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{{short description|Subgroup of Romani people in Azerbaijan}}{{Not to be confused with|Karachi}}{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Garachi
|image=
|caption =
|population= 2,000<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjSJCQAAQBAJ&q=roma+population+azerbaijan+2%2C000&pg=PA179 |title = Mirrors - Manual on combating antigypsyism through human rights education|isbn = 9789287181008|last1 = Europe|first1 = Council of|date = 2015-05-22| publisher=Council of Europe }}</ref>
|popplace={{flag|Azerbaijan}}
|langs = [[#Language|Garachi]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]], [[Domari language|Domari]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]].
|rels = [[Islam]]
|related-c = [[Dom people]]
}}
{{Romani people}}
The '''Garachi''' ({{langx|az|Qaraçı}}; {{langx|ku|Qereçî}}), also spelled '''Karachi''' or '''Karaci''', are a group of the [[Dom people]] living in [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Turkey]]. Little research has been done on the Garachi, and most of what is known about them is based on the works of the 19th-century [[Russia]]n scholars [[Kerope Patkanov]] and [[Jean-Marie Chopin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/345860|title= TÜRKİYE'DE ROM, DOM VE LOM GRUPLARININ GÖRÜNÜMÜ}}</ref>
The term ''Garachi'' is sometimes used to describe the [[Domari]]-speaking people of northern [[Iran]], The confusion is explained by the fact that both groups live in the regions populated mostly by [[Azerbaijani people|Azeri-speakers]] who apply the word ''Garachi'' to medieval collective migrants from [[Karachi]] from Sindh.
== Origins and history ==
Even though the Garachi of Azerbaijan and Turkey call themselves ''Dom'' (the name ''Garachi'' was given to them by the local population and derives from the [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] word ''qara'' - "black" and the suffix ''-çı'' denoting the stem-word's function/occupation), they do not seem to share same origins with the Dom people. According to Jean-Marie Chopin, the Azerbaijani Garachi descend from the medieval Romani nomads of [[Central Asia]].<ref>Chopin, Jean-Marie. New Articles on the Ancient History of the Caucasus and Its Inhabitants. St Petersburg, 1896</ref> In 1944, [[Vasily Yan]] suggested that the Garachi of Azerbaijan and the Dom of Iran (sometimes referred to as the Garachi) differ in terms of their origins.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://artofwar.ru/a/afgan/text_0570.shtml Turkestan Campaigns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127090011/http://artofwar.ru/a/afgan/text_0570.shtml |date=2007-01-27 }} by Vasily Yan</ref>
In 1887, Kerope Patkanov stated that the Garachi of the [[South Caucasus]] (then part of the [[Russian Empire]]) numbered 2,399 people living mostly in the Goychay uyezd (present-day [[Goychay District|Goychay]], [[Ujar District|Ujar]], [[Agsu District|Agsu]], and [[Ismayilli District|Ismayilli]] districts of Azerbaijan) and [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]]. The largest Garachi settlement was named after them and is situated around 4&nbsp;km southeast of Khacmaz town in [[Khachmaz District|Khachmaz]] region.<ref>Patkanov, Kerope. ''Gypsies: Several Words on the Dialects of the Transcaucasian Gypsies, the Bosha and the Karachi''. St. Petersburg, 1887</ref>
Their main occupation was the production of household items such as baskets, sieves and chewing gum made by men and sold by women in the neighbouring towns. Among other sources of income Patkanov lists [[fortune-telling]] and cattle [[larceny]]. Nomadic Garachi groups used to train animals and make street song-and-dance performances.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://advocat-ua-ru-md.pisem.net/Gipsys.htm Gypsies and Crime] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526045527/http://advocat-ua-ru-md.pisem.net/Gipsys.htm |date=2010-05-26 }} by Oleg Kucheriavy</ref> This practice was described in the famous 1913 story ''Garaja giz'' by the Azeri writer [[Suleyman Sani Akhundov]].<ref>{{in lang|az}} [http://azeri.org/Azeri/az_latin/latin_lit/az_literature/short_stories/akhundov_suleyman/akhundov_az/garaja_giz%20.pdf Qaraca Qiz] by Suleyman Sani Akhundov (full text)</ref>
== Language ==
{{Infobox language
|name=Garachi
|states=[[Azerbaijan]]
|region =
|extinct= ?
|ref=
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
|fam4=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Western Indo Aryan]]
|fam5=[[Domari language|Domari]]
|isoexception=dialect
|glotto=kara1460
|glottorefname=Karachi
}}
Patkanov's analysis of the language of the Garachi (based on 101 common phrases) indicated that despite being [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]], it is not mutually intelligible with any of the [[Romani language|Romani]] or [[Domari language|Domari]] dialects of the [[Balkans]], [[Russia]], or the [[Middle East]]. In addition to it, the Garachi observed by Patkanov spoke Azeri and sometimes [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]] as a second and third language respectively.
Here are four phrases in Garachi and Romani languages with translation.
{| cellpadding=6
! Garachi
! Romani
! English translation
|- style="vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap;"
|
:- Salamalikim, baro, kefoj kybra?
:- Kasta mashgul astoj?
:- Ma dom astum!
:- Kiti dom astak?
|
:- Selamo, baro, sökerdan?
:- So keresa?
:- Me sem rom!
:- Kicik romen san?
|
:- Hello, brother, how are you?
:- What are you doing?
:- I am Gipsy (Dom, Rom)!
:- How many Gypsies are there?
|}
== Present-day ==
Most Garachis nowadays are settled and live in communities in [[Yevlakh]], [[Agdash, Azerbaijan|Agdash]], [[Gakh]], [[Khachmaz (city)|Khachmaz]] and [[Baku]] suburbs numbering altogether around 2,000 people. Small communities in [[Shusha]] and [[Jabrayil]] were driven out by the Armenian forces during the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]].<ref name="echo1">{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.echo-az.com/archive/2006_12/1481/obshestvo06.shtml Our Romani Neighbours] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927215455/http://www.echo-az.com/archive/2006_12/1481/obshestvo06.shtml |date=2007-09-27 }} by Kamal Ali. ''Echo''. 30 December 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2007.</ref> Presently the Garachi are undergoing cultural and linguistic assimilation by Azeris. Modern Garachi couples tend to have 2 to 3 children as opposed to 5 and above, as was often the case throughout their history.<ref name="echo1"/>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.palgrave.com/de/book/9783319410562  Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2016. Gypsies of Central Asia and Caucasus. London: Palgrave Macmillan.<!-- Bot generated title -->]
{{Ethnic groups in Azerbaijan}}
{{Romani diaspora}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Romani groups]]
[[Category:Romani in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani words and phrases]]
[[az:Qaraçılar]]