkish Gypsies’ as crypto-Muslims in Wallachia.” In: Kyuchukov, Hristo, Zahova, Sofiya, and Duminica, Ion, eds. 2021. History and Culture of Roma. Festschrift for Vesselin Popov. Roma Series 08. München: Lincom Academic Publishers
ISBN: 978-3-96939-071-9

Rotaru, J. (2018). Caught between the Eastern Europe Empires: the case of the alleged Netot Roms. Slovak Ethnology, 66(4), 501–522. https://doi.org/10.26363/SN.2018.4.08
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26363/SN.2018.4.08
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37176

Rotaru, J. (2018). Aspects on Romani demographics in 19th century Wallachia. Baltic Worlds, XI(2–3), 34-50. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-36535
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-36535

Rotaru, Julieta & Gaunt, David. 2023. “Affirmation identitaire pluriséculaire et reconversion professionnelle des Rudari, orpailleurs de Valachie (1388-1838).” Etudes Tsiganes, Fédération nationale des associations solidaires d'action avec les Tsiganes et les Gens du voyage, Paris, 134-143.
ISSN: 0014-2247
EISSN: 2426-6078

Rotaru, Julieta. 2023. “Vakǎripen pal-o lil Le bajàśa katar i Valahia: putarindoj o somnakutno nakhlo vaxt e rudarănqo kaj si prinʒarde sar le kaśtale vaj le kaśtćhinărne, anglikanes The Wallachian Gold-washers: Unlocking the Golden Past of the Rudari Woodworkers Julieta Rotaru & David Gaunt, Brill Schöningh: Leiden, Boston, 2023” Newsletter of the Gypsy Lore Society, 46 (3), August 2023.
ISSN: 1070-4604

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Published: 2023-10-25