How Jews Ended Up in India and China | The Jewish Story | Unpacked

Beyond the driving forces of antisemitism and persecution, trading goods has also had a powerful impact on the migration of Jews throughout history. In countries like China and India, the vast network of Jewish traders shaped the path for the wide spread of diverse Jewish communities.

In the 12th century, Jews settled across China in places like Kaifeng, a city on the Silk Road. Trading between China and the West meant Jewish traders could keep up with the global Jewish community while maintaining a place in Chinese society. Though the community thrived for centuries, over time the Kaifeng Jews have largely assimilated and roughly 1,000 members are left in the community today.

In India, the two largest Jewish communities were Cochin Jews and Bene Israel. Cochin Jews arrived as far back as the 1st century through the Roman-Indian trade system, while Bene Israel was started by a group of Jewish traders who settled after being shipwrecked on the coast of Maharashtra, India. As time went on, these communities grew, joined by Jewish traders from Portugal as well as those fleeing persecution from Ottoman Iraq.

Following Israel and India’s independence from British control, most of India’s 25,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, joined by many Jews across Asia. Despite this, both India and China have seen new Jewish arrivals in the 20th and 21st centuries leading to the continued diversity of widespread Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

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Executive Producers:
- Melinda Goldrich
- Shmuel Katz

Gold Level:
- Goldrich Family Foundation
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Image and footage credits:
chrstphre
Israeli National Archives-Yehuda Eizenstark Collection
Israeli GPO-Fritz Cohen
Israeli GPO-David Eldan
Israeli GPO-Zoltan Kluger
Israeli GPO
Sam Litvin
USHMM
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About The Jewish Story: Understand three thousand years of Jewish history in these short videos based on the book Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith by the renowned historian Sir Martin Gilbert. Learn the Jewish story from the ancient Israelites of the Bible to Hellenization, the Jews of the Middle Ages to modern day, and more.

About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
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