The Cochin Jews may have existed on the fertile Malabar Coast of southwest India for two millennia. This tropical region is now Kerala, a modern Indian state named after the kera, or coconut palm tree, which is so important to the state’s landscape and economy. While there were once thousands of Jews in Malabar, only 2,500 were registered in recent centuries, and only around 60 remain today, according to legend.
Early History
Traveler accounts and Hebrew chronicles from Malabar, some dating back to the 17th century, contain a variety of legends about the origins of the Cochin Jews. Some documents claim that the first Jews arrived in South India on King Solomon’s ships; others claim that they arrived during the Babylonian exile; still, others claim that they fled to Malabar after the destruction of the Second Temple; and still, others claim that they arrived in the fourth century from Majorca.
The majority of these tales revolve around the life of a Jewish community in Cranganore (also known as Shingly by the Jews), which is located north of Cochin. According to one chronicle, a community of Jews descending from the Assyrian exile traveled to Calicut (further up the coast) through Yemen, and a Malayalam Jewish song indicates that the Jews of Palur may have originated in Yemen.
Source: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-cochin-jews-of-kerala/
