Many people may be aware of this. For over a millennium, India has had resident Jewish populations. Jewish merchants and sailors from West Asia have made regular visits for at least two millennia. This book tells the story of the three strands of Indian Jews—the ancient Bene Israel and Cochini Jewish communities, as well as the more recent (18th-20th century) community of West-India Jews, the ‘Baghdadis,’ and their interrelationships and interactions, both among themselves and with the Hindu and Muslim communities with whom they lived and worked in peace and harmony.
The number of Jews in India has dwindled, particularly among the Cochin is and Baghdadis, who now find it extremely difficult to maintain any community activity, religious or otherwise, without the support of the Bene Israel of Maharashtra, who, despite being a fraction of their original number, are still numerous enough to sustain viable community life.
