Thehistory of the Jews in India dates back toantiquity.[1][2][3]Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in theIndian subcontinent inrecorded history.[4] RabbiEliezer ben Jose of the 2nd-century AD mentions the Jewish people of India (Hebrew:הנדויים) in his workMishnat Rabbi Eliezer, saying that they are required to ask for rain in the summer months, during their regular rainy season, yet make use of the format found for winter in theStanding Prayer, and to cite it in the blessing, 'Hear our voice' (שמע קולנו יי' אלהינו).[5]Desi Jews are a small religious minority who have lived in the region since ancient times. They were able to survive for centuries despite persecution by Portuguese colonizers and nonnative antisemitic inquisitions.[6]
The better-established ancient Jewish communities have assimilated many of the local traditions throughcultural diffusion.[7] While some Indian Jews have stated that their ancestors arrived during the time of the BiblicalKingdom of Judah, others claim descent from theTen Lost Tribes of the pre-JudaicIsraelites who arrived in India earlier.[8] Still some otherIndian Jews contend that they descend from the IsraeliteTribe of Manasseh, and they are referred to as theBnei Menashe.
The Jewish population inBritish India peaked at around 20,000 in the mid-1940s, according to some estimates, with others putting the number as high as 50,000,[9] but the community declined rapidly due to emigration to the newly formed State ofIsrael after 1948.[10] The Indian Jewish community now comprises 4,429 people according to the latest census.[11]
Map of Jewish communities in India. Greyed out labels indicate ancient or premodern communities
In addition to Jewish expatriates[28] and recent immigrants, there are seven Jewish groups in India.
Among the many theories noted byShalva Weil as to the origin ofMalabarCochin Jews, they claim to have first arrived in India together with the Hebrew KingSolomon's merchants. The fair-complexioned component is of European-Jewish descent, both Ashkenazi andSephardi.[29][30]
Madras Jews: TheSpanish and Portuguese Jews,Paradesi Jews andBritish Jews arrived atMadras during the 16th century. They were diamond businesspeople[31] and ofSephardi andAshkenazi heritage. Following expulsion fromIberia in 1492 by theAlhambra Decree, a few families ofSephardic Jews eventually made their way to Madras in the 16th century. They maintained trade connections to Europe, and their language skills were useful. Although the Sephardim mostly spokeLadino (i.e. Spanish or Judeo-Spanish), in India they learned Tamil and Judeo-Malayalam from theMalabar Jewish.[32]
Nagercoil Jews: TheSyrian Jews,Musta'arabi Jews were Arab Jews who arrived atNagercoil andKanyakumari District in 52 AD along with the arrival ofSt. Thomas. Most of them were merchants and had also settled around the town ofThiruvithamcode.[33] By the turn of the 20th century, most of the families made their way to Cochin and eventually migrated to Israel. In their early days, they maintained trade connections to Europe through the nearby ports of Colachal and Thengaipattinam, and their language skills were useful to the Travancore Kings.[34] As historians Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennett cited, the reason for the Jews selecting Nagercoil as their settlement was the town's salubrious climate and its significant Christian population.[35]
TheJews of Goa: These wereSephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal who fled toGoa after the commencement of theInquisition in those countries. The community consisted mainly of Jews who had falsely converted to Christianity but wanted to continue taking advantage of being Portuguese subjects, instead of immigrating to countries where they could practice Judaism openly (e.g. Morocco, Ottoman Empire).[36] They were the primary targets of theGoa Inquisition. As a result, its members fled to parts of India that were not under Portuguese control.[37]
The Main branch of the NativeBene Israel Community is said to have arrived at the Konkan Coast in ancient times they are completely mingled in native culture. They believe that their ancestors fledJudea during the persecution underAntiochus Epiphanes and arrived on Indian soil after seven people survived a shipwreck near the Nagaon village on theKonkan coast in 175 BC.[38]
Another branch of theBene Israel community resided in Karachi until thePartition of India in 1947, when they fled to India (in particular, to Mumbai).[39] Many of them alsomoved to Israel. The Jews from theSindh,Punjab andPathan areas are often incorrectly called Bani Israel Jews. The Jewish community who used to reside in other parts of what became Pakistan (such asLahore orPeshawar) also fled to India in 1947, similarly to the larger Karachi Jewish community.[citation needed]
TheBaghdadi Jews arrived in the city ofSurat from Iraq (and other Arab states), Iran and Afghanistan about 250 years ago, in the mid 18th and 19th centuries.[3][40]
TheBnei Menashe meaning "Sons of Manassah" in Hebrew, areMizo andKuki tribesmen inManipur andMizoram who are recent converts to the modern form of Judaism, but claim ancestry reaching back to one of the lost ten tribes of Israel; specifically, one of the sons of Joseph.[41]
Similarly, the smallTelugu-speaking group, theBene Ephraim (meaning "Sons of Ephraim" in Hebrew) also claim ancestry from Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph and a lost tribe of ancient Israel. Also called "Telugu Jews", their observance of modern Judaism dates to 1981.
European Jewish immigrants to India escaping persecution during World War II account for a small portion of Jewish Indians today. From 1938 to 1947, about 200 Jews fled from Europe and sought asylum in India.[42] Over seventy years later, the descendants of these Jewish migrants have made their own Jewish-Indian mixed community and culture within India.
The Arrival of the Jewish pilgrims at Cochin, A.D. 68"Malabarese Jews", as depicted by the Portuguese in the 16th centuryCódice CasanatenseTheParadesi Synagogue inKochi is an active 16th century synagogue
The oldest of the Indian Jewish communities was in the erstwhileCochin Kingdom.[2][43] The traditional account is that traders ofJudea arrived at Cranganore, an ancient port near Cochin in 562 BC, and that more Jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 AD, after the destruction of theSecond Temple.[44] Many of these Jews' ancestors passed on the account that they settled in India when the Hebrew King Solomon was in power. This was a time when teak wood, ivory, spices, monkeys, and peacocks were popular in trade in Cochin.[45]
There is no specific date or reason mentioned as to why they arrived in India, but Hebrew scholars date it to up to around the early Middle Ages. Cochin is a group of small tropical islands filled with markets and many different cultures such as Dutch, Hindu, Jewish, Portuguese, and British.[45] The distinct Jewish community was calledAnjuvannam. The still-functioningsynagogue in Mattancherry belongs to theParadesi Jews, the descendants ofSephardim who were expelled from Spain in1492,[44] although the Jewish community in Mattancherry adjacent to Fort Cochin had only six remaining members as of 2015.[46]
Central to the history of the Cochin Jews is their close relationship with Indian rulers, and this was eventually codified on a set of copper plates granting the community special privileges. The date of these plates, known as "Sâsanam",[47] is contentious. The plates themselves provide a date of 379 AD, but in 1925, the tradition was setting it as 1069 AD,[48]Joseph Rabban by Bhaskara Ravi Varma, the fourth ruler of Maliban granted the copper plates to the Jews. The plates were inscribed with a message stating that the village of Anjuvannam belonged to the Jews and that they were the rightful lords of Anjuvannam and it should remain theirs and be passed on to their Jewish descendants "so long as the world and moon exist". This is the earliest document that shows that the Jews were living in India permanently. It is stored in Cochins main synagogue.[49]
The Jews settled inKodungallur (Cranganore) of theMalabar region, where they traded peacefully until 1524. The Jewish leader Rabban was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin, given the rulership and tax revenue of a pocketprincipality inAnjuvannam, near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses".[50] The Hindu king permitted in perpetuity (or, in the more poetic expression of those days, "as long as the world and moon exist") for Jews to live freely, buildsynagogues, and own property "without conditions attached".[51][52]
A link back to Rabban, "the king of Shingly" (another name for Cranganore), was a sign of both purity and prestige. Rabban's descendants maintained this distinct community until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them namedJoseph Azar, in the 16th century. The Jews lived peacefully for over a thousand years in Anjuvannam. After the reign of the Rabban's, the Jewish people no longer had the protection of the copper plates. Neighboring princes of Anjuvannam intervened and revoked all privileges that the Jewish people were given. In 1524, the Jews were attacked by the Moors brothers (Muslim Community) on suspicion that they were tampering with the pepper trade and the homes and synagogues belonging to them were destroyed. The damage was so extensive that when the Portuguese arrived a few years later, only a small amount of impoverished Jews remained. They remained there for 40 more years only to return to their land of Cochin.[49]
Today it also attracts tourists as a historic site. Cochin synagogue at Ernakulum operates partly as a shop by one of the few remaining Cochin Jews. It is recorded that currently only 26 Jews live in Kerala, located in different parts ofKerala such asCochin,Kottayam andThiruvalla. John Jacob is one of Kerala's most senior Jews, who currently lives inKaviyoor village,Thiruvalla,Pathanamthitta District.
A plan of Fort St George and the city of Madras in 1726, shows the "Jews Burying Place" (marked as "b."), the "Jewish Cemetery Chennai", Four Brothers Garden and Bartolomeo Rodrigues Tomb
Jews also settled inMadras (now Chennai) soon after its founding in 1640.[54] Most of them were coral merchants fromLivorno, the Caribbean, London, and Amsterdam who were of Portuguese origin and belonged to the Henriques De Castro, Franco, Paiva or Porto families.[54]
De Paiva established good relations with those in power and bought several mines to sourceGolconda diamonds. Through his efforts, Jews were permitted to live withinFort St. George.[56]
De Paiva died in 1687 after a visit to his mines and was buried in the Jewish cemetery he had established in Peddanaickenpet, which later became north Mint Street.[56][a] In 1670, the Portuguese population in Madras numbered around 3000.[58] Before his death he established "The Colony of Jewish Traders of Madraspatam" with Antonio do Porto, Pedro Pereira and Fernando Mendes Henriques.[56] This enabled more Portuguese Jews from Livorno, the Caribbean, London and Amsterdam, to settle in Madras.[59] Coral Merchant Street was named after the Jews' business.[60]
Three Portuguese Jews were nominated to be aldermen of theMadras Corporation.[61] Three – Bartolomeo Rodrigues, Domingo do Porto and Alvaro da Fonseca – also founded the largest trading house in Madras. The large tomb of Rodrigues, who died in Madras in 1692, became a landmark in Peddanaickenpet, but was later destroyed.[62]
Samuel de Castro came to Madras from Curaçao and Salomon Franco came from Leghorn.[56][63]
In 1688, there were three Jewish representatives in the Madras Corporation.[54] Most Jewish settlers resided in Coral Merchants Street in Muthialpet.[54] They also had acemetery, calledJewish Cemetery Chennai in the neighbouring Peddanaickenpet.[54]
Rabbi Salomon Halevi (last Rabbi of Madras Synagogue) and his wife Rebecca Cohen, Paradesi Jews of Madras
Mr. Cohen, his German wife, and children, Paradesi Jews of Madras
Foreign notices of theBene Israel go back at least to 1768, whenRahabi Ezekiel wrote to a Dutch trading partner that they were widespread in Maharatta Province, and observed two Jewish observances, recital of theShema and observation ofShabbat rest.[64] They claim that they descend from 14 Jewish men and women, equally divided by gender, who survived the shipwreck[40] of refugees from persecution or political turmoil, and came ashore at Navagaon nearAlibag, 20 miles south of Mumbai, some 17 to 19 centuries ago.[64]
They were instructed in the rudiments of normative Judaism by Cochin Jews.[64] Their Jewishness is controversial, and initially was not accepted by the Rabbinate in Israel.[64] Since 1964 however they intermarried throughout Israel and are now considered Israeli and Jewish in all respects.[65]
They are divided into sub-castes that do not intermarry: the dark-skinned "Kala" and fair-skinned "Gora." The latter are believed to be lineal descendants of the shipwreck survivors, while the former are considered to descend from the concubinage of a male with local women.[64] They were nicknamed theshanivār telī ("Saturday oil-pressers") by the local population as they abstained from work on Saturdays. Bene Israel communities and synagogues are situated inPen, Mumbai, Panvel, Alibag, Pune, and Ahmedabad with smaller communities scattered around India. The largest synagogue in Asia outside Israel is in Pune, theOhel David Synagogue.
Mumbai had a thriving Bene Israel community until the 1950s to 1960s, when many families from the community immigrated to Israel, where they are known as Hodi'im (Indians).[64] The Bene Israel community has risen to many positions of prominence in Israel.[66] In India, the Bene Israel community has shrunk considerably with many of the old synagogues in disuse.
Unlike many parts of the world, Jews have historically lived in India with relatively littleanti-Semitism from the local majority populace, theHindus.[67] However, Jews were persecuted by thePortuguese during their control of Goa.[68]
The first known Baghdadi Jewish immigrant to India, Joseph Semah, arrived in the port city ofSurat in 1730. He and other early immigrants established a synagogue and cemetery in Surat, though most of the city's Jewish community eventually moved to Bombay (Mumbai), where they established a newsynagogue and cemetery. They were traders and quickly became one of the most prosperous communities in the city. As philanthropists, some donated their wealth for public building projects. TheSassoon Docks andDavid Sassoon Library are famous landmarks still standing today.
The synagogue in Surat was eventually razed; the cemetery, though in poor condition, can still be seen on the Katargam-Amroli road. One of the graves within is that of Moseh Tobi, buried in 1769, who was described as 'ha-Nasi ha-Zaken' (The Elder Prince) byDavid Solomon Sassoon in his bookA History of the Jews in Baghdad (Simon Wallenburg Press, 2006,ISBN184356002X).
Baghdadi Jewish populations spread beyond Bombay to other parts of India, with an important community forming in Calcutta (Kolkata). Scions of this community did well in trade (particularlyjute andtea), and in later years contributed officers to the army. One, Lt-GenJ. F. R. JacobPVSM, became state governor ofGoa (1998–1999), thenPunjab, and later served as administrator ofChandigarh.Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham) became the first everMiss India, in 1947.
The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from the northeastern Indian states ofMizoram andManipur[41] who practice a form of biblical Judaism and claim descent from one of theLost Tribes of Israel, the tribe of Menasseh.[69][67] About 7,000 of the Bnei Menashe immigrated to Israel in 2011.[70]
The Bene Ephraim are a small group ofTelugu-speaking Jews in easternAndhra Pradesh whose recorded observance of Judaism, like that of the Bnei Menashe, is quite recent, dating only to 1991.[71]
There are a few families inAndhra Pradesh who follow Judaism. Many among them follow the customs ofOrthodox Jews, like wearing long beards men and using head coverings (men) and hair coverings (women) all the time.[72]
Judaism in Delhi is primarily focused on the expatriate community who work in Delhi, as well as Israeli diplomats and a small local community. InPaharganj,Chabad has set up a synagogue and religious center in a backpacker area regularly visited by Israeli tourists.
Between 1938 and 1947, roughly 200 Jews illegally migrated from Europe to India to escape persecution by the Nazi regime. Most of these refugees arrived in India at the start of World War II and consequently were better positioned to find employment and shelter than many European Jews who were forced to leave amid war. Jewish refugees in British India were able to secure jobs in the arts and the service industry while a disproportionately large percentage of the migrants found employment in the medical field. Alongside the adoption of various Indian societal practices and customs, these jobs helped Jewish immigrants create a sense of their unique cultural place and identity as Jews within British India.
Immigration policy within the British Empire in the late 1930s and early 1940s often complicated Jewish entry into British India. One requirement of wartime migrants entering British India was for their passports to be "valid for return," where British officials could repatriate refugees if they were deemed burdensome. Theannexation of Austria in 1938 saw the replacement of Austrian passports with German documents, meaning that Austrian Jews attempting to flee with Austrian passports no longer met British immigration requirements. Still, Jewish aid organizations in India (most prominently the Council for German Jewry and the Jewish Relief Association) helped to form policies that benefited Jewish immigrants and regulated how Jews were resettled in India.
Since most Jewish refugees spoke German and originated from Germany or its neighboring countries, British officials and Indian locals often found the migrants indistinguishable from their non-Jewish counterparts. By 1940, many Jewish refugees were suspected of being Nazi sympathizers or agents passing as Jewish.[73]
The majority of Indian Jews have "madeAliyah" (migrated) toIsrael since the creation of the modern state in 1948. Over 70,000 Indian Jews now live in Israel (over 1% of Israel's total population).[citation needed] Of the remaining 5,000, the largest community is concentrated inMumbai, where 3,500 have remained from the 30,000 Jews registered there in the 1940s, divided intoB'nei andBaghdadi Jews,[74] though the Baghdadi Jews refused to recognize the B'nei Israel as Jews, and withheld dispensing charity to them for that reason.[64]
There are reminders of Jewish localities in Kerala still left such as synagogues. The majority of Jews from the old British-Indian capital of Calcutta (Kolkata) have also migrated to Israel over the last six decades.[citation needed]
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^Weil, Shalva. (1991) "Beyond the Sambatyon: the Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes." Tel-Aviv: Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.
^Joan G. Roland (2017).The Jews of India: Their Story and Contribution to Israel. Routledge.
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