Israelites from India: Brahmins, Kashmiris, Dombas, European Jews, Knanayas, Nasranis (Saint Thomas Christians), Bene Ephraim, Bnei Menasseh, Bene Israel, Cochin Jews (White, Black & Meshuchrarim Jews), Baghdadi Jews, Banjaras, Qidwais, Milkis, Rajputs, Jats, Gurjars, Gujaratis, Thakars, Saurasthras, Ahirs, Maddigim, Vaisnavas, Bani Israil, Yudus & Malmadim
Israelites in Indian History
There is a lot of genetic evidence supporting the fact that the Indian Brahmins descend from the Jews too. For example, the haplotype J2a. Within India, the haplotype J2a is more common among the upper castes and decreases in frequency with the caste level. This can be explained by the assimilation of local J2a (and R2) people from Central Asia, by the R1a Indo-European warriors who descended from modern Russia (Sintashta culture) and established themselves for a few centuries in southern Central Asia, immediately north of the Hindu Kush (including the Oxus civilization) before moving on to conquer the Indian subcontinent. J2a would have reached southern Central Asia with the expansion of Middle Eastern people during the Neolithic and mixed with the local hunter-gatherers belonging chiefly to R2 (and possibly some pre-Indo-European R1a).
Also J2a seems older, consistent with a larger effective population size, whereas R1a1 is found at a higher frequency and is NOT limited to Brahmins!!! Thus the haplotype J2a is the nucleus of the priestly caste! In the Indian population J2a is EXCLUSIVELY found in Brahmins!!! That's very logical because the Brahmins form the priest caste (and the highest caste) in India. And many Brahmins (especially the Bengali Brahmins) claim their origins to the Levi tribe of ancient Israel. Similarities include ritual cleansing, dietary law, fasting etc just to name a few. The Levites formed the priest clan in the tribes of Israel, and was established by Aaron, the brother of Moses. By the way, the very word "Aryan" derives from the name Aaron, the founder of the Levitical priesthood, NOT from Sanskrit!!! The Hebrew language is actually the oldest language on Earth, but more about that subject later. But that's also the reason why there is a significant portion of brahmins with the Cohen Modal Haplotype (the haplotype of the Hebrew priest clan).
However, not all Brahmins can trace their ancestry to ancient Israel. There are groups in Tamil Nadu who adopted the Brahmin customs, mastered the vedas and got into the fold. Abraham is Brahma and Sarai is Saraiswati.
The haplogroup J is a typical Semitic haplogroup. It originated in the Middle East, and is divided into the northern J2 and the southern J1. J2 originated in northern Mesopotamia, and spread westward to Anatolia and southern Europe (J2 is by far the most common variety in Europe), and eastward to Persia and India. J2 is related to the Ancient Etruscans, Minoans, southern Anatolians, Phoenicians, Assyrians and Babylonians.
So J2 originated in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Iran). But in India J2 is an exclusive gene marker in Brahmins. So this proves that foreign forces indeed penetrated India because J2 originated OUTSIDE India!!! The Brahmins descend from the Aryans, so Aryans are absolutely NOT native to India!!! And thus it's not inaccurate to state that the gene marker J2a is the ultimate gene marker of the Brahmins.
Do Brahmins come from Abraham?
Hebrews And Vedic Brahmins
In 1979 the Oriental Institute at Baroda published a paper entitled "The Hebrews belong to a branch of Vedic Aryans." This was a follow-up to a previous article on the same topic published by the same author, Prof. Madan Mohan Shukla, in the Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal in 1976. The basic thesis of these papers is that the Hebrews represent an offshoot of Vedic Brahmins. It may be instructive to review Shukla's papers as they serve to illustrate the common origin of the Jews and Brahmins. As Shukla's papers are very difficult to obtain both within and outside India, and are virtually out of reach for laypersons, I am reproducing extensive tracts from them for reference purposes.
1. VOCABULARY
One of Shukla's strong points is the considerable vocabulary shared by Hebrew and Sanskrit. Indeed, M.M.Shukla has concentrated on providing a large list of of words which are common to Hebrew and Sanskrit. Thus, he provides the following examples: "The word, 'Sva?' means 'heaven' or 'paradise' in Sanskrit. This word, written as 'svam' may assume the form, 'Sam-yim' which means, 'sky' and/or 'heaven' in Hebrew, while it may become 'Asvah' under the influence of the principle of vowelization. Sometimes, the sound 'a' may change to 'ya' and thus, the derivation, 'Asvah' or 'Asuah' may change to 'Yasuah' which is nearer to a Hebrew word, 'Yasuah' (= salvation).... It may be mentioned that 'Appa' is a Marathi word. The derivation 'Appa' may further change to 'Abba' (p=b), which is a Hebrew word... Now let us consider the root-word 'Svas'. It may change first to 'Vas' and thence to Bas or 'Bes' which is a Hebrew word though with different meaning, ie. 'daughter'."
He also suggests that Surios gave rise to Kurios, or Kur Shukla notes that 'Abru' and 'Uparohita' exist in Persian and Avadhi Hindi, distinct from Skt. bhru and purohita.
Describing the process of vowelization, he notes, "the Punjabis would pronounce the words station, putra and K?a as satation, puttar, and Kishan respectively."
Building upon this, he writes, "the word Joasava may be transformed into Joasaph, from which the derivation of the word Joseph is a simple matter. Thus we can see that the Biblical name Joseph can be derived from an ancient Indian name, jayasva."
Continuing in this line, he notes, "Adam. This word seems to have been derived from the Sanskrit word A-dityam, from the Vedic pronunciation of this word as A-ditiam."
In addition, "The meaning of the root-word as in Sanskrit is 'to eat', and 'to enjoy' or 'to be merry'. Hence if we pronounce the term upasana as 'upasana', then it would mean, 'Eating before God', and 'Being merry before God.'"
Another striking similarity exists with regard to script: "Now, the Hebrew script, like those of Arabic and Kaithi, does not use the word signs to indicate the pronunciation of its consonants."
2. PRIESTHOOD
One of the strongest points for a common Brahmin-Jewish origin is the fact that both communities have been endogamous priests from the earliest times of their recorded history: "Chosen People of God: It may also be observed in this respect that the Hebrews, as well as their Indian counterparts, Brahmins, consider themselves as the "Chosen People of God". The Hebrews started their corporate career in history as a "Kingdom of Priests" (Exodus/19/6). Likewise, the Brahmins have also been a "Community of Priests" since the dawn of their history."
The colonialists were the first to notice the similarity between Brahmins and Jews, namely that Brahma not only corresponds with Abraham, but that his consort Sarasvati corresponds to Sarah. Shukla also notes the story in Genesis 29, 32-33, 20/12.
3. BIBLICAL FIGURES
Citing his own work 'The Holy Bible - A Source book of Ancient indian History', a paper submitted to All Indian Oriental Conference (1976) held at Dharwar, he notes that "We have already tried to equate Brahma, Sarasvati, Manu and Bali with the Biblical Abraham, Sarai, Noah and Peleg." Not only that, but Shukla holds that the Jewish Laban and Brahmanic Lavana coincide:
"It is noteworthy to note in the above context that the sister of Lavana on the Indian side becomes the daughter of Laban in the Biblical account. It may also be mentioned in this respect that while Sarasvati is said to be the daughter of Brahma in accordance with the Indian tradition, her Biblical counterpart, Sarai, has been described as the sister of Abraham. In this context, we would like to remind our readers of a previous discussion of 'Svas', the root-word of the Sanskrit 'svasar' (sister) which becomes 'Bes' to mean 'daughter' in the Hebrew language."
Equally striking is Shukla's derivation of 'Mary' from 'Matri': "the words 'Mary' and 'Mariam' could be derived from a Sanskrit word, mat?, meaning 'mother'." "Similarly the word, 'Mari' or 'Mary' may also be derived from Sanskrit 'Matri'." [ and Shukla notes that Mary is worshipped as a mother goddess. ]... "The word Adam is derived from a Hebrew word, 'Adamah' which means 'the earth'. Similarly the Skt. 'Adityam' is derived from 'Aditi' which also means the Earth. Hence the primary meaning of both the words, 'Adam' and Adityam would be 'earthly one'.
His papers provide detailed etymologies of the word 'Abraham': "The word 'Adam' can also be derived from Sanskrit 'Adityam' with the help of the rule of haplology also. Haplology is the name given by Bloomfield to the phenomenon where of the two similar syllables following each other, one is dropped. The word 'Adityam' will change to 'Adam' under the influence of this rule in the following way: - Adityam -> Adatam -> Adadam (t = d) = Adam (Haplology)
It would be interesting to note here that the Sanskrit 'Adityam', represented by the same rule would change to 'Aton': Adityan -> Aditan -> Atadan (d=t) -> Atan ->: Aten /Aton This is interesting, for it provides an Indo-European derivation for the Egyptian God Aton. Moreover, "the Vayu Purana mentions Manu as Bharata"
Intriguing is Shukla's derivation of Rcam: "We may consider another Sanskrit word, 'Rcam' which may become Ar´cam and then 'Aleichem' (r=l) which is a Hebrew word."
Shukla also provides certain other etymologies, and repeatedly derives Adam from Adityam, and Mary from Matr. He also postulates a derivation of Gr. Adonis from Aton, and notes that Heb Adonay = Lord.
"It can be shown that the Hebrew word, 'Elohim' can be derived from the Skt. 'Brahma': Brahma -> Ibrahim (rule of vowelization) -> Ibrahim (rule of stress) -> Ilohim (r=l) -> Elohim. Hence the expression 'Adonay Elohim; becomes equivalent to the Skt. 'Aditya-Brahma'." Furthermore, he notes, "Savit? = Savitru (? -> ru) -> Sabiru (v=b) = Habitru (s=h)" -> Habiru = Habiru = PR Egyptian, Apiru, Ibru, Ibri, Ibrin."
Another etymology is: Iksaku -> Issvahu (no k) -> Issahu (va -> a) -> Ishak, Isaac.
Further, Shukla writes, "It may also be mentioned here that Satarupa, the name of the daughter-wife of Manu, is also one of the names of the daughter-consort of Brahma" From this we may note the case of Noah's daughters and Manu, the flood survivor.
Another interesting derivation is also supplied: "K???a -> Christ. We know that the Bengali pronounciation of the word Kr.s.n.a is Kriste. 'Christo' or 'Christ' is only a matter of spelling." Moreover, "Yehasua has been derived from a Sanskrit word, Yasasva."
It would also appear that Jehova is also related to a Sanskrit word: "This word [Jehova] could, however, be equated with the Vedic word jahvuh, which may be considered, grammatically, both as an adjective and a proper noun. In the former sense, the word, jahv.uh has been used at least four times in the R.gveda. Thus, it has been used as an attribute of Lord Agni, as an attribute of Lord Indra, as an attribute of Lord Soma (RV 9.75.1) and as an attribute of Lord Agni (RV 10.110.3)."
4. BHARATA, IBHRI, IBERIA HEBREWS
One of Shukla's most striking points is his discovery of an etymological connection between the words 'Hebrew' and 'Bharat':
"Hebrews and Rigveda: Let us first understand the real nature of the Rig Veda. As observed by Sri D.P.Mishra, "Both Devdasa and Sudasa belonged to the tribe of the Bharatas or T?tsu-Bharatas and won a number of victories over their Dasa and Aryan enemies. It is their wars and victories which have been repeatedly sung by their priests in the Rig Veda, and we have therefore no hesitation in naming it as (p.56) 'Bharata-Veda' or the Veda of the Bharatas and the Bharatas themselves as the Rigvedic Aryans. If the Rigveda supposed to deal with the entry of the Aryans into India, we would like to argue that it deals only with the entry of Bharatas ..."
Further, "Bharata was the first king according to Jaina traditions". "Now let us consider the word "Bharata'. This word is formed from the Sanskrit 'Bhara', which under the sway of the rule of vowelization (Prothesis), may assume the form 'Ibhar', 'Iber', 'Ibhray', 'Ibhri', 'Ibri', 'Ibrini' etc. which have been equated with the term Hebrew." He then continues:
"[T]he Hebrews may be related to the Rigvedic Aryan tribes of Bharatas ... In this way, we can confidently say that the statement 'Rigveda is essentially the Bharata-Veda', means that it is the 'Veda of the Hebrews'. It is hence no wonder to find close similarity between the Rigveda and the Holy Bible."
Intriguing is his statement that,"The famous V??akapi and some other allied saktas can be best understood and appreciated only in the form of the Book of Esther." "Further discussion of the term 'Hebrew': We have mentioned earler that another meaning of the term Savitr (the Sanskrit form of the term Hebrew) is Brahma?a. Now let us consider the word 'Brahma?a'. f we remove the suffix 'mana' from this word, then it becomes 'Brah', which, if pronounced repeatedly, gives the word, 'Habra' which is nearer to the word 'Hebrew'. Also that, both the words, written without vowel signs, would give 'BRH' and 'HBR' respectively. The similarity is evident.
It would be interesting to note another Sanrkrit word, 'vipra' (a synonym of 'Brahma?a') in the same connection. The word 'vipra' beomes 'Ipar' in colloquial Marathi. Now consider the word 'Ipar'. This word may assume the forms 'Iber' (p=b), Ibri, Ibhray, Ibrani etc. and, on being subjected to the reverse operations of the rules of prothesis and Anaptyxis in succession, would reduce 'Pr' to 'Prm', which we have already shown to be the [ other form ] of Hebrew'. This leads us to the conclusion that the Hebrews can be identified unhesitatingly with these Indian Brahmins who had migrated from India in the very early dawn of the Vedic period."
The rule of prothesis Shukla describes as the process of vowels developing before consonants, eg. Skt. rudhira, rajah, laghu, nr, nakha, naman which he claims led to Greek eruhtros, erobos, elakus, aner, onuch, onoma The rule of anaptyxis is the insertion of vowel betwen combination of words. Also, in both Avestan and Avadhi Hindi, the words Manthara and Manthra are used, and not the Sanskrit mantra. Finally, he notes, "We have derived the word 'Hebrew' from the Sanskrit word, 'Savit?' More controversial would be Shukla's following statement: "On the basis of the above since some similiarty of Jews and Arabs Sabeans."
5. CUSTOMS
Describing the strength of his evidence, Shukla notes, "Sometimes, these evidences become so strong as may lead one to suspect that the Hebrews might have really been an offshoot of Vedic Aryans."
Some of his strong evidence relates to common customs: "It may also be mentioned here that like a devout Jew, a devout Hindu is also required to pray three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening (traikalika-sandhya)
To cite still another similarity in religious practices between the Hindus and the Jews, Hayyim Schauss notes in his Jewish Festivals, : "When all is ready, the Samaritans form groups about the sacrificial animals, and after uttering the prescribed blessings, fall upon the roast meat, pulling it hastily to pieces with their hands. Portions are brought to the women and children in the tents. Everybody eats rapidly and in twenty minutes all that is left is a mound of bones."
Here it is worthwhile to note: (a) Though turned largely vegetarians now, the Brahmins of India present almost similar scenes of eating hastily in their religious and ritual grand-feasts. (b) Like Hebrews, the Hindu womenfolk also sit in seclusion to eat their share in their public feasts. (c) Any person, who eats too rapidly (hurridly, impatiently), or too much, is called a 'haboru' in the Hindi language, particularly in the Avadhi dialect..... The resemblance bewteen the words Hebrew and Haboru is particulary striking" "there is a strong case to suspect or speculate that either the Hebrews really belong to a branch of Vedic Aryans, or that they had been in direct touch with the latter at some remote and unrecorded period of their history."
6. ANTHROPOLOGY
Citing evidence from anthropology for his thesis, Shukla notes: "The above discussion also leads us to the conclusion that the term 'Bharatavarsa' (= India) actually means 'the land of the Hebrews', a conclusion which is fully supported by the observation of Prof. S.K.Chatterji that, "the third Mediterranean strain, the so-called 'Oriental' one, commoly miscalled the Semitic or Jewish, with a pronouncedly long nose and fair in skin, is found in the Punjab, in Sind, in Rajputana and in Western UP, and .... in other parts of India"
To this we may add the brachycephaly common to both Jews and Brahmins.
7. SABEANS
Shukla agrees with the generally accepted concept of a common bond between Jews and Sabaeans or Yemenites: "Now, let us consider the word, 'Sabean'. We have already mentioned that 'Savi' is the root-word of the term 'Savit?' and hence the term 'Sabean' can be shown to be the equivalent of the word, 'Savit?', ie. Hebrew. What we mean is that the Sabeans and the Hebrews were 2 twigs of the same branch."
8. COW-WORSHIP
It may be instructive to cite additional facts in favour of the common origin of Jews and Brahmins which have arisen after Shukla's work. One striking common feature linking Brahmins with Jews is that of cow-worship. When Moses descended from Mt. Sinai, he found the Jews worshipping the golden calf. Likewise, "Ex. xxxii. attributes the making of a golden calf to Aaron at Mount Sinai," and "Jeroboam, in making the sanctuaries of Beth-el and Dan the recipients of his royal patronage, placed in them images of Yhwh made of gold in this calf form, the fame of which went far and wide (compare I Kings xii. 23; II Kings x. 29; II Chron. xi. 14, 15)." Cow-worship was common amongst Hebrews:
"Among the Hebrews, as among the other agricultural Semites, the bull was associated with deity in a sacred character (see Ox). The form in which this thought found expression in Israel was in their representation of Yhwh by an image of an ox or bull made of gold (compare I Kings xii. 28)."
There was also a "representation of Yhwh by an image of an ox or bull made of gold (compare I Kings xii. 28)." Finally, "the twelve oxen on which rested the great laver in the Temple of Solomon (I Kings vii. 25; II Kings xvi. 17; Jer. lii. 20) are regarded as evidence that there was some sacred character attached to the bull," [ibid.].
The sacredness of the cow is likewise a fundamental part of Brahmanism: "Dying, without the expectation of a reward, for the sake of Brahmanasand of cows, or in the defence of women and children, secures beatitude tothose excluded (from the Aryan community, vahya.)" "I call on you the Sons of Dyaus, the Asvins, that a dark cow to my redkine be added." "He shall not touch with his foot a Brahmana, a cow, nor any other(venerable beings)."
9. MOON-WORSHIP
However, in his section on "Sun-worship", M.M.Shukla has made a mistake, for it is moon-worship which links Jews and Brahmins rather than Sun-worship. Selenolatry (moon-worship) was common to both Brahmans and Jews. Sun-worship is a natural outgrowth of a cold northern climate, where the nourishing warmth of the Sun is considered the bringer of life. It is hence a characteristic of Indo-European populations, compare the Ahura Mazda of Zoroastrianism, the Mithra of Mithraism, Sol Invictus of Rome, Asshur of the Assyrians, and the Surya of the Sauras of India.
By contrast, moon-worship is a natural phenomenon of warm and desert regions, where it symbolises the refreshing coolness of the night, the opposite of the harsh and inhuman desert day. It thus arose amongst the Sumerians, where the capital was "Ur, the central home of the Semitic moon-cult". The Old and New Testaments bear ample testimony to selenolatry amongst Hebrews (Deut. xxxiii. 14; Jer. vii. 18, xliv. 17; Job, xxxi. 26-27;, Judges viii. 21, 26; Isa. iii. 18; Cant. vi. 10; Ps. lxxii. 5, 7, lxxxix. 37; Isa. xiii. 10 xxiv. 23; Joel ii. 10, ii. 31; Amos vii. 5; I Sam. xvii. 14).
The Jewish Encyclopedia further demonstrates selenolatry amongst Jews: "In Job (xxxi. 26 et seq.) there is an allusion to the kissing of the hand in the adoration of the moon ... Thus, the fact that Terah, Abraham's father, had lived first at Ur of the Chaldees, and that later he settled at Haran (Gen. xi. 31), two cities known from Assyrian inscriptions as places of moon-worship, shows that Abraham's parents were addicted to that form of idolatry ... The golden calf, Hommel declares, was nothing more than an emblem of the moon-god, which, in the Assyrian inscription, is styled 'the youthful and mighty bull' and the lord of the heavenly hosts (comp. "Yhwh Zeba'ot," which term is intentionally omitted from the Pentateuch). He assigns the same character to the two calves made by Jeroboam several centuries later (I Kings xii. 28) .... The close similarity between the ancient Hebrews and the southern Arabs has led Hommel furthermore to find allusion to moon-worship in such Hebrew names as begin with "ab" (= "father"), as in "Abimelech" and "Absalom," or with "'am" (= "uncle"), as in "Amminadab" and "Jeroboam," because these particles, when they appear in the names of southern Arabs, refer to the moon."
The reappearance of the moon is sanctified, like the entrance of the Sabbath or festivals, by the recitation of benedictions known in liturgy as "K.iddush ha-Lebanah" or "Birkat ha-Lebanah."
Sinai is likewise a centre for Selenolatry: "Those scholars who incline to establish a connection between moon-worship ("Sin" = "moon") and the monotheism of Israel ("Sinai") find a corroboration of their theory in the fact that Abram's original home was the seat of the worship of Sin."
'India' and 'Hindu' are likewise derived from Indu, the name of the moon-god, also called Soma. The Somanath temple in Gujarat is dedicated to the moon-god. In the name of Rama, Rama-Chandra, the suffix Chandra is derived from the Semitic 'Sin'. Parashu-rama, 'Rama with the Axe', one of the incarnations of Vishnu, is the foremost deity for many Brahmins; the Parashu-rama is derived from Param-Sin, a title of the Moon God Sin. Thus both Ramas are votaries of the moon.
Another common point shared by Jews and Brahmins is the concept of negative memories regarding "Asuras". Historians have long wrestled with this question, as to why the "Asuras" are treated with such fear in the Vedas. However, this fear of Asuras amongst Brahmins becomes understood when one considers that the Assyrians deported the Jews. If the Brahmins share a common descent with Jews, it is only natural that they preserve in their collective memory a negative conception of their oppressors. Another 'mystery' is solved.
10. STAR OF DAVID
Mysteriously, the Star of David is common to both Judaism and certain forms of Tantrism in India, as noted by Barbara G. Walker:
"The familiar design of two interlocked triangles is generally supposed to have represented the Jewish faith since the time of David, or Solomon; therefore this hexagram is known as Magen David (Shield of David), or the Star of David, or Solomon's Seal.... {p. 402} The downward-pointing triangle is a female symbol corresponding to the yoni; it is called 'shakti.' The upward-pointing triangle is the male, the lingam, and is called 'the fire' (vahni). ... Cabalists used the hexagram as Tantric yogis used it, to represent the union of God with his Female Power, Shekina, the Jewish form of Shakti-Kali." (Walker 1983, p.401-402) The oldest undisputed example of the six-pointed star, as recorded in the Encyclopedia Judaica, is on a seal from the seventh century B.C.E. found in Sidon north of Tyre and belonging to one Joshua ben Asayahu, the name indicating that the owner was Jewish. In the Second Temple period, the hexagram was often used alongside the pentagram (the five-pointed star), and is found in the synagogue of Capernaum (second or third century C.E.). This is before the attested appearance of the Tantric six-pointed star, indicating that it is derived from the Jewish Star of David. Perhaps it was imported via Kabbalic sects. Be that as it may be, this indicates a common origin of Jews and Brahmins.
11. Conclusion
Hence, there are several features which link Jews and Brahmins, indicating a common origin. From this M.M.Shukla and his followers would have the Jews descended from Vedic Brahmins, while the present author and other researchers would have the Brahmins descended from a "Lost Tribe of Israel". Whatever the details, Shukla's detailed researches assit in the establishment of a common origin of Jews and Brahmins. We may thus conclude with the words of the Enlightenment researcher Godfrey Higgins (1772-1833): "Now, what am I to make of this? Were these Brahmins Jews, or the Jews Brahmins?" ("Anacalypsis", Vol.I, p.771, cited in Matlock 2000, p.70)
Goud Saraswat Brahmins
Goud (also spelt as Gaud or Gawd. I guess they would be Gadites) Saraswat Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community in India and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community. They are popularly referred to as GSBs. They can be classified either as Konkani or Marathi people. They primarily speak Konkani as their mother tongue, however many have native language proficiency in Marathi.
Regions with significant populations: Primary populations in Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala
During the eighth month of pregnancy, a woman moves to her mother's house, especially during the birth of her first child (although they are Hinduist this is very alike the Jewish tradition.). The expecting mother also performs Ganapathi Pooja for a successful delivery and a healthy child. On the 6th day, a pen and lamp are kept near the child's head, symbolic of a wish for an intelligent child (this could be a remains of the original Jewish circumcision). On the 12th day, the naming and cradling ceremony is performed wherein the paternal grandmother whispers the child's name into his/her ear and a horoscope is cast. When the child turns three months old, they are taken to the temple, and thereafter the child goes to the father's abode.
GSBs celebrate almost all festivals in Hinduism, and follow the Hindu lunar calendar (Panchang in Konkani) that gives the days on which the fasts and festivals should be observed. Does the Hindu lunar calendar come from the Hebrew lunar calendar?
Patels
Patel is a trade name and previous caste of landowners, farmers and village leaders. The 'Patel' of a village in the mid-1500-1900 state of Gujarat, would be a member of the village committee who would help represent the whole village's views to the local council and take the lead in resolving problems and implementing ideas. They would do this by working closely alongside the village pandit and other members of the 'Brahmin' Community mainly found in Gujarat, India but also across all parts of India and Pakistan. It is currently also used as a surname like Patidar, Bhakta or replaced by an ancestorial name.
The term patel derives from the word Patidar, "Pat," which refers to a piece of land. Consequently, the name "Patel" referred to one who was tasked with taking care of or farming that piece of land. The name Patel is found primarily in the Indian state of Gujarat, as well as the states of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, (Kurmi) and in some eastern part of Madhya Pradesh; and metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Kanpur and Delhi.
The surname is also prevalent in some English-speaking countries due to immigration from India. Within the United Kingdom, it is the twenty-fourth most common surname nationally, and the third most common in the Greater London region. In the US, the surname "Patel" ranks 174 among the top 500 list of most common last names, as of the 2000 US Census.
Gujarati Patels were historically village-based landowners and farmers. The patidar community benefited from British Land Reforms during the 19th century and their wealth increased accordingly. The Patel community varies by religion and ideology, with disparate groups having their own samaj (social gatherings) and mandirs. Most of them follow vegetarianism influenced by Hinduism and Jainism and through the process of Sanskritization. The modern Patel communities have branched out of agriculture and landowning to a variety of business trades, especially in hotels. Patels dominate pharmaceutical, chemical, medical, plastic, building construction, ceramic and diamond industry in Gujarat.
Muslim Patels
According to the community’s tradition, they were originally Hindus of the Kurmi caste who were converted to Islam by the Sufi saint Sahawa Sindh. They are found mainly in Bharuch (Interestimgly Bharuch, as I pointed before, is almost the same as the Hebrew Baruch.), where they live in close proximity with the Sunni Vohras, with whom they share many traditions. They are an endogamous community (just as the Jews), but there are cases of marriages with the Sunni Bohra. Cross and parallel cousin marriages are quite common.
The Muslim Patel are traditionally dependent on agriculture. They grow wheat, cotton and pulses. Some of the poorer members of the community are agricultural labourers. They also rear buffaloes and sell milk. They have a various caste association and Jamat, which deals with the welfare of the community. They are a Sunni Muslims, with many belonging to the reformist Deobandi sect and Barelvi School. Indian cricketer Munaf Patel, of Bharuch, is a member of this community.
Iyer, Ayyar, Aiyar, Ayer or Aiyer
Is a caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara. The majority reside in Tamil Nadu, India.
Iyers are sub-divided into various sub-sects based on cultural and regional differences. Like all Brahmins, they are also classified based on their gotra, or patrilineal descent, and the Veda they follow.
Iyers fall under the Pancha Dravida Brahmin sub-classification of India's Brahmin community and share many customs and traditions with other Brahmins. In recent times, they have felt affected by reservation policies and the Self-Respect Movement in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This has helped encourage a large migration to other parts of India and the English-speaking world.
Apart from the prevalent practice of using the title "Iyer" as surname, Iyers also use other surnames, such as Sāstri or Bhattar.
The word Iyer is derived from the title Ayyā which is often used by Tamils to designate respectable people. There are number of etymologies for the word Ayyā, generally it is thought to be derived from Proto-Dravidian term denoting an elder brother. It is used in that meaning in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Yet others derive the word Ayya as a Prakrit version of the Sanskrit word Aryā which means 'noble'.
Today, Iyers live all over South India, but an overwhelming majority of Iyers continue to thrive in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Brahmins form an estimated 3% of the state's total population and are distributed all over the state. However, accurate statistics on the population of the Iyer community are unavailable.
Iyers are also found in fairly appreciable number in Western and Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Iyers of the far south are called Tirunelveli Iyers and speak the Tirunelveli Brahmin dialect.
According to the Buddhist scripture Mahavamsa, the presence of Brahmins have been recorded in Sri Lanka as early as 500BC when the first migrations from the Indian mainland supposedly took place. Currently, Brahmins are an important constituent of the Sri Lankan Tamil minority. Tamil Brahmins are believed to have played a historic role in the formation of the Jaffna Kingdom.
Iyers, just like other Brahmins were required to learn the Vedas. Iyers are also divided into different sects based on the Veda they follow. Iyers belonging to the Yajur Veda sect usually follow the teachings of the Krishna Yajur Veda.
Iyers generally lead orthodox lives and adhere steadfastly to their customs and traditions. However, of recent, they have started abandoning their traditional duties as temple priests for more secular vocations, causing contemporary Iyers to be more flexible than their ancestors. Iyers follow the Grihya Sutras of Apastamba and Baudhayana apart from the Manusmriti. The society is patriarchal but not feudal.
Iyers are generally vegetarian (as prescribed in Genesis & practiced by many Jews). Some abjure onion and garlic on the grounds that they activate certain base senses. Cow milk and milk products were approved. They were required to avoid alcohol and tobacco.
Iyers follow elaborate purification rituals (their purification & cleanliness resembles that of the ancient Israelites), both of self and the house.
In ancient times, Iyers, along with Iyengars and other Tamil Brahmins, lived in exclusive Brahmin quarters of their village (as ancient Israelites lived apart from the rest of the Israelites) known as an agrahāram. Shiva and Vishnu temples were usually situated at the ends of an agrahāram. In most cases, there would also be a fast-flowing stream or river nearby.
A typical agrahāram consisted of a temple and a street adjacent to it. The houses on either side of the street were exclusively peopled by Brahmins who followed a joint family system. All the houses were identical in design and architecture though not in size.
With the arrival of the British and commencement of the Industrial Revolution, Iyers started moving to cities for their sustenance. Starting from the late 19th century, the agrahārams were gradually discarded as more and more Iyers moved to towns and cities to take up lucrative jobs in the provincial and judicial administration.
However, there are still some agrahārams left where traditional Iyers continue to reside. In an Iyer residence, people wash their feet first with water on entering the house.
Agraharam houseThe traditional occupation of Iyers involved ministering in temples or performing Hindu religious rites. However, since ancient times, Iyers were never prohibited from taking to secular occupations. Iyers were frequently employed as administrators by ancient Tamil kings. During the rule of the Medieval Cholas, they even gave the kingdom its chief army commanders.
Since ancient times, Iyers, as members of the privileged priestly class, exercised a near-complete domination over educational, religious and literary institutions in the Tamil country.
In 2006, the Tamil Nadu government took the decision to appoint non-Brahmin priests in Hindu temples in order to curb Brahmin ecclesiastical domination. This created a huge controversy. Violence broke out in March 2008 when a non-Brahmin oduvar or reciter of Tamil idylls, empowered by the Government of Tamil Nadu, tried to make his way into the sanctum sanctorum of the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram.
The legacy of Iyers have often been marred by accusations of racism and counter-racism against them by non-Brahmins and vice versa.
Bhat Hindus & Muslims
People named Bhat or Butt were said to be a clan of Brahmin descendants of intellectual Vedic and Dardic (I already suggested that the Dardics would come from Darda, a descendent of Judah. & in fact It's believed that the Dardics have Israelite roots) saints that inhabited the banks of the Saraswati River, which ran dry around 2000 BC. This forced the community to migrate to the Kashmir region of the Indian subcontinent in search of "ultimate truth".
Hindu Bhatts
Bhat is one of the most common surname among Kashmiri Muslims. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Bhatta meaning a priest (if they are priests they might have have some Levitic roots too) or a learned person. Kashmiris who migrated to Punjab (in present day Pakistan) during the 18th and 19th centuries generally use the surname Butt which is a variation of the original Bhat surname.
Population 1,366,000
Brahmins In India
Total Population: 5.6 crore Poor Brahmins: 13% Rich: 19% Literacy levels above the age of 18: 84%
Graduates: 39% Brahmin chief justices between 1950 to 2000: 47%. Associate justices between 1950-2000: 40%
Down in the Cow-belt Falling percentage of Brahmin MPs elected in the Hindi belt
1984: 19.91% 1989: 12.44% 1998: 12.44% 1999: 11.3% 2007: The present Lok Sabha has only 50 Brahmin MPs nationwide. That's 9.17 per cent of the total strength of the House.
Today's Brahmin Politicians
Kashmir
Kashmir, a valley surrounded by high mountains and rich of awesome sightseeing, is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world.
This country is inhabited by different ethnic groups: Kashmiris, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Dards, Ladakhis, Dogras, Hanjis, etc. The Kashmiris are known to be immigrated in the valley from the west in different periods, showing evidence of having been in contact also with the Greek culture. In general, they are different from the other peoples of India, having clearer complexions and remarkable intellectual qualities, as well as efficiency in business. Kashmiris traditionally trace their ancestry from the so-called "Lost Tribes" of Israel. This tradition is supported by extensive literature written by both the people of Kashmir and other scholars. The main elements that support the hypothesis that Kashmiris are descendants of Israelites are: 1) cultural features and traditions; 2) geographical names; 3) historical records.
1) Cultural features and traditions: Even though most Kashmiris are Muslims, they feel a particular attraction and sympathy towards Jews and the Israeli nation, of whom they claim to be descendants. Indeed, the name Israel - never used by Muslims - is very common among them. They have the "Magen David" as their emblem, and men usually have Jewish-style beard and side-locks. Kashmiris light a candle for the Shabbath, and celebrate in Spring a festival that they call Paskha; in this period they adjust their lunar calendar with the solar year, and the way they do it is similar to the Jewish system. Even their language has many Hebrew words.
Kashmiris' character, style of clothing, traditions and habits resemble those of Israelis. They do not use animal fat but vegetable oil in their food. The head cover of the old Kashmiri women is quite like the one for Israeli women. Kashmiri girls dance in formations in a similar fashion like the Israeli girls. The Kashmiri women, following the delivery of a child are considered impure for forty days, like the Israeli women (the same applies to Roma/Gypsy women). The majority of the old graves in Kashmir are aligned in east-west direction like the Jewish graves, whereas the Moslem graves are in the north-south direction.
There is a group of Kashmiri people that still today call themselves "B'ney Yisrael", meaning "Children of Israel" (different from the B'ney Yisrael of India, now fully recognized by the State of Israel as Jewish). They assert that this is the original name of all the people of Kashmir in ancient times. Indeed, the names of the Kashmiri tribes are amazingly very similar to the Tribes of Israel, and according to these names it is likely that they reached the Valley of Kashmir in different periods: one is called the Tribe of Israel, another is Abri [meaning "Hebrew"], and the tribe of Kahana [like the Hebrew word for priest], as well as the Tribes of Musa (Mosheh), Shaul, and Shulaymanish (Shlomoh) seem to indicate a migration before the Kingdom was divided. Other names correspond to single Israelite Tribes, like Gadha as Gad, Asheriya as Asher, Dand as Dan, and even Lavi as Levi.
There are legends and tales that link the Kashmir Valley to different events actually happened in the Land of Israel, or about Jewish historical people. For instance, a legendary site allegedly being the grave of Mosheh, and another claimed to be Yeshua's grave, that they say, reached Kashmir in his search for the "Lost Tribes of Israel" - it is very probable that one of his followers, perhaps Toma, who is known to have reached India, has been the one who actually did so.
Another tradition says that King Shlomoh visited Kashmir and after his wise counsel the people achieved in successfully regulating the Jalum river. There is a place called Solomon's Throne situated above Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. Even though his personal visit to the country should be considered a myth, it is quite likely that King Shlomoh had any contact with the people of Kashmir, since he had a fluent commercial activity in India.
2) Geographical names: more than three-hundred places in Kashmir have names that sound very familiar to ancient Israelites, mainly to the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom. Some of these places are Mamre, Gilgit (Gilgal), Nabudaal (Nevo), Pishgah (Pisgah), Heshba (Heshbon), Bushan (Bashan), Medianpura (Midyan), Amunah (Amon), Goshan (Goshen, the region in Egypt where Israelites sojourned), Guzana (Gozan, that in Assyrian language is Guzana, one of the places where the Northern Tribes were sent in exile), and there is even Samaryah. Besides toponyms, also many names of people, male and female, are typically Hebrew.
3) Historical records: The history of the Kashmiris is shrouded in mystery. After accurate research, most scholars support the hypothesis that a consistent part of the Kashmiris are descendants of the Israelite Tribes that were exiled in Assyria in 3039 (722 b.c.e.). According to an Apocryphon ascribed to Ezra and other ancient records, many of these Israelites decided to emigrate into a distant country in the east. Along their route, many of them reached the Kashmir Valley and settled there.
Other historians' records: Kitro, in his book "General History of the Mughal Empire", said that the Kashmir people are the descendants of the Israelites. The travelling Arab historian El Bironi (12th century c.e.) wrote, "In the past, permission to enter Kashmir was given only to Jews". Another witness of the 15th century c.e. wrote, "all the inhabitants of this area who have been living here since ancient times can trace their ancestry, according to their race and customs, to the ancient Israelites. Their features, their general physical appearance, their clothing, their ways of conducting business, all show that they are similar to the ancient Israelites". The two outstanding historians of Kashmir, Mullah Nadiri, who wrote "The History of Kashmir", and Mullah Ahmad, who wrote "Events of Kashmir", have established without a trace of doubt that the origins of the Kashmiri people are to be found in the Israelites.
Conclusion: According to the above mentioned evidences, it is reasonable to credit the hypothesis that the Kashmiris are among the descendants of the ancient Israelites, though it is not possible to establish with certainty when did they reach the Kashmir Valley and settled there. The Greek influence that appears evident in some aspects suggest that they have migrated with Alexander's army in his campaign to the conquest of India and remained there.
Among the peoples settled in Kashmir there are also the Gujjars. Even though they may not be directly related to the ancient Israelites, their ethnicity is interesting and connects them with the peoples that have indeed been closely linked to the Jews.
The early history of Gujjars is obscure, and it was suggested that they may have reached India from Georgia in Caucasus (Gurjistan, in Persian). Place names like Gujar, Juzrs (Gurjara), Gujrabad, Gujru, Gujristan, Gujrabas, Gujdar-Kotta, Gujar-Garh, Gujarkhan, Gujranwala, etc. and other evidences show that they indeed travelled through Central Asia, likely from Mesopotamia, crossed the Khyber Pass reaching Rajasthan, and settled in Gujrat. In a later period, a consistent group of them moved northwards through Pundjab and settled in the Kashmir Valley.
The arrival of Gujjars in Jammu and Kashmir is attributed to the outbreak of devastating droughts in Rajputana, Gujarat and Kathiawar, and there are archaeological evidences to prove this hypothesis. The Gujri language is now recognized to be of Rajasthani origin, and as it is not written, they have not recorded history but oral traditions.
Some scholars are of the opinion that the Gujjars are the descendants of Kushan (Yue-zhi) tribes; the most reliable sources consider them to be a branch of the Khazars that migrated to India. According to linguistic rules, the Indo-Aryan terms "Gujjar" and "Kushan" are derived from the original name "Khazar" through the standard rules of phonetic change: Indo-Aryan languages, lacking the "kh" and the "z" phonemes, transcribe them respectively as "g" and "j". Therefore, their alleged "Georgian" origin is in some way true, since the Khazars' early homeland was in the Caucasus.
Thus, it is interesting the fact that a people of likely Israelite origin, the Kashmiris, is sharing the same land with a Khazar tribe.
Parthians (Israelites) in India
Pallava is the same as Indo-Sythian.
When the mighty Parthian Empire fell, most of its Semitic peoples fled toward (and into) Europe via the Caucasus Mountains, later becoming known as “Caucasians” because of their migration route. However, the Parthian Empire was so huge that it was logical that not all the Parthians could migrate westward to Europe via once the Sassanian Persians took over Persian territory and blocked that migration route to Parthians located in the easternmost part of Parthia’s empire. Now there is abundant evidence concerning where the easternmost Parthians fled to escape the Sassanian Persians. Some went to India (& further giving birth to Kukish, Chiangs, Karens...), some stayed in Afghanistan, Pakistan from which the Pashtuns, Kashmirs, Tajiks... came.
The Kadava was a royal dynasty in southern India that came from the Pallava royal dynasty. The Pallava dynasty were ruling (also kown as Dravidian or Dravida empire. After king David? A Persian rulling monarchy was called Pahlevi & the origin is regarded as Israelite too.) areas of southern India too & were desscendents of the Parthians that ruled areas of between the Mediterranean & India. The Parthians are considered to be Israelites, so the Pallavas & Kadavas were Israelites. The so called Indo-Parthians were rulling northern India. No wonder there are so many claims of Israelite roots in India.
Lands of the Dispersion: Kashmir
Udu (Udu resembles Judah), the language of Kashmir, includes many words identifiable as Hebrew.
Kashmiris light a candle on the Sabbath, have sideburns, beards, and a design of the Shield of David. To this day, a group lives in the Yusmarg (Handwara) are on the border of Pakistan which calls itself B’nei Israel, which means ‘children of Israel.’ Many Kashmiris state that this is the ancient name for all of the Kashmir people.
Recognition of the Israelite background of Kashmiris is not new. The priest Kitro states that the Kashmiris are descendants of the ancient Israelites in his ‘General History of the Mughal Empire.’ Mostrat, a fifteenth century priest in the time of Vasco da Gama, stated: ‘all the inhabitants of this area who have been living here since ancient times can trace their ancestry, according to their race and customs, to the ancient Israelites. Their features, their general physical appearance, their clothing, their ways of conducting business, all show that they are similar to the ancient Israelites.’
Traditions of the apostle Thomas preaching in India have been known for many years. There is also tradition in Kashmir that Christ survived the crucifixion and traveled to Kashmir, where he lived among the people. I believe that the tale of Christ surviving the crucifixion and ministering to the people in Kashmir is a legend based the Savior’s actual post-resurrection ministry to the Kashmiris. Christ taught to the Nephites that he would manifest himself unto other ‘lost sheep’ of the house of Israel, and it seems natural that he would have visited Israelites in ancient Kashmir. They undoubtedly would have recorded the account of Christ’s visitation, which would still survive somewhere, awaiting discovery and accurate (non-FARMS) translation. We (LDS) can also offer Kashmiris many things no other people on earth can.
Interestingly, DNA tests have conclusively linked India’s oldest Jewish community, the ‘Bene Israel’ — the Sons of Israel — of Alibag (Maharastra, western India, quite some distance south of Kashmir) to the priestly Levitical genetic markers found in Jewish communities of Kohanim around the world. DNA studies of Kashmiris have not yet been performed.
Kashmiris Have Israelite Ancestry
Kashmiris & Pashtuns are both believed to have Israelite ancestry & the Brahmin (or Brahmana) Abrahamic ancestry. The Udu language which is used in Kashmir includes many words of Hebrew.
Leaving Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Pathans live, when one goes east, it is the State of Kashmir in northern part of India which is west of Nepal. Kashmir consists of a very wide and beautiful valley, surrounded by tall mountains and I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
There are 5 to 7 million people there. Generally speaking, they have clearer complexions and are different from the other citizens of India. An Interesting tradition is passed down among the Kashmir people regarding their ancestry from the Lost Tribes of Israel. This tradition is supported by extensive literature written by both the people of Kashmir and other scholars.
In Kashmir, various places are called with Israeli names, like Har Nevo, Beit Peor, Pisga, Heshubon. These are all the names in the land of the Ten Tribes of Israel. The same thing is true in the names of people, male names, female names, and names of village.
The people in Kashmir perform a feast called Pasca in Spring, when they adjust the difference of days between the lunar calendar and solar calendar and the way of this adjustment is the same as Jewish. Several books are published on this. The Udu language which is used in Kashmir includes many words of Hebrew.
Most of the people of Kashmir are Muslims. In spite of it, they are sympathetic towards Jews and Israel. It is evident that their origin has also led to their interest in the people of Israel.
The history of the Kashmiris is shrouded in mystery as is the history of other people in that region. Most Kashmir researchers are of the opinion that many inhabitants of Kashmir are descendants of the Lost Tribes who were exiled in 722 BCE. They wandered along the Silk Road into the countries of the East, Persia and Afghanistan until they reached the Kashmir valley and settled there. Others say the wanderings began approximately 300 years later. The wanderers settled in Kashmir, kept their traditions until they were forced to convert to Islam when the spread of Islam reached the valley. The priest Kitro in his book, the General History of the Mughal Empire, said that the Kashmir people are the descendants of the Israelites.
Kasmiris dancing
The priest Monstrat said that in the time of Vasco da Gama in the 15th century, "all the inhabitants of this area who have been living here since ancient times can trace their ancestry, according to their race and customs, to the ancient Israelites. Their features, their general physical appearance, their clothing, their ways of conducting business, all show that they are similar to the ancient Israelites."
Names like Israelites in Kashmir
There are many toponyms with Israelite origin in Pashtunistan & kashmir. It's interesting that the Kashmiri Pandit belong to the Brahmin (or Brahmana) which are the Hindu priests, artists, teachers, technicians class (varna or pillar of the society) & also belong to the Brahmin tribe/caste. Brahmin (or Brahmana) would come from Abraham & from him they would have taken their name.There are Israelite origins in the 5 million Kashmiri Sunni Muslims. That claim is in fact widespread among Kashmiris, who note that many places in Kashmir possess names which seem to echo Biblical sites like Mamre, Pisgah and Mt. Nevo. There is also a Kashmiri tradition that claims that Moses is buried in Kashmir, as well as Jesus, who is said to have come there searching for the 10 tribes. When a Kashmiri guy was asked whether he wanted to “return” to his ancestral religion, he smiled and said, “First we were Jews, then Hindus, then Muslims. So why not be Jews again?”
Recently Mr. Ikbal Chapri, the owner of a houseboat called Haifa (the same name as a big city in Israel) in Srinagar, Kashmir, has written about this topic in the local newspapers.
Pothoharis are Pakistani Kashmiris & Koshurs are Indian Kashmiris
His article was about the names of the tribes and places of Kashmir which are exactly Hebrew. I have a copy of two pages of the list. For example, one of the tribes of Kashmir is called Asheriya which is Asher, the tribe of Dand is Dan, Gadha is Gad, Lavi is Levi. The Tribe of Shaul is the Hebrew name of King Saul. Musa is Moses, Suliamanish is Solomon. And you also have the tribe of Israel, the tribe of Abri which is the tribe of Hebrew, and the tribe of Kahana which is the word for Jewish priest. There are also 50-75 names of places in Kashmir which are in fact the Hebrew names that ancient Israelites were very familiar with. There is a place called Samaryah which is Samaria. Mamre is Mamre, Pishgah is Pisgah, Nabudaal is Mt. Nevo, Bushan is Bashan, Gilgit is Gilgal, Heshba is Heshbon, Amunah is Amon, Gochan is Goshen, Median-pura is Midian, and Guzana is Gozan which is a place name in Assyria and the very place where the Ten Tribes of Israel were deported.
The name Israel is very common among them as it is among the Pathans, and this name is never used among the Muslims. They also light a candle for the Sabbath, have sidelocks, beards, and emblem or design of the Shield of David.
In an area which is on the border of Pakistan, called Yusmarg (Handwara), there lives a group which to this very day calls itself B'nei Israel meaning children of Israel. Many of the inhabitants of Kashmir say that this is the ancient name of all the people of Kashmir.
In Kashmir there is a strange legend which says that Jesus did not die on the cross but in his search for the Ten Tribes reached the Kashmir valley and lived there until his death. They even point to his grave in Kashmir. This is very much like a legend I have heard somewhere in Japan before. Yes, Herai village (the present name is Shingou village) in Aomori prefecture, where there is also the legend that Jesus came to Japan and died there. They even point to his grave in Herai. It seems that sometimes the legend of coming of Jesus and his tomb is born where the Ten Tribes are said to come.
Kashmiri Pandit women with Stars of David
These also resemble legends in Japan. There is the grave of Moses in Mt. Houdatsu, Ishikawa prefecture, and a legend says that many secret treasures of Solomon are kept in Mt. Tsurugi in Shikoku, Japan. Ishik seems to have the same root (Ishik) as one of the Alevi (a crypto Jewish religion) branches (Ishik). Both might be variants of Ishak, ancestor of the Israelites.
The two primary historians of Kashmir, Mulla Nadiri, who wrote The History of Kashmir and Mulla Ahmad who wrote Events of Kashmir have established without a trace of doubt that the origins of the Kashmiri people are to be found in the people of Israel.
Dombas
The Domba or Dom (Sanskrit ḍoma, dialectally also Domaki, Dombo, Domra, Domaka, Dombar, Dombari and variants) are an ethnic or social group, or groups, scattered across India. In North India, the preferred self-designation is Dom.
The Domba are sometimes also called "Chandala". Both terms also came to be used in the sense of "outcaste" in general. The form ḍomba Prakrit, while ḍoma and ḍumba are encountered in Kashmiri Sanskrit texts. Derived from ḍoma is ḍomākī, the name of a language spoken in a small enclave in the Northern Areas in Pakistan. It is also believed that the Dom or Domi people of the Middle East are descendants of Domba who were taken, or traveled, to Sassanid Persia as servants and musicians.
The term ḍoma or ḍomba is extensively used in Indian Hindu and Buddhist literature for a segregated and enslaved population. Total population 100,000 - 1,000,000 (est.)
Its presumed root, ḍom, which is connected with drumming, is linked to damara and damaru, Sanskrit terms for "drum" and the Sanskrit verbal root डम् ḍam- 'to sound (as a drum)', perhaps a loan from Dravidian, e.g. Kannada ḍamāra 'a pair of kettle-drums', and Telugu ṭamaṭama 'a drum, tomtom'.
Currently there remain several thousand people across India known depending on various regional dialects, as Domaki, Dombo, Domra, Domaka, Dombar, Dommara and Domba. In Western India, in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat they are referred to as Domba or Domari which is very similar to the name used in the Middle East. Place name studies indicate that they attested all over India and even in Sri Lanka. In North India, they are generally known as Dom or sometimes Doom.
Currently some are sedentary whereas others exist on a nomadic mode of life along with number of other tribal people such as Banjaras and Lambanis. Some Nomadic Doms in India remain distinct from the local populace in terms of their dress. Nomadic Domba women typically wear bright blues and reds, with numerous thick bangles often covering the entire forearms and arms, a practice that can be seen across other ethnic groups from Rajasthan.
In 1989, 500 people were counted as speaking Domaki in the Shina valley of Pakistan controlled Gilgit Baltistan region. The people are called 'Bericho', 'Dom', or 'Doma'. They are musicians and blacksmiths. The Dom identity developed out of their work as musicians and blacksmiths. They are a heterogeneous group, descended from a number of families that took up service with the various local rulers. The Dom belong to the Nizari Ismaili sect in Hunza, and the Athna Ashri Shia sect in Nagar. After land reforms carries out by Pakistan government in the 1970s, the Dom were given ownership of land. However, the majority of the Dom are still landless, and are still employed as blacksmiths (Typical Jewish profession). The Ismailis as a whole are regarded as crypto-Jewish,
Dom in Himachal Pradesh exhibit the archetypical characteristics of an indigenous hunter gatherer tribe that has been incorporated as part of the caste system. Doms are agricultural workers, basket weavers and small scale agriculturalists. They are not known for their nomadic existence. They are also recognized by their neighbors as the original inhabitants of the forests lands.
With regard to the Dom community in Odisha, they speak indo-ariyan Oriya language. They live as neighbors to the Dravidian speaking Khonds tribals. Doms speak Dravidian Kondhi as well as Indo-Aryan Oriya language.
In Varanasi, the holy Hindu city in Uttar Pradesh, the Dom perform the most important task of cremation of dead bodies. Many are nomadic and peripatetic groups in Uttar Pradesh are said to be of Dom origin such as the Bangali, Bhantu, Bazigar, Habura, Kanjar, and Sansi. It could also be that term Dom is generically used to describe any peripatetic nomad, as all these groups mentioned are distinct and strictly endogamous (Just like ancient Israel). Some speak a dialect or argot of their own, while others speak the prevailing dialect or language.
They are also attested in ancient as well as current literature as a scheduled or Dalit caste in Bengal, Bihar and Kashmir also.
With regard to the Dom community in Andhra Pradesh, they are known as Dommara and are a Telugu speaking caste of people found in the Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh.
Doms in Tamil Nadu are known as Dombar or Thombar and are found in villages around the city of Salem (Salem was the ancient name of the three times Holy City, Jerusalem.Did this people found on its honor?). They are mostly Tamil speakers.
Domba are also found in sizeable numbers in Karnataka. There s a major settlement on the outskirts of Belgaum (Any relation with Belgium? The Belgae, a Celtic tribe, are considered with the rest of the Celts to be Israelites. The prefix Bel might be the same as the pagan god worshipped by Israelites & known as Baal or Belzebu.) city in the north of the city. They are known as jugglers and acrobats.
People identified as Doms have long been workers at cremation places, weavers of ropes and baskets. They are also traditionally well known for their musical ability (Like the levites). A medieval history describes the Dom community as a caste that makes its living from music. There are furthermore references to certain ragas entitled Dombakriti, Dombakriya, Dombakrī, Domb and Dombikā, and a deshī or "folk" tāla called Dombuli. Even to this day, the various Dom communities continue to provide India with skilled musicians. It seems that with Islamic invasions, the caste declined in importance and its traditional musical skills were condemned.
Most currently some Dom earn their living by entertaining as street performers and jugglers. In a typical show, known colloquially as Dombaryacha khel (DombaraaTa in the south of India), i.e. a performance by the Domba(ri), the whole family participates. The older males usually demonstrate their expertise with a long whip, including the ability to withstand self-flagellation of a bare torso with the whip in a fairly dramatic manner.
The older womenfolk often don't actively participate in the show but stand by the sidelines as assistants. The younger members of both genders perform acrobatic feats. A typical act in the Dombaryacha khel is balancing an hour-glass shaped object on a string, which in turn is tied to a stick at each end. The sticks are flicked sharply to catapult the hourglass object 50–60 feet in the air, which then is expertly caught in the string just before it reaches ground. Adopting a mongrel dog as a pet is fairly common as is the use of the trained mongrel in their performances.
The Dom people, an ethnic group scattered through many Middle East countries, are widely assumed to be related the Domba of India.
European Jews
The European Jewish community is composed of Sephardi Jews that came from Iberia & of British Jews. Both communities came to Madras during the 14th century, mainly as Traders and Diamond Businessmen.
Knanaya Makkal or Southists (Christian Jews from India)
We are southists or southernists. In Malayalam we are called Thekkumbhagar. Other names are Urfali from the word Urfa or Urhoy (syriac). Both these words mean Edessa. Modern day name of Edessa is Sanali-Urfa, located in the Anatolia province of Turkey.
We read in Joshua chapter 15:1; “This then was the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Eodom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast.” According to Genesis 13 : 1; Abraham, God’s chosen went to the south. 13:18 further says :- “Then Abraham moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron.” Hebron is in the south.
The children of the tribe of Judah were assigned and they lived in the Southern country and were known as Southists. During the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, a lot of these southists were taken as captives and some fled to neighboring places. Later, towards the 2nd Century BC, Antiochus iv Epiphanus attacked Jerusalem, and a lot of the remaining Southists fled again. They settled in the Kingdom of Edessa. These children of the tribe of Judah were called the Southists and the rest Israelites as Northists. In olden days the capital of Judah was Hebron; which King David changed to Jerusalem. All the other tribes were of the north and were known as Israelites. The capital of the northern country was Shiloh. The children of the tribe of Judah were called Southists wherever they lived.
The Jewish history starts with a migration to Kodungallore after the fall of the Jewish kingdom of Solomon in Israel . Kodungallore is in Trichur district. The city was built on the banks of Periar River and was the premier port bustling with shipping and commerce, on the “spice and silk route to the middle-east”, until 15th century.
In 52 AD, St. Thomas, being born as a Jew, came to Kodungallore stayed with the Jews there for many years. He converted some Jews and several locals and established churches.
In 345 AD, Thomas of Knana came to Kodungallore and stayed in the part of the town called Thekumbhagam or also called as Manigrammam (Segal 7, Weil 179). Historians use different spelling such as Caanaya/Cnanaya (from Aramaic language), Knanaya, Qananaya (Qanay is a Hebrew word) for people from this group.
In 379 AD a group of Jews from the middle-east migrated to Kodungallore under the leadership of Joseph Rabban and settled in the river mouth of Periyar called Kadavubhagam or also called as Anjuvannam.
Most of these Jews and Knanites left Kodungallore in the 14th & 15th century. The great flood of the Periar river on 1341 caused silt build up in Kodungallore harbor, greatly impeding shipping and threatening the city’s economic base. The military intrusions of Samothiri (Zamorin) of Calicut , chief rival of King of Kochi, with the help of the Muslims were often focused against Jews and Christians. Several churches and synagogues were burnt. To get the protection of King of Kochi, Jews moved south to Cochin , Palayur, Paroor, Mala, etc. The Knanites moved further south to Mulanthuruthy and Udayamperoor (near the Thripunithura palace of the Kochi king) and from there was a migration to Kaduthuruthy and so on.
Prof. P.M. Jussay, in his 1978 paper, found the wedding songs of Cochin Jews and Knanites to be mostly identical with only minimum differences in the verses. For example, the first line of the Jewish Vazhu Pattu is: “Vazhvanna vazhu ninaka yirike” and the Knanaya version is “Vazhvanna vazhu ninakake thannen”. He found that many words used in these songs are of Aramaic, Yemenite, and Spanish origin. After careful study of these words he states, “the words found in the songs of these communities, which, as far as I know, do not occur in any of the songs of other communities, whether Christian or pagan”.
Dr. J.B. Segal points out that the overwhelming similarities are not limited just to the songs. He writes, "Some practices of the Kanayas are regarded as Jewish origin: for instance, the wearing of a veil by Kanaya brides and the Kanaya burial with the head in the direction of Jerusalem . More significant are the Easter customs of the sect. Like the Jews at Passover, they eat unleavened bread and partake as an evening meal. They also recount the stories of Creation and Exodus from Egypt ". Dr. Weil also compares Knanite Easter customs to Jewish customs. She writes, “The celebration of Easter appears to be the test case. On this day, Knanites partake of unleavened bread reminiscent of the Jewish matzot and drink wine prepared from coconut milk and plums which is of a faint red colour like the wine drunk by Jews on the Passover sader night. Before the festive Easter meal, Biblical songs are sung about Creation and Exodus from Egypt, this later story being related on the Jewish sader night-in addition to stories from the New Testament and Last Supper”.
Referring to another Jewish custom among Knanites, Katz & Goldberg writes, “The Knana retained some Jewish observances, and it may be correct to call them “Jewish Christians”, a sect which is believed to have expired by the time the early church became primarily Gentile, some seventeen centuries ago; their vestigial Jewish observances have been noted. The Southists retain the custom of tying into a corner of their saris a bit of the hearth ashes or earth from Cranganore when the bride leaves her parents’ home for that of her new husband, a reenactment of their departure from Jerusalem for Malabar, when they brought bits of the earth with them. They are rather derogatorily known to other Christians as charam kettikal or ash tiers”.
Dr. Shalva Weil in examining the similarities between Cochin Jews and Knanites observes that, “there is a clear affinity between the White Jew’s songs and theKnanite songs. Indeed, many of the parallels in the historical songs refer to Cranganore, which so far as has been found almost exclusively in the song books of the White Jews and appears to have been omitted by the Black Jews”.
Late Mr. M.K. Thomas Menamthottathil, a Knanaya Jacobite has done extensive research on the Jewish origin of Knanites and has put together a manuscript in 1980 named “The Knanites of Kerala-an ancient outpost of Judeo-Christianity.” He was convinced so much beyond doubt about the Jewish origin of Knanites, that he converted to Judaism and one of his grandchildren now lives in Israel .
There are a few studies going on now by Jewish history scholars of USA and Israel. I encourage any of our community members who have a passion for the above topic to partner with these researchers so that we can shed more light into our history.
Saint Thomas Christians, Syrian Christians or Nasranis from KeralaThe Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians or Nasrani, are an ancient community of Christians from Kerala, India who trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The community was historically united in leadership and liturgy, but since the 17th century have been split into several different church denominations and traditions.
In the 16th century the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into the Catholic Church led to the first of several rifts in the community and the establishment of Syrian Catholic and Malankara Church factions. Since that time further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions.
The Mar Thoma Sliva or Saint Thomas Cross (also known as the Nasrani Menorah), the symbol of the Nasrani people.
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The Saint Thomas Christians represent a single ethnic group. Saint Thomas Christian culture is largely developed from East Syrian influences blended with local customs and later elements derived from indigenous Indian and European colonial contacts. Their language is Malayalam, the local tongue of Kerala.
The Saint Thomas Christians are so called due to their reverence for Saint Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have brought Christianity to India. The name dates to the period of Portuguese colonization. They are also known, especially locally, as the Nasrani or Nasrani Mappila. "Nasrani" is a term meaning "Christian"; it appears to be derived from Nazareth, the home town of Jesus. Mappila is an honorific applied to members of non-Indian faiths, including Muslims (Jonaka Mappila) and Jews (Yuda Mappila). Some Syrian Christians of Travancore continue to attach this honorific title to their names. The Indian government designates members of the community as "Syrian Christians", a term originating with the Dutch colonial authority distinguishing the Saint Thomas Christians, who used Syriac as their liturgical language, from newly evangelized Christians who followed the Latin liturgy. The term Syrian relates not to their ethnicity but to their historical, religious and liturgical connection to the Church of the East, or East Syrian Church.
The most commonly believed tradition of origin among Saint Thomas Christians relates to the evangelical activity of Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have come to India in middle of the 1st century. There is no contemporary evidence for Thomas being in the subcontinent, though it was possible for a Roman Jew of the time to make such a trip. Groups such as the Cochin Jews and Bene Israel are known to have existed in India around that time. The earliest known source connecting the apostle to India is the Acts of Thomas, likely written in the early 3rd century, perhaps in Edessa. The text describes Thomas' adventures in bringing Christianity to India, a tradition later expanded upon in early Indian sources such as the "Thomma Parvam" ("Song of Thomas"). Generally he is described as arriving in or around Maliankara and founding Seven Churches, or Ezharapallikal: Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkayal (Paravoor), Palayoor (Chattukulangara) and Thiruvithamcode Arappally (a "half church").
The subgroup of the Saint Thomas Christians known as the Knanaya or Southists trace their lineage to Thomas of Cana, while the group known as the Northists claim descent from Thomas the Apostle's indigenous converts; some additionally assert ancestry from Thomas of Cana through a second, Indian wife.
In 883 the English king Alfred the Great reportedly sent a mission and gifts to Saint Thomas' tomb in India. In 1491 the archdeacon sent envoys to the Patriarch of the Church of the East, as well as to the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and to the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, requesting a new bishop for India.
The Saint Thomas Christians first encountered the Portuguese in 1498, during the expedition of Vasco da Gama. At the time the community was in a tenuous position: though thriving in the spice trade and protected by their own militia, the local political sphere was volatile and the Saint Thomas Christians found themselves under pressure from the rajas of Calicut and Cochin and other small kingdoms in the area. The Saint Thomas Christians and the Portuguese newcomers quickly formed an alliance.
The Archbishop convened the Synod of Diamper, which implemented various liturgical and structural reforms in the Indian church. The Synod brought the parishes directly under the Archbishop's purview; anathematised certain "superstitious" social customs characteristic of their Hindu neighbors, including untouchability and a caste hierarchy; and purged the indigenous liturgy, the Malabar Rite, of elements deemed unacceptable according to the Latin protocol. A number of texts were condemned and ordered burnt, including the Peshitta, the Syriac version of the Bible. Some of the reforms, especially the elimination of caste status, reduced the Saint Thomas Christians' standing with their socially stratified Hindu neighbors. The Synod formally brought the Saint Thomas Christians into to Catholic Church; however, the actions of the Portuguese over the ensuing years fueled resentment in segments of the community, and ultimately led to open resistance to their power.
A Syro-Malabar Catholic Church with its Madbaha veiled by a red curtain.
In 1652, the escalating situation was further complicated by the appearance in Mylapore of a mysterious figure named Ahatallah, who claimed to have been sent by the Pope to serve as "Patriarch of the Whole of India and of China".
Ahatallah made a strong impression on the native clergy, but the Portuguese quickly decided he was an impostor, and put him on a ship bound for Europe by way of Goa. Archdeacon Thomas, desperate for a new ecclesiastical leader to free his people from the Padroado, travelled to Cochin and demanded to meet Ahatallah and examine his credentials. The Portuguese refused, stating the ship had already left for Goa.[44] Ahatallah was never heard from in India again, inspiring rumours that the Portuguese had murdered him and inflaming anti-Portuguese sentiments even more.
This was the last straw for the Saint Thomas Christians, and in 1653 Thomas and community representatives met at the Church of Our Lady in Mattancherry to take bold action. In a great ceremony before a crucifix and lighted candles, they swore a solemn oath that they would never obey Garcia or the Portuguese again, and that they accepted only the Archdeacon as their shepherd. The Malankara Church and all its successor churches regard this declaration, known as the Coonan Cross Oath after the outdoor cross in the churchyard, as the moment when their church regained its independence. Shortly after, the leaders of this newly independent church decided Thomas should be elevated to bishop. Thomas was consecrated in a ceremony in which twelve priests laid hands on him, and he became the metropolitan of Malankara.
After the Coonan Cross Oath the Portuguese missionaries attempted for reconciliation with Saint Thomas Christians but was not successful. Later Pope Alexander VII sent the Syrian bishop Joseph Sebastiani at the head of a Carmelite delegation who succeeded in convincing majority of Saint Thomas Christians, including Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar and Kadavil Chandy Kathanar that the consecration of Archdeacon as metropolitan was not legitimate. Later Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar was consecrated as the bishop for the Syrian Catholics with the historic title 'The Metropolitan and the Gate of all India' which denotes a Quasi Patriarchal status with all India jurisdiction. This led to the first permanent split in the Saint Thomas Christian community.
The eighty-four churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and Chaldean Syrian Church have descended. The other thirty-two churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syriac Orthodox (Jacobites & Orthodox), Thozhiyur (1772), Mar Thoma (Reformed) (1874), Syro-Malankara Catholic Church have originated.
The foreign Jacobite prelate Mar Gregorios who came to Kerala in 1751 AD, consecrated Rev. Kurian Kattumangat as bishop Abraham Mar Koorilose in 1772 AD at Mattancherry church, Cochin. He was driven into exile from the states of Travancore and Cochin where the majority of St. Thomas Christians lived, to Anjoor in the state of Malabar. He spent his days in prayer and meditation in a hut.
In 1795, the kings of Travancore and Cochin entered into tributary alliance with the British East Indian Company to repel the attacks from Tipu Sultan. The states soon became client regimes of the Company: both were forced to disband their military.
In 1918, Saint Thomas Christians formed the League for Equal Civic Rights, which sought the opening of all branches of government service to Christians, Muslims and avarna Hindus, as well as an end to the practice of untouchability. Their demands were partially met in 1922 when the Revenue Department was separated from the Devaswom, a semi-government organization that managed the Hindu temples, thus removing the restriction on non-Hindus and avarnas in the executive service. In the 1920s, Saint Thomas Christian leaders such as George Joseph were advised by Mahatma Gandhi to detach from Vaikom Satyagraha, an agitation for the temple entry rights of avarna Hindus, as he considered the issue to be one of concern to Hindus alone.
Iyer reflected a concern among Hindus that the Christian population was rising and that there was a consequent danger of Travancore becoming a Christian state. The 1931 census recorded over 31 per cent of the population as being Christian, compared to around 4 per cent in 1820. Some restrictions were imposed on Saint Thomas Christian parishes to start new schools and later on the Diwan attempted to take over the schools owned by the community. There followed a period of fierce confrontation between the Diwan and Saint Thomas Christians—many leaders were arrested, prominent news papers were banned and large banks owned by the community members were liquidated.
On 1 November 1956, the state of Kerala was formed and the Communist Party formed the first government of the state in 1957 on winning the assembly elections. Though the government initiated the legislation process for reforming the land and the education sectors, they were considered as infringements over the rights by the school managements and landowners, who were predominantly Saint Thomas Christians and Nairs. The disagreements of the Saint Thomas Christians got further widened and they allied with Nair Service Society to mobilize against the government, which culminated in the form of a violent struggle, called Liberation Struggle, in 1958. The Communist government was dismissed on 31 July 1959 and the President's rule was imposed in the state under Article 356 of the constitution.
St. Thomas Christians are a distinct community, both in terms of culture and religion. Though their liturgy and theology remained that of East-Syrian Christians of Persia, their life-style customs and traditions were basically Indian. It is oft-quoted: "Nazranis are Indian in culture, Christian in faith and Syrian in liturgy".
The presence of Jews among the early Malabar Nasrani Christians had significant effects on the liturgy and traditions of the entire community. The community maintained some of the original rituals of the early Jewish Christians, such as covering their heads while in worship. Their ritual services were and still are called the Qurbana (also spelled Kurbana), which is derived from the Aramaic and Hebrew term korban (קרבן), meaning "sacrifice".. The Nasrani Qurbana used to be held in Syriac.
In the social stratification of medieval Malabar, Saint Thomas Christians succeeded in relating their social status with that of upper-caste Hindus on account of their numerical strength and influence and observance of many Brahmin customs. In 13th and 14th century, many Saint Thomas Christians were involved in the pepper trade for the local rulers and many were appointed as port revenue officers. The local rulers rewarded them with grants of land and many other privileges. With growing numerical strength, a large number of Saint Thomas Christians settled in the inland pepper-growing regions.
They had the right to recruit and train soldiers and Christian trainers were given with the honorary title "Panikkar" like their Nair counterparts. They were also entitled with the privilege to collect the tax, and the tax-collectors were honored with the title "Tharakan". Like Brahmins they had the right to sit before the Kings and also to ride on horse or elephant, like the royals. They were protectors of seventeen underprivileged castes and communities and hence they were called Lords of Seventeen Castes. They did not allow the lower-castes to join their community for fear that it could imperil their upper-caste status. Between 9th and 15th centuries, Saint Thomas Christians had a small kingdom of their own, viz. Villarvattom, but this regal period came under extinct and the community fell under the power of Rajas of Cochin and Travancore.
The upper-caste Hindus and Saint Thomas Christians took part in one another's festival celebrations and in some places in Kerala, the Hindu Temples and Saint Thomas Christian Churches were built on adjoining sites by the Hindu Kings. Until the 19th century, Saint Thomas Christians had the right of access to Hindu temples and some leading Saint Thomas Christians held the status of sponsors at Hindu shrines and temple festivals. But in the 19th century, Saint Thomas Christian integration with the Hindu caste system was disrupted: their clean-caste status was questioned in some localities and they were denied access to many Hindu temples. They tried to retaliate by denouncing Hindu festivals as heathen idolatry. Clashes between upper-caste Hindus and Saint Thomas Christians occurred from the late 1880s, especially when festivals coincided. Internecine violence among various Saint Thomas Christian denominations aggravated their problems.
The Saint Thomas Cross is widely perceived as the symbol of Saint Thomas Christians. It is also known as Nasrani Menorah or Mar Thoma Sliba. There are several interpretations for the Nasrani Symbol. The interpretation based on Christian Jewish tradition assumes that its design was based on Jewish menorah, an ancient symbol of the Hebrews, which consists of seven branched lamp stand (candelabra).
Note that the Christian cross was not adopted as a symbol by Mediterranean and European Christianity until several centuries had passed.
Even though the Saint Thomas Christians had to compromise their social and religious privileges in the aftermath of Portuguese subjugation, they started reemerging as a powerful community from the 19th century onward. They played a pioneering role in many spheres such as Banking, Commerce, Cash crops etc. Among Saint Thomas Christians, 17.4% of the adult population are self-employed - the highest rate statistically among all the communities in the state of Kerala. Saint Thomas Christians lead all others with respect to per capita ownership of land, with many of them owning large estates. With changing conditions, they have shifted from the agriculture of rice and coconut to plantation based agriculture and the trading of rubber, spices and cash crops. They also take a prominent role in the educational institutions of Kerala and throughout India.
Saint Thomas Christians observe Holy Thursday with high reverence. This day is referred to as Pesaha, a Malayalam word derived from the Aramaic or Hebrew word for Passover—Pasha or Pesah—commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ during Passover in Jerusalem. The tradition of consuming Pesaha appam after the church service is observed by the entire community under the leadership of the head of the family. Special long services followed by the Holy Qurbana are conducted during the Pesaha eve in the churches.
Tharisapalli Copper plate grant (14th century)—One of the reliable documentary evidences of the privileges and influence that Saint Thomas Christians enjoyed in early Malabar. The document contains signatures of the witnesses in Pahlavi, Kufic and Hebrew.
The community observes Lent, locally called the fifty days' fast, from Clean Monday to the day before Easter, abjuring all meat, fish and egg. They also traditionally observe the 25 days' fast which ends on the day of Christmas.
Generally, footwear is removed before entering the church and women cover their heads during worship. Another surviving tradition is the use of muthukoda (ornamental umbrella) for church celebrations, marriages and other festivals. Traditional drums, arch decorations and ornamental umbrellas are part of the church celebrations. Their use has become popular all over Kerala.
Saint Thomas Christians did not use any iconography or statues of Jesus or the saints in their churches until after the arrival of the Portuguese, prior to which time the use of such symbols was deemed idolatrous.
As of 2001, in Kerala, more than 85 per cent of the Saint Thomas Christian population live in the six central districts of the state - Pathanamthitta, Alapuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Trissur. They have also migrated to other cities in India like Ooty, Mangalore, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Migration steeply increased in the post-independence period and major destinations were United States of America, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and the Middle East. According to a rough estimate, 20–25% of the Saint Thomas Christians live outside the state of Kerala.
"The Syrian Christians had inserted themselves within the Indian caste society for centuries and were regarded by the Hindus as a caste occupying a high place within their caste hierarchy." Saint Thomas Christians followed the same rules of caste and pollution as that of Hindus and sometimes they were even considered as pollution neutralizers. They tend to be endogamous, and tend not to intermarry even with other Christian groupings. Saint Thomas Christians derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they were elites, who were evangelized by St. Thomas.
Nasrani Judeo-Christians: How Aramaic Became the Language of Nasranis
Contacts between Mediterranean world, Mesopotamia, Persia and India began before fourth millennium BC. During the third and second millennium BC Indus valley and Sumer had very flourishing civilisations. Ancient tablets discovered from Ur the home town of the ancestors of Abraham indicates the existence of trade between Sumer and Indus valley. The Brahmi script of India and Sumerian are related. Gradually Dravidians from the Indus Valley were pushed to the south and north India underwent Arianization. The contacts between Phoenicia and South India go back to second millennium BC. Jews came into contact with south India in the tenth century BC following the commercial enterprises of Solomon. They were following the footsteps of Phoenicians from the Tsur and Sidon. The king Hiram of Tsur, the contemporary of Solomon (972-932 BC) promoted international trade with South Indian Coast. Spices like pepper, ginger, precious gems, ivory, gold, peacocks, apes etc. were exotic attractions from South India. According to Koder, the first Jewish colony of South India goes back to the days of King Solomon. After Solomon, Jews underwent the exiles in Assyria in 734-732 BC and Babylonia in sixth and fifth centuries BC. Gradually the deported Jews began to engage in international commerce especially with South India. Ordinary Jews forgot Hebrew and became speakers of Aramaic, the language of international trade. Babylon of this period was the greatest international market of the world. It was dependent and related to South India by sea route which extended even up to southern China.
In the seventh century BC South India served as meeting point between traders from East and West. Teakwood, sandal, rice, and other articles mentioned above were fascinating items in this trade. Teakwood from South India had been excavated in the Moon temple of Ur. Palace of Nebuchadenazzar (604-562 BC) was decorated with Indian wood. Babylonian captivity of the Jews was terminated by Persian emperor Cyrus in 539 BC. But many of the Jews interested in international commercial enterprises remained in Babylon. Some of them settled in Malabar Coast. Jewish exiles of Assyria were scattered among many peoples and countries. Some of them got settled in different parts of India. These two groups of exilic Jews were Aramaic speakers. In the second and first centuries BC, another group of Jews migrated to South India. So we see a pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic Jewish emigration in South India.
The Roman army conquered Egypt in 30 BC and took over the control of international commerce through Egypt. 120 ships used to sail every year from Red sea to the Malabar Coast. Within 40 days the Monsoon winds brought them to the Coast. With the help of opposite Monsoons these ships used to return to Egypt in the same year. Emperors Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) and Tiberius (14-37 AD) promoted trade between Egypt and Malabar Coast. More than 500 coins of Augustus have been discovered in South India. The coins of Emperor Tiberius from South India number over 1000. These are clear indication of the flourishing trade in the first century BC and the first century AD. The Persian, Arab, and the Egyptian navigators already knew the course of Monsoon winds. These already-existing knowledge was “discovered” by the Greek Hippalus. Thus a long kept secret was divulged probably during the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes (146-116 BC). Later the so-called discovery of Hippalus was divulged to Romans in the first half of the first century AD. According to Peutinger tablets from the second century AD Egypt, there is a temple of Augustus at Muziris near modern Kodungallur region. The new discoveries from the archaeological excavations of Pattanam (a part of ancient Muziris) in 2007 have necessitated the rewriting of the history of Malabar Coast. Naturally many Aramaic speaking Jewish settlers and traders were in Malabar Coast during this period. Roman trade expansion accelerated the presence of Jewish settlers and traders. Their forefathers were already familiar with Aramaic even in the pre-exilic period as we hear from many Old Testament texts. Alexander’s invasion of India resulted in further cultural and commercial contacts. An offshoot of official Aramaic (circa. 700-300 BC) appeared as Biblical Aramaic (Gen. 31:47, Jer. 10:18, Dan. 2:4-7:28, Ezra 4:8-6:8, 7:12-26). Edicts of Ashoka (272-232 BC) have been discovered in middle Aramaic (circa. 300 BC onwards) from Afghanistan. Then we find late Aramaic from which Christian Aramaic or Syriac, Targumic Aramaic developed. Finally, modern Aramaic appeared by 14th century AD.
The apostles of Jesus Christ were commanded to bring the message of the gospel to scattered Jews living in different parts of the world. The Apostle Thomas undertook his first mission throughout the Persian region (including North West India) where he found many Aramaic speaking Jewish communities. In AD 50 he undertook the second mission which was prompted by the Aramaic speaking Jewish settlements of South India. Jews of the Malabar Coast readily accepted the message of the gospel. It is surprising that the seven Christian communities established by him were in the vicinity of Jewish settlements. Most of the then Aramaic-speaking Jews became Christians. The arrival of Thomas on the Malabar Coast was guided by the Jewish merchant Habban. The apostle was received and recognised first by a Jewish flute girl in the Chera royal capital. All these we hear from the first Acts of Thomas composed in the late second or early third century. Song of Ramban (revised and simplified in the year 1601 AD) also supports this. It speaks of 40 families of Jews converted by Thomas in the royal capital. Similarly he might have converted other Jewish settlements of Malabar. In AD 70 the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem temple and the Jews were scattered. Some of them came to settle in the Malabar Coast. The Bar Cochba war (AD 132-35) resulted in other series of Jewish emigration to South India. Gradually they all became St Thomas Christians. Meanwhile their language Aramaic evolved into Christian Aramaic or Syriac. So there was a Judeo-Christian and Aramaic connection and continuity between the Persian Church and the South Indian Church right from the very beginning. This is how Christian Aramaic or Syriac became the liturgical language of St Thomas Christians. It was not at all later import by anybody as it is propagated by some interested groups. There was a cordial relation between the St Thomas Christians and Jewish settlers until the European colonialists came to the scene. The Pesaha celebration, ablutions, purifications after death, Aramaisms of their Syriac, purification of mother and child after child birth, the beginning and end of the day in the typical Jewish fashion, all point towards the Judeo-Christian roots of the past. Old Testament names were very popular among the St Thomas Christians which annoyed Portuguese missionaries. There were no statues or even pictures in the Churches of St Thomas Christians which might be a latent Jewish heritage as well as East Syrian tradition. Christians of Kaduthuruthy closed their eyes in anger and anguish as they were shown a statue of Blessed Mary. They admit only the cross in their Churches.
All the manuscripts burned by Diamper indicate that the Church of St Thomas Christians was theologically, spiritually, liturgically, canonically an East Syrian Church. The famous library and Episcopal archives of Angamaly were systematically burned. Menezes visited and burned Syriac books in at least 59 Churches. After Angamaly library, the Syriac collections of Cheppadu and Chengannur which were also burned, were the most prominent ones. Individual collections of all parishes too underwent this or similar misfortune. Evidently this is the greatest tragedy of Saint Thomas Christians’ spiritual heritage. One can compare it only to the destruction of the Alexandrian library by the Muslim conquerors in 641 AD. Angamaly collection built up over many centuries was the most important intellectual centre of Saint Thomas Christians who had a theological University there. We do not find practically any historical record or document concerning the pre-Portuguese history of Saint Thomas Christians. So we depend on the testimony of non-Indian authors to describe the situation of this apostolic Christian community.
The Bene Ephraim or Telugu Jews
The Bene Ephraim (Hebrew: בני אפריים) Bnei Ephraim ("Sons of 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. They claim to be Jewish descendants of the Tribe of Ephraim, of the Lost Tribes of Israel, and since the 1980s have learned to practice Judaism. They are considered to be untouchables or Dalit, therefore part of the lowest caste in India.
According to Bene Ephraim tradition, they claim descent from the Tribe of Ephraim, and say that they traveled from Israel through western Asia: Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and into China for 1,600 years before arriving in southern India more than 1,000 years ago. They made up a history which they say is similar to that of the Bnei Menashe in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, who received recognition in 2005 from the Chief Rabbi of Israel. (The latter people must still go through a formal conversion process to become citizens of Israel.)
This community of India’s so-called “untouchable” caste may have ancient Jewish roots. Sadok and his brother Shmuel grew up Christian but they remember their father and grandmother telling them, when they were young, that they were Jews. Their father had fought with the Indian Army during WWII, receiving a rare opportunity (for an “untouchable”) to learn English and become a teacher. After their father died, Shmuel became a Christian preacher, which enabled him to study the Old Testament and to travel to Jerusalem. There, in the early 1980s, he had a spiritual awakening and decided to leave Christianity and live as a Jew. Sadok agreed to join him, and they convinced 30 families in their village to follow their example.
During the medieval period they have worked as farm laborers. They adopted Christianity after the arrival of British Baptist missionaries during the early 19th century.
Their leader Shamuel Yacobi went to Jerusalem in the 1980s, he became convinced they were of Jewish descent. Because of the long period in which the people were not practising Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable Judæo-Telugu language or dialect. Since the 1980s, about fifty families around Kottareddipalem and Ongole (Head Quarters of the nearby district of Prakasam) have studied Judaism, learned Hebrew, and built a synagogue. They have sought recognition from other Jewish communities around the world. Today Hebrew is being used as a living language rather than limited to liturgy. The community has been visited over the years by a rabbi from the chief rabbinate in Israel to study their tradition and practices. The Chief Rabbi has not recognised the community as being of Jewish descent.
According to the Washington Times in 2006, "Many think the Bnei Ephraim Jews are trying to escape poverty and that they want to leave this region of Andhra Pradesh where six successive years of drought and crop failure have driven more than 3,000 peasants into debt and to suicide."
Critics claim that they are just a group of poor farmers and laborers who initially accepted Christianity to improve their social and economic status and now try to do the same with Judaism.
The members of a Pakistani Muslim terrorist group, Laskar E Thoiba, had orders to kill all local Jewish communities, as well as visiting Jews from the US and Israel at the Hyderabad airport. The terrorists were arrested and the police check on the community’s welfare every day. But the Jews have stopped wearing their kippot on the street because they are afraid of Muslim terrorists.
Telugu Jews: Are the Dalits of coastal Andhra going caste-awry?
In the context of religious conversion movements of low castes in India, many Dalit groups have embraced Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and even Jainism in order to restore egalitarian traditions. However, their conversion to Judaism is relatively unheard of in the academia.
New narratives of origin?
The claims of the Bene Ephraim could be considered a variation of such new narratives. Their account of the Israelite past of the community is detailed in a book called ‘Cultural Hermeneutics’, written by Shmuel Yacobi after a decade of library research and travel to Israel and the USA. It is asserted in the book that all the scheduled castes of southern India, and possibly even of the entire sub-continent, are the descendants of the Bene Ephraim (Yacobi 2002). The book contains three principle themes which have informed the problematic of the community’s current self-identification – the story of their migration from ancient Israel, narratives explaining how the Bene Ephraim became untouchables, and representations of their relationship with caste Hindus.
‘Cultural Hermeneutics’ suggests that the ancestors of Bene Ephraim are the descendants of some of the Tribes of Israel, who in 722 BCE were exiled from the ancient kingdom of Israel by Assyria. After a sojourn in Persia, they were moved to the northern part of the subcontinent, which was then populated by Dravidian groups including Telugu speaking communities. As Bene Ephraim, they established good relations with them and made an impact on their religions and cultures. A large part of the book is devoted to the description of the alleged similarities between Hebrew and Telugu languages, which according to Shmuel Yacobi, was a result of this influence.
The story continues in the seventh century BCE, when the ‘Aryans’, who established the caste system and relegated both the Dravidians and Bene Ephraim to the positions of Shudras and untouchables
respectively, conquered the subcontinent. They were later moved to the South of India, where
they reside at the moment as untouchables, along with other Dravidians. According to Yacobi, the ancient texts that laid the foundation of the current Hindu tradition, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, contain the knowledge that was ‘stolen’ by ancient Aryans from the Dravidians and the Bene Ephraim.
The current state of affairs in the community is explained as an unfortunate result of the further
advance of the ‘Aryan rule’ under which the Bene Ephraim lost their status and political significance, were reduced to extreme poverty, and, left with no means of maintaining their tradition, almost forgot it.
Robinson and Kujur similarly posit that conversions in India are often associated with dissent and resistance. The Yacobi brothers refuse to describe the Judaization of the Bene Ephraim as a conversion movement. Shmuel, in particular, prefers to call it a teshuvah, or a process through which Jews who discontinued practicing Judaism in the past are rediscovering the tradition of their ancestors.
I started praying to God and I started asking several people, ‘What is this caste system? What is this discrimination? In Babylonian exile the Jewish people had to say, ‘We are unclean’. The same situation was here…
It was thus a protest against caste inequality that marked the beginning of his return to Judaism. His teshuvah became both a way of connecting to the wider Jewish community and a socio-cultural critique of the caste system, a critique which (to build on Viswanathan’s terms) preserved and expanded the idea about the Madiga being different from the ‘pure’ castes.
To succeed in the project of embracing Judaism, the Bene Ephraim do not need to seek the endorsement of higher castes.
If Ambedkar encouraged Indian Dalits to convert to a religion which was different from that of
Indian society’s dominant layers, but had still originated on the subcontinent, Shmuel Yacobi took a step further. Judaism is a religion which is not just ‘foreign’ to India, but a religion which can potentially set the community on a path towards leaving India and obtaining citizenship in a different country.
He does not just dissociate the Bene Ephraim rhetorically from the tradition of the higher castes, but prepares them to leave India for a different state, a place where, he argues, they won’t feel they have no country.
Shmuel Yacobi has conjectured that ancient Israelite theology and practices of his ancestors were stolen from them by the ‘Aryans’ and thus shaped the whole of Hinduism. For instance, he argues that many Telugu Hindu festivals have their analogues in the main Jewish holidays – the Hindus first learnt about these festivals from the Bene Ephraim, and once the latter came to be declared untouchables as a punishment for their resistance to the caste system, the Hindus prohibited them to practise these rites.
In Shmuel Yacobi’s view, by celebrating Jewish holidays, the Madiga are returning to their roots and reclaiming what was theirs in the first place. However, Shmuel Yacobi also suggests that the Madiga and other Dalits did manage to remember and keep at least two Jewish traditions which later became the main markers of their untouchability – the customs of beefeating and of burying their dead.
Most community members claim to command the knowledge of shehitah (Ritual animal slaughter in Judaism, which ensures that the meat of the slaughtered animal is kosher.) and say that they can make any meat kosher. However, in the discourse of the Bene Ephraim, kashrut means much more than Jewish dietary laws. When talking about the Bene Ephraim practice of eating kosher meat, the Yacobis particularly stress their knowledge of how to make buffalo meat kosher. According to Shmuel Yacobi, the fact that the Scheduled Castes of India possessed the knowledge about beef-eating – apractice which caste Hindus consider to be ritually polluting – is further evidence of their connection to the ancient Israelites.
Similar instances of Dalit groups reinterpreting practices associated with untouchability into positive ‘identity markers’ have been well documented by anthropologists of South Asia. David Mosse has described the way Christian Dalit thinkers participate in honouring Dalit cultures through the reconceptualisation of ‘outcaste’ practices – for instance, introducing drumming into Christian liturgy and promoting beef-eating and drumming in Jesuit schools. Still has discussed how beef-eating is
celebrated by the Madiga of coastal Andhra, who re-signify it from a repudiated practice into a positive symbol of Dalit culture (Still 2007). Similarly, when the Yacobis speak about the importance of observing the laws of kashrut, they not only try to establish a ritual connection with other Jewish communities around the world, but also to glorify the Madiga tradition. Buffalo meat becomes both a symbol of their rediscovered Jewish past, and a site of Dalit activism.
Marking the end of life with a burial is another practice that, according to the Yacobis, connects Dalits to Judaism. ‘This is what the Madiga used to do even before Christian missionaries arrived, and it is a Hebrew custom’, Shmuel Yacobi told us. We did not observe any funerals in the village, yet we were taken to the local Christian Madiga cemetery, where the tombs of deceased Bene Ephraim are marked with the same Jewish symbols as their houses – Stars of David, signs symbolizing the menorah, the words ‘Zion’ and ‘Shaddai’ written in Hebrew. The Madiga cemetery in itself is described by the Bene Ephraim as further evidence for their Hebrew origin.
They pride themselves on their practice of burying their dead, which is different from the cremating practice of caste Hindus, reinterpreting this practice as a tradition passed down to them by their Israelite ancestors. As it is the case with observing kashrut, the Madiga cemetery symbolises for the Bene Ephraim both their Jewish past and their Dalit heritage. It becomes both a new site in what Shalva Weil described as ‘Indian Jewish topographies’ (2009), and a prominent place of Madiga cultural history.
To return to the ethnographic context of the community’s life in the village, insisting on eating kosher provides the Bene Ephraim with a mechanism to separate their congregants ritually from the Christian Madiga and ensures that their neighbours are more likely to become aware of their Jewishness. We could sometimes observe Bene Ephraim refusing to eat in the houses of other villagers on the grounds that the food prepared in their homes.
In seeking ways to rediscover the lost tradition, the Bene Ephraim thus both deploy the tropes of ‘Jewish difference’ borrowed from Western discourses. In the Bene Ephraim discourse – which emerged in the writings of Shmuel Yacobi but rapidly spread in and outside the village –being Jewish, amongst other things, means being Madiga. It means to eat beef and to bury one’s dead, to denounce inequality and to fight caste discrimination.
HONORING THE RETURN OF A LOST TRIBE
From the time of the Assyrian Exile in 722 B.C.E. until the present, segments of the Jewish people have been forcibly separated from us through persecution and expulsion. One such segment previously lost to the Jewish community is a people now known by at least three names: Bnei Menashe (since they trace their ancestry to the tribe of Manasseh), the Shinlung (after caves in which they once found refuge), or the Chikimi (after the Chin, Kuki and Mizo ethnic groups from which they spring). The Bnei Menashe believe their ancestors were exiled in 722 B.C.E. and wandered across many lands. They live now in a mountainous region on the India-Burma border. Knowledge of various ritual observances was handed down orally for 26 centuries. Since 1993, approximately 300 Bnei Menashe have immigrated to Israel, worked to support themselves, and studied for conversion (back) to Judaism under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel.
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We recite a poem that, according to tradition, accompanied the Bnei Menashe throughout their migrations: We must keep the Passover festival Because we crossed the Red Sea on the dry land At night we crossed with a fire And by day with a cloud Enemies pursued us with chariots And the sea swallowed them up And used them as food for the fish. And when we were thirsty We received water from the rock We pause to reaffirm our unity with the Bnei Menashe and with K’lal Yisrael, all the Jewish people:
As we have wandered, so have they. As we have suffered for our beliefs, so have they. As we have retained our faith, so have they. As we have clung to our precious identity, so have they. As we long to lead Jewish lives, so do they. As we believe in the Promised Land, so do they. As we pray "You are One," so do they.
May those among the Bnei Menashe, and anyone else who desires to return to or turn to Judaism, celebrate Passover Seders next year in peace and tranquillity. L'Shanah Haba B'Yerushalayim!
The Benei Menasé
Rabbi Avichail has visited the area of the Shinlung a number of times to observe the group and study its connection with the Tribe of Menashe. According to his information, the Shinlung number approximately one-and-a-quarter million people, but according to their own research institute, the number in reality reaches some four-and-a-quarter million, some of whom are related not only to the Tribe of Menashe but also to the Tribe of Ephraim.
| Chin peoples |
The Chin (, tɕɪ́ɴ lù mjó), known as the Kuki in Assam, are one of the ethnic groups in Burma. The Chins are found mainly in western part of Burma (the Chin State) and numbered circa 1.5 million. They also live in nearby Indian states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and Assam. Owing to Mizo influence and Baptist missionaries' intervention, 80%-90% of the population are Christians. However, a sizable minority of the Chin adhere to their traditional tribal beliefs, as well as to Theravada Buddhism. A small group of individuals from Mizoram claimed that they are one of the lost tribes of Israel, that of Bnei Menashe tribe, some have since resettled in that country. The Chin are one of the large ethnic minority groups in Burma. The Chin people are of Tibeto-Burman groups and they probably came to Burma, especially the Chindwin valley in the late 9-10 century AD. Most Chin people moved westward and they probably settled in the present Chin State around 1300-1400 AD. The original meaning of "Chin" remains obscure, though scholars have proposed various theories no widely-held consensus has been reached. There are many tribes among the Chin people such as Daai,Zo, Thai, Tedim (who prefer to call themselves Zomi, as the word "Chin" is not in their own language; note the resemblance to Mizo of the neighbouring Mizoram state in India). Major tribes of the Chin include Asho, K'cho, Khumi, Zomi, Lai, Laizo, Laimi, Matu, Mara, etc. It would be relevant to mention also that they are related to the Kukis of Nagaland, Manipur and Assam.
Zomi is the name of a major tribe found in various parts of South and South East Asia. The term Zomi, meaning 'Zo People', is derived from the generic name 'Zo', the progenitor of the Zomi. They are found in northwestern Myanmar, northeastern India and Bangladesh. Anthropologists classify them as Tibeto-Burman speaking member of the Mongoloid race. In the past they were little known by this racial nomenclature. They were known by the non-tribal plain peoples of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India as Chin, Kuki, or Lushai. Subsequently the British employed these terms to christen those 'wild hill tribes' living in the "un-admiial. They are Zomi not because they live in the highlands or hills, but are Zomi and call themselves Zomi because they are the descendants of their great great ancestor, 'Zo'". The Zo people have common primordial name (i.e. Zo) common history, cultural affinities, belief system, economic life and cherished the dream of restoring their glorious past. They remain independent, self-sufficient and were never subjugated until the advent of the British imperialist. They governed themselves according to their traditional polity and legal system ensuring justice for all. The consequences of British imperialism proved disastrous and painful for the Zomi as they were subjected to subjugation, segmentation, division and confusion. As a result their primordial identity was almost completely forgotten and neglected.
| Chin State |
Chin State (tɕʰɪ́ɴ pjìnɛ̀) is a state located in western Burma (Myanmar). The Chin State is bordered by Rakhine State in the south, Bangladesh in south-west, Sagaing Division and Magway Division in the east, Indian state of Manipur in the north and Indian state of Mizoram in the west. The Chin ethnic group make up the majority of the state's 500,000 people. The capital of the state is Hakha. The state is covered with mountainous region with few transportation links, Chin State is sparsely populated and remains one of the least developed areas of the country. The Tibeto-Burman Zomi peoples entered the Zogam Hills some time in the first millennium AD, as part of the wider migration of Tibeto-Burman peoples into the area. Some historians speculate that the Thet people mentioned in the Burmese Chronicles might be the Chins. For much of history, sparsely populated Chin Hills were ruled by local chiefs. Political organization in the region prior to the Toungoo dynasty's conquest in mid-16th century remains largely conjectural. The first recorded instance of a western kingdom believed to be near the Chin Hills is the Kingdom of Pateikkaya, a tributary to the Pagan Kingdom in the 11th and 12th centuries. Some historians (Arthur Phayre, Tun Nyein) put Pateikkaya in eastern Bengal, thus placing the entire Chin Hills under Pagan suzerainty but others like Harvey, citing stone inscriptions, put it near eastern Chin Hills.
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Strictly speaking, Lai are the people belonging to the Lai Autonomous District Council of Mizoram, North-East India. From a historical point of view, Lai is a dominant tribe of the so-called Chin-Kuki–Lushai, the community is scattered in different parts of the world, mainly concentrating in Mizoram, Chin Hills of Burma, South Bangladesh (identified as Bawm), Manipur,etc. Total population is around 1,700,000 in 1991. Lai is an ethnic identity to call all the tribes of Chins, the Pawis, the Bawms, etc. Anu Bawm Chinzah,, Thangnge Hluancheu (or Hlawnchhing) Hranglung Khenglawt Khuangsai Lautu Pang Miram Senthang Sim Tlanglau Zahau Zangiat Zathang Zophei Lai (Pawi) who are living in the Lai Autonomous District of Mizoram are but a segment community of the much larger Lai (Chin) population of Burma and elsewhere to whom whatever name may be given. Regarding their origin, they share common ancestry with those of any mongoloid race in the NEI. Further back, a historic tradition has it that Lai were a people who had once lived in China. They migrated through the Tibetan mountains moving further towards the East to become a major tribal group in the Chin Hills of Burma from where same few came the to present habitat (Mizoram) in the beginning of the 18th century or earlier. Historians and Anthropologists are of the opinion that the Lai Community belongs to Tibeto-Burman of the Mongoloid stock. Their language is related to Tibeto-Chinese. A Philologist G.A.
The Kachin people are a group of ethnic groups who largely inhabit the kachin Hills in northern Burma's Kachin State and neighbouring areas of China and India. More than half of the Kachin people identify themselves as Christians - while a significant minority follow Buddhism and some also adhere to animism. Kachin state is also known as the land of jades and gold. The main subgroup is the Jingpo, for whom the term Jinghpaw (Jingpo) and Kachin are considered synonymous. However, by Myanmar's official designation, the term Kachin includes a variety of different linguistic groups with overlapping territories and integrated social structures. These are notably the Rawang, the Lisu, the Zaiwa, the Lashi/Lachik and the Lawngwaw as well as the majority Jingpo. Such definitions carefully distinguish Kachin and Shan (Tai) peoples though some Kachin people have defied the Western expectation of lineage-based ethnicity by culturally "becoming Shans" (Leach 1965). The Kachin people are traditionally known for their fierce independence, disciplined fighting skills, complex clan inter-relations, craftsmanship, herbal healing and jungle survival skills. In recent decades, their animist beliefs have been largely supplanted by embrace of Christianity, while traditional animist emblems and pursuits have been largely re-directed into folkloric events such as the annual Manao festival in Myitkyina.
| 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 British colonial policy. According to Lt. Colonel Shakespeare the term ‘Kuki’ has a definite meaning and include Aimol, Koireng, Kom, Purum, Gangte, Vaiphei, Simte, Paite, Hmar, Thadou, Zou,Sakachep (Khelma), Halam, Reang, Bawm, etc. G.A. Grierson in Linguistic Survey of India, 1867 stated that the tribes connoted by Kuki are able to understand others dialect. The term Kuki, in literature, first appeared in the writing of Rawlins when he wrote about the tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It refers to "Hillsmen" comprising numerous clans. These clans share a common past, culture, customs and tradition. They speak in dialects that have a common root language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group. The Kukis have Mongoloid features and are generally short-stature with straight black hair and dark brown eyes. The different Kuki clans are recognised as scheduled tribe of India. This tribe recognition is based on the dialect spoken and region. They spread out in the contiguous regions of Northeast India, Northwest Burma (Myanmar), and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. They are most prominent in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram. Kuki is composed of many different entities and clans.
The Karen or Kayin people (Karen: Pwa Ka Nyaw Poe or Kanyaw in Sgaw Karen and Ploan in Poe Karen; , kəjɪ̀ɴ lù mjó; กะเหรี่ยง, Kariang or Yang), refer to a number of Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic groups which reside primarily in southern and southeastern Burma (Myanmar). The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people. A large number of Karen also reside in Thailand, mostly on the Thai–Burmese border. The Karen are often confused with the Red Karen (or Karenni). The subgroup of the Karenni, the Padaung tribe from the border region of Burma and Thailand, are best known for the neck rings worn by the women of this group of people. Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State. Karen legends refer to a 'river of running sand' which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Karen think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Burma for centuries. The Karen constitute the third biggest ethnic population in Burma, after the Bamars and Shans. The term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion or material characteristics.
The Lusei (Old Mizo: Lushai) people are one of the eleven tribes of the Mizo people, native to Mizoram in Northeast India, Chin Hills in western Myanmar and Chittagong Hill Tracts of eastern Bangladesh. There have been many speculations as to what the name means. It was first interpreted 'long-headed', as they believe that it is actually 'lu-sei' and not 'Lusei' ('sei' means long), as the Lusei people tie their hair in knots at the back of their heads. The Lusei people are usually described as "short, sturdy and heavy people of Mongolian type." The average height of men was usually between 162 cm and 170 cm. The average women's height ranged from 140 cm to 160 cm. Their skin complexion varied between dark brown to light yellow. The Lusei, being one of the major tribes of the Mizo people, influenced neighbouring, smaller tribes, such as the Lai/Pawih, the Ralte, the Hmar, the Paite and the Rangte/Gangte. Presently all the ethnic Lusei people are Christian. The major Christian denominations are Presbyterian, Baptist Church of Mizoram, Salvation Army, Seventh-day Adventist, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal. In recent generations a small group of Mizo have claimed themselves as Jews; see Bnei Menashe. Only one language is spoken by the Lusei people and it is called the Lusei language (spelled Lushai by the Colonial British). Other languages were also spoken in the Lusei hills. However, the main one spoken is Lusei.
The Jingpho people or Kachin people (, kətɕɪ̀ɴ lù mjó; Jǐngpō zú; also Jingpo or Singpho; endonyms: Jinghpaw, Tsaiva, Lechi, Theinbaw, Singfo, Chingpaw) are an ethnic group who largely inhabit the Kachin Hills in northern Burma's Kachin State and neighbouring areas of China and India. The Jingpo form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they numbered 132,143 people in the 2000 census. The Singpho constitute the same ethnic identity, albeit living in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, an area also controversially claimed by China. The Jingpo people are an ethnic affinity of several tribal groups, known for their fierce independence, disciplined fighting skills, complex clan inter-relations, embrace of Christianity, craftsmanship, herbal healing and jungle survival skills. Other neighbouring residents of Kachin State include the Shans (Thai/Lao related), the Lisus, the Rawangs, the Nagas, and the Burmans, the latter forming the largest ethnic group in Burma, also called Bamar. Two different categorization schemes complicate the terms Jingpo and Kachin, which also operate as political geography terms of British origin. In one form of categorization, a variety of different linguistic groups with overlapping territories and integrated social structures are described as a single people: the Jingpo or Kachin. In another form of categorization, the native speakers of each language in the area are treated as distinct ethnic groups.
The Bene Israel ("Sons of Israel")
They are a historic community of Jews in India, believed to have been one of the Lost Tribes and descendants of ancestors who had settled there centuries ago. In the 19th century, after being taught about normative (Ashkenazi/Sephardi) Judaism, they tended to migrate from villages in the Konkan area to the nearby cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmedabad, and Karachi, in today's Pakistan. They gained positions with the British colonial authority.
In the early part of the twentieth century, many Bene Israel became active in the new film industry, as actresses and actors, producers and directors. After India gained its independence in 1947 and Israel was established in 1948, many Bene Israel emigrated to Israel.
According to Bene Israel tradition, their ancestors had migrated to India after centuries of travel through western Asia from Israel and gradually assimilated to the people around them, while keeping some Jewish customs. In the 18th century, a Jew named David Rahabi discovered the Bene Israel in their villages and recognized their vestigial Jewish customs. Some historians have thought their ancestors must have belonged to one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, but the Bene Israel have never been officially recognized as such. In 2002, a DNA test proved the Bene Israel had Israelite DNA. Rahabi taught the people about normative Judaism, and trained certain young men among them to be the religious preceptors of the community. Known as Kajis, the position of these men became hereditary, like the Cohanim. They were recognized as judges and settlers of disputes.
Bene Israel tradition places Rahabi's arrival at around 1000 or 1400, but historians believe he arrived in the 18th century. Historians think the "David Rahabi" of Bene Israel folklore is a man named David Ezekiel Rahabi, who lived from 1694 to 1772, and resided in Cochin, then the center of the wealthy Malabar Jewish community.
It is estimated that there were 6,000 Bene Israel in the 1830s; 10,000 at the turn of the 20th century; and in 1948—their peak in India—they numbered 20,000.
Under British colonial rule, many Bene Israel rose to prominence in India. They were less affected than other Indians by the colonial racially-discriminatory policies. They served as officers in the British Indian Army and gained higher positions in Post & Telegraph, Railways, Ports & medical profession.
In the early twentieth century, Bene Israel became leaders in the new film industry—traditional Indian women would not appear in film, and several prominent actresses of the era were Bene Israel, including Ruby Myers ('Sulochana), the highest-paid actress of the time. In addition, men worked as producers: Ezra Mir (alias Edwin Myers) (1903-1993) became the first chief of India's Film Division, and Solomon Moses was head of the Bombay Film Lab Pvt Ltd from the 1940s to 1990s.
A page from a Haggada shel Pesach in Judaeo-Marathi, printed in Mumbai, 1890.
Given their success under the British colonial government, many Bene Israel prepared to leave India at independence in 1947, as it appeared that nationalism and emphasis on indigenous religions would mean fewer opportunities for them. Most emigrated to Israel, which was newly established as a Jewish homeland.
Between 1948 and 1952, some 2,300 Bene Israel immigrated to Israel. Several rabbis refused to marry Bene Israel to other Jews, on grounds that they were not legitimate Jews. As a result of sit-down protests and hunger strikes, the Jewish Agency returned 337 individuals in several groups to India between 1952 and 1954. Most returned to Israel after several years.
In 1962, the Indian press reported that European-Jewish authorities in Israel had treated the Bene Israel with racism. They objected to the Chief Rabbi of Israel ruling that, before registering a marriage between Indian Jews and Jews not belonging to that community, the registering rabbi should investigate the lineage of the Indian applicant for possible non-Jewish descent. In case of doubt, they should require the applicant to perform conversion or immersion. The alleged discrimination may be related to the fact that some religious authorities believe that the Bene Israel were not fully Jewish because of having had intermarriage during their long separation from major communities of Jews. Others thought that was a convenient cover for racially based bias against Jews who were not Ashkenazy or Sephardim.
Between 1962 and 1964, the Bene Israel community staged protests, and in 1964 the Israeli Rabbinate declared that the Bene Israel are "full Jews in every respect". Following this declaration, a new wave of Bene Israel immigrated to Israel from India. In 2002, a DNA test proved the Bene Israel had Israelite DNA.
The Report of the High Level Commission on the Indian Diaspora reviewed life in Israel for the Bene Israel community. It noted that the city of Beersheba in Southern Israel has the largest community of Bene Israel, with a sizable one in Ramla. They operate a new form of the joint family transnationally. Generally the Bene Israel have not been politically active and have had modest means. They have not formed continuing economic connections to India and have limited political status in Israel.
Bene Israel Genes Are Cohanic
A July 20 article by Rashmee Z. Ahmed in the Times of India reports on a new study confirming that the Bene Israel Jews of India carry the gene of Jewish priests (cohanim). In the article, entitled “India’s Children of Israel Find Their Roots,” Tudor Parfitt, the British anthropologist who initiated the research, is quoted as saying that there is only a “billion to one chance of a mistake.” Genetic testing was performed in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Ahmedabad, where about 4000 Bene Israel live.
Cochin Jews
Most of the Cochin Jews, both Paradesi and Malabari, emigrated to Israel following its establishment in 1948. The remaining Paradesi community dwindled as its members assimilated into the Nasrani Christian community.
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are of Mizrahi heritage and the oldest group of Jews in India, with possible roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon. The Cochin Jews settled in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the state of Kerala. Becoming known as the Malabari Jews, they built synagogues in Kerala beginning in the 12th and 13th centuries and developed Judeo-Malayalam, a dialect of Malayalam language.
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) said, "Though they neither eat nor drink together, nor intermarry, the Black and the White Jews of Cochin have almost the same social and religious customs. They hold the same doctrines, use the same ritual (Sephardic), observe the same feasts and fasts, dress alike, and have adopted the same language Malayalam. ... The two classes are equally strict in religious observances,"
According to, Martine Chemana, the Jews of Cochin "coalesced around the religious fundamentals: devotion and strict obedience to Biblical Judaism and to the Jewish customs and traditions ... Hebrew, taught through the Torah texts by rabbis and teachers who came especially from Yemen..."
The Jews of Cochin had a long tradition of singing devotional hymns (piyyutim) and songs on festive occasions as well as women singing Jewish prayers and narrative songs in Judeo-Malayalam; they did not adhere to the Talmudic prohibition against public singing by women (kol isha).
India became independent of Britain in 1947 and Israel established itself as a nation. With the heightened nationalism and emphasis in the Partition of India of Hindu and Muslim identities, most of Cochin's Jews emigrated from India. Generally they went to Israel (made aliyah). Many joined the moshavim (agricultural settlements) of Nevatim, Shahar, Yuval, and Mesilat Zion. Others settled in the neighbourhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, and in Beersheba, Dimona and Yeruham, where many Bene Israel had settled. Since the late 20th century, former Cochin Jews have also immigrated to the United States.
The Cochini Anjuvannam Jews also migrated to Malaya. Records show that they were settled in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The last descendant of Cochin Jews in Seremban is Benjamin Meyuhasheem.
Paradesi Jews or White Jews
Following expulsion from Iberia in 1492 by the Alhambra Decree, a few families of Sephardic Jews eventually made their way to Cochin in the 16th century. They became known as Paradesi Jews (or White Jews). The European Jews maintained some trade connections to Europe, and their language skills were useful. Although the Sephardim spoke Ladino, in India they learned Judeo-Malayalam from the Malabar Jews. The two communities retained their ethnic distinctions. In the late 19th century, a few Arabic-speaking Jews, who became known as Baghdadi, also immigrated to southern India, and joined the Paradesi community.
After India gained its independence in 1947 and Israel was established as a nation, most Cochin Jews emigrated from Kerala to Israel in the mid-1950s. Most of their synagogues have been sold and adapted for other uses. The Paradesi synagogue still has a congregation and also attracts tourists as a historic site. The synagogue at Chennamangalam was reconstructed in 2006 and the one at Parur is currently being reconstructed.
P. M. Jussay wrote that it was believed that the earliest Jews in India were sailors from King Solomon's time. It has been claimed that following the destruction of the First Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BC, some Jewish exiles came to India.
But it was after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE that there are records of numerous Jewish settlers arriving at Cranganore, an ancient port near Cochin. Cranganore, now transliterated as Kodungallur, but also known under other names, is a city of legendary importance to this community. Fernandes writes, it is "a substitute Jerusalem in India," and Katz and Goldberg note the "symbolic intertwining" of the two cities.
A Paradesi Jew (white Jew)
St. Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus, is believed to have visited India while prosyletizing. Many of the Jews who converted to Christianity at that time were absorbed by what became the Nasrani or Saint Thomas Christians.
Central to the history of the Cochin Jews was their close relationship with Indian rulers. This was codified on a set of copper plates granting the community special privileges. The date of these plates, known as "Sâsanam", is contentious. The plates are physically inscribed with the date 379 CE, but in 1925, tradition was setting it as 1069 CE. Indian rulers granted the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin, giving him the rulership and tax revenue of a pocket principality in Anjuvannam near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses". The Hindu king gave permission in perpetuity (or, in the more poetic expression of those days, "as long as the world and moon exist") for Jews to live freely, build synagogues, and own property "without conditions attached". A family connection to Rabban, "the king of Shingly" (another name for Cranganore), was long considered a sign of both purity and prestige within the community. Rabban's descendants led this distinct community until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them named Joseph Azar, in the 16th century. The oldest known gravestone of a Cochin Jew is written in Hebrew and dates to 1269 CE. It is near the Chendamangalam (also spelled Chennamangalam) Synagogue, built in 1614. It is now operated as a museum.
In 1341 a disastrous flood silted up the port of Cranganore, and trade shifted to a smaller port at Cochin (Kochi). Many of the Jews moved quickly, and within four years, they had built their first synagogue at the new community. The Portuguese Empire established a trading beachhead in 1500, and until 1663 remained the dominant power. They continued to discriminate against the Jews, although doing business with them. A synagogue was built at Parur in 1615, at a site that according to tradition had a synagogue built in 1165. Almost every member of this community emigrated to Israel in 1954.
In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode and not to be confused with Calcutta), attacked the wealthy Jews of Cranganore because of their primacy in the lucrative pepper trade. The Jews fled south to the Kingdom of Cochin, seeking the protection of the Cochin Royal Family (Perumpadapu Swaroopam). The Hindu Raja of Cochin gave them asylum. Moreover, he exempted Jews from taxation but bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the tax-payers.
Some went beyond that territory, including a few families who followed the Arab spice routes to southern India. Speaking Ladino language and having Sephardic customs, they found the Malabari Jewish community as established in Cochin to be quite different. According to the historian Mandelbaum, there were resulting tensions between the two ethnic communities. The European Jews had some trade links to Europe and useful languages to conduct international trade, i.e. Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish, later on maybe Dutch. These attributes helped their position both financially and politically.
When the Portuguese occupied the Kingdom of Cochin, they allegedly discriminated against its Jews. Nevertheless, to some extent they shared language and culture, so ever more Jews came to live under Portuguese rule (actually under the Spanish crown, again, between 1580 and 1640). The Protestant Dutch killed the raja of Cochin, allied of the Portuguese, in 1662, during their siege of Cochin. The Jews, having supported the Dutch military attempt, suffered the murderous retaliation of both Portuguese and Malabar population. A year later, the second Dutch siege was succesful and, after slaughtering the Portuguese, they fanatically demolished most catholic churches or turned them into Protestant Churches (not even sparing the one where Vasco da Gama had been buried). Nevertheless, they were more tolerant of the Jews, having given many asylum in the Netherlands.
The Paradesi Jews (also called White Jews) built one, the Paradesi Synagogue. The latter group was very small by comparison to the Malabaris. Both groups practiced endogamous marriage, maintaining their distinctions. Both communities claimed special privileges and the greater status over each other.
In Cochin, the Paradesi Synagogue is still active as a place of worship, but the Jewish community is very small. The building also attracts visitors as a historic tourist site. As of 2008, the ticket-seller at the synagogue, Yaheh Hallegua, is the last female Paradesi Jew of child-bearing age in the community.
The 12th-century Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela wrote about the Malabari coast of Kerala: "The inhabitants are all black, and the Jews also. The latter are good and benevolent. They know the law of Moses and the prophets, and to a small extent the Talmud and Halacha." European Jews sent texts to the community of Cochin Jews to teach them about normative Judaism.
Malabar Jews or Black jews
The Malabari Jews built additional synagogues at Mala and Ernakulum. In the latter location, Kadavumbagham Synagogue was built about 1200 and restored in the 1790s. Its members believed they were the congregation to receive the historic copper plates. In the 1930s and 1940s, the congregation was as large as 2,000 members, but all emigrated to Israel.
Thekkambagham Synagogue was built in Ernakulum in 1580, and rebuilt in 1939. It is the synagogue in Ernakulam sometimes used for services if former members of the community visit from Israel. In 1998, five families who were members of this congregation still lived in Kerala or in Madras.
The Malabari Jews (referred to historically during the colonial years as Black, although their skin colour was brown) built seven synagogues in Cochin, reflecting the size of their population.
The Paradesi Jews, also called "White Jews", settled in the Cochin region in the 16th century and later, following the expulsion from Iberia due to forced conversion and religious persecution in Spain and then Portugal. Some fled north to Holland but the majority fled east to the Ottoman Empire.
"Black Jew" of Cochin
Maimonides (1135–1204), the preeminent Jewish philosopher of his day, wrote, "Only lately some well-to-do men came forward and purchased three copies of my code [the Mishneh Torah] which they distributed through messengers.... Thus the horizon of these Jews was widened and the religious life in all communities as far as India revived."
In a 1535 letter sent from Safed, Israel to Italy, David del Rossi wrote that a Jewish merchant from Tripoli had told him the India town of Shingly (Cranganore) had a large Jewish population who dabbled in yearly pepper trade with the Portuguese. As far as their religious life, he wrote they: "only recognize the Code of Maimonides and possessed no other authority or Traditional law." According to the contemporary historian Nathan Katz, Rabbi Nissim of Gerona (the Ran) visited the Cochini Jews. They preserve in their song books the poem he wrote about them. In the Kadavumbagham synagogue, a Hebrew school was available for both "children's education and adult study of Torah and Mishnah."
Meshuchrarim Jews
It is claimed that the White Jews had brought with them from Iberia a few score meshuchrarim (former slaves, some of mixed African-European descent). Although free, they were relegated to a subordinate position in the community. These Jews formed a third sub-group within Cochin Jewry. According to other sources, the so called Malabari Jews were basically the offspring of White Jews fathers and Malabar women (first Arab and Persian Jew traders, later on Iberian fortune-seekers), as much as the so-called Anglo-Indian were basically the offspring of Portuguese men and Indian women (only later on, Dutch men and even later and to a lesser extent, British men). The meshuchrarim were not allowed to marry White Jews and had to sit in the back of the synagogue; these practices were similar to the discrimination against converts from lower castes sometimes found in Christian churches in India.
In the early 20th century, Abraham Barak Salem (1882–1967), a young lawyer who became known as a "Jewish Gandhi", worked to end the discrimination against meshuchrarim Jews. Inspired by Indian nationalism and Zionism, he also tried to reconcile the divisions among the Cochin Jews.[30] He became both an Indian nationalist and Zionist. His family were descended from meshuchrarim. The Hebrew word denoted a manumitted slave, and was at times used in a derogatory way. Salem fought against the discrimination by boycotting the Paradesi Synagogue for a time. He also used satyagraha to combat the social discrimination. According to Mandelbaum, by the mid-1930s many of the old taboos had fallen with a changing society.
Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews
Baghdadi Jews, also known as Iraqi Jews, are Jewish emigrants from Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, some of whom were merchant traders settled on trade routes, and some of whom fled religious persecution and formed immigrant communities in their new homelands. Baghdad and Iraq in general used to have one of the largest, if not the largest Jewish community in the Middle East and Central Asia, and these new immigrant communities also included Jews as part of the Persian and Mughal courtiers.
Records of Jewish tradesmen traveling from Baghdad can be found from the early 17th century, and around the mid-19th century a large portion of the community started immigrating to South and South-east Asia as well as to the west, creating new communities while preserving their unique traditions.
Baghdadi Jews presence in Asia
The main Baghdadi Jewish communities in Asia are found in India, Yangon (Rangoon), Singapore, and Shanghai. The majority of Baghdadi Jews lived in the Indian cities of Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkata (Calcutta). The ethnic Jewish community in Penang is now extinct with the passing of its last member in 2011. Some smaller Jewish communities, such as the one in Bangkok, trace their first founders to Baghdadi Jewish traders who worked and settled down in the region.There are only one or two remaining Baghdadi Jews in Bangladesh.
History
The Zoroastrians and the Jews in Middle East had been migrating to other regions, specially India to escape persecution in the medieval ages. Due to social conditions, the Jews traditionally took trade & commerce as their source of livelihood in Europe and elsewhere. In 1730, Joseph Semah arrived in Surat from Baghdad and established the Surat Synagogue and Cemetery. There was already an established Baghdadi Jew community by then with its center in Surat. Surat was a main trading port in the 16th and 17th centuries; the East India Company used the city as a trade transit point, beginning in 1608. Surat is located in Western India, in Gujarat State, and is the modern commercial capital of Gujarat. Arabic-speaking Jews came to India as traders in the wake of the Portuguese, Dutch and British. These "Baghdadis," as they came to be known, especially the Sassoons of Bombay and the Ezras of Calcutta, eventually established manufacturing and commercial houses of fabulous wealth. The majority came from Iraq, thus giving the community its name, though smaller groups came from other countries such as Syria and Afghanistan and assimilated into the Baghdadi group. Unlike other Indian Jewish communities, whose oral traditions attest to their presence in India as long as 2000 years ago, the Baghdadi communities were established comparatively recently (in the past few centuries).
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Sir David Sasson is the most illustrious name of this community of Jews. In Mumbai, the Jewish community was concentrated in the Jacob Circle (now renamed Gadge Maharaj Chowk) area in Central Bombay. They had totally integrated themselves with the society around them. Their dress used to be traditionally Indian. Their womenfolk wear saree; and bangles. Their surnames and family names were like those of other Indians. Their culinary habits are also influenced by Indian.
Persian speaking Jews closely related to Baghdadi Jews from Afghanistan and Iran came with the Ghaznavad, Ghori and Mughal invasions of Mahmud (11th century), Muhammad (12th century) and Babur (16th century). The most obscure of Indian Jews, they were traders and courtiers of the Mughals. Jewish advisors at the Court of Akbar the Great in Agra played a significant role in Akbar's liberal religious policies and built a synagogue there. In Delhi, one Jew was tutor to the Crown Prince, Dara Shikoh; the teacher and student were later assassinated by Aurangzeb when he usurped the throne. These Jews got assimilated in the local population as no trace or community remains.
The community largely emigrated abroad following Indian independence following Zionism. They primarily feared that an independent India would become hostile to Jews like Pakistan, and also emigrated out of economic concerns, fearing that India would become communist once the British left. After Indian independence, there was a continuous migration of Baghdadi Jews to Israel. Many others went to the United States and United Kingdom.
Cuisine
Indian Baghdadi cuisine is an Indian hybrid cuisine, with many Arab, Turkish, Persian and Indian influences. Famous Baghdadi dishes include Beef curry, Baghdadi Biryani and Baghdadi Jewish parathas. A Baghdadi version of Tandoori chicken is also popular (using lemon juice to cook the chicken instead of cream used in the usual Indian recipe). Other Jewish Baghdadi communities have mixed their original Iraqi Jewish dishes with influences from the local cuisine where they settled.
The Labanas (a subgroup of the Banjaras) are related to Gypsies & are Hebrews like them
Citing his own work 'The Holy Bible - A Source book of Ancient Indian History', a paper submitted to All Indian Oriental Conference (1976) held at Dharwar, he notes that "We have already tried to equate Brahma, Sarasvati, Manu and Bali with the Biblical Abraham, Sarai, Noah and Peleg." Not only that, but Shukla holds that the Jewish Laban and Brahmanic Lavana coincide:
"It is noteworthy to note in the above context that the sister of Lavana on the Indian side becomes the daughter of Laban in the Biblical account. It may also be mentioned in this respect that while Sarasvati is said to be the daughter of Brahma in accordance with the Indian tradition, her Biblical counterpart, Sarai, has been described as the sister of Abraham. In this context, we would like to remind our readers of a previous discussion of 'Svas', the root-word of the Sanskrit 'svasar' (sister) which becomes 'Bes' to mean 'daughter' in the Hebrew language."
Labana
Labanas are a Punjabi tribe. The Labanas of Punjab region are mostly Sikhs, with a small minority of Muslims and Hindus. According to British records 33% of the Labana were baptised Sikhs and were found primarily in the Lahore, Gujranwala, and Sialkot areas. The Labanas (along with many other groups) saw the highest conversions into Sikhism during 1881–1891.
According to George Armand Furse, "The Jut and Lobana castes of Sikhs possess in a high degree the useful knowledge of the lading and care of beasts of burden".
Origin
The name Laban may refer to the transport of salt. "The term Labana appears to be derived out from loon (salt) and bana means trade, and the lubana, Lobana or libana was doubtless the great salt-carrying and salt trading caste". Ancient Medieval The lobanas are of Rajput origin who took trade as profession in the medieval period on account of being displaced after repeated aggressions in the north western India. Now basically an agriculturist community spread over North Western India. The Latin word salis, salt in English, rendered the English word salary. That's because the ancient Roman soldiers were paid in salt, since salt was a very appreciated & valuable mineral product especially for cooking. If the Lobanas were traders, especially if their main product was a mineral like salt, they must have been in a good economic position back then. The Jews, like the Lobanas, have been & still are, the most remarkable trading people.
Lobana also means who wear Iron Dress, i.e. dress of Military person. They mentioned Lobana were Military persons who served in Guru's army.
Labanki, the dialect of Labanas, is a mixture of Marwari, Saraiki, Gujarati and Marathi.
Role in Sikh History
After Guru Harkrishan, the eighth Guru of Sikhism, died in 1664, there was confusion about the identification of his successor. According to Sikh legends, Makhan Shah, a great merchant of the Labana tribe, identified Guru Teg Bahadur as the successor of Guru Harkrishan. Makhan Shah was very helpful to Guru Teg Bahadur during his pontificate. The Labanas participated in battles fought by the tenth Guru.
During the Misl period, the Labanas joined the services of various "Misldars".During the eighteenth century the Labanas began to follow a settled way of life. The Labanas of Lower Indus, Gujranwala and Jhang, settled as cultivators during Sikh rule.
Wherever the Labanas settled they named their villages as Tandas. Tanda in Labanki dialect means a travelling body encampment. In Kangra district, the Lobanas had four hamlets, each called Tanda. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Lobanas at some places owned not only parts of villages, but also entire villages and even groups of villages. They were chiefly found in the Punjab during the Sikh rule. Labanas were listed as a martial race by the British.
The Labanas are related to gypsies
Labanas are said to have nomadic roots but are not related to the Lambada or Labada tribe of Andhra. There are some who believe that they are of the same stock as the Gypsies or Roma people of Europe. Labanas have been linked with Gypsies from Turkey. The nomadic lifestyle of the Lubanas is similar like the Jew's & other Israelites, Gypsies included.
Labanas today
Today Labana is a landholding-rich community of Punjab. A large number of Labanas are settled abroad in western countries. The people are hard-working and uplifted the community again to its pride, which was in crisis during the early years of partition. Most Sikh Labanas are of western Punjab origin (now in Pakistan) and are called Panahi, while a smaller ratio are of East Punjab origin and are called Jaddi.
Demographics
The Labana Sikh community's main regions of concentration are: Tri State Area (NY City, New Jersey, Connecticut) and Michigan in the United States; the Greater Toronto Area in Canada; Brescia, Mantova, Pralboino in Italy; Hoshiarpur/Jalandhar/Kapurthala/Gurdaspur region in East Punjab and Ambala/Yamunagar/Pehowa/Naraingarh (Shapur) (Distt. ambala) region in Haryana. In addition, there is a sizeable Labana community present in California, Indiana, Illinois (USA); Frankfurt area (Germany); Birmingham, Southall (UK); Jammu region (J&K); Mohali and Panchkula (Chandigarh); Karnal and Panipat region (Haryana); NCR (Delhi etc.); Rajasthan; Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, and Australia. In Nahan, Paonta Sahib (kolar) Distt Sirmour Himachal, Baddi Distt solan Himachal.
Muslim Labanas (also called Rahmani) are scattered across Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Pakpattan, Gujrat, Sahiwal Sukkar, Rahimyarkhan, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Hasilpur, Khanewal, Chichwatni and Lahore districts of Punjab in Pakistan.
Hindu Labanas live mostly in Himachal Pradesh (Kangra, Mandi, Sundernagar). Most of the Sikh and Muslim Labanas speak Punjabi. Hindu Labanas speak other languages like Pahari-Potwari (Punchhi), Haryanvi (Bagdi), Harauti, and Mewari. The older generation of Sikh and Muslim Labanas used to speak a language called Labanki, which is now extinct.
Clans/Gots
The major Labana clans/gots include Ghotra or Ajrawat, Bawa, Baghyana,Gujjar', Ghotra Lakhman, Multani, Labana, Sujlana, Maniani, Chaniana and Gahra (most of Gahra's belong to Nangal Labana). Other Clans are Badwalie, Belia, bakhelia, Bhagtaun, bharpoda, Bhonie, Khatedia, Dahgre, Danie, Dara Shah, Datla, Dhandsi, Dharim, Dotal, Fatra, Fidda, Gojalia, Gujars, Jullon, jTatra,karsana, Kankanya, Kharrie, Khera, Khasria, Kulwana, Lahoriae, Lavana, Lulia, Makhan Shahi, Manhani/Maniani, Mathoan, mathaunie, Mochie, Nanaut, Narowal, Padurgi, Palsiya,Parwal, Pelia, TAdra, tarheem, tagarya, Vakhil, Wamial, Wamowal, Lalia, Azrot, Purbia, Tharimia, Ghare.karsana is not a common clan.They are from tahli village and are now found in nizampur village of distt kapurthala.
Labana World
The Lobanas are a sub-division of the Banjaras. They played an important role in the history of the Panjab in general, and that of the Sikhs in particular. Many Lobanas like Makhan Shah, Lakhi Shah and Sant Prem Singh rendered valubale services to Sikhism. The social mobility among the Lobanas under the British rule is also noteworthy. From carriers and traders they overwhelmingly became agriculturists. The socio- religious resurgence in the Panjab during the period under investigation introduced many reforms in this community. Thus, study of the Lobana community helps us to understand the general process of socio-cultural change in the Panjab.
Several of the names of the Labanas: Banjara, Banjari, Pindari, Bangala, Banjori, Banjuri, Brinjari, Lamani, Lamadi, Lambani, Labhani, Lambara, Lavani, Lemadi, Lumadale, Labhani Muka, Goola, Gurmarti,dadi, Gormati, Kora, Sugali, Sukali, Tanda, Vanjari, Vanzara, & Wanji.
It's interesting that one of the names of the Labanas in the list above is Lamani, which is the Hebrew to say Lamanite, the name of the dark skinned Israelite people of the ancient Americas as believed by the Mormons according to the Book of Mormon.
Total population ca. 5.6 million
Regions with significant populations: Andhra Pradesh 2.2 million Karnataka 1.1 million Maharashtra 0.9 million Madhya Pradesh 0.4 million Rajasthan 0.3 million
Languages Lambadi, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi Religion Hinduism
Related ethnic groups (other Hindustani populations)
The Banjara are a class of usually described as nomadic people from the Indian state of Rajasthan, North-West Gujarat, and Western Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Sindh province of Pakistan. They claim to belong to the clan of Agnivanshi Rajputs, and are also known as Lakha Banjara means 'Lakhapati', Banjari, Pindari, Bangala, Banjori, Banjuri, Brinjari, Lamani, Lamadi, Lambani, Labhani, Lambara, Lavani, Lemadi, Lumadale, Labhani Muka, Goola, Gurmarti,dadi, Gormati, Kora, Sugali, Sukali, Tanda, Vanjari, Vanzara, and Wanji. Together with the Domba, they are sometimes called the "gypsies of India".
They are divided in two tribes, Maturia, and Labana.
Banjara woman in traditional dress
Origins
According to J.J Roy Burman, in his book titled, “Ethnography of a Denotified Tribe The Laman Banjara”, The name Laman is popular long before the name Banjara and the Laman Banjaras originally came from Afghanistan before settling in Rajasthan and other parts of India. He states that according to Motiraj Rethod, the Lamans were originally from Afghanistan and there is an independent province and village called Gor in that country.
Distribution
In Uttar Pradesh, they are concentrated in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Etawah, Moradabad, Tanda [Rampur], Mathura, Etah and Agra districts. A few are also found in the Nainital District of Uttarakhand. In Madhya Pradesh, they are found in the districts of Jabalpur, Chhindwara and Mandla. While in Gujarat, they are found in the districts of Panchmahal, Kheda, Ahmedabad, and Sabarkantha. Many members of this community migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and have settled in Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh. The Banjara community is concentrated in the Rohilkhand region of western Uttar Pradesh. There settlements are generally known as tandas, which means camp, reflecting their nomadic background. In Pilibhit District, the main villages are Neoria Hussainpur and Bhikarpur, and the Naiks or headmen of these villages were substantial landowners at one time. In neighbouring Bareilly District, the community are found mainly in Baheri tehsil, where they were at one time substantial landowners. The main villages in Bareilly District include Tanda Dayanatpur, Tanda Chhanga and Tanda. The Largest Muslim Banjara populated town is Tanda, District Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. Here population of Muslim Banjaras is more than 30,000 (thirty thousand). Here All Muslim Banjaras are from sunni sects. But Banjara community in Tanda, Rampur is lagging in the field of education. No government school could be opened here after 1952. Education specially female educational infrastructure is non-existing. Shahabuddin Ghauri is the first person in Tanda, Rampur who got Masters Degree, He is a social activist and is trying to establish basic educational infrastructure in the town with the help of some NGOs.
Etymology
The word "Banjara" must have evolved from Prakrit and Hindi and Rajasthani words "Bana/Ban or Vana/Van" meaning Forest or Moorlands and "Chara" meaning 'Movers'. The Banjara are (together with the Domba) sometimes called the "Gypsies of India".
The word Banjara is a deprecated, colloquial form of the word of Sanskrit origin. The Sanskrit compound-word vana chara, "forest wanderers" was given to them presumably because of their primitive role in the Indian society as forest wood collectors and distributors.
Any relation between them & the Lemba? How 'bout the Levim or Levites?
Muslims of Israelite Descent in India & AfPak
I presented a paper on the “Traditions of Israelite Descent Among Certain Muslim Groups in India”, viz., the Kashmiri in Jammu and Kashmir, most of whom are Muslim, and the three Muslim groups in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, viz., the Qidwai/Kidwai in Barabanki; the Pashtun/Pathan in Malihabad (District Lucknow), Qayamganj (District Farrukhabad), Shahjahanpur and Rampur (also found elsewhere in India); and the Bani Israil in Sambhal (District Moradabad) and Aligarh.
All of these groups have had traditions of Israelite descent for centuries. Two of them, the Kashmiri and the Pashtun/Pathan, trace their descent from the lost tribes of Israel. The Pashtuns/Pathans in India have largely lost their traditions of Israelite origin, yet it is still very strong in their native places, Afghanistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.
By the way, Pathans, Pashtuns, Pakhtuns and Afghans are names which are often used interchangeably. To be precise, those who inhabit plains and open plateaus are entitled to the name Afghan, which has a far wider connotation than just being a subject of the modern state of Afghanistan, founded only in 1747. The northern highlanders call themselves Pakhtuns, while the southern highlanders are known as Pashtuns. Unfortunately, Pashtuns/Pathans are the same people who largely fill the ranks of the Taliban today.
While the Qidwais/Kidwais trace their geneaology from a Sufi of Jewish descent, Qazi/Qadi Qidwatuddin of Rum (modern Turkey), who settled in India in 1191 CE, the members of the Bani Israil clan of Sambhal (District Moradabad) and Aligarh claim descent from a Jewish sahaabi (companion of Muhammad), Abdullah Ibn-i-Salaam. According to them, their ancestors settled in India a millennium ago to propagate and preach Islam.
It is sad that a secular state like India, which has had a Jewish presence for more than two millennia and still has three Jewish communities, excluding the two newly emerged communities of Bnei Menashe and Bnei Ephraim, does not have Jewish Studies as an academic discipline, while Islamic Studies is available at all major Indian universities. This center could do a good job at making the Afridi Pashtuns/Pathans there conscious of their putative Israelite roots and stimulating their interest in tracing their probable Israelite ancestry.
The “Theory of the Israelite Origin of Afridi Pashtuns/Pathans.” Numerically, Afridi is one of the biggest, and politically one of the most influential, of the 60 Pashtun/Pathan tribes found in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. The Afridi population was estimated to be around 275,000 in 1962, and according some estimates, their present population is 315,000. This is part of the total Pathan/Pashtun population of 20 million, as estimated in 1986, of which about 1 million live in Pakistan, and the remainder in Afghanistan. A sprinkling of Afridi Pashtuns/Pathans is also found in India, in Malihabad and Qayamgan, cities being marketed as international Jewish tourist destinations.
Afridis settled in India mostly between the years 1748 and 1761. Their tradition of Israelite origin finds mention in a number of texts dating from the 10th century till the present day, written by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars alike. Even modern scholars like the Israeli Shalva Weil consider them the “best candidates” for the status of the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. Jewish immigrants from Afghanistan testify to the prevalence of many Jewish rituals and customs among them, viz., the lighting of candles on Shabbat, keeping of long sidelocks, wearing of shawls resembling the tallith, circumcision on the eighth day after birth, and Levirate marriage.
The very next day I spoke on Jews and the Judaising Movements in India. Indian Jewry can be broadly divided into three distinct groups – numerically the largest, the Bene Israel, the smallest, the Cochini, and the last to settle in India, the Baghdadi. Apart from these, two Judaizing movements have emerged in India, the Bnei Menashe in the northeast and the Bnei Ephraim in the south.
The Qidwai or Kidwai
The Qidwai or Kidwai (Urdu: قدوای ) are a community of Muslims in Pakistan and India. They are mostly settled in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also settled in the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, also the Middle East. The Qidwai, together with the Milki, Malik and Chaudhary are one of the four sub-group of a community who collectively form the Mian Muslim. The Mian Muslim were once a community of substantial landowners in the Awadh region. They have Israelite origin according to Mr. Afreedi.
The Qidwa claim descent from Qazi Qidwa, a prince of the Sultanate of Rûm, in what is now modern Turkey. There are differing traditions as to the ethnic origin of the Qazi. Some sources claim he was a descendent of Abu Bakr, the first caliph of Islam. Qazi Qidwa had a fall out with the Sultan, his brother, and migrated to India, with wife and son. There he became a close associate of the famous Sufi saint which was a Jew, Moinuddin Chishti. The saint is said to have sent him to the Awadh region to spread Islam, where he is said to have won over fifty villages to Islam. These fifty villages were later awarded to him, and the region became known as Qidwara. According to another tradition, Qazi Qidwa is said have defeated a local ruler in the Awadh region by the name of Raja Jagdeopur. This Raja was said to have belonged to the aboriginal Bhar community. The original settlement of the tribe was Juggaur in Lucknow district, from where they spread to Barabanki District. The taluqdar families have historically intermarried with the Awadhi Bhatti, a neighbouring Muslim Rajput community, with whom they share many cultural traits.
The abolishment of the zamindar system by the newly independent India in 1947 had a major impact on the Qidwai community. The larger estates were broken, and land given to the farmers who worked on their lands. This led to some emigration of the Qidwais to Pakistan. The Qidwais are still found mainly in the districts of Lucknow, Faizabad and Barabanki in Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh.
The Milkis
Have the Milki (also known as Malik) people royal Israelite ancestry? Their name have the MLK consonants that in Hebrew represent "king". Milki
In the Amarna letters, before the Israelites gained the Promised Land, Milkilu was the mayor/ruler of the city of Gezer. Melchizedek was the celebrated righteous man to whom the very Abraham paid tithings. The also famous "Order of Melchizedek" was a priestly order. It was known as the Order of Milki-Sedek or as Order of Milkilu as well. In the word "Melchizedek" we can see that “Melchi” means ruler or King and Zadok (zedek) means righteous priest.
With the above explanation we can affirm that the origin of the word Milki lies in the Holy Land. So the Milki people clearly received their name from the Israelites, who were most likely their ancestors.
In the Amarna letters, before the Israelites gained the Promised Land, Milkilu was the mayor/ruler of the city of Gezer. Melchizedek was the celebrated righteous man to whom the very Abraham paid tithings. The also famous "Order of Melchizedek" was a priestly order. It was known as the Order of Milki-Sedek or as Order of Milkilu as well. In the word "Melchizedek" we can see that “Melchi” means ruler or King and Zadok (zedek) means righteous priest.
With the above explanation we can affirm that the origin of the word Milki lies in the Holy Land. So the Milki people clearly received their name from the Israelites, who were most likely their ancestors.
The Milki are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Malik, and found entirely in the Awadh region. A small number of Milki are also found in Karachi in Pakistan.
The Milki get their name from the fact that their ancestors were a class to whom revenue free grants (milk in Persian) of land were made during the period of the Delhi Sultanate. They were given these grants of land as an incentive to settle the land. In Unnao District, they were substantial landowners, and played an important role in the history of that district. They were also the scribes, administrators, writers, magistrates, judges. lawyers, chief executive officers and village accountants in the Awadh region. The Milki were also appointed to the position of clerks and official record keepers by the state. As part of their duties, they learnt Turkish and Arabic, economics, administration and taxation. They successfully adapted themselves as scribes and functionaries under the new colonial British. The Milki have much in common with the neighbouring Muslim community, the Kayatha Muslim, with whom they share many traditions and customs.
The Milki of Unnao District claim to be Siddiqui Shaikhs, while those of Azamgarh and Ballia claim to be of Turk origin. All the various groups of Milki intermarry, and there are also instances of intermarriage with the Qidwai and Kayastha Muslim communities. The Milki are also found in the districts of Faizabad, Pratapgarh, Barabanki and Allahabad. Some Milk are Sunni, while other are Shia. They speak standard Urdu, although most also have an understanding of the Awadhi dialect of Hindi.
Were Israelites in INDIA?
Where did the lost Israelites go? Did they migrate to INDIA? Did they invent BUDDHISM? Israel was taken captive "unto Halah, and Habor, and Harah (Aria, Ariana, Arachosia, Harat) and to the river Gozan (Gauzanitis or Cyrus River)" (1 Chr. 5:26) "and in the cities of the Medes" (2 Ki. 17:6). These people were known as "the house of ISAACA" (Amos 7:16) since Genesis 21:12 says, "in ISAAC shall thy seed be called." There is an ISSYK Kul (Isaac's Lake) in eastern central Asia. But since the Hebrew alphabet was originally written without vowel points, there was no "I" originally. Strabo places these SACAE east of the Caspian. BENI-ISRAEL can be found in Hindustan also and on the borders of Burmah and Siam. SACAE seized Bactriana and about a century after Alexander they established their rule from the Aral Lake to the mouth of the Indus. They then invaded central India and fell under the dominion of the Parthians -- probably of the same race -- and finally were absorbed into the kingdom of the Sassanidae, also SACAE. The religion of these SAKAI, the SAKHS of Indian history, was BUDDHISM. The rock inscriptions, left in India and Turkestan by the early founders of BUDDHISM, were HEBREW. The Hebrew root BUDDH means "ALONE" (used of Israel in Hosea 8:9). "BUDII" means "the SEPARATED people" and occurs as a tribal name both in ancient MEDIA, and in connection with the SCUTHS in Europe.
Were Two Ephraimite Branches Called Budii?
Herodotus says that the BUDII were a tribe of MEDIA (Herod. 1:101). Herodotus also mentions another branch of the BUDII as a great and populous nation amongst the SCYTHIANS who had adopted SCYTHIAN customs (4:108). These BUDII were probably two branches of Ephraimites because Hosea 11:5-6 says Ephraim "shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches (Heb."BADDHAI"), and devour them (the BADDHAI), because of their own counsels." The SACAE and BUDII moved east into northern India about 60 years after the Scythians had overrun Media and Mesopotamia -- about 625 B.C. They may have become RAJPUTS and BRAHMANS. The worship of cows was the sin of Israel (1 Ki. 12:28) and they brought it with them to India. The BRAHMANS have among themselves TEN distinct classes, or rather nations.... One hundred miles northeast of Benares, at Kapilivastu, on the banks of the river Rohini, the modern KOHANS, there lived about 500 B.C. a tribe called SAKYAS (Saxons).... Gautama (lord Buddha) had many titles, one of which was SAKYASHINA. He was also called 'the LION of the tribe of SAKYA, SAKYAMUNI, the SAKYA Sage, Sugata the Happy One, Sattha the Teacher.'" This Buddha is called MAGA (a Magian) by the Burmese and in Burmah, Arracan, Ceylon and Siam the sacred language of Buddhism is called the language of the MAGI. The priests of the Bactrians, Chorasmians, Arians and Sacae were called MAGI (Asiatic Researches 11:76-80). When SAKYA died, those who especially honored him were the SAKYAS of Kapilivastu, and they did so saying, "The Blessed One was the pride of our race" (of Saxons). The religion of these SAKAI, the SAKHS of Indian history, proves to be BUDDHISM. The rock inscriptions, left in India and Turkestan by the early founders of BUDDHISM, prove to be HEBREW.
Did the Bible Predict BUDDHISM?
About 760 B.C., Amos 8:10-14 says, "I will turn your FEASTS into MOURNING, and all your SONGS into LAMENTATION; and I will bring up SACKCLOTH upon all loins, and BALDNESS upon every head; and I will make it like the MOURNING for an only SON, (Gautama Buddha) and the end of it like a BITTER day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land ... of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the EAST( in India), they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair VIRGINS and YOUNG MEN faint for THIRST. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, By the life of thy God Dan! And By the life of the way of Beersheba! They shall fall and rise no more."
When Israelites became BUDDHISTS, all these predictions were literally fulfilled. Buddhist festivals are full of MOURNING. Their songs are LAMENTATIONS. All devotees to Buddha adopt SACKCLOTH as their clothing and they all make themselves BALD. BALD-headed devotees of Buddha are Sons of SACKCLOTH and the ordination of the priests is to this day a refinement of AUSTERITY since, according to the Karma Wakya, or Book of Ritual, they are required to wear a robe of FILTHY RAGS, and subject themselves to every form of DEGRADATION. Vows of CELIBACY by Buddha-worshippers in many parts of the East are well known. Indeed, in all countries professing Buddhism, priests are sworn to a life of CELIBACY and the number of NUNS is enormous. This is why the young men and women "faint for thirst." Dan is one of the three names of Buddha given in the inscriptions both at Girnar and Delhi (cp. Amos 8:13-14).
Isaiah 3:24 says, "it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be STINK; and instead of a girdle, a ROPE; and instead of well-set hair, BALDNESS; and instead of a robe. a girding of SACKCLOTH; and BRANDING instead of beauty." Ezekiel 7:16-18 says, "They that escape ... shall be ... MOURNING, every one for his iniquity.... They shall also gird themselves with SACKCLOTH, and HORROR shall cover them; and SHAME shall be upon all faces, and BALDNESS upon all their heads."
The word for "mourning" in verse 16 is "homoth," the plural form of the initial word of perpetual BUDDHIST prayers. Without this word all their MANTRAS and incantations would be deemed unavailing.
"Mourning For an Only Son" -- Buddha?
The rock inscriptions of early BUDDHISM are one great cry of desolation, of ruin ever present and all hope gone. The founder of BUDDHISM was a prince of the SAKAN race, himself bearing the name of SAKYA, or more fully SAKYA Muni. Born in India about the year 618 B.C., at an early age he had risen to be prince of the surrounding peoples, preached for 40 years about charity and chastity, overturned many tyrannies, declared equality between high and low caste and founded hospitals and raised women to equality. Furthermore, he taught the coming of a seed of a woman of the SAKYAN race, who would crush the serpent's head and bring peace to the world. He remodeled the languages by compiling new Sanskrit and Pali grammars incorporating HEBREW in Pali form. After his death idolatry and innovations crept into BUDDHISM making it a poor reflection of what the SAKYA had taught.
The Union Jack & Star-Spangled Banner?
Some of these SAKAI and BUDII came south. These left a curious rock carving (see picture above) on the gates of the large tope at Sanchi, or SACHI, called the Star Banner. This banner, composed of two UNION JACKS, one above the other on the right and a banner of STARS on the left, surmounts the LION and UNICORN with a shield or UNION JACK between them. This Sachi is 20 miles north-east of Bhopal, and the device goes back to 300 B.C. This is an ancient forerunner of the Star-Spangled banner and Union Jack. Balaam compared Israel to a "UNICORN" and a "LION" (Num.23:22; 24:8) which foreshadows the heraldic coat of arms of the British Empire. The STARS represent the TRIBES of ISRAEL (Gen. 37:5-11) and the UNION JACK symbolizes Jacob's CROSSED hands (Gen. 48:14).
George Moore's The Lost Tribes explains that a joint army of SAKHS and YAVANAS (Greeks) under Alexander the Great (possibly an Argive DANITE) entered India and mentions the subsequent SAKAN conquest of the Panjab, the connection between the SAKAI and the two great PARTHIAN dynasties, that of the Arsakids and Sassanids, each of which defeated the armies of Imperial Rome periodically. Then the survival of the SAKAI themselves through the KHOZARS or Kosi of the dark ages, to the ruling AFGHANS of the present day. The so-called Tatar dynasty of the KHOZARS, who, leaving their homes on the edge of the Caspian Sea, became the lords of central India from the sixth century to the tenth, are the link between the SAKHS or SAKAI of the older area and the modern descendants in Bokhara and Afghanistan. Dr. Moore says, "Their sovereigns had, as early as the tenth century, been from time immemorial HEBREWS." But apart from this historical link, there is abundant evidence as to the ISRAELITE origin of the AFGHAN PATHANS. They resemble the HEBREW family. The AFGHAN PATHANS have always called themselves BENI ISRAEL, still all the while expressing contempt for the JEWS. Among their tribal names are those of YUSSUF-szye (tribe of JOSEPH) and IZAK-szye (tribe of ISAAC). Moreover, HEBREW names of places and persons are very numerous. These names existed before the Afghans were Mohammedans. They call themselves Pathan not Afghan. Their language known as Pushtu, is said to contain more HEBREW roots than any other. The name CABUL (applied to the capital, the river, and the nation of the Afghans) was anciently spelled CABURA, the phonetic equivalent of HABOR. Near CABURA, Ptolemy places a nation called Aristophyli or "the Noble"dated 100 B.C. Inscriptions at Girnar and Delhi have the names DAN, SAK and GOTH upon them. On the wall of a rock temple in Kanari, about 20 miles from Bombay, a Hebrew inscription with Pali characters, occur the names SAKA, DAN and GOTHA in connection with the devastation wrought upon them by Cyrus.
Were Confucius, Zoroaster & Cyrus Israelites?
Further east in China, CONFUCIUS was born in 584 B.C. He denounced vice and immorality and preached pure religion. "To treat others according to the treatment which they themselves would desire at their hands," "To guard their secret thoughts," that "true renown consists in straightforward and honest sincerity, in the love of justice, in the knowledge of mankind, and in humility" -- such were some of his instructions to the Chinese. He advocated the "LAW of RETALIATION" so prominent in the Mosaic code and he is called to the present day "The most holy teacher of ancient times."
Eldad the Danite
The "Narrative of Eldad the Danite" (ninth century A.D.) says some of the ten tribes reached CHINA. Did they teach CONFUCIUS? ZOROASTER was the lawgiver of the Medes in 600 B.C. CYRUS who founded the Persian Empire and was called the "SERVANT of the LORD" to restore the Jews and whose work was foretold in prophecy, was also probably SAXON. God chose only one people to be his servants and witnesses to "shew forth his praise among the nations" (Isa. 43:21). "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). Therefore, "in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 18:18).
The Hephthalites are believed to be Israelites of the tribe of Nephtali
The last Hephthalite King, Yudhishthira, ruled until about 670, when he was replaced by the Kabul Shahi dynasty.
The Hephthalites are believed to be Nephtalite Israelites & to be among the ancestors of modern-day Pashtuns and in particular of the Abdali Pashtun tribe. According to the academic Yu. V. Gankovsky, "The Pashtuns began as a union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy. [...] Of the contribution of the Epthalites (White Huns) to the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns we find evidence in the ethnonym of the largest of the Pashtun tribe unions, the Abdali (Durrani after 1747) associated with the ethnic name of the Epthalites — Abdal. So Abdali would come from Ephtali or Nephtali.. The Siah-posh, the Kafirs (Nuristanis) of the Hindu Kush, called all Pashtuns by a general name of Abdal still at the beginning of the 19th century."
The Hephthalites could also have been ancestors of the Abdal tribe which has assimilated into the Turkmens and Kazakhs. In India, the Rajputs formed as a result of merging of the Hephthalites and the Gurjars with population from northwestern India.
The Hephthalites (or Ephthalites), also known as the White Huns, were a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the late antiquity period. The Hephthalite Empire, at the height of its power (in the first half of the 6th century), was located in the territories of present-day Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India and China. The stronghold of the Hephthalite power was Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindukush, present-day northeastern Afghanistan.
They were called the "White Huns", known to the Greeks as Ephthalite, Abdel or Avdel, to the Indians as Sveta Huna ("white Huns"), Chionite or Turushka, to the Armenians as Haital, and to the Persians and Arabs as Haytal or Hayatila, while their Bactrian name is ηβοδαλο (Ebodalo).
"Toramāna" is a term considered to have an Iranian origin. Does it have any relaton with the Torah?
Detailed examination of surviving Hephthalite personal names has indicated that Enoki's hypothesis that they were East Iranian may well be correct, but the matter remains unresolved in academic circles.
It is noteworthy that the tribes in question deliberately called themselves Huns in order to frighten their enemies.
Newly discovered ancient writings found in Afghanistan reveal that the Middle Iranian Bactrian language written in Greek script was not brought there by the Hephthalites, but was already present from Kushan times as the traditional language of administration in this region. There is also evidence of the use of a Turkic language under the White Huns. The Bactrian documents also attest several Turkic royal titles (such as Khagan), indicating an important influence of Turkic people on White Huns, although these could also be explained by later Turkic infiltration south of the Oxus.
It's remarkable that among the common Cohen last names (Kagan, Cohen, Cowan, Kohn...) Kagan (spelled Khagan) is also a Turkish name for royalty. In Central Asia (the Core of the Silk Road & were Israelites sojourned for centuries) thanks to invasions, trade routs... there was a big cultural interchange between Semites, Arians & Turks. The term Khagan could have been originally taken from Kagan meaning Kahan or Kohen. The original Hebrew meaning of priest could have changed to mean in the Turkish languages king, royalty or the like. From a highly respected priestly position to another in the royalty. In fact is important at this stage to point that in ancient Israel the first rulers were Levites: Moses, Aaron, Joshua & other priests were very influential even in monarchic Israel, not always though.
The Hephthalite dominion Buddhism and Hinduism was predominant but there was also a religious sediment of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism." They made their capital at the city of Sakala, modern Sialkot in Pakistan. Sakala bore the name of Father Isaac within its actual name.
The last Hephthalite King, Yudhishthira, ruled until about 670, when he was replaced by the Kabul Shahi dynasty. Hephthalites are believed to be among the ancestors of modern-day Pashtuns and in particular of the Abdali Pashtun tribe. According to the academic Yu. V. Gankovsky, "The Pashtuns began as a union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy. [...] Of the contribution of the Epthalites (White Huns) to the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns we find evidence in the ethnonym of the largest of the Pashtun tribe unions, the Abdali (Durrani after 1747) associated with the ethnic name of the Epthalites — Abdal. The Siah-posh, the Kafirs (Nuristanis) of the Hindu Kush, called all Pashtuns by a general name of Abdal still at the beginning of the 19th century." The Hephthalites could also have been ancestors of the Abdal tribe which has assimilated into the Turkmens and Kazakhs. In India, the Rajputs formed as a result of merging of the Hephthalites and the Gurjars with population from northwestern India.
The Rajputs
Rajput (from Sanskrit raja-putra, "son of a king") is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and some parts of Pakistan. They claim to be descendants of ruling Hindu warrior classes of North India. Rajputs rose to prominence during the 6th to 12th centuries. Until the 20th century, Rajputs ruled in the "overwhelming majority" of the princely states of Rajasthan and Surashtra, where the largest number of princely states were found.
The Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found spread through much of the subcontinent, particularly in north, west and central India. Populations are found in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu, Punjab, Sindh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
During their centuries-long rule of northern India, the Rajputs constructed several palaces. Shown here is the Chandramahal in City Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan, which was built by the Kachwaha Rajputs.
The origin of Rajputs is the subject of debate. Writers, such as M. S. Naravane and V. P. Malik, believe that the term was not used to designate a particular tribe or social group until the 6th century AD, as there is no mention of the term in the historical record as pertaining to a social group prior to that time. One theory espouses that with the collapse of the Gupta empire from the late 6th century, the invading Hephthalites (White Huns) were probably integrated within Indian society. Leaders and nobles from among the invaders were assimilated into the Kshatriya ritual rank in the Hindu varna system, while others who followed and supported them — such as the Ahirs, Gurjars and Jats - were ranked as Shudra. At the same time, some indigenous tribes were ranked as Rajput, examples of which are the Bundelas, Chandelas and Rathors. The Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that Rajputs "... actually vary greatly in status, from princely lineages, such as the Guhilot and Kachwaha, to simple cultivators." Aydogdy Kurbanov says that the assimilation was specifically between the Hephthalites, Gurjars, and people from northwestern India, forming the Rajput community.
From the beginning of the 9th century, Rajput dynasties dominated northern parts of India, and the many petty Rajput kingdoms became the primary obstacle to the complete Muslim conquest of Hindu India. Even after the Muslim conquest of the Punjab and the Ganga River valley, the Rajputs maintained their independence in Rajasthan and the forests of central India. Later, Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Khilji dynasty took the two Rajput forts of Chitor and Ranthambhor in eastern Rajasthan but could not hold them for long.
The internal conflicts which existed among the Rajput communities were significant in enabling the Mughal invaders to achieve control over them, [when?] while nonetheless recognising the role of the Rajputs as a ruling class.
James Tod, a British colonial official, was impressed by the military qualities of the Rajputs but is today considered to have been unusually enamoured by them. They venerate him to this day but is viewed by many historians since the late nineteenth-century as being a not particularly reliable commentator. Jason Freitag, his only significant biographer, has said that Tod is "manifestly biased".
The Rajput practice of female infanticide and sati (widow immolation) was another matter of concern to the British colonialists. It was believed that the Rajputs were the primary adherents to these practices, which the Raj considered to be savage and which was the initial impetus for British ethnographic studies of the subcontinent that eventually manifested itself as a much wider exercise in social engineering.
In reference to the role of the Rajput soldiers serving under the British banner, Captain A. H. Bingley states: Rajputs have served in our ranks from Plassey to the present day (1899). They have taken part in almost every campaign undertaken by the Indian armies. Under Forde they defeated the French at Condore. Under Monro at Buxar they routed the forces of the Nawab of Oudh. Under Lake they took part in the brilliant series of victories which destroyed the power of the Marathas.
A talwar, developed under Rajputana Khanda
On India's independence in 1947, the princely states, including those of the Rajput, were given three choices: join either India or Pakistan, or remain independent. Rajput rulers of the 22 princely states of Rajputana acceded to newly independent India, amalgamated into the new state of Rajasthan in 1949–1950. Initially the maharajas were granted funding from the Privy purse in exchange for their acquiescence, but a series of land reforms over the following decades weakened their power, and their privy purse was cut off during Indira Gandhi's administration under the 1971 Constitution 26th Amendment Act. The estates, treasures, and practices of the old Rajput rulers now form a key part of Rajasthan's tourist trade and cultural memory.
In 1951, the Rajput Rana dynasty of Nepal came to an end, having been the power behind the throne of the Shah monarchs figureheads since 1846.
There are several major subdivisions of Rajputs, known as vansh or vamsha, the step below the super-division jāti These vansh delineate claimed descent from various sources, and the Rajput are generally considered to be divided into three primary vansh: Suryavanshi denotes descent from the solar deity Surya, Chandravanshi from the lunar deity Chandra, and Agnivanshi from the fire deity Agni. Lesser-noted vansh include Udayvanshi, Rajvanshi, and Rishivanshi. The histories of the various vanshs were later recorded in documents known as vamshāavalīis; André Wink counts these among the "status-legitimizing texts".
Beneath the vansh division are smaller and smaller subdivisions: kul, shakh ("branch"), khamp or khanp ("twig"), and nak ("twig tip"). Marriages within a kul are generally disallowed (with some flexibility for kul-mates of different gotra lineages). The kul serves as primary identity for many of the Rajput clans, and each kul is protected by a family goddess, the kuldevi. Lindsey Harlan notes that in some cases, skakhs have become powerful enough to be functionally kuls in their own right.
The Rajputs were a Martial Race in the period of the British Raj. This was a designation created by administrators that classified each ethnic group as either "martial" or "non-martial": a "martial race" was typically considered brave and well built for fighting, whilst the remainder were those whom the British believed to be unfit for battle because of their sedentary lifestyles.
The double-edged scimitar known as the khanda was a popular weapon among the Rajputs of that era. On special occasions, a primary chief would break up a meeting of his vassal chiefs with khanda nariyal, the distribution of daggers and coconuts. Another affirmation of the Rajput's reverence for his sword was the Karga Shapna ("adoration of the sword") ritual, performed during the annual Navaratri festival, after which a Rajput is considered "free to indulge his passion for rapine and revenge".
By the late 19th century, there was a shift of focus among Rajputs from politics to a concern with kinship. Many Rajputs of Rajasthan are nostalgic about their past and keenly conscious of their genealogy, emphasizing a Rajput ethos that is martial in spirit, with a fierce pride in lineage and tradition.
Scythic Origin of the Rajput Race
The 'Scythic Origin of the Rajput Race' proves once and for all that the modern-day Rajputs, Jats, Thakurs, Gujjars and Gujaratis are not Vedic Aryans but instead the descendants of Scythic immigrants. The Brahmins, Vedic vidyalayas and Hindutva universities generally dogmatically insist that the Rajputs are "Vedic Aryan Kshatriyas". These theories are based on the Puranas and are thus more than a thousand years old. Since the early 1800's a small group of dedicated Indologists have held that these Puranic theories were wrong, and that instead of being Vedic Aryans, these Rajputs were descended from Sakas and related peoples who immigrated into India in the centuries around the birth of Christ. These Indologists were ignored or condemned, and are often called `anti-Brahmin' or `anti-Hindu'. At best, the Hindutvadins claim that only a small number of Sakas entered India, and that the bulk of the genetic contribution to the modern Rajput has come from the Aryan, with the subsequent Scythics being "submerged in the sea of Aryan genes".
Now, after many years of research, a well-known Rajput author, Mulchand Chauhan, has published a ground-breaking book entitled ` The Scythic Origin of the Rajput Race' in which he proves the true racial origin of the Rajput race. It cannot be stressed how absolutely essential it is for all to consider the startling evidence that today's Rajputs are not Aryans. Moreover, he has kept the book short and readable, rather than dwelling at length on the cumulative evidence. His book demolishes once and for all the myth that the Rajputs are Vedic Kshatriyas, and destroys the very basis of the Brahminist-Aryan theory that all `Hindus' are Vedic Aryans. Directly from this follows another two-nation theory: namely, that the Sakas have lived in their own Sakasthan, historically centered on the Rajputana-Gujarat region, culturally, racially and linguistically distinct from the Aryan-Vaishnava regions centered on Maharashtra.
About the time when the Roman Empire was collapsing, the northwestern and western parts of India were under the control of Scythic empires. Indeed, many of the tribes active in the disturbances following the fall of Rome appear as rulers in western India. At the peak of its power, the Scythic or Saka kingdoms stretched from the Vindhyas to the Oxus, from Persia to Bihar. They played a significant role for several centuries in Indian history. These mainly Sun-worshipping and Zoroastrian kingdoms eventually collapsed as a result of Brahmanisation, with the once-glorious Saka dynasties being crushed under the Brahmin yoke. Brahmanisation led to the destruction of the Scythic heritage of these peoples, and their nastik (non-Vedic) Sun-worshipping religions were submerged in the sea of Brahmanism. It was only in the early 19th century that Col. Tod noticed the striking similarities between the Rajput and the Scythic races, writing that -
"It is a singular fact that there is no available date beyond the 4th century for any of the great Rajput families, all of whom are brought from the North. This was the period of one of the grand irruptions of the Getic races from Central Asia, who established kingdoms in the Punjab and on the Indus. `Pal' or `Pali', the universal adjunct to every proper name, indicates the pastoral race of these invaders."
Phylogeny
Phylogenetic (study of the tribal relations) evidence clearly indicates that the Rajput races are of Indo-Scythic descent. The major extant Indian branches of the Scythic (`Saka') tribes and their historical ancestry are shown -
The Jats have the Juts as their ancestors. Another branch of Juts related to these same Juts left their name in Danemark in the peninsula of Jutland, meaning Land of Juts. These Juts were Jews or Judeans. The Judeans, or Judahites (later called Jews) were the main bulk of Israelites that came back to the Holy Land under Cyrus to rebuild the temple. Nevertheless a large amount of Judahites stayed in Mesopotamia & later went with the other Israelite "Lost" Tribes bifurcating into two directions to the East (Asia) & the West (Europe). The believe that the Jatts come from Judeans can be supported by the fact that the Jatts are called the Jatts of Jud (similar to Judea) can give a further argument in favor to the believe of the Judean origin of the Jatts. The Jatts, Jews & Domas (Doms or Gypsies) are in Diaspora as the peoples of Israelite origin that they really are.
Other tribes classed as Scythic are the Malavas, Arjunayanas, Yaudheyas, Sivis, Parthians, Kushans & Trigarttas. The Keraits of Mongoloid race were referred to as Kirata (any relation to the Jewish Karaites). The Sanskritic Aryan texts refer to the Scythians collectively as `Saka', the Mongoloids as `Naga' or `Kerait' and the Negroids as `Sudra'; a word related to the stem `Sud - ' in `Sudan'. Thus, recent genetic evidence indicates that the Sudroids of India are in fact the Sudanic Negroids who settled in India in ancient times. There is nowhere any concept of a monolithic "Hindu" race mentioned anywhere even up to the Puranic period.
The Sakas are mentioned as being clearly distinct from the Aryas. Indeed, such well-known Saka races as the Sogdians and Cathii are all represented amongst the Indo-Scythic races : " He [ the historian ] would find the Soda, the Catti, the Mallani, affording in history, position of nominal resemblance, grounds for inferring that they are the descendants of the Sogdi, Cat'hi and Malli, who opposed the Macedonian in his passage down the Indus."
Col. Tod notes that " The Gets or Jits and Huns, hold place amongst the 36 royal races of ancient India." The Gujjars are the 8th largest Punjabi caste after the Jats, Rajputs, Pathans, Arains, Brahmans, Camars and Chuhras. The highest authorities have declared them to be the ancient Khazars who entered India :
"They [ Gujjars] are identified by General Cunningham with the Kushan or Yuchi or Tochari, a tribe of Eastern Tartars. About a century before Chrsit their chief conquered Kabul and the Peshawar country; while his son Hima Kadphises, so well known to the Panjab Numismatologist, extended his sway over the whole of Upper Panjab and the banks of the Jamna so far down as Mathra and the Vindhyas, and his successor the no less familiar king Kanishra, the first Buddhist Indo-Scyth prince, annexed Kashmir to the kingdom of Tochari. These Tochari or Kushan are the Kaspeiraei of Ptolemy, in the middle of the 2nd century of our era, Kaspeira, Kasyapapara or Multan was one of their chief cities."
From within the Rajputs the subethnic group of the Camar that came from the Camarii could come from or be related witth the Cimmerii/ Cimerians. The Cimerians are considered to be Israelites. One of the names given to Israelites by Mesopotamians was Khumri & Omri, after the king Omri of Israel. Welshmen are known as Cymru in Gaelic, a name that came from Khumri. Other terms with this origin would be Cambria, Cumberland, Caren...The term Karen is found as the name of other Israelite peoples from Indochina: Karens & Karennis.
The Indo-Aryan terms Gujjar and Kushan is clearly derived from the original name Khazar via the standard rules of phonetic change. In fact it's believed that Gujjars from India are Khazars or that they come from the Khazars.Thus, Indo-Aryan languages universally lack the -kh- and the -z-, transforming them into -g- and -j- respectively. By end of the 3rd century, a portion of the Gujjars had moved south down the Indus and by the mid-5th century there was a Gujjar kingdom in South-Western Rajasthan. They were driven by the Baluchis into Gujarat. Gujarat remains their stronghold to the day, and they settled there in such large numbers that the very name `Gujarat', the `Land of Khazars' came to be applied to the tract : "Gujarat is still their [ Gujjar ] stronghold, and in that district they form 13.5 % of the total population."
Adding the other Saka tribes present in Gujarat, such as the Rajputs, the Saurashtrians or Sauro Matii and the Kathiawadis or the Catti one obtains well over half the entire population of the region. It is little wonder that this is the case, for the Gujarat-Rajputana region was the locus for the glorious Saka kingdoms of yore. The list of Rajput rajcula (royal races) indeed clearly mentions the Huns and other immigrant Sakas : " so late are 7 centuries ago we find Getes, Huns, Catti, Ariaspas, Dahae, defnitely settled and enumerated amongst the Chhaties rajcula [of the Rajput ]."
The Rajput Sesodias are the seed of the Sassanid Noshirwan whence the Mewar kings are descended, a circumstance which justified Shivaji's descent. General Cunningham also considered the Jats to be Scythic :
" General Cunningham and Major Tod consider the Jats Indo-Scythic. Cunningham identifies the Jats with the Zanthii of Strabo and the Jatii of Pliny and Ptolemy and holds that they probably enterd the Punjab from their home on the Oxus very shortly after the Meds or Mands (also Indo-Scythic) and moved into the Punjab in the 1st century BC "
The Parthians also settled in India in large numbers : "Arrian, who resided in the 2nd century at Barugaza (Baroach) descrbies a Parthian sovereignity as extending from the Indus to the Nerbudda."
The Indo-Scyths were designated by the names of animals, just as their Scythic forbears : " The Indo-Scythic tribes were designated by the names of animals, Barahas or hogs, Noomries or foxes, Takshacs or snakes, Aswas and Asis or the horse."
Numismatics
Abundant survivals of the Scythic era of Indian history can be gleamed from the numismatic record. The frequency of archaeological discoveries of Saka coins reaches its maximum in the Rajputana-Gujarat region, the traditional locus of the Saka Kshatrapa kingdom. " Based on analysis of coins, inscriptions, archeological finds and early Indian/Buddhist/Chinese/Greek/Persian manuscripts dating back to 500 BC, historians and ethnographers (e.g. Cunningham, Tod, Rapson, Ibbetson, Elliot, Ephilstone, Dahiya, Dhillon, Banerjea, Sharma, Sinha, Shrava, Puniya etc.) have shown that the traditional agrarian and artisan communities (e.g. Jats/Gujars/Tarkhans/Khatris/Rajputs/Lohars/Yadavs etc.) of the entire northwest are the descendants of Scythian tribes from central Asia (an aggressive and expansionist old Iranian speaking culture) who settled north-western southasia in successive waves between 5th century B.C. to 5th century AD. Sociological and ethnological information collected in colonial censuses shows that the majority (+65%) of the population of the northwest ("Sakasthan" including Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, northern Maharashtra and western UP) is of Saka origin . Terms like "Sakasthana" appear on ancient Saka inscriptions found as far as Mathura in western Uttar Pradesh (formerly, United Provinces)."
In addition, many of the coins of the Sakas include Greek legends. This indicates that the Greeks were absorbed into the Rajput stock, and that the Rajputs of today possess a considerable Greek ancestry. They have Greek some ancestry, but we have to think that a part of the Greeks came from the so called Sea Peoples, being them Israelites to according to some sources.
Skin Colour
The Rajputs belong to the dolicocephalic (long-headed) Caucasoid races. The preceding Indo-Aryans consisted of two stocks: an older, mainly brachycephalic branch of `Outer Aryans', and inner dolicocephalic branch of `Inner Aryans' which in turn displaced the Outer Aryans. The broad-headed Aryans, or Early Aryans, are the first to have entered India, and are those who have had the most direct confrontation with the preceding Sudroid (Dravidoid-Kolarian-Untouchable) populations. The broad-headed Aryans comprise the Utkalic, Bhojpuric, Mithilic and Marathic races which form a band surrounding the inner band of Aryans. The inner band of long-headed or Later Aryans consists of Brahminoids, Brajics, Kayasthas and Koshalics who represent a subsequent wave of Aryanisation, namely Brahmanisation which occurred as a further superposition upon the preceding Early Aryans.. The Rajputs and related Scythic races are tall and fair, resembling closely their Scythic forbears : " the Agniculas [ Rajputs ] are of good stature, and fair, with prominent features like those of the Parthian Kings."
This characteristic alone, whilst not excluding any possible Inner Aryan origin, does exclude any proposed Outer Aryan descent.
Nasal Index
The Nasal Index of Rajputs clearly shows that they are leptorrhine (thin-nosed) Caucasoids, distinguishable from the mainly mesorrhine Caucasoid Early Indo-Aryans :
Race Nasal Index Nasal Type
Indo-Aryan (Arya)
Brahman (Bengal) 70.3 sub-leptorrhine
Brahman (Bihar) 73.2 sub-leptorrhine
Brahman (Bhojpur) 74.6 sub-leptorrhine
Rajput 71.6 sub-leptorrhine
Kayasth (Bengal) 70.3 sub-leptorrhine
Jat 68.8 leptorrhine
Vaisya (Bania) 79.6 sub-leptorrhine
Gujjar 66.9 leptorrhine
Sikhs 68.8 leptorrhine
Sudroid (Indian Negroids, comprising Dalits and Dravidians)
Paniyans (Malabar) 95.1 platyrrhine
Santal 88.8 platyrrhine
Munda 89.9 platyrrhine
Kol 82.2 sub-platyrrhine
Kadia 89.8 platyrrhine
Vellala 73.1 sub-platyrrhine
Tamil Brahman 76.7 sub-platyrrhine
Asur (Lohardaga) 95.9 platyrrhine
Bhil 84.1 sub-platyrrhine
Pariah 80.0 sub-platyrrhine
Irula 80.9 sub-platyrrhine
Kadia 89.8 platyrrhine
Musahar 88.7 platyrrhine
Chamar 86.0 platyrrhine
Dom 83.0 sub-platyrrhine
The above data, taken from one of the greatest anthropologists to have ever set foot in India, Sir. Risley, show that the Scythians have leptorrhine nasal indices, whilst Indo-Aryans fall into two categories : one mainly sub-leptorrhine and leptorrhine, comprising the Brahmins, Kayasthas and other Later Aryans, and the mesorrhine Outer Aryans comprising the Bhojpuric, Mithilic, Gaudic and Utkalic peoples. This physical feature is closely related to the brachycephalism (broad-headedness) displayed by most Early or Outer Indo-Aryans.
The social customs of the Rajputs, Jats and Gujaratis comform to those of their Scythic forbears : " their [Jat] habits confirmed to the tradition of their Scythic origin."
Dress
The dress of the Rajput races are decidedly Scythic, further confirming their Saka origins. Thus, regarding the Charuns of Marlah, it is stated that : " their affinity with the ancient Persians is striking; the loose robe, high turban, and flowing beard, being more akin to the figures on the temples of the Guebres than to anything appertaining to the Charburrun [ char varnam ] or 4 classes of the Hindus."
Dietary Customs
The food which the Rajput consumes once again bears the imprint of his Scythic ancestry : "Caesar informs us that the Celts of of Britain would not eat the hare, goose, or domestic fowl. The Rajpoot will hunt the first, but neither eats it, nor the goose, sacred to the god of battle (Hara). The Rajpoot of Mewar eats the jungle fowl, but rarely the domestic"
The Rajput consumes boar, deer and fowl : "The Rajpoot slays buffaloes, hunts and eats the boar and deer, and shoots ducks and wild fowl (cookra); he worships his horse, his sword, and the sun,m and attends more to the martial song of the bard than to the lit of any Brahmin."
Religion
The religion of the Scythians was Sun-Worship in all its forms; the Rajput is thus not surprisingly a Sun-worshipper. They are thus referred to in Sanskritic and Prakritic tradition as `Sauras' (devotees of Surya). Indeed, the Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat is named after the Scythic Solar deity :"the remains of numerous temples to this grand object of Scythic homage [ the Sun ] are still to be found scattered over the peninsula; whence its name, `Saurashtra', the country of the Sauras, or Sun-worshippers; the Surostrene or Syrastrene of ancient geographers; its inhabitants, the Suros of Strabo."
This religion is decidedly non-Brahminist as Sauras neither revere the Vedas nor accept Brahmin racial supremacy. The Sauras are thus not included among the 6 orthodox (`astik') schools of Brahmanism (Vedism and Vaishnavism). As a result, the Rajput Saura is, along with Sudra Shaivas, Tantriks, Bauddhas and Jainas referred to as `nastik' (heretic) and as a result the Saura has had to suffer considerable religious persecution. The Scythic Sacae worshipped the god "Gaeto Syrus", whence the Roman Sol, the Sanskrit Surya, the state of Syria and the Nordic Thor or Sor ( the commentator of the `Edda' mentions that the ancient Nordics pronounced `th' as `ss'), and Suarashtra peninsula of Gujarati Rajastan, the `Land of Sun worshippers'. Indeed the Sacae may have been the acestors of the Saxons of Europe. Thus the Sanskrit term for Sun, Surya, is derived from the Scythic Syrus.
The Surya-mandala is the supreme Rajput heaven. The first day of the week, Aditwar/Aitwar/Thawara (cf. the Nordic Thor) is dedicated to the Sun.
" That there existed a marked affinity in religious rites between the Rana's family [ of Mewar ] and the Guebres, or ancient Persians, is evident. With both, the chief object of adoration was the sun; each bore the image of the orb on their banners. The chief day in the seven [ Sooraj-war or Adit-war, Sun-day ] was dedicated to the sun; to it is sacred the chief gate of the city, the principal bastion of every fortress. But though the faith of Idlam has driven away the fairy inhabitants from the fountains of Mithras, that of SUrya has still its devotees on the summit of Cheetore, as at Ballabhi; and could we trace with accuracy their creeds to a distant age, we might discover them to be of one family, worshipping the sun at the fountain of the Oxus and Jaxartes."
However, some corruption has taken place with the infiltration of Sakta rituals : "with the exception of the adoration of the `universal mother' (Bhavani), incarnate in the person of a youthful Jitni, they were utter aliens to the Hindu theocracy. In fact, the doctrines of the great Islamite saint, Sekh Fareed, appear to have overturned the pagan rites brought from the Jaxartes."
Indeed, the classification of Rajpoots as Brahminist Hindus is entirely absurd. What the German did to the Jew, the Brahmanist (or dolicocephalic Later Aryan) did to the Saka. Despite the fiercest and most savage of persecutions at the hands of `astik' Later Aryan Brahminists, the Saura religion has managed to survive : "The religion of the martial Rajpoot, and the rites of Hara, the ground of the battle, are little analaogous to those of the meek Hindu s, the followers of the pastoral divinity, the worshippers of kine, and feeders on fruits, herbs and water. The Rajpoot delights in blood as his offerings to the god of battle are sanguinary, blood and wine. The cup (kharpara) of libation is the human skull. He loves them because they are emblematic of the deity he worships and his taught to believe that Hara loves them, whoin war is represented with the skul to drink the foeman's blood, and in peace is the patron of wine and women. With parbutti on his knee, his eyes rollling form the juice of the p'fool ? and opium, such is this Bacchanalian divinity of war. Is this Hinduism, acquired on the burning plains of India ? Is it not rather a perfect picture of the manners of the Scandinavian heroes ?"
Indeed, the ancestors of the Rajput royal families proudly claim to be descendants of the Sun : "The children of Bapa [one of the Gehlote ancestors], were named `Agni-upasi Sudrya-vamsi' or sun-born fireworshippers."
The Jhalore fortress of South Marwar has four gates, that from the town is called `Sooruj-pol' and to the North-West is the Ba'l-pol (`the gate of Bal, the Sun-God).
Architecture
The architecture of the Rajputs is decidedly Scythic. All across the Sakasthan core regions of Rajputana and Gujarat one finds even today numerous tumuli, sacrifical pillars and burials reminiscent of Central Asia.
The Tumulus
Strikingly, tumuli for which the Scythians of Central Asia are so famous exist in abundance in Rajputana and surrounding regions. Baron Metcalfe noticed the occurrence of tumuli in Rajputstan :
" The tumulus, the cairn, or the pillar, still rise over the Rajput who falls in battle; and throughtout Rajputana these sacrificial monuments are found, where are seen carved in relief the warrior on his steed, armed at all points; his faithful wife (Sati) beside him, denoting a sacrifice, and the sun and moon on either side, emblematic of neverdying fame." Tumuli containing "ashes and arms" exist, "especialy in the South about Golwalcoond" [ the Chohan dominions about Mt. Aboo ] and hence these structures are Scythic as per the testimony of Col. Tod.
In addition to the province of Central Asia and the Russian Steppes, the Getes of the Jaxartes built tumuli, as did the Scandinavians. The Getic Alaric's tomb is only one of numerous such examples.
Sacrificial Pillars
Sacrificial pillars are another remnant of the Scythian. They are abundant in the regions surrounding Rajputana which comprise the historic Sakasthan :
" In Saurasthra, amidst the Catti, Comani, Balla and others of Scythic descent, the Pallia or Joojar (sacrificial pillars) are conspicuous under the walls of every town, in lines, irregular groups and circles. On each is displayed in rude relief the warrior, with the manners of his death, lance in hand, generally on horseback, though sometimes in his car."
Stone Circles
Stone circles are another feature generally recognised as representing Saka domination. The Jesuits found amidst the Comani of Tartary stone circles, a circumstance which testifies to the Scythic heritage of the region. Baron Metcalfe noted that "it would require no great ingenuity to prove an analogy, if not a common origin, between Druidic circles and the Indu-Scythic monumental remains." Circle stones are attributed to the Sakas (they are considered to be Israelites that bore the name of Isaak as promised in the Tanakh) & they're found wherever the Sakas or their offspring have settled: British Islands, north western India...
Sun-Based Architecture
The Sun, the Supreme God of the Saura Rajputs, forms the most important theme for Rajput architecture. The main entrance of Oodipur (Udaipur) is referred to as the Surya-pol. The chief hall of Udaipur palace is called Surya-mahal. A huge painted sun adorns the hall of audience and is behind the throne. These prove that most of the triumphal monuments of the Indo-Scyths were erected to the Sun, further confirming their Saka ancestry. There even exist fountains sacred to the Sun : "There was a fountain (Suryacoonda) `sacred to the Sun' at Ballabhipura, from which arose, at the summons of Siladitya (according to legend) the 7-headed horse Saptaswa, which draws the car of Surya, to bear him to battle."
Warfare
The Scyths used to fight on horseback. The worship of the sword prevailed among the Scythic Getae as described by Herodotus. Likewise, the Rajput also pays his devotion to his sword, he `swears by the steel' and prostrates himself before his defensive buckler, his lance,his sword, or his dagger. " The worship of the sword in the Acropolis of Athens by the Getic Atila, with all the accompaniments of pomp and place, forms an admirable episode in the history of the decline and fall of Rome; and had Gibbon witnessed the worship of the double-edged sword (khanda) by the prince of Mewar and all his chivalry, he might have even embellished his animated account of the adoration of the scymitar, the symbol of Mars"
Calendar
The Rajput, true to his Sun-worshipping Rajput heritage, follows the Solar calendar. This is in sharp contrast to the customs of the Indo-Aryans, who follow the Lunar calendar.
The Jats, Gujjars, Thakurs and all others as Saka Rajputs
The most damning evidence proving that the Rajputs are Saka comes from the genealogy of the Rajputs themselves. However, first a few notes about the Rajput Race. The Jats are in fact, Rajputs, as are Thakurs and Gujjars. There are no racial differences between these stocks, all are descendants of Saka immigrants; the differences are purely social and customary, reflecting partly the degree of pollution by Indo-Aryan customs.
Thus, the noted anthropologist Sir Denzil Ibbetson wrote : "It has been suggested, and I believe held by many, that Jats and Gujjars and perhaps Ahirs also, are all of one ethnic stock." This ethnic stock is the Scythic ethnic stock.
The overwhelming majority of the population of Rajputana and Gujarat is of Scythic origin, and even a sizeable proportion of Punjab is too. Jats and Rajputs alone form approximately 28 % of Punjab population. Tod holds that Jats are one of the great Rajput tribes, and that both are Getae. The Jat Rajput ratio is 3:1 in Punjab. Adding the other Scythic races to the Rajput total yields well over 50 % of the population of Rajputana and Gujarat as Saka. Sakas no doubt dominated in the Punjab and parts of the Ganges valley as well, but they have here been more or less overwhelmed in the flood of Mughalloid (Indo-Muslim) immigration.
The Thakur and Rathi are "lower grade of Rajputs rather than separate castes" and the Rawat is also Rajput. Adding these to the Rajut total greatly increases the number of Rajputs.
The distinction between Jat and Rajput is "social and not ethnic" "the same tribe even is Rajput in 1 district and Jat in another.". Indeed, noted anthropologist Sir Denzil Ibbetson writes,
"The distinction between Jat and Rajput is so indefinite and so variable that it can be hardly called a mistake to class a tribe as Jat in one place and Rajput in another."
Even casual observers note that the Rajputs form a majority of the population in the Greater Rajputana region : " ... they [ Jats/Jits ] now constitute a vast majority of the peasantry of western Rajwarra, and perhaps of northern India." This feature is most obvious in Rajwarra or Rajputana, and is less obvious in the Punjab, where Mughal immigration has effectively overwhelmed any Saka survivals. The Sikhs are mixed Saka-Mughal stock, with ample evidence showing that both Mughallic and Scythic populations converting to the faith. Thus, Sikhism displays a combination of Saura-Saka and Islamic-Mughal influences. There is very little Indo-Aryan influence on Sikhism; it is Saka influence which was deliberately ignored and suppressed.
In Rajputana, even the commercial class are Scythic : "Nine-tenths of the bankers and commercial men of India are natives of Maroodes, and these chiefly of the Jain faith .. All these claim a Rajput descent." Adding these classes leads to the startling conclusion that, except for the Brahmans (ca. 10 %), Black Untouchables or Sudroids (ca. 15 %), and Mughals (ca. 10 %), the rest of the population, comprising 65 % of Rajputana, is of Saka descent.
Pahlavi-Sassanid Origin of The Mewar Kings
The geneaological roles of the Rajput kings themselves reveal their Scythic origins, rendering all Brahmanic Puranic myths as fantasies. " Various authorities state Byramgor [ Behram Gur ] being in India in the fifth century, and his having there left progeny by a princess of Kanouj. A passage extracted by the author from an ancient Jain MS., indicates that in "S.523, Raja Gardha-bhela, of Cacustha, or Suryavansa, ruled in Ballabhipura". It has been surmised that Gardhabhela was the son of Byramgor, a son of whom is stated to have obtained dominion at Puttun; which may be borne in mind when the authorities for the Persian extraction of the Rana's family are given." The Pahlavis are considered to have Levitic origin & even their name PahLAVI would come from LEVI. It wouldn't be the first case that Levites become rulers or political leaders amongst the Israelites as in the case of Moses, Aaron, Joshua...
Indeed, the word `Gor' clearly indicates the true origin of these people : " Gor and Gardha have the same significance, the first in Persian, the second in Hindi, meaning the wild ass, a appelation of the Persian monarch Bahram, surnamed Gor from his partiality to hunting that animal", whence his son would naturally have been named Gardha-bhela. "
Mughal (Indo-Muslim) Genealogy
It is generally assumed that Col. Tod was the first to discover that the Rajputs were of Scythic descent. The concept of a Scythic origin of the Rajputs is thus often dismissed as a `Christian Colonialist Conspiracy to divide Hindus.' However, the Mughal genealogists were completely aware of the Scythic extraction of several Rajput families. Indeed, there was, politically speaking, an alliance of Sakas and Mughals. The Sakas inhabited Sakasthan comprising Rajputana-Gujarat, whilst the Mughals inhabited Mughalstan comprising the Indus-Ganges Valley. It is only later, as a result of Brahmin conspiracies that the Sakas and Mughals fought each other and destroyed each others' empires. Thus, Abul Fazl fondly narrated the Scythic descent of the Rajput allies of the Mughals : `Let us see what Abul Fuzil says of the descent of the Ranas from Noshirwan. " The Rana's family consider themselves to be descendants of Noshirwan. They came to Berar (Berat), and became chiefs of Pernalla, which city being plundered eight hundred years proir to the writing of this book, his nother fled to Mewar, and was protected by Mandalica Bhil, whom the infant Bappa slew, and seized his territory".
Akbar commenced his reign in 1555 AD, and had been 40 years on the throne when the Institutes were composed by Abul Fazil. The Zoroastrians were not restrained from eating beef. Another act which testifies to the tolerance of the Mughals towards the Sakas. There are further abundant mentions of the Sakas in Mughal chronicles -
The work which furnished all the knowledge which exists on the Persian ancestry of the Mewar princes is the `Maaser-al-Omra', or that (in the author's possession) founded on it, entitled `Bisat-al-Ganaem', or `Display of the Foe', written in AH 1204. The writer of this work styles himself `Latchmi Narrain Shufeek Arungabadi', or `the rhymer of Arungabad'. He professes to give an account of Sevaji, the founder of the Mahratta empire; for which purpose he goes deep into the lineage of the Ranas of Mewar from whom Sevaji was descended, quoting at length the Maaser-al-Omra, from which is the following literal translation: " It is well known that the Rajahs of Oodipur are exalted over all the princes of Hind, Other Hindu princes, before they can succeed to the throne of their fathers, must receive the khuskhka, or tiluk of regality and investiture, from them. This type of sovereignty is received with humility and veneration. The khushkaof these princes is made with human blood: their title is Rana, and they deduce their origin from Noshirwan-i-Adil (ie. the Just), who conquered the countries of [ lacuna in MS ], and many parts of Hindustan. During his life-time his son Noshizad, whose mother was the daughter of the Kesar of Rum [ Maurice, emperor of Byzantium ], quitted the ancient worship and embraced the `faith of the Christians', and with numerous followers entered Hindusthan. Thence he marched a great army towards Iran, against his father Noshirwan; who despathced his general, Rambarzeen with a numerous force to oppose him. An action ensued, in which Noshizad was slain; but his issue remained in Hindusthan, from whom are descended to Ranas of Oodipur. Noshirwan had a wife from the Khankhan of China, by whom he had a son called Hormuz, declared heir to the throne shortly before his death. As according to the faith of the fire-worshippers it is not customary either to bury or burn the dead, but to leave the corpse exposed to the rays of the Sun, so it is said that the body of Noshirwan has to this day suffered no decay but is still fresh."
Continuing the quotation from the work of Arungabadi, " Of the eldest daughter of Yezdegird, Maha Bahoo, the Parsees have no accounts; but the books of the Hindus give evidence to her arrival in that country, and that from her issue is the tribe of Sesodia. But, at all events, this race is either of the seed of Noshizad, the son of Noshirwan, or that of the daughter of Yezdegird."
Scythic Descent of Shivaji
When Shivaji ascended the throne of Marathadesha, the Brahmins refused to crown him. He had to import a Brahmin from a great distance who was willing to finally crown him in return for gold in violation of Brahmanist Hindu laws. Subsequently, a genealogy was invented for Shivaji, claiming descent from the Rajput House of Mewar. Incidentally, this claim would imply that Shivaji was descended from Persian immigrants !
" Ali Ibrahim, a learned native of Benaras, was Wilford's authority for asserting the Rana's Persian descent, who stated to him that he had seen the original history, which was entilted "Origin of the Peishwas from the Ranas of Mewar." (Ibrahim must have meant the Satara princes, whose ministers were the Peishwas.) From this authority three distinct emigrations of the Guebres, or ancient Persian, are recorded, from Persia into Guzerat. The first in the time of Abu Beker, AD 631; the second on the defeat of Yezdegird, AD 651; and the third when the descendants of Abbas began to prevail, AD 749. Also that a son of Noshirwan landed near Surat with eighteen thousand of his subjects, from Laristhan, and were well received by the prince of the country. Abul Fuzil confirms this account by saying `the followers of Zerdesht (Zoroaster), when they fled from Persia, settled in Surat, the contracted term from the peninsula of Saurasthra, as well as the city of this name' "
However, it is historically proven that this descent of Shivaji is in fact make-belief; it has no foundation in fact and was invented solely to satisfy the ego of a wealthy thief. The Marathas are, in contrast to the Scythic Gujaratis, of brachycephalic Indo-Aryan stock, and Shivaji was no different. This deep-seated division between Saka Rajput and Saka Gujarati versus Indo-Aryan Marathi is the root cause for the intense hatred existing between these races. Indeed, Shivaji himself launched the most inhuman genocide of Scythics ever witnessed. Manucci records that Shivaji butchered 3 million innocent Gujaratis during the siege of Surat, and Baron Metcalfe mentions that his Maratha descendants exterminated half of Rajputana.
Scyhtic Descent of the Rajputs of Mewar
Feristha also notes the Sassanian descent of the House of Mewar: " Feristha informs us that Ramdeo Rahtore, sovereign of Kanouj, was made tributary by Feroz `Sassan'; and that Pratap Chand, who usurped the throne of Ramdeo, neglecting to pay this tribute, Noshirwan marched into India to recover it, and in his progress subdued Cabul and the Punjab. "
Cacustha and Suryavamse are synonymous according to the genealogists. The term Cacustha may be traced to "the Persian `Kai-caous', a well-known epithet of the Persian dynasties".
Rajcula
Rajput tradition records 36 Royal Races (`rajcula') as being the highest Rajput families. The bulk of these are Scythic in origin. Thus, the following table shows the direct one-to-one correspondence for some of the more prominent Rajculas -
Rajput Royal Clan Scythic Progenitor
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Dahya Dahae
Hoon Huns
Jit Getae
Camar Camarii
Sessodia Sassanian
Col. Tod mentions a genealogical role " furnished by a Yati, or Jain priest, from the temple of Nadolaye [An ancient town in Marwar ] ... producing the `first Rahtore sprung from the spine of Indra,' the nominal father being "Yavanaswa, prince of Parlipoor". Of the topography of Parilpoor, the Rahtores have no other notion than that it was in the north, but in the declared race of their progenitors, a Yavan prince , of the Aswa or Asi tribe 2 we have proof of the Scythic origin of this Rajput family." [ " One of the four tribes which overturned the Greek kingdom of Bactria. The ancient Hindu cosmographers claim the Aswa as a grand branch of their early family, and doubtless the Indo-Scythic people, from the Oxus to the Ganges, were one race." ]
The abundant mention of Yavanas or Ionians clearly shows that the Greeks merged into the Scythic races; a fact already evident from the abundant usage of Greek legends on Saka coins found in Rajasthan. Thus, whilst the Brahmanists hold that the Yavanas disappeared into thin air, these persons in fact merged into the Saka population, adopting the Saka Saura faith.
Asia's "Jats" and "Alani" Become Europe's "Jutes" and "Alans"
As the Saxons migrated into Europe and the British Isles, they were closely allied to the "Jutes." History records that after their entry into the British Isles, they settled in Kent, the Isle of Wight and parts of Hampshire. The Jutes left their name (Jute-land) on the Danish peninsula of "Jutland." Where did they come from? Is there evidence of their name in Asia? There certainly is, and even then we find them closely identified with the Sacae, who became the Saxons.
When describing the Sacae Scythian tribes who migrated from the Caspian Sea region in the second century, B.C., to settle within the Parthian Empire, historian George Rawlinson notes that the greatest tribe, the Massagetae, was also named the "great Jits, or Jats."80 These migrating Sacae or Saka gave their name to the Parthian province of Sacastan and to the Saka kingdoms of Northwest India. The term "Jat" has survived as a caste-name in northwest India into modern times, attesting to the ancient dominance of the Jats in that region. The Encyclopedia Britannica states the following about the ancient "Jats:"
"The early Mohammedans wrote of the Jats country as lying between Kirman and Mansura...Speculation has identified them with the Getae of Herodotus ...[or] Scythians or Indo-Scythians."
The Asian Jats lived near the land of Kirman (i.e. the Kerman or German region of Parthia). If they were Asian "Getae," their later European name was the "Getes" or "Goths." If they were Scythians (Sacae), they became known as Germans or Saxons as they entered Europe. Collier's Encyclopedia states of the Jats:
"They are believed to be descended from the Saka or Scythians, who moved into India in a series of migrations between the second century B.C. and the fifth century A.D."
Since the Jats were a branch of the "Sacae," called "Saxones" by Ptolemy, it is not surprising that they were still allied to the "Saxons" and called "Jutes" by the time they reached Europe and the British Isles. Note that the consonants of the words “Jats” and “Jutes” are identical.
Many Sacae moved into Parthia in the second century B.C., but some did stay in Asia centuries after the fall of Parthia as we will document in the next chapter. In Asia, the Sacae and Jats lived next to the Kermans (Germanii); in Europe they were called the Saxons and Jutes, and were part of the migrating Germans. Their names changed very little as they moved from Parthian Asia into Europe as part of the great Caucasian migrations. The names "Kerman" and "Jats" also remained in the regions of Asia where they once lived. Some Jats stayed in India and intermarried with other tribes in the region. Today, the Indian Jats "in general have a fair complexion,"83 supporting the conclusion that they had Saka ancestors. As discussed in books two and three of this series, the Massagetae, a leading tribe of the Sacae were most likely the descendants of the Israelite tribe of Manasseh, and the suffix "-getae" indicates a common origin with the "Getae" ("Goths") of the Black Sea region.
Historian Herbert Hannay wrote about this connection:
"The Goths, too, it will be remembered, when in Asia as the Massagetae, had been worshippers of the Sun..."
The Jat people
The Arabs called the Domas (Romas or Gypsies) Jatts because they came from India. Jatts are part of the Semitic looking people from India because they come from Ephtalites & Sakas (Scythians) both peoples being Israelites as their offspring Gypsies & Jatts are Israelites. Ephtalites bore the name of Nephtali & the Sakas the name of Isaac.
The Jat people (Hindi pronunciation: [dʒaːʈ]) (also spelled Jatt) are a community of traditionally non-elite tillers and herders in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory, northeastern Rajputana, and the western Gangetic Plain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Of Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu faiths, they now live mostly in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab.
Traditionally involved in peasantry, the Jats took up arms against the Mughal Empire during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The community played an important role in the development of the martial Khalsa panthan of Sikhism. The Hindu Jat kingdom reached its zenith under Suraj Mal of Bharatpur (1707–1763). By the 20th century, the landowning Jats became an influential group in several parts of North India, including Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. Over the years, several Jats abandoned agriculture in favour of urban jobs, and used their dominant economic and political status to claim higher social status.
The Jat's spirit of freedom and equality refused to submit to Brahmanical Hinduism and in its turn drew the censure of the privileged Brahmins.... The upper caste Hindu's denigration of the Jat did not in the least lower the Jat in his own eyes nor elevate the Brahmin or the Kshatriya in the Jat's estimation. On the contrary, he assumed a somewhat condescending attitude towards the Brahmin, whom he considered little more than a soothsayer or a beggar, or the Kshatriya, who disdained earning an honest living and was proud of being a mercenary.
Jats professed Hinduism but many converted to Islam - often forcibly - during the period of Muslim rule in India. Subsequently, significant numbers converted to Sikhism, and particularly so in the Punjab. B. S. Nijjar notes that "... the Sikhs became as fanatically anti-Muslim as the Muslims had been anti-Hindus" and they joined armies in opposition to the Muslim rulers.
Varna status
The Hindu varna system is unclear on Jat status within the caste system. Some sources state that Jats are regarded as Kshatriyas or "degraded Kshatriyas" who, as they did not observe Brahmanic rites and rituals, had fallen to the status of Shudra. Uma Chakravarti reports that the varna status of the Jats improved over time, with the Jats starting in the untouchable/chandala varna during the eighth century, changing to shudra status by the 11th century, and with some Jats striving for zamindar status after the Jat rebellion of the 17th century.
The Rajputs refused to accept Jat claims to kshatriya status during the later years of the British Raj and this disagreement frequently resulted in violent incidents between the two communities. The claim at that time was being made by the Arya Samaj, who saw it as a means to counter the colonial belief that the Jats were of Indo-Scythian origin.
More on the Jats
We have the Saka-Buddhist empires of Satraps, Kushanas, Virkas from 200 BC-800AD who originate from Indo-Scythians or Sakas (Jat forefathers).
The historical record of the Indus-Ganga country (know as "Sakasthan" on Kushana coins with twin capitals Peshawar and Mathura) shows Saka-Jat rule and social order over gaur-brahmins and their supporters.
Jats" and goes on to describe the details. Then, more recently, in the 19th century, only the Jat-ruled kingdoms (e.g. Bharatpur, Lahore) fought wars with the British.
We recall the war between the Massagetae ("Great" Jats) and the Cyrus the Great, Cyrus agreed to the proposal of the queen of the Massagetae and then treacherously killed her son but eventually paid the price of his sins with his own life.
They (Alani or Massagetae) do not know the meaning of slavery, since all are born of noble blood, and moreover they choose as chiefs those men who are conspicuous for long experience as warriors.
Jats used to blow horns when marshalled for battle, just like the ancient Israelites & current Jews.
Mahmud marched against the Jats, residing in the Jood mountains, who had molested his army on its return from Somnat (a famous Hindu temple in Gujrat containing a very large quantity of gold and other valuables). Having arrived at Multan, and finding that the country of the Jats was intersected by rivers, Mahmud built 1400 boats each with six iron spikes, projecting from the prows and sides, to prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were experts in that kind of warfare. Each boat contained twenty archers and five naphtha-men, to attack and set fire to the enemy's flotilla. The Jats after receiving the news of this build up sent their wives and children to the neighbouring islands as well as to fight against the Muhammedans built 4,000 to 8,000 boats of their own. The Jats were beaten in the battle by Mahmud".
Jattah (Jats-It is interesting to note here that the pronunciation of the word "Jattah" is very closed to the word "Getae", the classical Greeks used to describe Jats in Central Asia) Amirs.
In enquiring about the inhabitants, I (Timur) was made aware they were a robust race, and were called Jats. They were muslims only in name and had not their equal in theft and highway robbery. They plundered caravans upon the road, were terror to Muslims and travellers. I (Timur) sent a force under Tokal Bahadar, son of the Hindu Karkarra, against the Jats. This force overtook the Jats and put 200 to the sword and made the rest prisoners. Again it was brought to my (Timur's) attention that these turbulent Jats were as numerous as ants or locusts, and that no traveller or merchant passed unscathed from their hands. My (Timur's) goal of invading India was to wage a holy war against the infidel Hindus, and it now looks important to put down these Jats and to deliver travellers from their hands. I (Timur) marched into the jungles and wilds, and slew 2,000 demon-like Jats. Thus, I (Timur) delivered the country from the terror it had long suffered at the hands of the marauding Jats.
Genetic evidence suggests European migrants (European or Israelite migrations?) may have influenced the origins of India's caste system. A new study has revealed that Indians belonging to higher castes are genetically closer to Europeans than are individuals from lower castes, whose genetic profiles are closer to those of Asians. The study compared genetic markers located on the Y chromosome and the mitochondrial DNA between 265 Indian men of various castes and 750 African, Asian, European and other Indian men. To broaden the study, 40 markers from chromosomes 1 to 22 were analyzed from more than 600 individuals from different castes and continents. The comparison of the markers among these groups confirmed that genetic similarities to Europeans increased as caste rank increased. No wonder why high castes in India are close genetically to Europeans since, at least western Europeans are believed to have Saka (Israelite) origin as north western Indians do.
The study, led by Michael Bamshad of the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, and his colleagues, is reported to be the most comprehensive genetic analysis to date of the impact of European migrations on the structure and origin of the current Indian population. The article appears in the current issue of Genome Research. The caste system, defined in ancient Sanskrit texts, determines a person's rank in society: The Brahmin, who were traditionally priests and scholars, held the highest rank in Hindu society. Warriors and rulers made up the Kshatriya who were the next in line to the Brahmin. Merchants, traders, farmers, and artisans were the third caste called the Vysya. The Shudra were the fourth rank and consisted of laborers. Because of strict rules forbidding marriage between men and women of different castes, these four classes remained distinct for thousands of years.Bamshad's team found that Y chromosomes from the Brahmin and Kshatriya closely resembled European Y chromosomes rather than Asian Y chromosomes. The Y chromosomes from the lower castes bore more similarities to the Asian Y chromosome. The mitochondrial DNA showed the same pattern. The authors believe their results support the notion that Europeans who migrated into India between 3,000 and 8,000 years ago may have merged with or imposed their social structure on the native northern Indians and placed themselves into the highest castes. Analysis of the paternally transmitted Y chromosome among Indians in general indicated that the Y chromosome had a more European flavor. Maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA among Indians is more Asian than European. This suggests that the Europeans who entered India were predominantly male.
The form Jat is used in South-East Punjab.In Central Punjab Jatt,fem.Jatti is usual.In the south-West of the Province the Multani and Balochi term for Jat is Jagdali and Jat(with a soft t)is used....
The Jats of Jud, which we must tske to mean the Salt Range,were according to the later Muhammadan historians,the object of Mahmud's 17th and last expedition into India in 1026A.D.It is however hardly possible that Mahmud conducted a naval campaign in or near the Salt Range,and the expedition probably NEVER took place.It is moreover exceedingly doubtful whether the Salt Range was then occupied by the Jats at all.
Chach, the Brahmin usurper of Sindh,humiliated the Jats and Lohanas. Her compelled them to agree to carry only sham swords;to wear no under-garments of shawl,velvet or silk,and only outer garments,provided they wore red or black in colour;to put no saddle on their horses;to jeep their heads and feet uncovered;to take their dogs with them when they went out;to furnish guides and spies and carry firewood for the royal kitchen.Of the Lohana,i.e. Lakha and Samma,who were apparently Jats,it is said that the same rules were applied to them and that they knew no distinction of great and small.Muhammad bin Qasim maintained these regulations,declaring that the Jats resembled the savages of Persia and the mountains.He also fixed their tribute....
According to most anthropologists,including the legendary and late Joseph Campbell, it all points back to ancient Babylonia and the Euphrates, around 6000 years ago. Archeologists have long ago discovered numerous ancient fertility figurines called Ishtar dating back to the dawn of civilization itself.
Anyway, this fertility goddess was dispersed by various means and by DIFFERENT tribes and races to the four courners of the World from Babylonia valley approximately 6000 years ago as the great mass of humanity began to diversify!!. Therefore this Ishtar today is still called Astorate in Palestine and Syria, Ishwar (another name of shivling) in India by the Dravadians, Hesta by the generic Central Asian Scythians, Estea by the Celts and Europeans (from where we get the term Easter ) E Ta by the Chinese (or Quan Ying) and so on and so forth.
However, since we are specifically dealing with the subject of the Scythians we will concentrate only on the similarities between the Scythian Hesta and the Dravadian 'Ishwar' (another name for shiva in India!!!)
The generic Scythians were a nomadic people who flourished from the eighth to the fourth centuries BC in a broad area--roughly from the mouth of the Danube River on the Black Sea to east of the Aral Sea.These Scythians had women warriors called Amazons and also Hermaphrodite priests called enares. The ancient Greeks located their Scythian Amazons specifically in the region of modern Turkey. The New York Times for 25 February 1997 quotes Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimbal, leader of the team investigating the Amazon graves: "These women were warriors of some sort and worshipped Hestia,Tabiti and artemis.The men did likewise. Dr. Davis-Kimball said the excavations showed that the nomad women seemed 'to have controlled much of the wealth, performed rituals for their families and clan, rode horseback and possibly hunted saiga, a steppe antelope, and other small game.' The Amazons of Scythia, devotees of the moon godddess Artemis or Hestia(Ishwar), lived in a region where archaeological evidence suggests that the moon goddess cult had been established from very early times. The moon--and honey--have long been symbolic of the menstrual cycle and fertility, the symbolism persisting in the word "honeymoon."
The moon-sickle emblemizes her complexity. (One also notes that the traditional Amazon shield depicted in Greek art is cresent-shaped--like a sickle or a moon.) Scythian women--sickle bearers--seem to have been not only childbearers and harvesters in their culture, but also priestesses and warriors. In the same fashion,pecular features identical to the Scythian Hestia are also ofcourse found in the Dravadian 'Ishwa'r . For example, the Dravadian Shiva(Ishwar) is always identified with the Moon crescent.His consort Durga is a warrior goddess who weilds weapons and a scyth in one of her arms.
In the same fashion,pecular features identical to the Scythian Hestia are also ofcourse found in the Dravadian 'Ishwa'r .For example,the Dravadian Shiva(Ishwar) is always identified with the Moon crescent.His consort Durga is a warrior goddess who weilds weapons and a scyth in one of her arms.
Why is it that of all the 'Scythian' peoples in the World, the Jats and Roma Scythians are the ONLY TWO groups without their own homeland and independent Countries??...
Hindu population in India is divided into four broad categories: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (traders) and Shudras (servants). Only Dalits and Shudras(Jats) consume Pork! Proper Hindus and even Muslims never consume this filthy animal.
Speaking of meat, don't forget that Hindus (80% of the population) do not eat beef and that neither Muslims (12%) nor Hindus eat pork. Hindus of course revere the cow while both religious groups consider the pig unclean.
The history of the Jats is rather poorly documented when compared to most other communities...some books have been written about the Jats but many have tended to be poor scholarly texts, in light of the near absence of reference material predating the last century. The absence of reliable historical material creates significant gaps which are then open to interpretation.
Jat-ruled states of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Patiala and Lahore combined had a modern Europeaned army of over 300,000 men (trained by Napoleanic generals like Avitable, Ventura, Allard).
The documented historical and archeological record of the Indus-Ganga country in pre-Muslim times from 200 BC to 1000 AD further shows the Jats and their Saka (Indo-Scythian) ancestors ruling over the Brahmins.
It should be kept in mind that prior to the British Indian empire of the 19th century, northwest southasia up to ganga was under Rajput, Jat and Gujar rule while the eastern subcontinent was under Muslim Mughal-Pathan rule. Despite all the neo-Brahmanist propaganda designed to paint them as some fictitious "ruling class", they cannot produce one single Brahmin ruler of the Punjab and UP region over any real and known period of time.
The word "Hindu" is itself not found in early Brahmin texts and was put into use by post-10th century Muslim regimes who refered to their lands as "Hindusthan" and the subjects "Hindus" (orginally a foreign word of referenc to people living near the Indus river).
The Jats dominate the rural hinterland in a radius of about 300 km from the national capital.They control fertile land and have hegemonic position in rural society.Buth they stand marginalised in Indian politics thanks to their bankrupt leadership.Even the Yadavas,an intermediate farming caste,have done better.
"The language of the Scythian tribes was a cousin of old-Iranian. So don't get too excited if Persian's called their priests also as "Magi" or "Maga"."
The Aryans had high priests known as Magi who were the keepers of knowledge. (This is where the word magic comes from) The Magi were very skilled astrologers. They were also the doctors of the land, working in threes, one to perform herbal healing, one for surgical healing and one for spiritual healing with holiness and prayer. There are still some followers of Zoroasterism today. Their religion differs from Christianity, but they still believe the Magi went to Bethlehem to worship the Christ."
The origin of the Magi is in a class among the Parthians (another group of Israelites). Since the Parthians were Israelites they knew the scriptures & prophecies of the coming of a Messiah & some of them, the celebrated Wise Men traveled & gave presents to Jesus.
'Scythians' did worship their own dead ancestors UNLIKE the Vedic Aryans who had Gods like Agni, krishna, Indra,Varuna etc...Look around the World folks. The non-Aryan peoples like Native Indians, Mongols, 'Scythians', Tibetians, some Slavs, Magyars, Gypsies, etc...always worshipped their dead ancestors. Skandinavians did worship their ancestors as well. The Skandinavians (Vikings) were the ooffspring of the Scythic Israelites that that didn't stay in Asia but moved to Europe. They abandoned the God of Israel & worshipped their heroes-ancestors Odin, Thor...men that brought them from Central Asia & the Caucassus (from here they started being called Caucassian) to western Europe.
Herodotus in 500 BC records, Scythian tribes ruling up to river Ganga (Herodotus, "The Histories"). References on the Jat history as Jat, Rajputs, and Gujars belong to the Scythian or Saka race which is considered to be Israelite.
Are Gurjars & Gujaratis Israelites?
Contrary to some scholars' statements the Khazars were Israelites related to Scythians & the Ephtalites, both of whom were Israelites. Many of the Ashkenazi Jews have Khazar ancestry from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel unlike most Jews that come from Judah. In India this group of Israelites that were the Khazars gave birth to the Gujjars. The Sakas or Scythians bore the name of Isaac. Speculation that the Scythians originated in the interior of Asia is clearly refuted not only by the account of Tamara Rice, but also by the images found on Scythian artifacts. A Russian art book reproduces many examples of Scythian artwork showing Scythians with bearded, Semitic features, not Mongoloid features. The terms “ Sacae” and “ Saka” do indicate an Israelite ethnicity, but the term “ Scythian” can sometimes include non- Israelites as well.
Gurjar or Gujjar is an ethnic group with populations in India and Pakistan. Small number of Gurjars are also found in northeastern Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gojar, Gūjar , Gurjjara and Gūrjara. They are a pastoral community.
Like with many other ethnic groups, the origin of Gurjaras is shrouded in mystery. It is thought they were initially encountered by Alexander during his thrust into India, although this and every theory about the Gūrjars remains in dispute.Although able to speak language or lingua franca of the country, they occupy, Gurjars have a distinct language of their own known as Gujari. Religiously, they include Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
The origin of the Gurjars is uncertain. Many Gurjars claim descent from Suryavanshi Kshatriyas (Sun Dynasty) and connect themselves with the Hindu deity Rama. Historically, the Gurjars were Sun-worshipers and are described as devoted to the feet of the Sun-god (God Surya). Their copper-plate grants bear an emblem of the Sun and on their seals too, this symbol is depicted. Also the Gurjar title of honor is Mihir which means Sun.
The Gurjar clan appeared in northern India about the time of the Huna invasions of northern India. Some scholars, such as V. A. Smith, believed that the Gurjars were foreign immigrants, possibly a branch of Hephthalites ("White Huns") also known as Ephthalites. The Ephtalites are believed to be Nephtalites, wich is one of the Israelites tribes. Gurjars have also been hypothesized to be descended from the nomadic Khazar tribes. It has also been suggested that the Gurjars along with population from northwestern India, merged with the Hephthalites and formed Rajputs. Scott Cameron Levi, in his The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and its Trade, 1550-1900, mentions Kazar (Khazar, could also refer to Kassar) and Kujar (Gujar) as two different tribes with links to Central Asia. The Gurjars/Gujjars were no doubt a remarkable people spread from Kashmir to Gujarat and Maharashtra, who gave an identity to Gujarat, established kingdoms, entered the Rajput groups as the dominant lineage of Badgujar, and survive today as a pastoral and a tribal group with both Hindu and Muslim segments. A 2009 study conducted by Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, under the supervision of Gurjar scholar Javaid Rahi, claimed that the word "Gojar" has a Central Asian Turkic origin, written in romanized Turkish as Göçer. Study claimed that according to the new research, the Gurjar race "remained one of the most vibrant identity of Central Asia in BC era and later ruled over many princely states in northern India for hundreds of years".
In India, Gurjar populations are found mainly in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, northern Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. The semi-nomadic Muslim Gujjar groups are found in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and north-western Uttar Pradesh. The name for the state of Gujarat has derived from "Gurjar".
Gujari (or Gojri), classified under Rajasthani, has traditionally been the primary language of the Gurjaras.
Today, the Gurjars are classified under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in some states in India. However, in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh, they are designated as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination. Hindu Gurjars today are assimilated into several varnas. The Muslim Gurjars are considered to be a major tribe in Pakistan; in fact, they compromise as much as twenty percent of the country's entire populaion. Small pockets of Gujjars are found in Afghanistan's northeastern region, particularly in and around the Nuristan province. According to Naval Postgraduate School, "They roam with their herds, usually of cows, from the high Himalayas in India to the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, although rarely are they seen in Afghanistan anymore, as Pakistan has hindered their passage through its territory and most preferred to stay within India. Some in India remain Hindu, although further west many are Muslim. Often they can be recognized by their avoidance of others, and their brightly hennaed beards. They are proud, fierce, and loyal. Their traditions are millennia old, and they have preserved them well in the face of great adversity. They are somewhat related to Nuristanis, although exactly how is a subject of conjecture. Similar to Nuristanis, some genetic root gives many Gujjars a distinctly European appearance, up to and including blond hair and blue eyes."
Gujaratis
In terms of ancestry, Gujaratis share identical genes with the rest of the Indian populations, but show a significant relationship with Western Asia, in other words, Middle Eastern.
A 2004 Stanford study conducted with a wide sampling from India, found that over 33% of genetic markers in Gujarat were partially of West Eurasian origin, the second highest amongst the sampled group of South Asians with Punjabis at 42%, and Kashmiris at 30%.
mtDNA Haplogroup U7 is found in Iran, the Near East, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan; with extremely low frequencies in neighboring countries Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. Its frequency peaks at over 12% in Gujarat, 9% in Iran, 9% in Punjab, 6% in Pakistan and 6% in Afghanistan. Elsewhere in India, its frequency is very low (0.00% to 0.90%). Outside of the Near East, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Northwestern Indian states, Haplogroup U7 is non-existent. Expansion times and haplotype diversities for the Indian and Near and Middle Eastern U7 mtDNAs are strikingly similar. Not only DNA, but the features of Indians of these areas look Semitic.Why is there the same Haplogoup between the Near East & India (only in the north eastern states). It's obvious that it's because the Israelites (Sakas, Ephtalites, Pahlavis & their offspring) were semites although they started to speak Indo-European languages. The Israelites in their captivity in Persia took the local Persian language & nowadays rendered English, Dutch, Swedish, Pashto. Although these languages are not Semitic nowadays there have been found texts in Aramaic in Afghanistan & traces of Hebrew can be found in these mentioned modern languages.
The possible homeland of this haplogroup likely spans the coverage of Iran to Western India. From there its frequency declines steeply both to the east and to the west. Its equally high frequency as well as diversity in Gujarat favors a scenario whereby U7 has been introduced by the coastal Gujarat to areas of Iran.
Some preliminary conclusions from these varying tests support some of the highest degrees of Indian mtDNAs found in Western Asia, with a particular close relationship between Iran and Gujarat, supporting a theory of trade contact and migrations out of Gujarat into West Asia.
Thakar, Thakur, Ka Thakar, Ma Thakar, Ka Thakur or Ma Thakur
Thakar is a scheduled tribe of India. They are adivasi tribe originally living in forest areas of Maharashtra but now scattered all over Maharashtra
They are also called by other names like Thakar, Thakur, Ka Thakar, Ma Thakar (क ठाकर,म ठाकर) Ka Thakur and Ma Thakur (क ठाकुर,म ठाकुर). It comes under ST Category which consists of 47 tribes. Thakars and Thakurs are Indo-Aryans and speak a dialect of Marathi.
The Thakars were originally living in all the hilly areas of Sahyadri in Maharashtra,Karjat Khalapur, Panvel, Sudhagad and Pen talukas of Raigad district, Kannad, Khultabad,and Soegaon Talukas of Aurangabad Akole taluka in Ahmednagar districts etc. in the Indian state of Maharashtra in India. They are also found in Satara, Aurangabad, Dhule and Jalgaon and scattered in allover Maharashtra in the course of time in search of a livelihood. According the survey of Dr. Ramesh Suryawanshi their population in Aurangabad district is near about 18000. They are distributed in Kannad, Khultabad, Soegaon tehsils of Aurangabad district and Nandgaon tehsil of Nasik District. Their hutments or dwellings are spread in Ajanta range in 30 to 40 spots. and their surnames are like Lendi, Pingale, Pardhi, Mengal, Fasale, Thombre, Aagiwale, Pathave, Aghan, Madhe, Savat,Shinde,More,Chavan in various 30 names. According to the 1941 Census, the population of these indigenous people was 22,182 in the district. As per 2001 census, the population of the Thakurs/Thakars in Maharashtra was 487,696 and the literacy rate was 50.9%. Some Thakar Tribals Came from Sahyadri and are living in Sindhudurg district also.(ref.The Gazette Of Sawantawadi Sansthan) They are scattered in Sindhudurg and are living since 400 years in Sindhudurg. Their population in Sindhudurg District is near about 6000.
They have rich traditions of folk dance, songs and unique culture of their own. They celebrate Diwali in a different way. On this occasion, they light lamps made from a fruit called chibra, which are placed on a stand made of cow-dung. At home, the celebrations are in form of a breakfast of boiled corn, sweet potato and chauli. The grain stored in wicker basket called kangas is worshiped during Diwali. This time of year they do frenetic dance to the beats of dhols, crooning Amhi thakar thakar ya ranachi ga pakhar.... ( We are Thakars, Thakars.. the butterflies of the woods ) The famous Marathi film Jait Re Jait was made on Thakar tribe.
Saurashtra people
The Sauras have the name of the pagan goddess Ashterot/Ishtar/Ashtarte (which was worshipped byt the Israelites) in their own tribal name
Total population c. 510,000 (1997 IMA), although the actual number could be double this figure or even more.
Sourashtra or "Patnūlkarar" refers to a community of people who speak the Saurashtra language. They had their original homes in Gujarat and migrated to Madurai and other places of Tamil Nadu. The origin of the name date backs to the time when the ancestors of theses people inhabited the kingdom of Sourashtra in Gujarat State. The Tamil name by which these people is known in Southern India is Patnūlkarar, that is silk-thread workers or weavers who speak "Pattunuli" or "Khatri", a dialect of Gujarati. The details about Sourashtra community is discussed by A.J. Saunders. The Bhagavata calls the Abhiras as Saurastra.The Bhagavata calls the Abhiras as saurastra and Avantyas rulers (saurastra-avantya-abhira) and the Vishnu treats the Abhiras as occupying the saurastra and Avantil provinces. Sourashtra-Patnūlkarar wear the sacred thread and they do the rituals that all the Brahmins do. Some use surnames such as Sharma, Rao, and are prominently known by their house names and Gotras.The famous house name was known Ambalam or called between them as Soulim,They were given first preferences in every important functions in between Sourashtra people.
The word Patnūlkaran means "silk-thread people". These people are first mentioned as Pattavayaka, the Sanskrit equivalent of Patnulkaran in the Mandasor inscriptions of Kumaragupta belonging to the 5th century AD. They are also mentioned by the same name in the inscriptions of Rani Mangamma of Madurai. However, from the 19th century onwards, they have often preferred to be called "Saurashtra Brahmins".
Oral tradition says that, Saurashtrians migrated after the fall of 'Somnath Temple' when Ghazini Mohammed invaded India. It is said that the Saurashtrians lived for about two centuries in northern regions of modern day Maharashtra and later moved to Vijayanagar Empire by the invitation of the Kings. Saurashtrians were highly skilled manufacturers of fine silk garments and were patronized by the Kings and their families. They were welcomed by the Naicker Kings of Madurai and were allowed to settle near the King's palace.
The speakers of the Saurashtra language, known as Saurashtrians, maintain a predominant presence in Madurai, a city, also known as 'Temple City' in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. Though official figures are hard to come by, it is believed that the Saurashtra population is anywhere between one-fourth and one-fifth of the city's total population. They are also present in significant numbers in Ambur, Dindigul, Periyakulam, Paramakudi, Erode, Palani, kancheepuram, Rajapalayam, Nilakottai, Salem, Namakkal, Singapore, Chennai, Trichy, Pudukkottai, Kumbakonam, Thiruvarur, Ayyampettai, Ammapettai, Dharasuram, Thirubhuvanam, Ammayappan, Walaja, Arni, Tiruvannamalai, Palayamkottai, Krishnapuram, Veeravanalur, Vellanguli Tirunelveli, kanniya kumari and Kottar in Nagercoil. Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is said to house several Saurashtrian families, known as Pattusali or Saurastrian Brahmins.
Patnūlkaras are mostly concentrated in the city of Madurai. H. A. Stuart writes that there were also large Patnūlkara communities in Tirupathi, Arni, Vellore, Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur. There are three group of migrants living Tamil Nadu. First migrants came to Salem Second migrant group settled Tanjore and surrounding places and third later migrants settled Madurai and surrounding places.
The Abhira tribe
The name Abhira is almost exactly spelled as the Hebrew name Abira. According to linguistic rules Abira could also be another way for Habiru (under the rule of Semitic vowelization) which is an ancient way to say Hebrew. Many Abhiras were goldsmiths & smiths in general, a very usual profession among Israelites, especially among Jews & Gypsies.
The Abhiras, that I propose to be Hebrews, would begot the Yadavs (offspring of Yadu, that I suggest to be Judah) being namely: the Ahirs (from which the subcastes DhaNGaD & GaDi come, that I propose to be a mix of DaNites & GaDites the first & GaDites the second group), Gola (meaning diaspora in Hebrew), Konar (a common toponym in the area where part of the Lost Ten Tribes were placed by the Mesopotamiam empires, so I propose they received the name from the area they sojourned, as other peoples did before)... It's also interesting that the Yadavs include the Jats as having the same origin. JaT (t & d are almost the same sounds & interchangeable often) & YaDavs have the consonants of YahuD (in Hebrew) or JuDah, being both similar to YaDu. India has been & still is such a confusing polytheistic society that it's normal that many cultures have lost track, at least partially, of their ancestry & old beliefs.
The Abhira tribe is an ancient Vedic clan. Bhattacharya considers the Abhira of old to be a race rather than a tribe. Whether they were a race or a tribe, nomadic in tendency or displaced or part of a conquering wave, with origins in Indo-Scythia or Central Asia, Aryan or Dravidian — there is no academic consensus, and much in the differences of opinion relate to fundamental aspects of historiography, such as controversies regarding dating the writing of the Mahabharata and acceptance or otherwise of the Aryan invasion theory. Similarly, there is no certainty regarding the occupational status of the Abhira, with ancient texts sometimes referring to them as pastoral and cowherders but at other times as robber tribes. Ancient Sanskrit scholars such as Pāṇini, Chanakya and Patanjli mentioned Abhiras as followers of the Bhagawat sect of Hindu religion.
Recent excavations in Nepal and Deccan has revealed that Gupta suffix was common among Abhira kings, and Historian D. R. Regmi, links Imperial Guptas with Abhira-Guptas of Nepal. In the opinion of Dr. Budh Prakash, the name of the state of Haryana may have been derived from Abhirayana, its ancient inhabitants having been Ahirs. Ahirs ruled the whole of Haryana under the Mogul rule and later were declared as independent kings.
An inscription of the Saka era 102. or AD 180, speaks of the grant made by the senapati or commander in chief of the state, who is called an Abhira, the locality being Sunda in Kathiawar. Another inscription found in Nasik and assigned by Reginald Edward Enthoven to the fourth century speaks of an Abhira king, and the Puranas say that after the Andhrabhrityas the Deccan was held by the Abhiras, the west coast tract from the Tapti to Deogarh being called by their name.
Reginald Edward Enthoven, an administrator of the British Raj and gentleman-scholar, believed that Abhiras might have entered India from Afghanistan. The pastoral setting of the stories about Krishna's childhood may have originated in legends of a god worshipped by the Abhira tribe. However Hugh Nevill says that it is probable the Abhoras on being removed from Mesopotamia, across the river, may have called themselves Abhira, as we know they did so in Scinde; while the branch in Afghanistan are spoked of in the Assyrian inscription as of "the land of Abhiruz". Ramaprasad Chanda author of "The Indo-Aryan races" says that the Abhiras from whom the Gujaratis of our day have evidently sprung, were Aryan in speech and belonged to the Indo-Afghan stock. The Puranic Abhiras, have occupied the territories of Herat, which is probably a survival of their name, as they are invariably juxtaposed with the Kalatoyakas and Haritas — the peoples of Afghanistan. Journal of the Department of Pali believes that the Abhiras came to India from some part of eastern Iran. Skanda Purāṇa also puts Abhiras as one of the tribes of Afghanistan.
Bhagwan Singh Suryavanshi, in his research, claims archaeological research in Deccan has revealed the presence of pastoral people of Neolithic era, who shares many attributes of Abhira. Hence, Abhira might have been present much earlier than what has been postulated so far. Finally he concludes, they spread from Indus to Mathura, and migrated southward and eastward. He also claims that similarity of culture and common belief that they are descendant of Lord Krishna, is the proof that they sprang from a common source. According to a theory advanced by A. P. Karmakar, Abhiras were a Proto Dravidian tribe, derived from Dravidian Ayir, which means cowherd, he further argues, Aitareva Brahmin refers to Vasah, as the name of people, which in vedic literature means cow.
Finally, he concludes from Padma Purana, where Vishnu informed Abhiras, "I shall be born among you, O Abhiras, at Mathura in my eighth birth". D. R. Bhandarkar, supports the non-aryan origin theory, by directly relating Krishna, to Rig Veda's "Krishna Drapsah", where he fights Aryan God Indra. Added to this Karmakar, shows Harivamsa says Yadu was born of Harynasva and Madhumati, who was the daughter of Madhu. Madhu says all the territory of Mathura belongs to Abhiras. Further, Mahabharata describes Abhira as forming one of the seven republics, Samsaptak Gunas, and as a friend of Matsyas, a pre-vedic tribe.
The Abhiras split into both varna and jati categories; there were Abhira brahmins, Abhira kshatriyas, Abhira vaisyas, Abhira carpentars and Goldsmiths. For example Baradas Abhiras are of Rajput origin. They derive their name from acting as priests of Abhira.
Besides scriptural evidences, historical and semi-historical evidence is available for equating Ahirs with Yadav. The term Ahir comes from Abhira (Bhandarkar, 1911;16), who were once found in different parts of India, and who in several places wielded political power. Ancient Sanskrit classic, Amarkosa, calls gwal, gopa and ballabh to be the synonym of Abhira.A Chudasama prince styled Ra Graharipu and Ruling at Vanthali near Junagarh described in the Dyashraya kavya of Hemachandra, describes him both as a Abhira and a Yadav.
Further, in their Bardic traditions as well as in popular stories Chudasmas are still called Ahir Ranas. Again, many remains of Khandesh (historical stronghold of Abhiras) are popularly believed to be of Gawli Raj, which archaeologically belongs to the Yadvas of Devgiri.
Ghurye, contradicts this by saying Abhira as a tribe is mentioned in the works of Patanjali, dated 150 BC, by most conservative sources, so they definitely haven't entered at the beginning of the Christian era and possibly their presence goes very far into antiquity. However, Smith has raised two questions on this synthesis by above scholars. First, If Abhira are Yadavs then why Mahabharata mentions them having abducted wives and children of Krishna and second, why Abhira kings names are after Shiva and not Vishnu till as late as 800AD, who is a rival god.
Dr. J.N. Singh Yadav and MSA Rao has contradicted Smith by saying, Those Abhira who abducted Krishna's Wives and Children might be Yadavs who were supporters of Duryodhna, and they also shows there is no rivalry between Shiva and Krishna.Mahabharta says that those Abhiras who looted Arjuna were the supporters of the Kauravas.
According to Sarat Chandra Roy, the Gopas, whom Krishna had offered to Duryodhana to fight in his support when he himself joined Arjuna's side, were no other than the Yadavas themselves, who were also the Abhiras.
Hari Singh Bhati on closer inspection of the site of abduction near Indraprastha, as described in Mahabharata, along with Dr. Budh Prakash's identification of Haryana likely to be the post Mahabharata settlement, Abhirayana, of those Abhira, finds concentration of Yaduvanshi Ahirs in that area and says, all Yadvas post Mahabharata were descendants of those Abhira and abducted Vrisni women, hence they are both Abhira and Yadava.
P.A. Karmakar, shows in Padma Purana, Vishnu informs Abhira, saying, "O Abira, I'll be born among you in my eighth incarnation", and concludes Abhira and Yadava is same.
Abhiras are mentioned as warriors in support of Duryodhana. The Gopas, whom Krishna had offered to Duryodhana to fight in his support when he himself joined Arjuna's side, were no other than the Yadavas themselves, who were also the Abhiras. Ramayana refers to Abhiras as Ugradarshana — Mlecchas and dasyus. The Abhiras also have been described as Vratas. Pnaini mentions these Vratas as robbers. The Abhiras are said to have looted the train of Arjuna, the Pandava, when he was returning from Dwaraka being accompanied by some of the members of "Sri Krsna's family after the death of the latter.Abhiras are said to have waylaid Arjuna and deprived him of his treasure and beautiful women somewhere in Punjab. Abhiras who looted Arjuna were the supporters of the Kauravas, and in the Mahabharata, Abhir, Gopa, Gopal and Yadavas are all synonyms. They defeated the hero of Mahabharatha war,and did spare him when he disclosed the identity of the members of the family of Sri Krishna.
From 203 to 270 the Abhiras ruled over the whole of Deccan as a paramount power. In Deccan Abhiras were the immediate successors of the Satavahanas.
Abhira king Isvarasena of Nasik Inscription XV. was one of the Abhira conquerors of the Andhras who took from them to west Deccan. A migration of Abhiras from Ptolemy's Abiria in Upper Sindh through Sindh by sea to the Konkan and then to Nasik. Abhira rule started about 203 AD following the end of Yajnasri Satakarni's reign and Abhira Isvarasena's accession took place in Saka 151 or 229 AD Sakasena was the first Abhira king. His inscriptions from Konkan and coins from Andhra Pradesh suggest that he ruled over the major part of the warstwhile Satavahana empire, It followed that Abhira Shivadatta founded the Abhira kingdom after Yajnasri in the Nasik-Konkan area. Indradutta Traikutaka was probably the viceroy of the Abhiras in the Western Coastal region of their kingdom assumed sovereignty at the end of Vasusena region.
Abhiras lived in the desert; but later they gradually pushed towards the south. In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD; Aberia or the Abhira country lay not far from Saurastra. According to Mahabharatha (II ch. 31) the Abhiras lived near the seashore and on the bank of the Saraswati,a river near Somnath in Gujarat.
The Abhiras were a strong and powerful people with well-built bodies and originally lived in the desert. Mahabharata locates the Abhiras in western Rajputana where the river Sarasvati disappears in north eastern Sind. In Samudragupta's time (c. AD 350) the Abhiras lived in Rajputana and Malava on the western frontier of the Gupta empire. Historian Dineshchandra Sircar thinks of Abiravan between Herat and Kandahar which may have been the original home of the Abhiras. Their occupation of Rajasthan also at later date is evident from the Jodhpur inscription of Samvat 918, that the Abhira people of the area were a terror to their neighbours, because of their violent demeanour. Abhiras of Rajputana were sturdy and regarded as Mlecchas, and carried on anti Brahmancial activities.As a result, life and property became unsafe. Pargiter points to the Pauranic tradition that the Yadavas, while retreating northwards after the Kurukshetra war from their western home in Dwarka and Gujarat, were attacked and broken up by the rude Abhiras of Rajasthan.
The Abhiras did not stop in Rajasthan; some of their clans moved south and west reaching Saurastra and Maharastra and taking service under the Satavahanas and the Kshatrapas. Also founded a kingdom in the northern part of the Maratha country, and an inscription of the ninth year of the Abhira King Ishwarsena.
Come As You Are, David
While India has had many established Jewish communities, such as the Bene Israelis of Maharashtra or the Cochin Jews, the Bene Ephraim story represents the second example of a community in India (other than the Bnei Menashe) claiming to be descendants of one of the 12 lost tribes of Israel, people who were expelled by or fled attackers in what is today West Asia. The Bene Ephraim claim they fled from somewhere in the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC and ended up in Andhra Pradesh in 1100 AD, after intermittent stays in Iran, Kashmir and Varanasi. While there is little to back up that claim, especially the lack of any genetic study to link them to the Israelite tribes, Yacobi offers cultural and linguistic similarities to strengthen his argument. “Hebrew and Telugu share similar words like ‘aruga’, which means table in Hebrew. The word for table in Telugu is ‘arugu’.” More such ‘evidence’ can be found in The Cultural Hermeneutics, a book he authored and published in ’02.
That they may not be officially recognised as Jews (or as an Israelite, the term he prefers) and, therefore, possibly not be allowed to emigrate to Israel doesn’t bother Yacobi. “I am not fighting for it. I just remember and wait, for I know god will take us...he has promised me...not the government of Israel or anybody else,” says Yacobi, who has nevertheless been to the Promised Land five times. Others too claim that it is not something that drives their faith. “We will practise our faith wherever god takes us. If required, we will follow it here,” says 35-year-old Yehoshuva Korahi. Also known as Ratnagiri Kortepati, he has had to strike a compromise between his faith and material needs. The school in Peddapuram where he works as a computer teacher insists he come to work on Saturdays. “In fact, there is more work on the weekend. It bothers me but there is no other option.”
However, Perwez and Egorova point out how Shmuel Yacobi and his brother Sadok (also considered one of their leaders) have gotten around to the idea after their trips to Israel that the smaller their group is, the better their chances are of making an ‘aliyah’ (the term for a Jew’s return to Israel). As a result, those who pray in the new synagogue near Vijayawada are called ‘Friends of Bene Ephraim’, unlike those in the older synagogue in Chebrole. “This hasn’t gone down well with some people, who have started copycat groups such as the Bene Israel and the Bene Abraham. And many other similar groups will emerge if the Bene Ephraim are recognised by Israel,” says Perwez. The authors also write about how some of the Bene Ephraim responded by identifying themselves as Christians, something the Yacobis are quick to interrupt and correct. But Shmuel Yacobi, who acknowledges this tension, adds, “I will really have no problems if others are recognised and get to go before me. It would lessen my burden of searching for the children of Ephraim.”
The idea now is the smaller their group the better their chance of making an ‘aliyah’ to the holy land, Israel.
If all goes to plan, Shmuel hopes to finance the aliyah of a handful of his community members using profits from a Telugu comedy film (dubbed in English too) that he is currently finishing. While some might think that like the Bnei Menashe, who have been housed in bits of occupied West Bank, the state of Israel may grant the Bene Ephraim recognition to shore up its Jewish character, Shmuel’s immediate goals seem more gastronomic than geostrategic. He’s already asked one of his sons, Yehoshua, who lives in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv and is married to a Ukrainian Jew, to scout for a piece of land so that they can start a South Indian restaurant once they arrive. Tempting the Hasidics with a good kosher Hyderabadi biriyani can never be a bad idea.
Back home in India, marriage does pose a problem for the community who are striving to keep the flock as “pure” as possible by marrying other Jews. The problem is, like the other purity aficionados, the Parsis, there simply aren’t many of their kind around. Yet, Shmuel, always diligent and perseverant, managed to rustle up a match for a local Bene Ephraim girl from a Bene Israeli Jew in Mumbai. It didn’t work. “I tried several times but her parents were too scared to send her to Mumbai, which is a 24-hour train journey from here,” he says. He was wiser not to even attempt an alliance with the more distant Bnei Menashe who are three days away by train in Manipur and Mizoram. Meanwhile, they make do with anybody who is willing to be accepted into the fold.
To those who attribute financial motives to the group’s switch—an allegation levelled often enough—Shmuel Yacobi says he has so far received only $500, that too from an American to help build the synagogue, and promise of help in setting up a poultry farm from Shavei Israel. All other assistance has been to learn more about Judaism and Hebrew. The add-ons don’t matter for him. He could be living in Israel, the US or Ethiopia—a place he himself suggests instead of the politically volatile West Bank—or just in Chebrole. All he clamours for is recognition as an Israelite. “Being a Bene Ephraim, that’s all I want to be.”
Judaizing Movements in India
The very next day I spoke on Jews and the Judaising Movements in India. Indian Jewry can be broadly divided into three distinct groups – numerically the largest, the Bene Israel, the smallest, the Cochini, and the last to settle in India, the Baghdadi. Apart from these, two Judaizing movements have emerged in India, the Bnei Menashe in the northeast and the Bnei Ephraim in the south.
Desi Jews
Desi Jews are Jews living in South Asia (or originally from this region, also known as the Indian subcontinent) who belong to communities that had been integrated into South Asian culture and society.
The term Desi, 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 or Videshi aka non-Desi, "foreigner", see Paradesi Jews). After the 1947 partition, 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 the Indian subcontinent. Many outsiders tend to indiscriminately use the word "Indian" for South Asian people and culture. This might be considered offensive by non-Indian Desi (the state of India 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 the Parsis, and other (originally) foreign communities, the preservation of group identity was facilitated by the caste 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 the Cochin Jews and the Bene Israel). Most of them lived on the coast of the Arabian Sea. They were involved in trade in the Malabar area, also in the production of oil. A turning point was the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. They introduced the Inquisition on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, persecuting the Jewish and Judeo-Christian communities. The arrival of the Europeans facilitated the immigration of Jews with Sephardi and Mizrahi backgrounds. In the times of the British Raj the arrival of the Sephardim and Mizrahim who were to be considered "Europeans" by the British authority, hence their name of Paradesi Jews ("White Jews") created some friction with the shunned older Desi communities.
After the mid-20th century, when the Indian subcontinent was partitoned and Israel gained independence, most Desi Jews emigrated mainly to Israel.
Madiga
Total population 9000000 (90 lakhs) Regions with significant populations Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Languages Telugu language, Kannada Religion Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism (even the Wikipedia notices that this ethnicity has followers of Judaism), Buddhism Related ethnic groups Telugu people, Kannadiga, Dravidian peoples
Madiga or Maadiga or Maadigar or Maadar is a Scheduled Caste that is found primarily in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra. They are also referred to by other names such as Maatangi, Makkalu, Madigowd and Madigaru.
Madigas migrated in large numbers to Tamil Nadu at various times. Maathaari, is the original name of the Indian tribe that has been otherwise relegated to a low caste and if not alternatively, derogatively called by various other names. The corrupt south Indian name is Madiga (Matanga > Madaga> Madiga) the caste has all India presence. In north Kashmir, Gujarath, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. In central and south India the community has its presence in the states of Maharashtra, Madyapradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Matangs are known as Madigas in Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that MADIGAs race roots are from West Asia (to be more precise, they are believed to have an Israelite origin) and parts of Southern Africa and even Europe etc., many centuries ago this tribe came into India and existed with local Adi Andhra caste people.
References to Matangs are found in ancient Jain literature. According to Jain literature, Vinami, the great grandson of Rishabh the first Teerthankar of Jainism, was the founder of the Matang race. Suparshvanath, the 7th Teerthankar of Jainism himself was a Matang. His Yaksha (attendant god) was also a Matang. The Yaksha of Mahavir the 24th Teerthankar was also a Matang. Matang Yaksha is Jain God of Prosperity.There is the story of Matang in Jataka Literature of Buddhists. There Matanga is the First fighter against Caste-untouchability.
Madigas' traditional occupation skill that they were leather-working Madigas produce leather goods is largely constructed for such workers are very small fraction. Madigas are 99% from agriculture background. Skilled workers in Leather industry, Shoe making Industry in India.
Madigas contributed a lot to the music and dance. The origin for the Tribal drums comes from the primitive but exact rhythm and beat producing "Thappeta"(halagi) tanned skins covered on the wooden round frames and were played by beating them with two sticks. The sound variation they bring by warming them when the weather is wet and humid. "Sindu" or "Chindu" is the warrior dance where men dance to the drum "thappeta" beat. They tie the "gajjelu" to their feet, similar to other South Indian dances such as Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi.
Madiga society is organized into clans, known as bedagus. They do not intermarry within their respective bedagu, analogous to proscription within upper-caste gotras.In karnataka different type bedagus viz. Kuriyaru, Sanna-akkiru, Elubunaru (MLA), Muchuldaru, Basavanaru, Hegderu, Iholeru, Chathriru.
Clarence Clark, in his Talks on an Indian Village, describes the spiritual beliefs of the Madiga people in following sentences, "... there were evil spirits all around him living in trees and streams and large stones, and they would do him a great harm if he is not careful". Clarence continues to 'talk' on how offerings were made to the 'special' stone outside the hamlet smeared with red plant as follows, "... would take a little grain or a few marigolds and put them down in front of this stone, so that the spirit would not be unkind to her..." About the deity in the hut which usually was a rough wooden image painted with few colors placed in a shelf at the corner of the hut he says, "... some rice was put in a bowl in front of her in case she should be hungry, and some times thread for sewing. But the strangest thing of all was this -- as well as food and drink and thread, there was a stick in case she needed to be kept in order".
The symbolism involved with food, thread and stick suggests they believed in God (Dess) who can be hungry and thirsty, who is industrious and who is vulnerable. Madigas saw behind every natural calamity the divine wrath and behind every bounty the divine blessing (as ancient Israel). Often offerings were made to propitiate the Deity who withholds the rain. Even as construction of canals and dams were shown as the means to water the lands and provide livelihood to Madigas during the famine.
Coyler Sackett, an Anglican missionary, for whom possibility of women-priest was an anathema, describes the attire of the Madiga priestess. "Mark her bold manner, impudent stare, fine figure, and the roll of matted hair lying as an ensign of her trade upon her proud head. She was given to the service of the gods early in life, and what she does not know of immorality, bestiality, and brazen-faced evil can be learnt. Her body belongs to the God. See her in her mad frenzy as, with hair flung free, she serves the deity, face aflame with ungodly lust." Madiga priestesses were consecrated for the purpose early in their life and no restriction of propriety was imposed on them throughout their life. They were free to choose their mates but they usually settle with Baindla priests. The role these priestesses play can be illustrated in the narration of P.Y. Luke and John Carman about a ceremony of sacrifice to Goddess of cholera:
A winnowing fan is put on the pot and clay lid on the fan; some oil is poured onto it. and then a wick is put in and lit. A Kolpula woman sits facing this light inside the enclosure, and she stares steadily at the light. All the goddesses were thought to appear to her through that light. Outside the enclosure, the Baindla priests stand and invoke the goddess, beating their special drums. The Kolpula woman goes into trance, closes her eyes, and is taken possession of by one of the goddesses. The people outside break a coconut, kill a chicken and pour a libation of toddy on the ground where the sacrifice takes place. The women’s face is washed with toddy. Before she becomes unconscious she utters the name of the goddess
In the following rite, the Kolpula woman gets into the platform near the shrine to the goddess Uradamma. A sheep is let loose as an offering to Uradamma, and priestess pierces its stomach with her sword. The entrails, liver, and the lungs are removed. The lungs and liver will be put in the Kolpula woman’s mouth and the intestines around her neck. A new sari and blouse are dipped in the blood of this sheep and then the Kolpula woman put them on. Lime, vermilion, black ash bottlu are put on her whole body, a broken pot on her head. She holds a broomstick in her left hand, a winnowing fan in her right hand, and goes through all the streets of the village, starting from the shrine of Uradamma. Her brother and the Baindla priests follow her, and the Magidas beat drum in front of her.
Madigas also incorporated some of the Sanskrit heroin into their pantheon and deified them. Goddess Gonti or Gontellamma is Madiga version of Sanskrit Kunti. While in Hindu mythologies these women loyally serve their gods, in the Madiga interpretation gods serve these deities.
Seven million Maddigim and four million Malmadim of Andhra Pradesh: 11 million Jews
Of the untouchables the Madiga community are believed to be believed to be related to the Telugu Jews (Bene Ephraim), but assimilated into Christianity when colonial missionaries reached Telugu areas.
The B'nai Ephraim live in India in the city of Vijayawada and in two nearby villages, Chebrole and Yerajerla. They speak Telugu, the Dravidian language of the people of the State of Andhra Pradesh. They belong to a clan known locally as the Maggidim. There are seven million Maggidim in Andhra Pradesh. They trace their ancestry to a king known as Matanyahu who was forced to leave Assur (Assyria) with his followers about 2,700 years ago for Kashmir. After a short period of peace in Kashmir (known to them as Jambu), they were slaughtered by the local people (the "Aryans") and forced to move on to Magada (now known as Patria) near Calcutta. There they took their clan-name from the town of Magada. From Magada, their journey continued southward until they reached their present location in southeastern India. The Maggidim traditionally ate meat and dealt in skins and leather goods. For this reason they became outcasts in the eyes of their Hindu neighbors.
Over time, their economic condition deteriorated so that by the time the British ruled India the Maggidim were sharecroppers -- tillers of land owned by scheduled-cast Hindus; and as sharecroppers they were permitted to keep only a portion of what they grew. They were the poorest of the poor, shunned and living separate from the rest of the population in ghettos known as keris or cheris. The condition of the Maggidim improved somewhat under the British, who offered them civil service jobs. Many became Christian, especially during a particularly terrible famine when the foreign missionaries led their Christian flock ("the rice Christians") while the Hindu population starved. The legacy which the British left the Maggidim was that they learned skills by which some could leave sharecropping and live and work in the cities and towns.
Since independence, the situation of the Maggidim has become more complicated. According to these infromants, to the extent that the Maggidim classify themselves as Hindu outcasts, they receive certain privileges from the government. If they identify as Christians or Jews they lose these benefits, although the Christians and Jewish Maggadim are shunned no less than their Hindu counterparts. In the overall, the condition of the Maggidim whether Christian, Jewish, Moslem or Hindu -- and the condition of other outcast clans -- are far more desperate than that of the scheduled-cast Hindus who make up the majority of the population of Andhra Pradesh. Shmuel Yacobi has studied old records left by the Hindus and, before them, by the Buddhists. He claims that those records report that the origin of the Maggidim (and a sister clan, the Malmadim) is Assur.
The records also report on certain of their customs which are unmistakably Jewish, namely (i) they bury their dead in separate cemeteries rather than cremate, (ii) the dead are buried so that the head falls toward Jerusalem; (iii) they eat meat but not that of a pig. Shmuel believes that before they were Christian and before they were Hindu or Buddhist, the Maggidim and the Malmadim were Jewish. And that belief is widespread among the seven million Maddigim and the four million Malmadim of Andhra Pradesh.
Today the Jewish Maggidim have three synagogues; the one in Vijayawada is called Beth Hagodish; the one in Chabrote is called Beth B'nai Yaacob and the one in Yerajerla is called Beth Hasidim. Although they are only 200 in number, they are closely watched by their non-Jewish clan members, who are sympathetic to their efforts toreturn to the religion of their ancestors.
Vaisnavas & Druzes
Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish traveler who passed through Lebanon in or around 1165, was one of the first European writers to refer to the Druzes by name. The word Dogziyin ("Druzes") occurs in an early Hebrew edition of his travels, but it is clear that this is a scribal error. Be that as it may, he described the Druze as "mountain dwellers, monotheists, who believe in 'soul eternity' and reincarnation." He also stated that "they loved the Jews."
Vaisnavas believe in Vishnu as a supreme god. They are considered to be monotheists. Vaisnavism is a branch of Hinduism. Some people consider Vaisnavas & Druzes as one or at least related. Both of them even recognize their believes are similar.
The sub-sects of Vaishnavism includes Kumara-sampradaya, Brahma-sampradaya, Rudra-sampradaya, Sri-sampradaya, Ayyavazhi and Swaminarayan sect. All these sub-sects centre around Lord Vishnu (or his avatars like Krishna). The Kumara-sampradaya, founded by Nimbarka, is based on Dvaitadvaitha philosophy.
Major Branches of Hinduism with number of adherents: Vaishnavites 580,000,000 Shaivites 220,000,000 neo-Hindus and reform Hindus 22,000,000 Veerashaivas (Lingayats) 10,000,000
Hinduism is a numerous religion. Because of the big differences between branches, Hinduism is regarded as conglomerate or a group of religions & rightly so. In fact many philosophical & religious beliefs have been incorporated through out milenia. Officially there are two million Druzes. Only if we don't count the millions of crypto-Druzes living in Xinjiang, the Moslem province of China. How about if the 580 million Vaisnavas are really the offspring of Druzes, or at least, of Druze proselytes? How about if they are crypto-Druzes like the ones living up north in China?
Yudu People
We can almost with certainty trace the entry of Jesus into Kashmir through a valley called Yusu Margh (orYusmarg), Kashmir, which is named after him and where the race of Yudu (Judah?) call themselves descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes. Part of Judah joined the Lost Tribes in its Mesopotamian captivity. It lies on the bridle route followed by merchants coming, generally on foot, from Kaghan and Afghanistan. The Kaghan (Kagan is a common Jewish last name) valley on one side touches Kashmir and on the other the Murree hills. Aish Muqam (about 47 miles from Srinagar) is not far from Yusu Margh. In fact it lies on the same route. Aish or Ashush is a perversion of Issa (Jesus).
Banu Israil
The Banu Israil are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Their name means "Children of Israel", and the community claims descent from the Jewish community of Madinah. They belong to the Shaikh caste, and typically carry the surname Israily. They should not be confused with the Bene Israel, a Jewish community found in western India.
Origin
The exact circumstances of their settlement in India is unclear, but their traditions make clear that they were Muslims at the time of their settlement. They are largely an urban community, occupying distinct quarters in a number of towns and cities in western Uttar Pradesh, such as Banu Israilyan in Aligarh. Quite a few of them occupied important administrative positions under both the Sultanate of Delhi and its successor, the Mughal Empire. This was especially true of the Banu Israil of Aligarh, where the community were the heredity kotwals, a post which entailed being both the head of police and garrison commander.
Although largely an urban community, there were several settlements of rural Banu Israil in Etah District. These Banu Israil are unique in that they are largely a community of farmers. In additions, the community were found in the town of Dhampur in Bijnor District, in Bilari in Moradabad District, in Sahaswan and Badaun in Badaun District, and in the city of Bareilly in Bareilly District.
