The advent of the Jews into India goes back to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem when,according to the tradition,the fleeing Bene-Israel community were shipwrecked off the coast of Bombay where they settled and took to oil pressing.
The Cochin Jews are divided into two groups.The earlier groups,called Black Jews,trace their arrival in India to the destruction of the first temple when large number of Jews fled from Palestine(6th century B.C.).The later migrants called the White Jews or Pardeshis(foreigners),trace their advent to the destruction of the second temple by the Romans(1st century B.C.).Both groups originally settled in Cranganore (the old Musiris) but were driven out by the Arabs in the 16th century A.D. and fled to Cochin where they built their famous Synagogue. In this Synagogue is the Sasanam or charter by which the Chera emperor gave Jews the rights given to the high ranking nobles.
A third group,The Baghdadi Jews,came to India in the 19th century and settled in the main cities.Today most of the Indian Jews have migrated to Israel but this history of the Jews in India is unique in that nowhere has the Indian Jew faced anti -Semitism either from the people or from any ruler.
