The most reasonable opinion at which we can arrive is, that although there may have been some connection for commercial purposes in very early times—as early even as those of David and Solomon—there was nothing like a settlement before the 3rd or 4th century preceding the birth of Christ. Then it seems likely that a number of Jews, who may in the first instance have left Palestine under terror of Haman’s persecution, established themselves in China. There may have been other immigrations between that time and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. But at that period there was a second and a larger influx. From the Jews who then entered China the greater part of the modern Chinese Jews are descended. A third considerable entrance into the country may have taken place in the reign of Chosroes, the likelihood of which has already been pointed out. Supposing these various bodies to have settled in different districts widely removed from one another, the strange variations in their statements respecting their ancestry and date of settlement[94] in China would be accounted for. This theory is in some degree supported by the fact that many of the Chinese Jews report themselves as having sprung from seven tribes, each called after the name of one of the emperors of China. It is not unreasonable to argue that each of these tribes was called after the name of the emperor during whose reign it arrived in the country.
But, whatever may have been the true length of their residence, it is certain that the Taou-kin-keaon (dividers of the sinew, Gen. xxxii. 32), as the Chinese call them, have retained in those far distant lands, and in that extreme isolation, their own habits, sentiments, and religious peculiarities as inflexibly as their countrymen in other lands have always done.
The annals of the Jews of Malabar date their arrival in that country as having occurred A.D. 70, the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. But others place this event in the fifth century of Christianity, when one of the persecutions occurred in Persia, and caused a numerous exodus of the Jews. The title which the Hebrew leader of the refugees is said to have borne is Rabbana; and that variation of the title Rabbi is said to belong to that special epoch. In features and colour these Indian Jews very nearly resemble the other inhabitants of the country; but their religious customs, their prayers, and their reverence for the Talmud, distinguish them clearly enough from all others.
The Jews of Cochin China also claim a very high antiquity. In the latter part of the 17th century a letter was sent by them to the Synagogue of Portuguese Jews at Amsterdam, in which they asserted that their fathers had emigrated to the Indies when the Romans conquered the Holy Land; that they had founded an independent kingdom, which had lasted for a thousand years, during which time seventy-two kings had succeeded one another. But a civil war having broken out in consequence of the rivalry of two brothers, a neighbouring sovereign had subdued them. Since that time they had been in subjection to him; but they were nevertheless well treated and their religion tolerated. How much of this may be true, it would be difficult to say; but it appears to be beyond a doubt that the Jews of that country have long enjoyed great prosperity, and populate large and important cities.
Mention is also made of another race of Jews dwelling in the neighbourhood of the Mahrattas. They call themselves Beni-Israel, and acknowledge no relationship with the Jews of Malabar, China, or Cochin China; but we are told that their Jewish physiognomies allow of no doubt of their origin; nor do they bear any resemblance to their Hindoo or Mahometan neighbours. There are other distinctions also between them and the other Oriental Hebrews. While they resemble them in the invocation of the Supreme God, in the observance of circumcision on the eighth day, in their observance of feasts and fasts, and especially of the great Day of Atonement, they do not celebrate the Feast of Purim and Dedication, do not possess the prophetical writings, have no remembrance of the destruction of the second Temple by Titus—in fine, are unacquainted with the history of their people since the time of the Babylonish captivity. If it were not a subject which past experience warns every prudent man to avoid, one would be tempted to inquire whether here were not to be found some genuine traces of the lost tribes of Israel.
Other fancies have been put forward by one writer or another, intimating the wide dispersion of the Hebrew race, which may be mentioned as curious historical puzzles, though nothing more. Among these is the tale of the Jewish inscription found on a tomb in the island of St. Michael, one of the Azores, which seems to intimate that some Jews once settled there; who must have subsequently died out. Also the report of the Spaniards who conquered Peru, and who affirmed that they found in that country a large and stately edifice, built after a fashion and by the use of tools unknown to the Peruvians. Tradition affirmed that it was the work of ‘bearded men’ in very ancient times. It was dedicated to the one Maker of the world, and bore all the appearance of a Jewish synagogue!
FOOTNOTES:
[89] ‘Asia’ in Acts ii. 9, no doubt means the Roman province, over which a pro-consul ruled. It comprised Ionia and Mysia, Ephesus being its capital. It is mentioned also Acts xvi. 6.
[90] Matthias is said to have been martyred by the Jews at Sebastople, whichever of the towns of that name may be intended.
[91] See further on what is said of the Jews of Malabar.