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Cochin Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian port city of Cochin. They traditionally spoke the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala, in India. Several rounds of immigration of the Jewish diaspora to Kerala, led to a diversity amongst the Cochin Jews. Some sources say that the earliest Jews were those who settled in the Malabar coast during the times of Solomon, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two. They are sometimes referred to as the "black jews". The "White Jews" settled later, coming to India from western European nations such as Holland and Spain. A notable settlement of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) starting in the 15th century was Goa, but this settlement eventually disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa and Spain.
Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade.
An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. They had, in effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were "tampering" with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).
Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin passed into the British sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva and Parur.
Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel). In Kerala there are still three synagogues; the one at Mattancherry, Cochin is still functioning.
Another reason why there was a reduction in Jewish population in old times was conversion to Christianity. When St. Thomas came to Kerala to spread Christianity, many Jews also joined among Nasrani Christians.
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