WHEN DID THE JEWS COME TO KERALA
There are some attempts without any inscriptional or literary evidences to establish the fact that St. Thomas converted Jews in Kerala. It is claimed without any evidence that there were Jewish settlements in Kerala from the days of King Solomonn It is true that Solomon's ships came to India but it was not for bringing Jews to settle in Kerala but for the purpose of trade. Guided by Phœnician pilots, manned by Phœnician sailors, Phœnicians and Jews sailed forth together on their distant voyages, into the southern seas. They sailed to India, to Arabia and Somaliland, and they returned with their ships laden with gold and silver, with ivory and precious stones, with apes and peacocks. It was a trading mission and Jews were not brought in the ships for staying permanently in India. In those days when the Jews were living in all comfort and luxury in their own country there was ne need for a Diaspora
Another claim of St. Thomas Christians without any basis is that they are the descendants of the Jews who came to Kerala during Diaspora. In their fanatical bid to disown their original caste of their own country and to appropriate for themselves the Jewish link they have been propagating the view that they are the progeny of the Jews of Diaspora. But the historical events of the period and the significance of Jewish Diaspora will prove their calculated attempts are nonsensical. The first Diaspora of the Jews in recorded history is the Baylonian exile. The Jewish Diaspora actually began in the year 597 BC with the seige and fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Known as the Babylonian Captivity, a significant portion of the population of Judea was exiled to Babylonia, not to Kodungalloor in Kerala. This is confirmed in the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel lived in exile in Babylon during the period before and after thr fall of Jreusalem in 586 B.C. Exiled Jews were escorted by soldiers and they could not escape from the crowd to come to Kodungalloor. There were two more diaspora according to scholars, and the Jews during this period went to Egypt, not to India which was a strange and far off country . So it is distortion of history to claim St. Thomas converted the Jews of Babylonian Exile when there were no Jews in Kodungalloor.The Diaspora continued with the Great Jewish Revolt, otherwise known as the First Jewish-Roman War, which began in the year 66 AD and ended in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Jews during this diaspora fled to Babylonia, Persia, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and the United States, and not to India. What is more, St. Thomas was not anywhere in Kerala in 70 A.D. The oldest documentary evidence of a Jewish community in Kerala dates from 1000 CE, when a Jewish leader named Joseph Rabban received a set of engraved copper plates from the Hindu ruler of Cranganore. Since Rabban was treated with honor by the Raja, he was not a refugee but a rich merchant. Like the Portuguese, he would have established a factory in Kodungalloor to pursue his trade with the Mddle East. In all probability from that time onwards only Jews would have come to Kerala in different phases through links with Joseph Rabban and his successors.
Thomas of Cana was not a Jew but an Armenian merchant.After the Poruguese elevated the Christians, it was only in the 18th century, this fictitious figure Thomas of Cana was projected, without any proof, as a Jew by some Syrian Christians. This campaign to make him a Jew was started by writers of private family histories such as Niranam Granthavali. Even Portuguese ships did not bring women in their long voyages. How could Thomas of Cana bring 400 families (including women), bishops and others in shaky,unsafe, and ramshackle ships? Even the plate granted to Thomas of Cana by the Raja was not a fact but some Syrian Christians imitated what the Jew Joseph Rabban got from the Raja. This alleged plate could not be traced by Buchanan. The privileges given to Joseph Rabban were plagiarized by Syrian Christian writers in their family histories to claim superior status for themselves.
There are some attempts without any inscriptional or literary evidences to establish the fact that St. Thomas converted Jews in Kerala. It is claimed without any evidence that there were Jewish settlements in Kerala from the days of King Solomonn It is true that Solomon's ships came to India but it was not for bringing Jews to settle in Kerala but for the purpose of trade. Guided by Phœnician pilots, manned by Phœnician sailors, Phœnicians and Jews sailed forth together on their distant voyages, into the southern seas. They sailed to India, to Arabia and Somaliland, and they returned with their ships laden with gold and silver, with ivory and precious stones, with apes and peacocks. It was a trading mission and Jews were not brought in the ships for staying permanently in India. In those days when the Jews were living in all comfort and luxury in their own country there was ne need for a Diaspora
Another claim of St. Thomas Christians without any basis is that they are the descendants of the Jews who came to Kerala during Diaspora. In their fanatical bid to disown their original caste of their own country and to appropriate for themselves the Jewish link they have been propagating the view that they are the progeny of the Jews of Diaspora. But the historical events of the period and the significance of Jewish Diaspora will prove their calculated attempts are nonsensical. The first Diaspora of the Jews in recorded history is the Baylonian exile. The Jewish Diaspora actually began in the year 597 BC with the seige and fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Known as the Babylonian Captivity, a significant portion of the population of Judea was exiled to Babylonia, not to Kodungalloor in Kerala. This is confirmed in the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel lived in exile in Babylon during the period before and after thr fall of Jreusalem in 586 B.C. Exiled Jews were escorted by soldiers and they could not escape from the crowd to come to Kodungalloor. There were two more diaspora according to scholars, and the Jews during this period went to Egypt, not to India which was a strange and far off country . So it is distortion of history to claim St. Thomas converted the Jews of Babylonian Exile when there were no Jews in Kodungalloor.The Diaspora continued with the Great Jewish Revolt, otherwise known as the First Jewish-Roman War, which began in the year 66 AD and ended in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Jews during this diaspora fled to Babylonia, Persia, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and the United States, and not to India. What is more, St. Thomas was not anywhere in Kerala in 70 A.D. The oldest documentary evidence of a Jewish community in Kerala dates from 1000 CE, when a Jewish leader named Joseph Rabban received a set of engraved copper plates from the Hindu ruler of Cranganore. Since Rabban was treated with honor by the Raja, he was not a refugee but a rich merchant. Like the Portuguese, he would have established a factory in Kodungalloor to pursue his trade with the Mddle East. In all probability from that time onwards only Jews would have come to Kerala in different phases through links with Joseph Rabban and his successors.
Thomas of Cana was not a Jew but an Armenian merchant.After the Poruguese elevated the Christians, it was only in the 18th century, this fictitious figure Thomas of Cana was projected, without any proof, as a Jew by some Syrian Christians. This campaign to make him a Jew was started by writers of private family histories such as Niranam Granthavali. Even Portuguese ships did not bring women in their long voyages. How could Thomas of Cana bring 400 families (including women), bishops and others in shaky,unsafe, and ramshackle ships? Even the plate granted to Thomas of Cana by the Raja was not a fact but some Syrian Christians imitated what the Jew Joseph Rabban got from the Raja. This alleged plate could not be traced by Buchanan. The privileges given to Joseph Rabban were plagiarized by Syrian Christian writers in their family histories to claim superior status for themselves.
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