12 Facts About Ursari

Ursari formed part of the slave population in the Danubian Principalities before the abolitions of the 1840s and 1850s.

Also according to Thouvenel, Ursari were known for "veterinary skills", which, he argued, "the superstition of people in the countryside attributes to the possession of a magic art".

Also during the late 19th century, the Ursari came to be attested in Imperial Russian-ruled Bessarabia, where the local population referred to them and to the laiesi in general as satrasi.

In time, a significant number of Ursari joined circuses, while many others began manufacturing and trading bone objects and leather, or associating with the Lautari.

In Communist Romania, large groups of Ursari performers were prevented from entering cities, and, under both Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceausescu, nomadic Roma were subject to settlement policies.

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Ursari people were chased away, and many of their lodgings were burned to the ground.

However, in Ogrezeni and Bolintin Vale, Police forces were themselves faced with violence from the mob, after allegations that they had vested interest in supporting the Roma community at large; in Ogrezeni, 13 or 14 out of 15 Ursari houses were set on fire, and 11 were devastated in Bolintin Vale.

Ursari were a seasonal presence on the Black Sea Coast under the Bulgarian Communist regime.

Ursari are among the groups of Roma to practice endogamy, alongside the Kalderash, the Lovari and the Gabori; many Mechkara believe refer to themselves as "Vlachs" or "Romanians", and tend to consider themselves distinct from other Roma.

Eastern Orthodox by tradition, many Ursari are adhering to Protestant movements such as Pentecostalism.

While, ever since the 1850s, many Ursari musicians have contributed to Lautari culture to the point where they have grown separated from their original environment, traditional Ursari music survived as a separate genre; fused with electronic music, was popularized in early 21st century Romania by the Shukar Collective project.

Chant used by Ursari trainers has passed into Romanian folklore as a nursery rhyme.