When Jews thrived in India: Castes, coexistence, and Cochin Copper Plates

This week, Jonathan Schwab and Yael Steiner explore the rich history of some of India’s Jewish communities, including the caste-influenced divisions among the so-called “Black Jews, White Jews, and Brown Jews” of Cochin. Using the Cochin Copper Plates as an entry point, Yael and Schwab explore how Indian Jewish life flourished—largely free of antisemitism—until almost the entire population made Aliyah after 1948. Yael explains that the Cochin (Cranganore) Copper Plates, dating possibly as far back as 1000 CE and inscribed in Tamil, bestowed unique privileges to the Jewish community on India’s Malabar Coast Jews and a Jewish leader named Joseph Rabban. Whether or not you’re a “history nerd,” you will appreciate this unique story, which reframes what we think of as “Jewish history.”