| « Previous | Home | Next » | jewtown 13 August, 2006 |
 photo: david lindley there are two stories of how the jews came to kochi: that they were jews fleeing the occupation of jerusalem by nebuchadnezzar in 587bc; or that they were originally part of king soloman's trading fleet from the 11th century bc. either way there has been a jewish presence in kochi for a very long time. at a time when the portuguese were evicting them all along the coast and burning them at the stake in goa, the rather more enlightened raja of kochi gave them a parcel of land to settle, which eventually became known as jewtown. as traders and speakers of the local language they thrived and were subsequently far more appreciated by the dutch and british. today though only seven families, and a dwindling population, remain here; most people having taken the opportunity to emigrate to israel when given free passage in the 1950's. | |
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Posted by davidlindley Archived under: india, people |
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