What is "gurbeti"

Gurbeti is a sub-group of the Romani people living in former Yugoslavia, which members are predominantly Muslims. In Kosovo, other Romani groups viewed the Gurbeti as being worse and foul.

In Vuk Stefanović Karadžić's Serbian dictionary, the word Gurbet means "Gypsy wanderer". The word is derived from Turkish gurbet, meaning "emigrate".

The first mentions of nomadic Rroma attributed as Gurbeti ancestors, mostly Rroma escaping slavery in Wallachia, is from the 17th century. The Gurbeti Roma's ancestors left Wallachia and Moldavia in the 19th century after abolition of slavery. In 1941, most of the Yugoslav Roma settled permanently, with the exception of the Gurbeti in Montenegro.

They share some cultural features with the Kalderaš, but also with other Roma such as Xoraxane. Gurbeti are partly assimilated into society and do not fully follow the Romany Law. They speak Gurbeti, a sub-dialect of the Vlax Romani language, or sometimes regarded a separate dialect. In Kosovo, the Gurbeti speech have either a dominant Serbian substratum, or Albanian substratum. The Džambazi speak a sub-dialect of Gurbeti. The origin of the Romani loan words in Croatian are most likely from Gurbeti, who settled predominantly from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There is a Gurbeti diaspora, such as in Austria, were recent migrants, mostly unskilled workers, has since integrated into Austrian society.