The history of Jews in India dates back thousands of years. In documented history, Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to enter India. Indian Jews are a religious minority in India, although unlike in many other parts of the world, they have never faced anti-Semitism from the local majority population. Many local customs have been incorporated by the more established ancient communities as a result of cultural diffusion. Some Jews claim that their forefathers landed in India during the Kingdom of Judah, while others claim to be descendants of Israel’s Ten Lost Tribes. India’s Jewish population peaked in the mid-1940s at roughly 20,000 people, before rapidly declining due to emigration to Israel after its establishment in 1948.
