This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.

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. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... UN Subregion of South Asia. ...

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). This article is about the South Asian people. ... The Paradesi Jews, also sometimes called White Jews, although that usage is generally considered pejorative or descriminatory, refers to relatively recent Jewish immigrants (15th Century onward), predominantly Sephardim and Mizrahim, into Kerala, in southwestern India. ... Britains holdings on the Indian subcontinent were granted independence in 1947 and 1948, becoming four new independent states: India, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, modern-day Bangladesh). ... UN Subregion of South Asia. ...

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. This article is about the Parsi community. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

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. Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian erstwhile state of Kingdom of Cochin which includes the present day port city of Kochi. ... The Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) are a group of Jews who migrated in the nineteenth century from west Maharashtra to the nearby cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmadabad, and Karachi (Karachi later became a part of Pakistan). ... Map of the Arabian Sea. ... Bekal Fort Beach, Kerala Malabar (Malayalam: മലബാര്‍ ) is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, and comprising the northern half of the state of Kerala. ... Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Catholic Church. ... The Syrian Kuriz also known as Nasrani Menorah or the Mar Thoma sliva The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people are an ethnic community in Kerala, South India. ... {{Ethnic group| |image= |group=Sephardi |poptime=>1,700,000 |popplace=Israel: 950,000[1] United States: 150,000 [2] Turkey: 20,000[3] The Netherlands: 270 families Northern Africa: nn Europe (mostly in France): 600,000 Southern Africa: nn Oceania: nn |langs=*Liturgical:,[[Arabic],Sephardic Hebrew *Traditional: Ladino, Judæo... Mizrahi Jews, or Mizrahim (מזרחי Easterner, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ; plural מזרחים Easterners, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) sometimes also called Edot HaMizrah (Congregations of the East) are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East. ... The British Empire at its zenith in 1919. ... The Paradesi Jews, also sometimes called White Jews, although that usage is generally considered pejorative or descriminatory, refers to relatively recent Jewish immigrants (15th Century onward), predominantly Sephardim and Mizrahim, into Kerala, in southwestern India. ...

After the mid-20th century, when the Indian subcontinent was partitoned and Israel gained independence, most Desi Jews emigrated mainly to Israel. Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה, ascent or going up) is a term widely used to mean Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel). ...

See also

• Cochin Jews
• Bene Israel
• Baghdadi Jews
• Bnei Menashe
• Bene Ephraim
• Knanaya
• Judeo-Malayalam
• Judæo-Marathi
• Pakistani Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian erstwhile state of Kingdom of Cochin which includes the present day port city of Kochi. ... The Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) are a group of Jews who migrated in the nineteenth century from west Maharashtra to the nearby cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmadabad, and Karachi (Karachi later became a part of Pakistan). ... The Baghdadi Jews are one of the main Jewish communities of India. ... Flag of Bnei Menashe The Bnei Menashe (Children of Menasseh, Hebrew בני מנשה) are a group of more than 8,000 people from Indias remote North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. ... This is all Bull Crap. ... The Nasrani Menorah also known as the Mar Thoma cross Knanaya Christians (قينان Kanaanite Christians or Qenanite Christians) are Jewish Christians from Kerala, India. ... Judeo-Malayalam is the traditional language spoken by the Cochin Jews (also called Malabar Jews), from Kerala, in southern India, spoken today by about 8,000 people in Israel and by probably fewer than 100 in India. ... Judeo-Marathi is a Jewish language spoken by the Bene Israel, a Jewish ethnic group of India. ... Prof. ...

Reference

• Dicţionar enciclopedic de iudaism, Editura Hasefer, Bucureşti, 2000, ISBN 973-9235-99-9

External links

• Emigrants in New York
• Who Are the Jews of India?
• Jews of India
• Large collection of quotes by Hindu philosophers and writers against Anti-Semitism