Beni-Israel

Beni-Israel ('sons of Israel'), a remarkable settlement, evidently of Jewish origin, existing in the west of India, chiefly in Bombay and some coast towns. Its adherents abstain from unclean fish or flesh, keep the great feasts, and have always strictly observed the Sabbath, while they have a distinctly Jewish cast of countenance. Their number is about 5000, mostly artisans, though some are soldiers. They claim to have existed for about a thousand years, and assert that they assumed the name by which they are known because that of Jehudim ('Jews') was hateful to the Mussulmans. Some of them know Hebrew, but Marathi is their ordinary language, and in it they possess some literature. They rarely intermarry with the ordinary Jews. Among them there exists a class, called Kala Israel ('Black Israel'), with which they never intermarry, as the latter are socially much inferior, being either their own descendants by heathen wives, or the offspring of proselytes. A similar distinction exists among the Jews of Cochin. In Bombay an official called Nassi, or head, dispenses justice among the Beni-Israel, while the principal authorities in religious matters are the kajees; but in the outlying villages these dispose of both ecclesiastical and civil business, with the aid of a council. It should be remembered that the Afghans call themselves Bani-Israel, and claim descent from King Saul.