The history of the Jews in India reaches back to ancient times.
Indian Jews are a religious minority of India. Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India in recorded history. The better-established ancient communities have assimilated a large number of local traditions through cultural diffusion. The Jewish population in India is hard to estimate since each Jewish community is distinct with different origins; some arrived during the time of the Kingdom of Judah, others are seen by some as descendants of Israel's mythical Ten Lost Tribes. Of the total Jewish population in India, about half live in Manipur and Mizoram and a quarter live in the city of Mumbai.
Unlike many parts of the world, Jews have historically lived in India without any instances of antisemitism from the local majority populace, the Hindus. However, Jews were persecuted by the Portuguese during their control of Goa.[1]
The Jews settled in Kodungallur (Cranganore) on the Malabar Coast, where they traded peacefully, until 1524. Jews have held important positions under Indian (Hindu) princes in the past and even after independence from British Rule, have risen to very high positions in government, military and industry.
In addition to Jewish expatriates and recent immigrants, there are five native Jewish communities in India:
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The oldest of the Indian Jewish communities is in Cochin. The traditional account is that traders from Judea arrived in the city of Cochin, Kerala, in 562 BC, and that more Jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 C.E. after the destruction of the Second Temple.[2] The distinct Jewish community was called Anjuvannam. The still-functioning synagogue in Mattancherry belongs to the Paradesi Jews, the descendants of Sephardim that were expelled from Spain in 1492.[2]
In 379 CE, The Hindu king Sira Primal, also known as Iru Brahman, issued what was engraved on a tablet of brass, his permission to Jews to live freely, build synagogue, own property without conditions attached and as long as the world and moon exist.[3][4]
In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut, attacked these wealthy Jews of Cranganore (Kodungallur) on the pretext that they had an advantage with the pepper trade. The Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of Perumpadapu Swaroopam. The Hindu Raja of Cochin, Bhaskara Ravi Varman II (979— 1021) gave them asylum. Moreover, he exempted Jews from taxation but bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the taxpayers.[5]
The Jews have been in Malabar since several centuries, yet it was only about 2000 who left on aliyah to Israel in the 1950s. The abscense of at least a few million Black Jews in Malabar is puzzling. It is probable that many joined the Malabar Nazereans with whom they shared several cultural, linguistic and religious similarities. Recent (Aug. 2011) DNA findings by Dr.Mini Kariappa points towards such an occurrence.
The Bene Israel claim that their ancestors arrived 2,100 years ago after a shipwreck stranded seven Jewish families from Judea at Navagaon near Alibag, just south of Mumbai. They were nicknamed the shanivār telī ("Saturday oil-pressers") by the local population as they abstained from work on Saturdays, Judaism's Shabbat. Bene Israel communities and synagogues are situated in Pen, Mumbai, Alibag, Pune and Ahmedabad with smaller communities scattered around India. Mumbai had a thriving Bene Israel community until the 1950s to 1960s when many families from the community emigrated to the fledgeling state of Israel. The Bene Israel community has risen to many positions of prominence in Israel. In India itself the Bene Israel community has shrunk considerably with many of the old Synagogues falling into disuse. In Mala, Thrissur District, Jews have a cemetery.
Despite the name, the Baghdadi Jews are not exclusively of Iraqi origin: many came from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen as well. These Jews emigrated to India around 250 years ago and settled in the city of Surat and established Synagogue and Cemetery after they move to Bombay (Mumbai). They were traders and quickly became one of the highest earning communities in the city. As philanthropists, some of them donated their wealth to public structures. The David Sassoon Docks and a Sassoon Library are some of the famous landmarks still standing today.
As well as Bombay (Mumbai), Baghdadi Jews spread to other parts of India, with an important community in Calcutta (Kolkata). Scions of this community did well in trade (particularly jute, but also tea) and, in later years, contributed officers to the army. One, Lt-Gen J. F. R. Jacob PVSM, becoming state governor of, first, Goa then Punjab and later administrator of Chandigarh.
About in 1730 first Baghdadi Jew Joseph Semah arrived from Baghdad to Surat and set up the Surat Synagogue here (It was a big Port of British India. Now part of Gujarat state and commercial capital of Gujarat in western part of India). They established Synagogue and Cemetery in Katargam area of the city. Still there is a graveyard in the city but in very bad condition.
One of the graves within is that of Moseh Tobi buried here in 1769, he was considered an elder leader. In his book ‘A History of the Jews in Baghdad’, David Solomon Sassoon has mentioned “In the year 1769 Moses Tobi, who is styled ha-Nasi ha- Zaken [The Elder Prince] died in Surat”
An estimated 9,000 people in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur started practicing halachic Judaism in the 1970s, claiming to be descendants of the Tribe of Manasseh. Recently Israel has given permission for immigration of 7200 jews to Israel from Manipur.[6]
The Bene Ephraim are a small group of Telugu-speaking Jews in eastern Andhra Pradesh whose recorded observance of Judaism, like that of the Bnei Menashe, is quite recent, dating only to 1981.
They were few families in Andhra Pradesh who follow Judaism. Many among them follow the customs those followed by Orthodox Jews like hair customs of having unshaved long side locks, having head covering all the time etc.,
Judaism in Delhi is primarily focused on the expatriate community who work in Delhi, as well Israeli diplomats and a small local community. In Paharganj, Chabad has set up a synagogue and religious center in a backpacker area regularly visited by Israeli tourists.
The majority of Indian Jews have "made Aliyah" (migrated) to Israel since the creation of the modern state in 1948. A total of 75,000 Indian Jews now live in Israel (over 1% of Israel's total population). There are reminders of Jewish localities in Kerala still left such as Synagogues.
Majority of Jews from the old British-Indian capital of Calcutta (Kolkata) have also migrated to Israel over the last six decades.
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