Indian Jews - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of the Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

reaches back to ancient times.

India

India

n Jews

Jews

are a religious minority of India

India

. Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

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

Cultural diffusion

In cultural anthropology and cultural geography, cultural diffusion, as first conceptualized by Alfred L. Kroeber in his influential 1940 paper Stimulus Diffusion, or trans-cultural diffusion in later reformulations, is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies,...

. 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

Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....

, others are seen by some as descendants of Israel's Ten Lost Tribes

Ten Lost Tribes

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to those tribes of ancient Israel that formed the Kingdom of Israel and which disappeared from Biblical and all other historical accounts after the kingdom was destroyed in about 720 BC by ancient Assyria...

. Of the total Jewish population in India, about half live in Manipur and Mizoram

Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...

and a quarter live in the city of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

.

Unlike many parts of the world, Jews have historically lived in India without any instances of antisemitism from the local majority populace, the Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s. However, Jews were persecuted by the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

during their control of Goa.

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

India

The Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...

arrived in India 2,500 years ago and settled down in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

as traders.
The Bene Israel
Bene Israel
The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's...

arrived in the state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

2,100 years ago.
The Baghdadi Jews
Baghdadi Jews
Baghdadi Jews, also known as Iraqi Jews, are Jewish emigrants from Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, who fled religious persecution and formed immigrant communities in their new homelands...

arrived in the city Mumbai from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and Arab countries about 250 years ago.
The Bnei Menashe
Bnei Menashe
The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The claim appeared after a Pentecostalist dreamt in 1951 that his people's pre-Christian religion was Judaism and that...

are Mizo and Kuki
Kuki people
The Kukis are an ethnic group that spread throughout the Northeastern region of India, Northwest Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. In Northeast India they are present in all the states except Arunachal Pradesh. This dispersal across international borders is mainly attributed to the...

tribesmen in Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...

and Mizoram
Mizoram
Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...

who claim descent from the tribe of Manasseh
Tribe of Manasseh
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....

.
The Bene Ephraim
Bene Ephraim
The Bene Ephraim, also called Telugu Jews because they speak Telugu, are a small community of Jews living primarily in Kottareddipalem, a village outside Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, near the delta of the River Krishna....

(also called "Telugu Jews") are a small group who speak Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

; their observance of Judaism dates to 1981.

Cochin Jews

The oldest of the Indian Jewish communities is in Cochin. The traditional account is that traders from Judea

Judea

Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...

arrived in the city of Cochin, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, 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

Second Temple

The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...

. The distinct Jewish community was called Anjuvannam

Anjuvannam

Anjuvannam or Anjuvannan refers to the community of Cochin Jews.The name derives from the traditional Hindu system of castes where any person not belonging to one of the four principal castes used to be referred to as an anjuvannan...

. The still-functioning synagogue in Mattancherry

Paradesi Synagogue

The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, located in Kochi, Kerala, in South India. It was built in 1568 by the Malabar Yehudan people or Cochin Jewish community in the Kingdom of Cochin...

belongs to the Paradesi Jews

Paradesi Jews

Paradesi Jews are a community of Sephardic Jews settled among the larger Cochin Jewish community located in Kerala, a coastal southern state...

, the descendants of Sephardim that were expelled from Spain in 1492

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

.

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

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, own property without conditions attached and as long as the world and moon exist.

In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode

Kozhikode

Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...

), attacked these wealthy Jews of Cranganore (Kodungallur

Kodungallur

Kodungallur is a municipality in Thrissur District, in the state of Kerala, India on the Malabar Coast. Kodungallur is located about 29 km northwest of Kochi city and 38 km Southwest of Thrissur, on National Highway 17 . Muziris the ancient seaport at the mouth of the Periyar River was...

) on the pretext that they had an advantage with the pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

trade. The Jews fled to Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin

Kingdom of Cochin was a late medieval Hindu kingdom and later Princely State on the Malabar Coast, South India...

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.

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 atleast 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.

Bene Israel

The Bene Israel

Bene Israel

The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's...

claim that their ancestors arrived 2,100 years ago after a shipwreck stranded seven Jewish families from Judea

Judea

at Navagaon near Alibag

Alibag

Alibag or Alibaug or Alibagh is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is also the headquarters of the Raigad district. The town and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterland of Bene Israeli Jews...

, 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

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

.
Bene Israel communities and synagogues are situated in Pen

Pen, India

Pen is a town and taluka in Raigad district of Indian state of Maharashtra. It is famous for world class Ganesh idols. It is geographical and cultural center of Raigad district.-History:...

, 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.

Baghdadi Jews

Despite the name, the Baghdadi Jews

Baghdadi Jews

Baghdadi Jews, also known as Iraqi Jews, are Jewish emigrants from Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, who fled religious persecution and formed immigrant communities in their new homelands...

are not exclusively of Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i origin: many came from Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, and Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

as well. These Jews emigrated to India

India

around 250 years ago and settled in the city of Surat

Surat

Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...

and established Synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

and Cemetery after they move to Bombay (Mumbai

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

Sassoon Docks

thumb|250px|The Sassoon DocksThe Sassoon Docks is the biggest dock in Mumbai and one of the few docks in the city open to the public. It is situated just off Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai, and is today one of largest fish markets in the city...

and a Sassoon Library are some of the famous landmarks still standing today.

As well as Bombay (Mumbai

Mumbai

), Baghdadi Jews spread to other parts of India, with an important community in Calcutta (Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

). Scions of this community did well in trade (particularly jute

Jute

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....

, but also tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

) and, in later years, contributed officers to the army. One, Lt-Gen J. F. R. Jacob PVSM, becoming state governor of, first, Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

then Punjab

Punjab (India)

Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

and later administrator of Chandigarh

Chandigarh

Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...

.
About in 1730 first Baghdadi Jew Joseph Semah arrived from Baghdad to Surat

Surat

and set up the Surat

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

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

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

Surat

”

Bnei Menashe

An estimated 9,000 people in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram

Mizoram

and Manipur

Manipur

Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...

started practicing halachic

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

Judaism in the 1970s

1970s

File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...

, claiming to be descendants of the Tribe of Manasseh

Tribe of Manasseh

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....

.
Recently Israel has given permission for immigration of 7200 jews to Israel from Manipur.

Bene Ephraim

The Bene Ephraim are a small group of Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

-speaking Jews in eastern Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

whose recorded observance of Judaism, like that of the Bnei Menashe, is quite recent, dating only to 1981.

Andhra Jews

They were few families in Andhra Pradesh

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.,

Delhi Jewry

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

Paharganj

Paharganj is a neighbourhood of Central Delhi, located just west of the New Delhi Railway Station...

, Chabad

Chabad

Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...

has set up a synagogue and religious center in a backpacker area regularly visited by Israeli tourists.

Today

The majority of Indian Jews have "made Aliyah

Aliyah

Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

" (migrated) to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

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.

Notable Indian Jews

Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

J F R Jacob - Former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

's Eastern Command; Former Governor of Punjab and Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

.
Jacqueline Bhabha
Jacqueline Bhabha
Jacqueline Bhabha is an attorney and lecturer in law at the Harvard Law School and a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School...

- Lecturer at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

and Harvard Kennedy School.
Eli Ben-Menachem
Eli Ben-Menachem
Eli Ben-Menachem is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment, the Labor Party and One Israel between 1988 and 2006.-Biography:...

- Israeli politician.
Lalchanhima Sailo
Lalchanhima Sailo
Lalchhanhima Sailo is the founder of Chhinlung Israel People's Convention and a leader in the Bnei Menashe community.-External links:* BBC News - April 1, 2005...

- Rabbi and Founder of Chhinlung Israel People's Convention.
Ezekiel Isaac Malekar
Ezekiel Isaac Malekar
Ezekiel Isaac Malekar is the head of the Jewish community in New Delhi, India. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Judah Hyam Synagogue at the corner of Humayun road, where he works voluntarily. The Synagogue, in addition to serving the Jewish community of New Delhi, caters to the Jewish diplomats...

- Bene Israel
Bene Israel
The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the 19th century from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, and Ahmedabad. Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's...

Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

.
David and Simon Reuben - Businessmen.
David Sassoon
David Sassoon
David Sassoon was the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829. He became the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay after Baghdadi Jews emigrated there.-Biography:...

- Businessman.
Albert Abdullah David Sassoon
Albert Abdullah David Sassoon
Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, 1st Baronet, KCB, CSI, , a British Indian philanthropist and merchant, was born a Jew in Baghdad, a member of a family that had lived there since the beginning of the 16th century, having been expelled from Spain in the 1490s. He was named Abdullah at birth, but...

- British Indian merchant.
Ellis Kadoorie
Ellis Kadoorie
Sir Ellis Kadoorie , philanthropist and member of the wealthy Baghdadian family that had large business interests in the Far East. His brother was Sir Elly Kadoorie, and his nephew was Lawrence Kadoorie...

and Elly Kadoorie
Elly Kadoorie
Sir Elly Kadoorie , philanthropist and member of the wealthy Baghdadian Family that had large business interests in the Far East. His brother was Sir Ellis Kadoorie, and his sons are sir Lawrence Kadoorie and sir Horace Kadoorie...

- Philanthropists.
Horace Kadoorie
Horace Kadoorie
Sir Horace Kadoorie, CBE was a famous industrialist, hotelier, and philanthropist. His father was Sir Elly Kadoorie, and his uncle, Sir Ellis Kadoorie. His family were originally Iraqi Jews from Baghdad who later migrated to Bombay , India in the mid-18th century...

- Philanthropist.
Joseph Rabban
Joseph Rabban
Joseph Rabban was a Jewish merchant, possibly from Yemen, who came to the Malabar Coast in the mid eighth century. According to the traditions of the Cochin Jews, Joseph was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera ruler Bhaskara Ravivarman II.He was granted the rulership...

- Was given copper plates of special grants from the Chera
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...

ruler Bhaskara Ravivarman II from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.
Sassoon David Sassoon
Sassoon David Sassoon
Sassoon David Sassoon , a British Indian merchant, was born at Bombay , a member of a family settled there since the beginning of the 16th century, and previously in Spain...

- Philanthropist and benefactor of greater Indian Jewish community.
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...

- Sculptor.
Gerry Judah
Gerry Judah
Gerry Judah is a British artist and designer who has created settings for theatre, film, television, museums and public spaces...

- Artist and Designer.
Farhat Ezekiel Nadira
Nadira (actress)
-References:* Rediff.com* -External links:* . Audio podcast by Eric Molinsky discussing Nadira and other Jewish women in Indian cinema...

- Bollywood actress.
Ruby Myers
Ruby Myers
Sulochana , real name Ruby Myers) was an Indian silent film star of Jewish ancestry, although it is unclear whether she descended from an Ashkenazi family, Bene Israeli family, or both....

, Bollywood actress of the 1920s known as Sulochana.
Esther Victoria Abraham, 1916–2006 - Bollywood actress & Film producer.
David Abraham Cheulkar
David Abraham Cheulkar
David Abraham Cheulkar , popularly known as David, was a Jewish-Indian, Hindi film actor, who started his film career with 1941 film Naya Sansar and went on to act in over 110 films....

- Bollywood actor.
Samson Kehimkar
Samson Kehimkar
Samson Kehimkar was a Jewish violinist and sitar player from India. One of the pioneers of ethnic and world music in Israel. Before emigrating in 1976, he played in Indian classical orchestras, film and pop bands. One of the founding members of "Habrera Hativit"...

- Musician
Pearl Padamsee
Pearl Padamsee
Pearl Padamsee was an Indian theatre personality as a stage actress, director and producer of English language theatre in Mumbai active in 1950s - 1990s.She also acted a few Hindi and English language films...

- Theatre personality.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...

- Writer.
Solomon Sopher
Solomon Sopher
Solomon Sopher is the president of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Mumbai, India. He also serves as the Trustee of the David Sassoon Fund, and as the chairman and managing director of Sir Jacob Sassoon Trust, which manages the Knesset Eliyahoo synagogues in Mumbai, as well as the Magen David and...

- Jewish community leader in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

.
Abraham Barak Salem
Abraham Barak Salem
Abraham Barak Salem was an Indian nationalist and Zionist, one of the most prominent Cochin Jews of the twentieth century.-Early life:...

- Cochin Jewish
Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...

Indian nationalist leader.
Bensiyon Songavkar
Bensiyon Songavkar
Bensiyon Morisbhai Songavkar is an Indian professional cricketer who has represented Saurashtra.- Playing career :In 2008, Songavkar was included in a special Israel squad that played against India in a special match in honour of Israel's 60th anniversary...

- Professional cricketer.
Ranjit Chaudhry-Bollywood aactor

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Cochin Jews

Bene Israel

Baghdadi Jews

Bnei Menashe

Bene Ephraim

Andhra Jews

Delhi Jewry

Today

Notable Indian Jews

See also

Further reading

External links