Lom

   A clan of Gypsies calling themselves Lom who are believed to have originated in northwest India together with the Roma and who are now resident in Armenia, other parts of the former Soviet Union (e.g., Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh), and Turkey. In Armenia they live in the capital, Yerevan, and in a number of villages. The Lom of Armenia migrated there from the Erzerum region of so-called western Armenia (eastern Turkey) following the Russo-Turkish war at the beginning of the 19th century. The name Lom is considered to be derived from Dom.

   The Lom make their living from trade: selling handmade sieves, candles, straw baskets, and boxes; they also deal in honey. The women, unusual for Gypsy clans, do not tell fortunes. They are practicing Christians and attend the Armenian Orthodox Church, although they often marry cousins, which is not permitted under Armenian Christian tradition. They no longer speak Romani but a variety of Armenian with words of Indian origin, known as Lomin or Lomavren.