History of the Jews in India
Jews in India are a religious minority in a Hindu dominated country.
General
It is believed that some Jews ( 926-586 BC) came already during the time of the southern kingdom to India, others may have been descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel (from 722 BC).
Half of Indian Jews now living in the northeastern states of Manipur and Mizoram, a neighborhood in the western Indian city of Mumbai. In India, Jews, unlike other countries experienced little anti-Semitism; only a few years there are violent clashes with Muslims ( Islamic terrorist group Lashkar -e- Toiba in Kashmir recently declared Jews and Hindus as enemies of Islam).
From 1947 ( India's Independence ) was an aliyah ( immigration wave), a large part of the Indian Jews to Israel, which gained its independence a year after India. Today, the number of remaining Jews in India are estimated at 5000 to 6000. Then there are the 5,000 to 7,000 Bnei Menashe members of whose Jewishness but is controversial.
In India there are five groups:
Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews are the oldest group and were originally traders from Judea, 2500 years ago in Kochi (formerly Cochin, Kerala ) settled and quickly established churches. Today, only a few Cochin Jews living in India. The vast majority, about 5,000 believers is already emigrated to Israel. The synagogue at Kochi is an important cultural monument, which was built in 1568.
Beni Israel
The Bene Israel reached the subcontinent about 2100 years ago, after a ship from Judea in Navagaon near Alibag (Mumbai ) crashed. They constitute the largest group of Indian Jews. Only 4000 in India Of the 65,000 members live today ( 60,000 in Israel).
Baghdadi Jews
The Baghdadi Jews came from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Arab countries to Mumbai about 250 years ago. They were regarded as enterprising merchants. From Mumbai, they dispersed to many parts of the country, where a large group was in Kolkata.
Bene Ephraim
(Also called Telugu Jews ) Bene Ephraim is a small group of Indian Jews in eastern Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu talking.
Bnei Menashe
The approximately 5,000 to 7,000 Bnei Menashe live in the northeastern states of Manipur and Mizoram. They came only in the 1970s to Judaism, however, claim to be descendants of the Israelite tribe of Manasseh. Only in 2005 they were by Shlomo Amar, one of the two chief rabbis of Israel, recognized as such. Thus, they are free to emigrate to Israel.