Mystery of India’s first synagogue, mosque and church – all at Muzris

 

The history of the Jews in India dates back to ancient times.

P. M. Jussay wrote that it was believed that the earliest Jews in India were sailors from King Solomon's time.  It has been claimed that following the destruction of the First Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BC, some Jewish exiles came to India.

But it was after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE that there are records of numerous Jewish settlers arriving at Cranganore, an ancient port near Cochin.

Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India in recorded history. Indian Jews are a religious minority of India, but unlike many parts of the world, have historically lived in India without any instances of antisemitism from the local majority populace, the Hindus.  The Jewish population in India is hard to estimate since each Jewish community is distinct with different origins; some allegedly arrived during the time of the Kingdom of Judah, others are seen by some as descendants of Israel's Ten Lost Tribes. In addition to Jewish expatriates and recent immigrants, there are five native Jewish communities in India:

·         The Cochin Jews arrived in India 2,500 years ago and settled down in Kerala as traders.

·         The Bene Israel arrived in the state of Maharashtra 2,100 years ago.

·         The Baghdadi Jews arrived in the city Mumbai from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and Arab countries about 250 years ago.

·         The Bnei Menashe are Mizo and Kuki tribesmen in Manipur and Mizoram who are recent converts to Judaism.

·         The Bene Ephraim (also called "Telugu Jews") are a small group who speak Telugu; their observance of Judaism dates to 1981.

 The oldest of the Indian Jewish communities is in Cochin. The traditional account is that traders from Judea arrived in the city of Cochin, Kerala, in 587 BCE, and that more Jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 CE. after the destruction of the Second Temple. The distinct Jewish community was called Anjuvannam. The still-functioning synagogue in Mattancherry belongs to the Paradesi Jews, the descendants of Sephardim that were expelled from Spain in 1492.

The Jews of India waited centuries to build their first synagogues, praying in temporary structures or private houses to keep a low profile and fear of persecution. The buildings that were eventually built vary greatly in their scale, style, and visual orientation.

Central to the history of the Cochin Jews was their close relationship with Indian rulers. This was codified on a set of copper plates granting the community special privileges. The date of these plates, known as "Sâsanam", is contentious. The plates are physically inscribed with the date 379 CE, but in 1925, tradition was setting it as 1069 CE.  Indian rulers granted the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin, giving him the rulership and tax revenue of a pocket principality in Anjuvannam near Cranganore, and rights to “seventy-two” free houses.  The Hindu king gave permission in perpetuity (or, in the more poetic expression of those days, "as long as the world and moon exist") for Jews to live freely, build synagogues, and own property "without conditions attached".  A family connection to Rabban, "the king of Shingly" (another name for Cranganore), was long considered a sign of both purity and prestige within the community. Rabban's descendants led this distinct community until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them named Joseph Azar, in the 16th century.

The oldest known gravestone of a Cochin Jew is written in Hebrew and dates to 1269 CE. It is near the Chendamangalam (also spelled Chennamangalam) Synagogue, built in 1614.  It is now operated as a museum.

In 1341 a disastrous flood silted up the port of Cranganore, and trade shifted to a smaller port at Cochin (Kochi). Many of the Jews moved quickly, and within four years, they had built their first synagogue at the new community. The Portuguese Empire established a trading beachhead in 1500, and until 1663 remained the dominant power. They continued to discriminate against the Jews, although doing business with them. A synagogue was built at Paravur in 1615, at a site that according to tradition had a synagogue built in 1165. Almost every member of this community emigrated to Israel in 1954.

In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut, attacked the wealthy Jews of Cranganore because of their primacy in the lucrative pepper trade. The Jews fled south to the Kingdom of Cochin, seeking the protection of the Cochin Royal Family (Perumpadapu Swaroopam). The Hindu Raja of Cochin gave them asylum. Moreover, he exempted Jews from taxation but bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the tax-payers.

The Malabari Jews built additional synagogues at Mala and Ernakulam. In the latter location, Kadavumbagham Synagogue was built at about 1200 and restored in the 1790s. Its members believed they were the congregation to receive the historic copper plates. In the 1930s and 1940s, the congregation was as large as 2,000 members, but all emigrated to Israel.

Thekkambagham Synagogue was built in Ernakulam in 1580, and rebuilt in 1939. It is the synagogue in Ernakulam sometimes used for services if former members of the community visit from Israel.

When the Portuguese occupied the Kingdom of Cochin, they discriminated against its Jews. The Protestant Dutch displaced the Portuguese in 1660, and were more tolerant of the Jews, having given many asylum in the Netherlands.

The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774–1778, and finally abolished in 1812.  Based on the records that survive, H. P. Salomon and I. S. D. Sassoon state that between the Inquisition's beginning in 1561 and its temporary abolition in 1774, some 16,202 persons were brought to trial by the Inquisition. Of this number, it is known that 57 were sentenced to death and executed; another 64 were burned in effigy. Others were subjected to lesser punishments or penance, but the fate of many of those tried by the Inquisition is unknown.  A peek into what Goan Inquisition meant for Hindus could give you a hint of the discrimination Jews might have faced from the Portuguese.

The Malabari Jews (referred to historically during the colonial years as Black, although their skin colour was brown) built seven synagogues in Cochin, reflecting the size of their population.

The Paradesi Jews (also called White Jews) built one, the Paradesi Synagogue. The latter group was very small by comparison to the Malabaris. Both groups practiced endogamous marriage, maintaining their distinctions. Both communities claimed special privileges and the greater status over each other.

The White Jews had brought with them from Iberia a few score meshuchrarim (former slaves, some of mixed African-European descent). Although free, they were relegated to a subordinate position in the community. These Jews formed a third sub-group within Cochin Jewry. The meshuchrarim were not allowed to marry White Jews and had to sit in the back of the synagogue; these practices were similar to the discrimination against converts from lower castes sometimes found in Christian churches in India.

The Cochin Jews are divided in three groups. The biggest group is called 'Meyuhasheem' (meaning 'privileged' in Hebrew) or Malabari Jews (Malabar is the name of the coast on which Kerala is situated). These Jews forefathers are considered to have arrived in India as merchants during the period of King Solomon. The remnant of the Meyuhasheem Yehudans are traced to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The Meyuhasheem and the Rabban-Mattan-Cheri Yehudans have established connection with the Cochini-Kerala Yehudans and such connection traces back to the Cochin Jews to modern Israel.

The Paravur synagogue, located on Jew Street, close to the Paravur market was built in 1615 CE, but Cochin traditions say it was built on top of a ruined synagogue built in 1165 CE and which was burned down by the Portuguese in the 16th century.

David Yaacov (Jacob) Castiel, the fourth mudaliyar or community leader of the Kerala Jews, is credited with rebuilding the synagogue, according to a Hebrew inscription on the synagogue wall.

The entrance to Jew Street, from the main road to Paravur is guarded on either side by two tall pillars built by order of the Viceroy and Governor General of India Lord Reading (1921-1926) and the Maharajah of Travancore to earmark it as 'Jewish territory'.

Apparently, the Christian community in the locality used to hold disorderly processions frequently along Jew Street and causing  disturbances. These were jarring to the sensitivities of the Jews and they complained to the Maharajah and the Viceroy. The Jews were then allowed to attach a heavy metal link chain to the pillars to prevent entry to outsiders whenever they chose to.

Paravur Chennamangalam Jewish Synagogue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFcBuysH9Hg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGeAnDinNeE

The Jewish Synagogue at Chennamangalam, constructed around the 17th century is of a traditional style, with a separate entrance for women. The land for it was provided by the family of Paliam, the traditional ministers of Kochi, who owned the village of Chennamangalam during that period.

Paravur Jewish Synagogue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMls-EP5JeU

The building is located in the former Jewish Street of the Paravur region. It served as the place of worship for the Jewish community that settled very close to the Paravur Market.

The complex comprises of two buildings - the double storied entrance building and the main synagogue separated by an open space. The entrance building or the Padipura features two rooms on either side which was used for storage on the ground floor and Hebrew classes were conducted on the first floor.  Beyond this is a small courtyard which leads to the main entry to the synagogue.

The synagogue is attractive; there's a pillared entryway that leads from the two rooms at the main entrance to the prayer place .The prayer hall consists of two rooms; a rectangular room generally used for meetings and the other main prayer room with the Bimah and the Ark. There is a balcony above the eastern entry, on the first floor, which was used by the reader on certain special occasions. The ceiling and the brackets supporting the balcony is decorated with gilded carved wooden rosettes, typical to most synagogues. Behind this balcony is the women's gallery, which can be approached by a staircase that was situated near the entry to the synagogue. The wooden doors that existed (now missing) were gracefully curved at the upper side of the closure point. The original Bimah and Ark were taken to Israel in 1992 and reconstructions of the original have been installed in their place.

Inscription on the wall of the Paravur Synagogue.

He who dwelt in rock and bush,

Let him live for His sake in my house,

Let there be light in the House of Jacob

Alas, darkened in my exile,

Said David Jacob's son,

Renowned noble seed of Kastiel, At the completion of the holy sanctuary. May it be His will  that the Redeemer come - (Courtesy of Dr. Nathan Katz)

Situated about 100 m from Paravur on the Kodungalloor road of Kerala, the synagogue is one of the two Jewish synagogues placed in the Muziris heritage project region.

At Muziris, trade and religion grew together. This synagogue must have been the place of worship for the Jews that settled very close to the Paravur market. Though the users of the synagogue have all but faded away, both the market and the synagogue still exist. The Paravur market opening to the river Periyar still functions twice a week, a boat jetty has been constructed there, and the Jew street still goes by that name, though one of its two pillars at the entrance has been knocked down.

The balcony of the synagogue is supported on decorated pillars and gilded beams. The decorations on the ceiling and the door carvings are similar to those of the Chendamangalam synagogue.

History of Indias first Muslim mosque in Paravur (Kodungaloor/Muzris)

Cheraman Juma Masjid is a mosque in Methala, Kodungallur Taluk in the Indian state of Kerala.  The Cheraman Masjid is said to be the very first mosque in India, built in 629 CE by Malik lbn Dinar.

Kerala Vyasan Kunhikuttan Thampuran is of the opinion that a piece of land was gifted to the Muslims to establish a mosque. Since ancient times, trade relations between Arabia and the Indian subcontinent were active. Even before Islam had been established in Arabia, Arab traders visited the Malabar region, which was a major link between the ports of South and Southeast Asia.

History of India's first Christian Church in Paravur (Kodungaloor/Muzris).

 The St. Thomas Jacobite Syrian Church at North Paravur where the mortal remains of the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem - St.Gregorios Abdul' Galeel - is entombed, was founded in CE 1566 by the parishioners of the old MorThoman church located nearby, under the leadership of Big Bazar Tharakans the local merchants. When they approached the Ruler of Paravur (Paravur Thampuran, an Hindu King) for sanction, he happily donated a plot of land situated in the midst of the seven bazaars of Paravur Town, tax free (note the seven synagogues built by Jews in Cochin).  The Church built here was consecrated in the name of St. Thomas, the Apostle. This event has been inscribed in old Tamil script, in a plaque in granite stone and embedded in the wall near the front door of  the church. Paravur Thampuran, also donated a very big five tier oil lamp (Alu Vilakku) which is even now used in the Church. He had also provided some land tax free, for meeting the expenses to light this lamp perpetually.

According to the history and traditions of the Indian Church, the first church was established at 'Maliankara' (Malankara) in CE 52 had established a Church at 'North Paravur' (then known as Kottailkavu). This is said to be the first Christian congregation in India. This historic site is located just a few miles south of the ancient port of Kodungallor (Cragnannor). The early Christian converts are believed to be, the Jewish settlers who migrated to the India for trade purposes and also some upper caste Hindus.

Thomas of Cana is a figure in the history and traditions of the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. He is said to have led a migration of Syriac Christians from the Middle East to India sometime between the 4th and the 9th century; this may reflect a historical migration that strengthened the ties between the Indian church and the Church of the East. The Thomas of Cana story also factors into traditions of the divide of the community into Northist and Southist factions; the Southists or Knanaya sometimes claim descent from Thomas of Cana and his followers.

Written accounts of Thomas of Cana date to the India's Portuguese period.  Different versions give different dates for the events; some place them in 345; others as late as the 9th century.  The meaning of the Cana epithet is unclear; it may refer to the town of Cana or the land of Canaan in the Bible, or it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant (Knayil in Malayam). However, scholar Richard M. Swiderski states that none of these etymologies are convincing.

In most accounts, Thomas is said to have been a Syrian merchant, quite distinct from Thomas the Apostle, who was preceded by him in evangelizing in India. According to the traditions, Thomas of Cana led a group of 72 families, as well as clergymen, to the Malabar coast. There they met and supplemented the Saint Thomas Christians, who had been evangelized by Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. Copper plates referring to this story exist, but are of a substantially later date.

The arrival of Thomas of Cana figures into traditions concerning the division of the Saint Thomas Christians into "Northist" and "Southist" factions. In these versions, the Southists or Knanaya are the direct descendents of Thomas of Cana and his followers, while the Northists descend from the pre-existing local Christian body converted by Thomas the Apostle. In some versions, Thomas of Cana had two wives or partners, one the ancestor to the endogamous Southists, and the other (generally described as a Kerala native) the ancestor to the Northists.  All these stories are apocryphal, though both Southist and Northist groups use variants to claim superiority for their faction.

One of the most amazing things about origin of desert religions in Asia is the untold story of the miracle that the first Jewish synagogue, the first Christian Church, and the first Islamic mosque in Asia sprung up not just in the same nation in Asia, but in the same state, same district, and same town called Kodungaloor.

Before we try to know this miracle, let us see what happened to the world around in these happening times.

The making of the miracle.

The Egyptians had traded in the Red Sea, importing spices from the "Land of Punt" (which is none other than India) and from Arabia. Luxury goods traded along the Incense Route included Indian spices, ebony, silk and fine textiles. The spice trade was associated with overland routes early on but maritime routes proved to be the factor which helped the trade grow. The Ptolemaic dynasty had developed trade with India using the Red Sea ports.

People from the Neolithic period traded in spices, obsidian, sea shells, precious stones and other high value materials as early as the 10th millennium BC. The first to mention the trade in historical periods are the Egyptians.

The Spice trade refers to the trade between historic civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric were known, and used for commerce, in the Eastern World well into antiquity. These spices found their way into the Middle East before the beginning of the Christian Era, where the true sources of these spices was withheld by the traders, and associated with fantastic tales. In the middle of the first millennium, the sea routes to India and Sri Lanka (the Roman - Taprobane) were controlled by the Indians and Ethiopians that became the maritime trading power of the Red Sea. The Kingdom of Axum (ca 5th-century BC–AD 11th century) had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century CE. By mid-7th century CE the rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and sundered the European trade community from Axum and India.

Arab traders eventually took over conveying goods via the Levant and Venetian merchants to Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Turks cut the route again by 1453. Overland routes helped the spice trade initially, but maritime trade routes led to tremendous growth in commercial activities.  During the high and late medieval periods Muslim traders dominated maritime spice trading routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East and shipping spices from trading emporiums in India westward to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, from which overland routes led to Europe.

Jews and Christians bore the brunt of the birth pangs of their sibling, Islam, during the 7^th Century CE.  The trade was transformed by the European Age of Discovery, during which the spice trade, particularly in black pepper, became an influential activity for European traders.

The disruption of land routes to Europe by armies of Mohammed and the many wars and lawlessness that followed wrecked smooth trade via land route to Europe.  The cutting of land routes by Ottoman Turks again in 1453 made desperate European rulers to think of bypassing the land route to India.  This stirred the European Age of Discovery.

Europe needed alum to dye wool. Entire alum came from the Middle East.  Ottoman Khalifa conquered most of the Mediterranean coast by 1450, and took the biggest prize, Constantinople, in 1453. All alum exporting regions became his possessions. He raised taxes on alum to extortionist levels.  Desperate, Europeans started searching alum deposits within Europe, and in 1461 struck huge deposits near Rome. Entire European supplies started from those deposits. Khalifa was left sitting on his mounds of alum.  Seeking more alternatives for resources was one of the many compelling reasons why sea expeditions were begun on a war footing.

King Manuel I ascended the throne of Portugal in 1495 and commissioned a fleet of four ships to attempt a voyage around Africa to the fabled land of India.

 The most experienced man available was Captain Bartholomew Diaz, who had sailed all the way down the west coast of Africa in 1488, reaching the southern tip of that continent. Unfortunately, Diaz had proved incapable of suppressing a mutiny. So poor was the skill of Europeans in sailing large ships for long voyages that after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Diaz had ordered his sick and starving men to sail on to India, but they had refused to obey him, and he had reluctantly agreed to turn back.  Vasco da Gama was a grim, cynical man, notoriously merciless, an expert at torturing prisoners.

Diaz oversaw the building of two new ships for the expedition to India, and he had two older ships refurbished. All the ships were armed with the improved cannon that had recently been developed in western Europe.

Diaz made certain that the ships of the new expedition carried enough food to supply their crews for three years with generous rations of wine, salt beef, biscuits, lentils, sardines, plums, almonds, onions, garlic, mustard, salt, sugar, and honey.  Diaz also made sure that the ships were supplied with the sort of goods that had proved useful to him in trading with the primitive natives who lived on the West Coast of Africa. These goods included glass beads, copper bowls, tin bells, tin rings, striped cotton cloth, olive oil, and sugar. Diaz apparently neglected to consider that such common items might not appeal to the rich and sophisticated people who were supposed to live in India. No gold, no silver, and no expensive trade goods were loaded aboard the expedition's four ships.

When Vasco da Gama took command of the ships, he failed to notice Diaz's oversight. Vasco da Gama was a swordsman, not a merchant. It never occurred to him that his expedition, which was supposed to promote trade, ought to carry something worth trading in a civilized country.

Although Bartholomew Diaz prepared the ships, Vasco da Gama personally recruited his crews for the expedition made up of convicted criminals who were promised freedom if they cooperated with him in his voyage to a distant land that the convicts had no clue.

The expedition set sail from Lisbon, amid parades and pageantry, on July 8, 1497.  Men began to die of the disease when the expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope in November of 1497. So many perished from Vitamin C deficiency and scurvy that, when one ship had to be abandoned after being damaged in a storm, there was plenty of room for the survivors on the remaining three ships.

After skimerish with muslim in Mombaza, Vasco da Gama managed to get help from the local sultan of Malindi, who offered to form an alliance with the Portuguese, and he provided a pilot to guide Vasco da Gama across the Indian Ocean to Calicut. With the pilot's help, the Portuguese crossed the Indian Ocean in only twenty-seven days. On May 18, 1498, they reached the city of Calicut on the Malabar Coast of India.

Vasco Da Gama’s first voyage to India helped him get a gist of India, but ended up winning the displeasure of the Zamorins of Calicut and had to head back to Portugal.  Of the 170 Portuguese who had set sail for Indian in 1497, only 54 were still alive when Vasco da Gama's two surviving ships returned to Lisbon in 1499.

King Manuel immediately organized a second expedition to Calicut under a new commander, Pedro Alvares Cabral.

Thirteen ships set out from Portugal on March 9, 1500. Trying to follow Vasco da Gama's route to India, Cabral sailed so far west of the coast of Africa that he accidentally crossed the Atlantic and discovered Brazil. Cabral claimed the new land for Portugal, then he sailed on to India.

Although Cabral carried gold and appropriate trade goods, he was unable to do business with the Muslim merchants of Calicut. He was finally driven out of the city when many of his men were killed in an anti-Portuguese riot by local Muslims.

Cabral managed to buy spices at another Indian city. He returned to Portugal on June 23, 1501, with only four of his original 13 ships, but with a very valuable cargo of spices.

Although King Manuel was pleased, he decided not to send Cabral back to India. Instead, the king promoted Vasco da Gama to the rank of admiral, and put him in charge of the next Portuguese expedition to India, which departed from Portugal in February of 1502.

When Vasco da Gama reached India, he immediately launched a campaign of terror to avenge Cabral's men who had been killed by Muslim rioters in Calicut. Vasco da Gama's first act was to capture a passenger ship carrying Muslim families home to Calicut from a pilgrimage to Mecca. After looting the ship, Vasco da Gama set fire to it, deliberately burning to death hundreds of women and children.

He next sent an ultimatum to the Zamorin of Calicut, ordering him to kill all the Muslims in his city, or face retaliation. When the Zamorin offered to negotiate a compromise, Vasco da Gama began capturing Hindu fishermen from Calicut, and chopping off their hands, feet, and heads. He then bombarded the city, aiming to kill as many civilians as possible.

By his aggressive actions, Vasco da Gama demonstrated that Portuguese ships, with their superior cannon, were able to dominate their competitors, the traditional Arab merchant ships of the Indian Ocean. Muslim merchant ships were frightened away from Calicut, disrupting the city's trade.

It was during this time of discovery that explorers working for the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns first set foot on the New World. Christopher Columbus was the first when, in 1492, in an attempt to reach the Indies by sailing westward, he made landfall on an island in what is now The Bahamas. Believing to have in fact reached India, he named the natives "Indians". Just eight years later in 1500, the Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral while attempting to reproduce Vasco da Gama’s route to India was blown westwards to what is today Brazil. After taking possession of the new land, Cabral resumed his voyage to India, finally arriving there in September 1500 and returning to Portugal by 1501.

Although Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal in 1503, other Portuguese commanders in India imitated his tactics of seaborne terror, with devastating results for the economy of Calicut. In 1513 the Zamorin of Calicut negotiated a trade agreement with the Portuguese.

Portugal established an empire in India, and Vasco da Gama became viceroy of the Indian colonies. He was enormously rich when he died in Cochin, India, on Dec. 24, 1524.

With the establishment of Roman Egypt, the Romans further developed the already existing trade. The Roman-Indian routes were dependent upon techniques developed by the maritime trading power, Kingdom of Axum (ca 5th-century BC–AD 11th century) which had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century. When they encountered Rome (circa 30 BC– 10 AD) they shared with Roman merchants knowledge of riding the seasonal monsoons of the Arabian Sea, keeping a cordial relationship with one another until the mid-7th century.

As early as 80 BC, Alexandria became the dominant trading center for Indian spices entering the Greco-Roman world. Indian ships sailed to Egypt. The thriving maritime routes of Southern Asia were not under the control of a single power, but through various systems eastern spices were brought to the major spice trading ports of India such as Barbaricum, Barygaza, Muziris, Korkai, Kaveripattinam, and Arikamedu.  According to The Cambridge History of Africa (1975):

 The trade with Arabia and India in incense and spices became increasingly important, and Greeks for the first time began to trade directly with India.

Ptolemy, one of the six somatophylakes (bodyguards) who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt and created a powerful Hellenistic dynasty that ruled an area stretching from southern Syria to Cyrene and south to Nubia. Alexandria became the capital city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves the successors to the Pharaohs. The later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions by marrying their siblings, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation by Rome. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until the Muslim conquest.

The discovery, or rediscovery, of the sea-route to India is attributed to a certain Eudoxos, who was sent out for this purpose towards the end of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes II (died 116 BC). Eudoxos made two voyages to India, and subsequently, having quarrelled with his Ptolemaic employers, perished in an unsuccessful attempt to open up an alternative sea route to India, free of Ptolemaic control, by sailing around Africa. The establishment of direct contacts between Egypt and India was probably made possible by a weakening of Arab power at this period, for the Sabaean kingdom of South-western Arabia collapsed and was replaced by Himyarite Kingdom around 115 BC. Imports into Egypt of cinnamon and other eastern spices, such as pepper, increased substantially, though the Indian Ocean trade remained for the moment on quite a small scale, no more than twenty Egyptian ships venturing outside the Red Sea each year.”

 

The trade between India and the Greco-Roman world kept on increasing; within this trade spices were the main import from India to the Western world, bypassing silk and other commodities.

 

In Java and Borneo, the introduction of Indian culture created a demand for aromatics. These trading outposts later served the Chinese and Arab markets as well. The Greek document Periplus Maris Erythraei names several Indian ports from where large ships sailed towards east to Khruse.

 

Pre-Islamic Meccans continued to use the old Incense Route to benefit from the heavy Roman demand for luxury goods. The Meccan involvement saw the export of the same goods: Arabian frankincense, East African ivory and gold, Indian spices, Chinese silks, etc.

 

When the Roman Empire was declining, the emperor decided to divide the empire in half because he thought that it would make it easier to govern.  Later on, while civil war ravaged the western half of the Empire, the eastern half of the empire was pretty stable and so Emperor Constantine decided to create a new capital at the former Greek city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).  When the western half of the Roman Empire fell in 476, the Eastern half survived and thrived.  This Eastern half of the Roman Empire later became known as the Byzantine Empire.

 

The Byzantine Empire, and its capital of Constantinople, held a strategic geographical significance.  Constantinople is located right between the Black Sea and the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.  As a result most trade between Asia, Europe and North Africa had to pass through the Byzantine Empire.  Due to this strategic location, the Byzantine became a very wealthy empire for a time.

 

In the first millennium BC the Arabs, Phoenicians, Israelites and Indians were engaged in sea and land trade in luxury goods such as spices, gold, precious stones, leather of rare animals, ebony and pearls. The sea trade was in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The sea route in the Red Sea was from Bab-el-Mandeb to Berenike and from there by land to the Nile and then by boats to Alexandria. The land trade was in deserts of Western Arabia using camels.

 

In the second half of the 1st millennium BC the Arab tribes of South and West Arabia took control over the land trade of spices from South Arabia to the Mediterranean Sea. The tribes were the M'ain, Qataban, Hadhramaut, Saba and Himyarite. In the north the Nabateans took control of the trade route that crossed the Negev from Petra to Gaza. The trade made the Arab tribes very rich. The South Arabia region was called Arabia Eudamon (the elated Arabia) by the Greeks and was on the agenda of conquests of Alexander of Macedonia before he died. The Indians and the Arabs had control over the sea trade with India. In the late 2nd century BC, the Greeks from Egypt learned from the Indians how to sail directly from Aden to the West coast of India using the Monsoon winds (Hippalus) and took control over the sea trade.

 

Rome played a part in the spice trade during the 5th century, but this role, unlike the Arabian one, did not last through the Middle Ages.  The rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and Arab merchants particularly from Egypt eventually took over conveying goods via the Levant to Europe.

 

The Spice trade had brought great riches to the Abbasid Caliphate, and even inspired famous legends such as that of Sinbad the Sailor.  These early sailors and merchants would often set sail from the port city of Basra and eventually after many voyages they would return to sell their goods including spices in Baghdad. The fame of many spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon are attributed to these early Spice merchants.

 

The Indian commercial connection with South East Asia proved vital to the merchants of Arabia and Persia during the 7th and 8th centuries. Arab traders—mainly descendants of sailors from Yemen and Oman—dominated maritime routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East - linking to the secret "spice islands." (Maluku Islands and Banda Islands).

 

Indian spice exports find mention in the works of Ibn Khurdadhbeh (850), al-Ghafiqi (1150), Ishak bin Imaran (907) and Al Kalkashandi (14th century). Chinese traveler Hsuan Tsang (CA602-664) mentions the town of Puri where "merchants depart for distant countries."

 

From there, overland routes led to the Mediterranean coasts.  From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice and neighboring maritime republics held the monopoly of European trade with the Middle East.  The silk and spice trade, involving spices, incense, herbs, drugs and opium, made these Mediterranean city-states phenomenally rich. Spices were among the most expensive and in-demand products of the Middle Ages, used in medicine. They were all imported from Asia and Africa.  Venetian merchants distributed then the goods through Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Empire, that eventually led to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, barring Europeans from important combined land-sea routes.

 

The Republic of Venice had become a formidable power, and a key player in the Eastern spice trade. Other powers, in an attempt to break the Venetian hold on spice trade, began to build up maritime capability. One of the major consequences of the spice trade was the discovery of the American continent by European explorers. Until the mid 15th century, trade with the east was achieved through the Silk Road, with the Byzantine Empire and the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa acting as a middle man. In 1453, however, the Ottomans took Constantinople and so the Byzantine Empire was no more. Now in control of the sole spice trade route that existed at the time, the Ottoman Empire was in a favorable position to charge hefty taxes on merchandise bound for the west. The Western Europeans, not wanting to be dependent on an expansionist, non-Christian power for the lucrative commerce with the east, set about to find an alternate sea route around Africa.

 

So much for the history of the world and now let us unravel the mystery of two stories that sound odd, yet propagated to the maximum, in this saga of the firsts in Muziris.

 

The odd stories are:

·         The story about the landing of St. Thomas at Paravur in CE 42.

·         The story about the travel and eventual conversion of Cheraman Perumal to Islam in Mecca and the establishment of Islam through Cheraman Mosque.

 

Before we move further, let us study the dates of historical turning points cited above.

 

1000 BCE	Egyptians records trade with India.
563 BCE	Birth of Prince Siddharta who later creates Buddhism.
562 BCE	Jews arrive in Paravur after destruction of the 1st Temple.
356 BCE	Alexander is born.
326 BCE	Alexander begins his Indian campaign.
323 BCE	Alexander dies.
305 BCE	Ptolemaic dynasty.
263 BCE	Emperor Ashoka reigns
200 BCE	Greeks learn to sail from Indians using monsoon winds.
80 BCE	Many ports began to trade with India.
50 AD	Arab tribes of South and West Arabia seize spice route.
52 AD	Hoax apostle St. Thomas reaches North Paravur.
70 AD	Jews arrive in Paravur after destruction of the 2nd Temple.
325 AD	King Constantine creates Christianity.
345 AD	Earliest purported date of arrival of Thomas of Cana.
379 AD	Sasanam copper plates granting Jews special privileges
476 AD	Roman empire falls.
602 AD	Hsuan Tsang tours India.
610 AD	Arab military commander Muhammad creates Islam.
629 AD	First muslim mosque, Cheraman mosque.
632 AD	Prophet Muhammad dies.
700 AD	Arab Muslims disrupt land routes to Europe.
900 AD	Latest purported date of arrival of Thomas of Cana.
1165 AD	First synagogue in Paravur built.
1200 AD	Kadavumbagham Synagogue was built.
1341 AD	Disastrous flood silt up the port of Cranganore
1453 AD	Ottoman Turks cut of trade with Europe.
1488 AD	Portuguese Capt. Bartholomew Diaz reaches Cape of Good Hope
1492 AD	Christopher Columbus discovers America on way to India.
1495 AD	King Manuel I commissions voyage around Africa to India
1497 AD	Vasco da Gama starts voyage to India
1498 AD	Vasco da Gama reached calicut.
1499 AD	Vasco da Gama returns to Lisbon.
1500 AD	Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brazil on losing his way to India
1500 AD	Portuguese Empire established a trading beachhead.
1501 AD	Pedro Álvares Cabral returns to Portugal.
1502 AD	Vasco da Gama start second voyage to India.
1513 AD	Zamorin of Calicut negotiates trade agreement with Portuguese
1524 AD	Vasco Da Gama dies in Cochin.
1524 AD	Muslims attack Cranganore Jews. Jews take refuge under Cochin Raja
1560 AD	Goa Inquisition begins.
1580 AD	Thekkambagham Synagogue was built in Ernakulam.
1600 AD	First synagogue burned down by the Portuguese.
1615 AD	First synagogue in Paravur rebuilt.
1660 AD	Protestant Dutch displaced the Portuguese.
1663 AD	Portuguese Empire loses control of Cranganore to the British

 

Egypt in 1000 BC was very much a Jewish influenced region and records of trade by Egyptians with Indians speaks of the Jewish familiarity with India.  It should be no wonder that Jews sought refuge in the land of the Hindus following the destruction of the First Temple.

 

The birth of Alexander the great in 356 BC and the several legends that surround Alexander's birth and childhood, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great) we know has great similarities with divine legends that followed this era.  Macedonia was the gateway to Europe and was the finishing point for long silk route from India.  Alexander was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders and none better than him would know the importance of funding in the success of a war campaign.  Macedonia in those times was not known to have any other source to fund the largest war campaign in world history than the profits accrued through trade that passed through Macedonia into Europe.  The legendary commander was not wrong when he calculated the power and control he could command if he could control the trade routes all the way to its origin – India.  The fact that he did not go south into the Africa or Norther Europe, but criss crossed the silk routes all the way down to India lays bare his strategic thinking.

 

Ptolemaic dynasty gives us lessons on first attempts at inculturation.  Egyptians reached their peak during this era and the investment on pyramids and luxury drained the nation.  The bankruptcy that followed the end of Ptolemaic dynasty made the Greeks desperate to seek alternate routes to India by sea and they find success by 200 BC.  Though Greeks could sail to India, they were at the mercy of the Persians when transporting goods through land.

 

The unbreakable hold of Jews over world trade unsettled Romans and Persians.  In 50 AD, Arab tribes of South and West Arabia seize spice route.  This pushes Romans to the brink, and in 70 AD Romans attacks Jews triggering second exodus of Jews to India after destruction of the Second Temple.

 

Military campaign of Alexander and the success of Ptolemaic inculturation, which influenced Emperor Ashoka who was linked by trade and commerce to countries far and wide during his regime, was felt as an attempt worth emulating by King Constantine who was losing hold over his kingdom after constant conflict with the Romans.

 

To contain the sagging fortunes, Rome’s unpopular King Constantine in 325 AD compiled a new religion to destroy Jewish control by diluting Judaism.  The religion of Christianity was created by compiling from the lives of legends like Alexander, Horus, and Sri Krishna, mythologies and beliefs, customs and practices from as far as Macedonia, Egypt, and to of course India.  This religion endorsed the persecution of Jews leading to decimation of the Jews and thus destroying Jewish control over Indo-European trade.

 

One of the many factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire was the rise of new religions like Mithraism.  The Christian religion, which was monotheistic ran counter to the traditional Roman religion, which was polytheistic (many gods). In 313 AD, King Constantine made truce with the Romans and ended all persecution and declared toleration for Christianity in return to end hostilities.  Later that century, Christianity became the official state religion of the Empire. This drastic change in policy spread this relatively new religion to every corner of the Empire.

 

By approving Christianity, the Roman state directly undermined its religious traditions. Finally, by this time, Romans considered their emperor a god. But the Christian belief in one god — who was not the emperor — weakened the authority and credibility of the emperor.

 

Sasanam copper plates (379 AD) were issued by Paravur Kings granting special privileges to Jews assuring them of safety and peace following their ongoing and renewed persecution in their homeland.

 

Christianity was shipped to Indian shores along with commerce and in keeping with the original intention of making of the new religion, attempts at diluting Jewish presence in Kerala was begun and a certain Thomas of Cana was claimed to have arrived in Kerala with 72 (seventy-two) families to be precise, also said to have granted warm reception by the king, sanctioned space to build church, with privileges endorsed on cooper plates, natives bowled over by display of divine miracles, and claimed of having reached India even before it reached even all of Europe.

 

It must be noted that Jews did not attempt to proselytize Hindus, but Jews who had by now become a sizable population after exodus following almost 5 centuries of persecution and adherents of Christianity in India was paltry, many accounts had mistaken the large Jewish community they encountered here as Christians.  Jewish and Arab traders, over the course of centuries of trade, had solicited the services of Indian maids and mistresses which resulted in a population fathered by sailor-merchants, but considered out-castes by the caste-obsessed society that Kerala was during those times.  These out-castes and few members of the upper castes, who had fallen out with their powerful and rich families who followed very strict and rigid tradition of hierarchy, owing to disputes/disagreements over wealth or power, became the first converts to Christianity in India.  These neo-converts basically followed Hinduism, albeit in the church, as neither were they literate nor was a printable version of Malayalam font developed at that time to print a Malayalam bible.  Actually, the first printing machine was installed in Kerala only in 1577 by Jesuit missionaries at Chendamangalam Vypeenakotta Seminary and the first book to be printed here was not the bible but Doctrina Christiana, a Christian awareness/propaganda booklet that can be found today in Sorbonne University Museum in Paris.  This was burned down in 1584 riots which was later rebuilt but only to be destroyed again by havoc wrought by the invading army of Tipu Sultan in 1790.  The fact that the first printing press in South India sprung up exactly in Chendamangalam is again another mystery of the firsts’.

 

The Persian and European adherents of Christianity had built churches and had bishops assigned for its administration.  These churches did not obviously have “indian christians” in their congregation.  Bishops from these churches were recorded to have participated in many crucial synods before and after compilation of the bible by King Constantine following the Council of Nicea.  The records regarding these bishops and their attendance in these councils and synods were construed later on as to have represented “indian Christians.”  This in turn was used as “proof” of antiquity of “indian Christians.”

 

The obsession of the Romans in persecuting the Jews and the falling fortunes following frequent crusades ultimately lead to the fall of Rome in 476 CE.

 

With the fall of Rome, a period of instability ensued, following which deadly epidemics wiped out many villages and towns across Europe.  In 610 AD, an Arab military commander, a certain Mohammed, replicated the military success of Alexander, the technique of using religion to influence society from Constantine, and the effectiveness of insensate persecution by Romans during crusades in controlling masses through terror.  The dogmas of the new religion were compiled on similar lines as Christianity by incorporating Christianity, Judaism, and other Persian beliefs that existed in Arabia to create a new religion called Islam in 610 CE.

 

He made Kaaba central to the religion as the Kaaba, at that time, was an important Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva (Kaabali) called Kaabalishwarar. It brought revenues to Mecca because of the multitude of pilgrims that it attracted.  Thus, a well-funded “Prophet Mohammed” began his military campaigns, not surprisingly engulfing the Silk route.

 

He could thus rein in warring factions of local Arab warlords and dacoits who controlled the land trade routes of Arabia by force and signing several truces.

 

Arabia was converted to an Islamic nation by storm and sailors from Arabia thence shipped Islam to India during the course of their voyages.  The mass conversion of arab sailors to this new religion was also welcomed with warmth by rulers of Kerala and they too were awarded space to construct their place of worship and thus the first mosque was created by refurbishing a temple on the orders of Cheraman Perumal and the Cheraman mosque came into existence in 629 CE.  Like Christians, Muslims vigorously proselytized Hindus who had associated with the Arab sailors before the arrival of Islam to Kerala.

 

Arrival of new religion by ship, natives bowled over by display of divine miracles, and claims of having reached India even before it reached even all of Arabia, warm welcome by rulers, allocation of space to construct mosque, and copper plate story repeats.

 

Please note, that the final version of neither the Bible nor the Koran had been compiled when these “first in India” stories were doled out, i.e. Christianity and Islam was claimed to have been implanted in India much before the Bible and Koran came into existence if you go by the claimed dates.

 

After the death of Prophet Muhammed in 632 CE, the Islamic caliphates worked vigorously to bring the trade routes under Islamic control.  The caliphates get total control of the land routes by 700 CE and went on to consolidate control from almost Afganistan to Spain by 750 CE.

 

Trade and business in India then took nosedive after Muslim armies began to attack Indian kingdoms to further the agenda of commander Mohammed, now a prophet.

 

The monopoly on trade routes by the caliphates made the caliphate enormously wealthy and strong and wars in India pushed trade to Europe further lower making European kingdoms desperate for their survival.

 

In light of this, one must see the year 900 CE, which is the latest purported date of arrival of Thomas of Cana whose travails, inspite of him arriving with the magical “seventy two” families all the way from a far-away-but-not-yet-documented land, has not been as microscopically detailed as that of arrival of St. Thomas way back in 42 CE by “eminent historians” and “religious scholars” for some mysterious reasons.

 

The demography of Kerala’s earliest Christians competes with Jews in that orthodox Jewish Meyuhasheems (Jews from the period of King Solomon) were complemented by families personally converted by St.Thomas, the next class being the “seventy two” families shipped by Thomas Cana, and lastly being the Hindus converted by Thomas Cana.  It is quite surprising to note that no amount of miracle could cure casteism prevalent among these newly converted “indian Christians.”

 

Jews all across the world were now taking the brunt of the conflicts between Christianity and Islam for supremacy, and as the persecution went on, more Jews found refuge in various cities of India in large numbers so much so that in 1165 CE the Jews got the confidence to move their prayers from temporary structures and private houses to their first synagogue in Paravur.

 

The fortunes of European kingdoms were plunging due to war and denial of access to India through land route and a disastrous flood that silt up the port of Kodungallor in 1341 AD that affected the shipping channels added to the woes of European kings.

 

Europeans were pushed to the wall when in 1453 CE, the Ottoman Turks cut off trade with Europe.  Europeans decide to outwit the Ottomans by attempting to reach India directly by rounding off Africa and many voyages for discovering a new sea route starts the European Age of Discovery, putting on display the poor shipping skills of Europeans.

 

One Portuguese Capt. Bartholomew Diaz manages to reach Cape of Good Hope in 1488 CE, on his way to India, but is forced to return after running out of supplies and is restricted by scurvy deaths provoking rebellion by his sailors.  In 1492 CE, Christopher Columbus on the way to find India discovers the eastern outskirts of Asia and called the natives “Indies” thinking they were Indians.  In 1495 CE - King Manuel I commissions voyage around Africa to India and prepares ships to that effect and in 1497 CE - Vasco da Gama starts voyage to India and reaches calicut by 1498.

 

Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brazil in 1500 CE on losing his way to India, but later finds his way to India, and established a trading beachhead for the Portuguese empire.  So much for European navigation skills.

 

In 1501 CE - Pedro Álvares Cabral returns to Portugal.  In 1502 CE, Vasco da Gama starts his second voyage to India, better prepared to deal the Zamorins.  Amerigo Vespucci, in 1512 CE, finds Indies is a different continent.  In 1513 CE - Zamorin of Calicut negotiates trade agreement with Portuguese.  In 1524 CE - Vasco Da Gama dies in Cochin.

 

Emboldened by the death of Vasco Da Gama, Muslims try to seize control by first attacking Jews of Kodungalloor, following which they shift to Kochi under the protection of the Kochi Rajah.  Goan inquisition begins in 1560 CE to persecute Hindus to convert them to Christianity.

 

The floating population of immigrant sailors and merchants in Kodungalloor, were largely Jews who had been immigrating for almost half a century for trade as well as to escape persecution in their homelands.  Romans persecuted Jews not only for religious differences, but also because Persian Jews were good businessmen and had monopoly over trade routes across Persia and Asia Minor and Jewish business acumen was detrimental to Roman interests.

 

From the period of 600 BCE to around 300 BCE, the world witnessed the first wave of trade exchanges that prompted attempts at consolidating identities as trade was heavily dependent on the qualities ascribed to people of a land, tribe, or religion.  This stoked the need for exclusivity and supremacy of identity, in turn leading to attempts at building strong religious and territorial identities, which resulted in frequent conflicts for supremacy.  The Roman-Jewish conflicts that ensued is a result of such attempts at territorial and religious supremacy.  The unconventional, out of the box thinking of legends like Emperor Alexander on one end for territorial supremacy and the Buddha on the other end for religious superiority through social reforms succeeded in leaving their imprint across all nations they touched.  This era witnesses many out-of-the-box thinkers and social reformers.  This era also thus witnessed the making of many new religions and its break-away factions.

 

The Romans found the success of Alexander’s military strategy in establishing an empire so vast and hitherto unheard of, the success of inculturation by Ptolemaic dynasty, and the reign of Emperor Ashok who commanded respect and power as a military commander as well as a pious monk, a magical concoction to change their fortunes.

 

200 BC - Greeks learn to sail from Indians using monsoon winds.

80 BC - Many ports began to trade with India.

50 AD - Arab tribes of South and West Arabia seize spice route.

52 AD - Apostle St. Thomas reaches North Paravur.

70 AD - Jews arrive in Paravur after destruction of the 2nd  Temple.

 

 

King Constantine found the advantages of corrupting the spiritual strength of the Jews, having a ruthless army loyal to the core, and religious sanction to seize power.  He thus created Christianity to deliver him the fruits of power.  Judaism begins to crumble and crusades take control of sea and land routes to Europe.  Markets in Europe come under the control of Constantine unsettling the trade of Persians.