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Desi Jews areJews living inSouth Asia (or originally from this region, also known as theIndian subcontinent) who belong to communities that had been integrated into South Asian culture and society.
The termDesi, found in most South Asian languages, is used by the South Asians to refer to themselves. It means "one of us, of our land", alluding to a common culture (the opposite is Paradesi orVideshi aka non-Desi, "foreigner", seeParadesi Jews). After the 1947partition, the term is also employed when it is intended to avoid any allusion to the specific state of origin, also when the topic involves all theIndian subcontinent. Many outsiders also tend to use the word "Indian" for South Asian people and culture. This might be considered offensive by non-Indian Desi (the state ofIndia is just a part of the Indian subcontinent).
Unlike other areas of the world, the Jewish communities were accepted and integrated in the local society of the Indian subcontinent. Also, similar to theParsis, and other (originally) foreign communities, the preservation of group identity was facilitated by thecaste system. In Desi society, a person's allegiance to a group, part of its fabric, is presumed and respected.
The Desi Jewish communities are some of the oldest in world, with more than 2000 years of continuity in the Indian subcontinent (such as theCochin Jews and theBene Israel). Most of them lived on the coast of theArabian Sea. They were involved in trade in theMalabar area, also in the production of oil. A turning point was the arrival of thePortuguese in the 16th century. They introduced theInquisition on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, persecuting the Jewish andChristian communities. The arrival of the Europeans facilitated the immigration of Jews withSephardi andMizrahi backgrounds. In the times of theBritish Raj, the arrival of the Sephardim and Mizrahim who were to be considered "Europeans" by the British authority, hence their name ofParadesi Jews ("White Jews") created some friction with the shunned older Desi communities.
After the mid-20th century, when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned andIsrael was created, most Desi Jewsimmigrated mainly to Israel.
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