There was much discussion on the issue of Jews in Goa, and hence I thought
of posting this from the Usenet (see http://groups.google.com -- a great
place to search for information you otherwise can't find on the web). FN
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From: SCJ FAQ Maintainer ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Subject: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Jews As A Nation (7/12)
View: Complete Thread (110 articles)
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Date: 2004-03-04 11:07:47 PST
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Frequently Asked Questions on Soc.Culture.Jewish
Part 7: Jews as a Nation
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accuracy and/or authoritativeness of the answers provided herein. In
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Subject: Question 13.9: Who Are The Jews of India, And What Are Their
Origins?
Answer:
India has a legacy of four distinct Jewish groups: the Bene Israel,
the Cochin Jews, the Sephardic Jews from Europe, and the "Baghdadis"
from Iraq. Each group practiced important elements of Judaism and had
active synagogues. The Sephardic rites predominate among Indian Jews.
One of the most important Jewish peoples of India are the Bene Israel
("Sons of Israel"), whose main population centers were Bombay,
Calcutta, Old Delhi, and Ahmadabad. The native language of the Bene
Israel was Marathi, while the Cochin Jews of southern India spoke
Malayalam.
The Bene Israel claim to be descended from Jews who escaped
persecution in Galilee in the 2nd century BCE. The Bene Israel
resemble the non-Jewish Maratha people in appearance and customs,
which indicates intermarriage between Jews and Indians. However, the
Bene Israel maintained the practices of Jewish dietary laws,
circumcision, and observation of Sabbath as a day of rest.
The Bene Israel say their ancestors were oil pressers in the Galil and
they are descended from survivors of a shipwreck. In the 18th Century
they were "discovered" by traders from Baghdad. At that time the Bnei
Israel were practicing just a few outward forms of Judaism (which is
how they were recognised) but had no scholars of their own. Teachers
from Baghdad and Cochin taught them mainstream Judaism in the 18th and
19th centuries.
Jewish merchants from Europe travelled to India in the medieval period
for purposes of trade, but it is not clear whether they formed
permanent settlements in south Asia. Our first reliable evidence of
Jews living in India comes from the early 11th century. It is certain
that the first Jewish settlements were centered along the western
coast. Abraham ibn Daud's 12th century reference to Jews of India is
unfortunately vague, and we do not have further references to Indian
Jews until several centuries later.
The first Jews in Cochin (southern India) were the so-called "Black
Jews", who spoke the Malayalam tongue. The "Sephardic Jews" settled
later, coming to India from western European nations such as Holland
and Spain. A notable settlement of Spanish and Portuguese Jews
starting in the 15th century was Goa, but this settlement eventually
disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of
Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain.
The Jews of Cochin say that they came to Cranganore (south-west coast
of India) after the destruction of the Temple in 70ce. They had, in
effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftanship
dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The
dispute led neighbouring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the
Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode)
attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were
"tampering" with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went
under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site
for their own town which later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which
it is still known).
Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin
in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the
Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch protestants were tolerant and
the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin passed into the British sphere of
influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of
Cochin, Ernakulam, and Parur. Today most of Cochin's Jews have
emigrated (principally to Israel).
16th and 17th century migrations created important settlements of Jews
from Persia, Afghanistan, and Khorasan (Central Asia) in northern
India and Kashmir. By the late 18th century, Bombay became the largest
Jewish community in India. In Bombay were Bene Israel Jews as well as
Iraqi and Persian Jews.
Near the end of the 18th century, a third group of Indian Jews
appears. They are the middle-eastern Jews who came to India through
trade. They established a trading network stretching from Aleppo to
Baghdad to Basra to Surat/Bombay to Calcutta to Rangoon to Singapore
to Hong Kong and eventually as fare as Kobe in Japan. There were
strong family bonds amongst the traders in all these places.
Typical is the founder of the Calcutta community, Shalom Aharon
Ovadiah HaCohen. He was born in Aleppo in 1762 and left in 1789. He
arrived in Surat in 1792 and established himself there. He traded as
far as Zanzibar. In 1798 he moved to Calcutta. In 1805 he was joined
by his nephew, Moses Simon Duek HaCohen, who married his eldest
daughter Lunah. Soon the community was swelled by other traders and
Baghdadis outnumbered those from Aleppo.
Under British rule, the Jews of India achieved their maximum
population and wealth, and the Calcutta community continued to grow
and prosper and trade amongst all the cities of the far east and to
the rest of the world. The Indians were very tolerant and the Jews of
Calcutta felt completely at home. Their numbers reached a peak of
about 5000 during WW-II when they were swelled by refugees fleeing the
Japanese advance into Burma.
The first generations of Calcutta Jews spoke Judeo-Arabic at home, but
by the 1890s English was the language of choice. After WWII,
nationalism fever caught the Indians rather strongly and it became
less comfortable for the Jews who came to be identified with the
English by the Indians. India's Jewish population declined
dramatically starting in the 1940s with heavy immigration to Israel,
England, and the United States. It is in these 3 nations where the
most significant settlements of Indian Jews exist today. Today there
is just a handful of old people and the once vital community with its
3 synagogues is no more.
For more details, visit the [5]Jews of Chocin Website
(<http://www.kashrus.org/asian/cochin.html>).
Lastly, note that there were a number of European Jews who lived, or
settled in India. Some examples: Lady Mountbatten, and Haffkine, after
whom the famous Haffkine Institute in Bombay (Mumbai) has been named.
The mother of one of India's most glamorous film actresses, Zeenat
Aman is said to be Jewish.
Many Indian Jews have reached great prominence. For example, the
Sassons after whom the Sasson docks, the Sasson hospital, and two of
Mumbais well known sites- the Jacob Circle, and Flora Fountain have
been named. In the past years, there has been a Jewish mayor of Bombay
(Dr. E. Moses), and a Jewish Chief of the Navy. In the Indian Army,
Jews have reached very high posts. A General Jacobs, now the Governor
of Goa, supervised the surrender of the Pakistani Army in the
Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. Maj. Gen. Samson who was awarded the
Padma Bhushan, and a few other Jews reached prominence in the Indian
Army. Two of India's leading literary personalities, poet Nissim
Ezeickel, and cartoonist Abu Abraham are Jewish. Also the late famous
Hindi film actor David, and the late "Sulochana" the Queen of Indian
Silent Films, and the actress/dancer Helen. A Dr. Erulkar was the
personal physician/friend of Mahatma Gandhi. His father, also a Dr.
Abraham Erulkar, donated land for the synagogue in Ahmedabad, Gujrat.
Dr. Erulkar's daughter is currently the 1st lady of Cyprus, married to
the President of Cyprus. Another prominent Indian Jew is Dr. Jerusha
Jhirad, who was given the title of Padma Shri by the Government of
India.
A good book on this subject is Nathan Katz's Who Are the Jews of
India?. University of California Press, November 2000. Hardcover.
ISBN: 0-520213-23-8
[6][Buy at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0520213238/socculturejewish/]
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