 |
| Total population |
|---|
| 8500 (estimated) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Israel 8,000 (estimated) Kerala 52 (including Kochi (18 in 2006[1]), Ernakulam, North Paravur, Aluva) |
| Languages |
|
Traditionally, Judeo-Malayalam, now mostly Hebrew |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Paradesi Jews |
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Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews (Malabar Yehudan) are the descendants of the ancient Jews in the former Kingdom of Cochin in South India, including the present day port city of Kochi.[2] They traditionally spoke Judeo-Malayalam, a form of the Malayalam tongue native to the state of Kerala in India. Several rounds of immigration of the Jewish diaspora into Kerala led to a diversity amongst the Cochin Jews.[3]
Contents |
History
Tradition says that the first Jews came en masse to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.[4] A chieftain by the name of Joseph Rabban was granted a principality over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera Emperor of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravivarman II.[3] Rabban's descendants maintained this distinct community, which was called Anjuvannam, until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them named Joseph Azar, in the sixteenth century. The Paradesi Jews, also called "White Jews," settled in the region later, coming to India from European nations such as Holland and Spain, and bringing with them the Ladino language and their Sephardic customs in the eighteenth century.
In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked these wealthy Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they had an advantage with the pepper trade. The Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. Shortly thereafter, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and suppressed the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were more tolerant of the community.
It is notable that the Jews of Cochin did not adhere to the Talmudic prohibition against public singing by women, and therefore have always had a rich tradition of Jewish prayers and narrative songs performed by women in Judeo-Malayalam.
Modern times
Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel). Large groups have settled in the Moshav of Nevatim in the Negev (southern Israel) and Moshav of Yuval in the North, in the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, in Beer Sheva, Dimona and Yeruham. In Cochin, the Paradesi Synagogue still functions.
Part of the decline in Kerala's Jewish population can also be attributed to conversion.[5] Many of the Jews that converted during the time of St. Thomas became Kerala's Nasrani or St. Thomas Christians.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ Out Of India
- ^ Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Menachery 1998; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; Weil 1982; Menachery 1998.
- ^ a b Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973.
- ^ Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977.
- ^ a b Weil S. 1982; Jessay P.M. 1986; Menachery 1973; Menachery 1998.
References
- Koder, S. 'History of the Jews of Kerala". The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, ed. G. Menachery, 1973.
- Puthiakunnel, Thomas. (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.
- Daniel, Ruby & B. Johnson. (1995). Ruby of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers. Philadelphia and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society.
- de Beth Hillel, David. (1832) Travels; Madras publication.
- Jessay, P.M. (1986) "The Wedding Songs of the Cochin Jews and of the Knanite Christians of Kerala: A Study in Comparison." Symposium.
- Hough, James. (1893) The History of Christianity in India.
- Lord, James Henry. (1977) The Jews in India and the Far East. 120 pp.; Greenwood Press Reprint; ISBN 0-8371-2615-0
- Menachery, George, ed. (1998) "The Indian Church History Classics", Vol.I, The Nazranies, Ollur, 1998. ISBN 81-87133-05-8
- Katz, Nathan; & Goldberg, Ellen S; (1993) The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India. Foreword by Daniel J. Elazar, Columbia, SC, Univ. of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-847-6
- Menachery, George, ed. (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, ISBN 81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568 ; B.N.K. Press
- Weil, S. (1982) "Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala". Contributions to Indian Sociology, 16.
Further reading
- Day, Francis. The Land of the Permauls, Or, Cochin, Its Past and Its Present, offers insight to Cochin Jewish life in 18th century, read Volume VIII (page 336 to 354). Francis Day was a British civil surgeon in 1863.
- Katz, Nathan. (2000) Who Are the Jews of India?; Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, University of California Press. ISBN 0520213238
- Katz, Nathan; Goldberg, Ellen S; (1995) "Leaving Mother India: Reasons for the Cochin Jews’ Migration to Israel", Population Review 39, 1 & 2 : 35-53.
- Weil, Shalva. (eds) (2002) India’s Jewish Heritage Ritual, Art & Life Cycle; Marg Publications. ISBN 8185026580
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cochin Jews |
- Cochin Jews
- Calcutta Jews - Jewish Encyclopedia
- Cochin Jewish musical heritage (article from South Indian newspaper 'The Hindu')
- Dr Francis Day's recollections on Cochin jews, Circa 1863 AD
- Cochin Jews Research
- news item regarding presentation of Cochin Jewish history to Mr Ariel Sharon, by Indian officials
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