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TheJewish community of Mashhad, Iran (Persian:یهودیان مشهد) was formed in the 1740s. After theAllahdadpogrom, members emigrated to escape persecution and are now located around the world.
Iranian Jews are considered to be the descendants of 722 BCEAssyrian and 586 BCEBabylonianexiles. From thisdiaspora, a smaller tribe of Jews evolved, in part due to their geographic setting in the city ofMashhad, and their robust community ties.
The community was founded in 1746, whenNadir Shah Afshar called for the relocation of fortyJewish families fromQazvin andDilaman toKalat.[1][2] These families settled inMashhad, and were selected to protect Nadir Shah's treasures andjewels, which he had acquired from hisIndian invasion.
Many Jews of Mashhad, including the chief of the local Jewish community, Mullah Mahdi Aqajan, served as agents of the British government.[2] This fact, in addition to the recent withdrawal of Iran fromHerat in 1838 under diplomatic pressure from the British government, created an increasingly hostile atmosphere towards the Jews in Mashhad.
The event which transformed this group of Iranian Jews into a community, was the Allahabad (means “God’s Justice”) of 1839. Rising social tensions, resentment, and suspicion byShiite Muslims of the Jewish inhabitants of Mashhad's Eydgah ghetto culminated in an explosive event.[3] Ablood libel on the Muslim holidayAshura led to a devastatingpogrom.[4] On March 27, 1839 an estimated 36 Jews were killed[1][4] and approximately seven Jewish girls were abducted to become Muslim child brides. Within the next twenty-four hours, under the risk of death, approximately three hundred Jewish families made the pretence of converting to Islam, under the advisement of their community leaders. The termAllahdad was coined by the forced converts to relate their past sins with the calamity they were enduring.[1][2]
Following the forced conversions, a number of Jewish families, unable to sustain the facade of Muslim faith, escaped to Herat in 1840. It is estimated that the remaining community members proceeded to live dual lives as covert Jews. During this time, the Jadid-al-Islam (a term meaning “New Muslims”) boasted of two known Sheikhs, 57 knownHajjis, and 21 knownKarbalais while preserving their secret Jewish identities. Their ties to the Islamic religion were complex at times.[citation needed]
Starting in 1886, Mashhadi families gradually migrated toMarv and surrounding areas ofCzarist Turkmenistan, in an effort to escape persecution in Mashhad and look for better business opportunities in theRussian Empire.
In 1890, after completing theHajj, some Mashhadi families madeAliya and travelled toJerusalem, instead of returning fromMecca to Mashhad.[5]
In 1901, Haji Adonya HaCohen built the first Mashhadi Jewish synagogue in Jerusalem, followed by Haji Yehezkel's synagogue, built in 1905.
In the 1910s, some Mashhadi Jews moved to London.
In the autumn of 1917, theRussian Revolution caused the first return of Mashhadi Jews, from Marv to Mashhad.[1] Mashhadis who remained in Russia fell prey toStalin's “purge ofpetit bourgeoisie” and some members of the community were imprisoned.
In 1925, Reza Shah made an agreement with Stalin to exchange Iranian and Russian nationals. The imprisoned Mashhadis were released to return home, once again. Now, Jews were allowed to practice their religion openly.[5] A second blood libel in 1946 resulted in the community's gradual relocation to the tolerant cities ofTehran andJerusalem, joining the few Mashhadi families who already resided there.[6]
Beginning in the 1940s, some Mashhadi Jews had moved to the United States (a trend which continued through the 1980s). By 1948, the Jewish population of Mashhad numbered 2,500.[7] In the 1950s, some Mashhadi Jews moved to Germany and Italy. In 1979, Mashhadi Jews in Tehran fled duringthe Iranian Revolution.
As of 2007, Jerusalem Post estimated there were about 15,000 Mashhadi Jews, with most living in New York and Israel.[1] Mashhadi communities now exist inIsrael,New York,Milan,Hamburg andLondon.[1] By 2010, over 20,000 Mashhadi Jews resided in Israel, New York, Milan, Germany, and London. The PeopleGroup estimates that there are 10,000 Mashhadi Jews in the USA, mainly in Great Neck, New York.[8]
Some Mashhadi Jews married their children at young ages in order to ensure they did not marry outside the Mashhadi community.[1][4][9]
Mashhadi Jewish marriage certificates used verses from the Qur'an.[10] Individual certificates varied in their adherence to Muslim marriage certificate formulas.[10]
In the modern day Mashhadi Jews continue to marry within their own community.[1]
