Benjamin of Tudela’s (1130-1173) itinerary contains one of the earliest statistical inference on Kerala’s Jewish population. During his visit to the Malabar Coast in 1170, he found about 1,100 Jewish families living in two places on Malabar. A few centuries later around 1520, in a legal inquiry regarding the status of the Black Jews and Meshuchrarim of Cochin made to David ben Solomon Ibn Zimra- the Chief Rabbi of Cairo, the number of Cochin Jews was given at about 900 householders (100 Pardesi and 800 Malabari). The Dutch Jew Moses Pereira da Paiva who visited Cochin in 1686 mentions in his ‘Notsias Dos Judeos De Cochim’, 488 Jewish families distributed in 10 synagogues: four in Cochin (for 143 families), two in Anguikaymal (Ernakulam) for 150 families, one in Parur for 100 families, one in Shenot (Chenamangalam) for 50 families, one in Muttam (Cherthala) for 35 families, and one in Palur (Palayur) for 10 families. Nearly a century later, the Dutch governor A. Moens (1781) observes 422 families, or about 2,000 persons.
Almost at the same period (1768), the leader of Pardesi Jewish community Ezekiel Rahabi (1694-1771) records 560 families: “We, who are known as White Jews, number some forty families with one synagogue. There is no other White Jewish colony in Malabar. There are colonies of Black Jews at six centers. In Cochin there are 150 families of these people with three synagogues. In Anjikaimal, just opposite Cochin, there are about 100 families with two synagogues. Five parsang further north is the city of Parur where there are one hundred families and a large synagogue. Five parsangs further north is Shenoth where there are fifty families with one synagogue. Two parsangs from Shenoth lies Mala where there are fifty families and one synagogue, while further south is situated the city of Muttam where there are thirty families and one synagogue, and Thirtur there are forty families with one synagogue." (1 parsang is 3.5 miles or 5.6 km).
Almost at the same period (1768), the leader of Pardesi Jewish community Ezekiel Rahabi (1694-1771) records 560 families: “We, who are known as White Jews, number some forty families with one synagogue. There is no other White Jewish colony in Malabar. There are colonies of Black Jews at six centers. In Cochin there are 150 families of these people with three synagogues. In Anjikaimal, just opposite Cochin, there are about 100 families with two synagogues. Five parsang further north is the city of Parur where there are one hundred families and a large synagogue. Five parsangs further north is Shenoth where there are fifty families with one synagogue. Two parsangs from Shenoth lies Mala where there are fifty families and one synagogue, while further south is situated the city of Muttam where there are thirty families and one synagogue, and Thirtur there are forty families with one synagogue." (1 parsang is 3.5 miles or 5.6 km).
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) reports 21,000 Indian Jews in 1901: “the white Jews numbered fifty families, and these are divided into six stocks: the Zakkai, who are the oldest, and are said to have come from Cranganore in 1219; the Castillia, exiles from Spain in 1492, who arrived at Cochin in 1511; the Ashkenazi and Rothenburg, who came from Germany in the sixteenth century; and the Rahabi and Haligua families, who came from Aleppo about 1680. There are three hundred families of the Blacks”. The encyclopedia fails to mention any Malabari Jewish families by names. Today, perhaps only the Eliases, Nehemias and Abrahams remain among the surviving Malabari Jewish families in Kerala.
The most detailed record on Indian Jewish population is compiled by H.G. Reissner in his seminal work on Indian-Jewish Statistics (1837-1941), published in the ‘Jewish Social Studies’ (Vol. 12, No. 4; 1950). According to Reissner, in 1837 there were 6,951 Jews in India (5,255 Bene Israeli, 1,039 Kerala Jews and 657 Baghdadis), and in a century their population tripled! Reissner enumerates a Jewish population of 22,480 (14,805 Bene Israeli, 2,000 Kerala Jews and 5,675 Baghdadis) in 1941 (21,245 in India; 1,199 in Pakistan and 36 in Bangladesh). The list however does not include the 1,300 Jews who migrated to India from Hitler’s anti-Semitic Europe. A decade later in 1951 their strength reached to a maximum of 26,512 (20,000 Bene Israelis, 5,000 Baghdadis and about 2,500 Kerala Jews).
The current Indian Jewish population (2010) is around 5,000 (200 Baghdadi Jews, around 40 Kerala Jews and remaining Bene Israelis). However, this does not include the population of Bene Menasseh and Bene Ephraim groups. One can imagine how minutely negligible would be 5,000 Jews in a country with a population of 1.2 billion. The majority of Indian Jews have migrated to Israel since 1948 and an estimated 75,000 Jews of Indian origin now live in Israel (60,000 Bene Israelis, 7000 Kerala Jews and remaining Baghdadis).
The 2001 Indian census recorded only 51 Jews in Kerala. In 2011, less than 50 Jews: 9 Pardesi Jews (6 women and 3 men) and 37 Malabari Jews remain in Kerala. After the demise of 83-year-old Isaac Judah Ashkenazi in July 30, 2011; only 9 Jews are left in Mattanchery from 6 families – Sarah Jacob Cohen, 87; Joseph E. Hallegua (current warden), 86; Juliet J. Hallegua, 69; Yael J. Hallegua, 41; Gumliel Abraham Salem, 83; Reema G. Salem, 82; Queenie S. Hallegua, 65; Keith I. Hallegua, 52; and Rachel S. Cohen, 65 (Statistics according to 'The New Indian Express' dated 31 July, 2011. It should be noted that the age given are not correct for some of the members).
The current Indian Jewish population (2010) is around 5,000 (200 Baghdadi Jews, around 40 Kerala Jews and remaining Bene Israelis). However, this does not include the population of Bene Menasseh and Bene Ephraim groups. One can imagine how minutely negligible would be 5,000 Jews in a country with a population of 1.2 billion. The majority of Indian Jews have migrated to Israel since 1948 and an estimated 75,000 Jews of Indian origin now live in Israel (60,000 Bene Israelis, 7000 Kerala Jews and remaining Baghdadis).
The 2001 Indian census recorded only 51 Jews in Kerala. In 2011, less than 50 Jews: 9 Pardesi Jews (6 women and 3 men) and 37 Malabari Jews remain in Kerala. After the demise of 83-year-old Isaac Judah Ashkenazi in July 30, 2011; only 9 Jews are left in Mattanchery from 6 families – Sarah Jacob Cohen, 87; Joseph E. Hallegua (current warden), 86; Juliet J. Hallegua, 69; Yael J. Hallegua, 41; Gumliel Abraham Salem, 83; Reema G. Salem, 82; Queenie S. Hallegua, 65; Keith I. Hallegua, 52; and Rachel S. Cohen, 65 (Statistics according to 'The New Indian Express' dated 31 July, 2011. It should be noted that the age given are not correct for some of the members).
Benjamin of Tudela has given statistical information about the population of Jews in Kerala in 1170 and the population at that time was 1,100 Jewish families. This is a solid proof that there were no Christian Jews in Kerala. In the detailed record given by H.G.Reissner there is absolutely no mention of Christian Jews. The Jewish encyclopedia does not contain any information about Christian Jews. The authoritative Indian Census shows the population of Jews and there is no word about the existence of so-called Christian Jews.In spite of these concrete evidences, some Christians, out of pride and mental arrogance, claim they are descendants of Christian Jews. To bolster this fallacious claim they are projecting a fictitious figure, one Thomas of Cana, who was alleged to have visited Kerala. Armenian and Portuguese archives say that Thomas was not a Jew but a very old Armenian merchant who came to Malabar as a trader in spices. They are also spreading a false propaganda that St. Thomas converted some Jews and they are the descendants of those converts. The visit of St. Thomas is denied even by Pope Benedict. If Jews had been converted, it would have been recorded by Jewish historians. Historians of Kerla also confirm the existence of White Jews and Black Jews and not Christian Jews. Missionary sources say that lower castes and slaves were converted into Christianity. They educated the Christians and uplifted them socially and economically. Probably to camouflage the untouchable past of these converts, they are flaunting the fake identity of Jewish pedigree. Even manipulated DNA analysis is made to appropriate the high status of Jews for the descendants of converts. It is to be highly appreciated that this Blog, "JEWISH POPULATION OF kERALA THROUGH AGES," has appeared on the web to enlighten the public.
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