CHAPTER VIII.

The Jews on the Coast of Malabar.-Settlements in Cochin-China.— The Jews on the Eastern and Western Coast of the Indian Peninsula.—The Beni-Israel.—The Jews in Bokhara.—Jewish Settlers in China. Their Colony at Kai-fung-fu.-Their present condition. The Falashas in Abyssinia.-Statistical and Ethnological Data.

IT is a fact well known to historians that subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and more particularly after the final dispersion of the Jews in the reign of Adrian, large numbers of Jewish families sought refuge in the south and south-east of Asia, where, it appears, several Jewish communities were found in the sequel. Even in the remotest parts of Asia Minor, and on the coast of Malabar, which were unknown lands to the ancient Romans, Jewish settlers have been met with whose arrival may be traced back to the first century of the Christian era. Some investigators, however, place the epoch of the first settlement of Jews in those parts in the fifth century when many are reported to have left Persia in consequence of vehement persecutions raised in that kingdom.

The Jews in India.

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There is documentary evidence extant to support this theory. The title given to Joseph, the leader of those colonists, was "Rabbana," being the equivalent of "Master" among the Jews of that period. Although the features and general appearance of the Jewish and Gentile inhabitants of India are nearly alike, the extraction and religion of the former are unmistakably preserved in their manners, their forms of prayer, and their observances, which are in keeping with the laws laid down in the Talmud. The discovery of these Indian Jews dates as far back as the seventeenth century, when some of them (viz., those of Cochin-China), entered on some correspondence with the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, sending an account of a series of kings who had successively reigned over the Jewish commonwealth of that country, and who seem to have been a kind of patriarchs or presidents appointed to administer law and justice. It is barely open to any doubt that the Cochin-China Jews at one time enjoyed great prosperity, and possessed cities and strongholds of their own.

Besides these communities, a race of Jews has been discovered by English travellers in the

neighbourhood of the Mahrattas, styling themselves Beni-Israel (Children of Israel), and acknowledging no relationship with the Jews of Arabia, Persia, or Malabar. Some of these may be found in various places along the eastern coast of the peninsula of Hindustan. Their features and complexion differ entirely from those of the Moslem and Hindu inhabitants, and so do their religious observances ; they invoke the name of Jehovah, and adhere to the ceremony of circumcision, as well as to the Jewish feasts and fasts, more particularly the Day of Atonement. Yet they are neither possessed of the prophetical Scriptures, nor acquainted with the history of the Hebrew nation posterior to the Babylonish captivity; and thus both the Purim festival and the reminiscences of the destruction of the second temple are foreign to them. It is stated that, though worshipping the God of their fathers, they are not entirely free from Indian superstition and idolatrous practices; whilst, on the other hand, their moral integrity, industry, and military talent are highly spoken of. Not a few of them, it appears, serve in the ranks of the native infantry. The following authentic fact was related to me by

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Mr. James Finn, late British consul at Jerusalem :-" About the year 1845, Sir Alex. Johnston, who had lately returned from being Chief Judge of Ceylon, told me that on his landing at Madras, a guard of honour was, of course, turned out to receive him; on looking at the men, he remarked that two of them were of a different appearance from the rest, and he asked them, 'Of what caste are you?' 'Israelite,' was the answer. 'What, then, are you Jews?' 'God forbid,' said they, we are not Jews, but Israelites.""

On the western coast of India there are also large numbers of Jews, chiefly engaged in husbandry and oil-making in the country, and in the building trades in the towns; at Bombay, more particularly, there is a Jewish community of about 8,000 souls. Their liturgy is that of the Sephardim, which they have received from their neighbours; but no manuscript of the law is in their possession. They entirely reject the designation of "Yehudi," and from this circumstance, as well as from several others, Dr. Wilson, in his "Lands of the Bible," infers that the Bombay Jews are descendants of the ten tribes.

In Bokhara the Jews, though there are not very many of them, are worthy of some notice. Most of them live in the capital, and others at Kattakurgkhan, Samarcand, and Karshia. In all these towns they are strictly confined to separate quarters. They do not enjoy the same rights as the Mussulmans; thus, their headdress consists of small caps of dark-coloured cloth, instead of the usual turban, which they are not allowed to wear. They are also subject to numerous other restrictions with regard to dress. Besides, no Jew is permitted to ride either on horseback or on asses, within the precincts of the towns. This prohibition is a very vexatious one, owing to the wretched state of the streets in those parts during the rainy season. over, there is no law to prevent any Mussulman from striking a Jew within the town, and even killing him outside the walls. The renowned missionary, Dr. Wolff, who visited Bokhara in the years 1843--1845, gives the following account of the Jewish population :-" The Jews in Bokhara are 10,000 in number; the chief rabbi assured me that Bokhara is the Habor, and Balkh the Halah of 2 Kings xvii. 6; but that in the reign of Ghengis Khan they lost all

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