All Topics  
Joseph Rabban

 
Joseph Rabban

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Joseph Rabban
 
 
  Topics Joseph Rabban Topic Home

Joseph Rabban (; Judeo-Malayalam
Judeo-Malayalam

Judeo-Malayalam is the traditional language of the Cochin Jews , from Kerala, in southern India, spoken today by about 8,000 people in Israel and by probably fewer than 100 in India....
: Isuppu Irabbân) was a Jewish merchant, possibly from Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
, who came to the Malabar
Malabar

Malabar is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.The name is thought to be derived from the Malayalam word Mala and Iranian language word Bar or from the Turkic words Mal and Bar ....
 coast (in present-day India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
) in the mid eighth century. According to the traditions of the Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the former Kingdom of Cochin in South India, including the present day port city of Kochi ....
, Joseph was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera
Chera dynasty

The Chera Dynasty was a Tamil people dynasty that ruled in Southern India from before the Sangam era until the twelfth century CE. The early Cheras ruled Kerala, Kongu Nadu and Salem District....
 ruler Bhaskara Ravivarman II (in some versions, Cheramal Perumal, King of Malabar).

He was granted the rulership of a pocket principality
Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
 in Anjuvannam
Anjuvannam

Anjuvannam or Anjuvannan refers to the Jewish community of Kingdom of Cochin.The name derives from the traditional Hindu system of castes where any person not belonging to one of the four principal castes used to be referred to as an anjuvannan....
, near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses".






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Joseph Rabban'
Start a new discussion about 'Joseph Rabban'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Joseph Rabban (; Judeo-Malayalam
Judeo-Malayalam

Judeo-Malayalam is the traditional language of the Cochin Jews , from Kerala, in southern India, spoken today by about 8,000 people in Israel and by probably fewer than 100 in India....
: Isuppu Irabbân) was a Jewish merchant, possibly from Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
, who came to the Malabar
Malabar

Malabar is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.The name is thought to be derived from the Malayalam word Mala and Iranian language word Bar or from the Turkic words Mal and Bar ....
 coast (in present-day India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
) in the mid eighth century. According to the traditions of the Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the former Kingdom of Cochin in South India, including the present day port city of Kochi ....
, Joseph was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera
Chera dynasty

The Chera Dynasty was a Tamil people dynasty that ruled in Southern India from before the Sangam era until the twelfth century CE. The early Cheras ruled Kerala, Kongu Nadu and Salem District....
 ruler Bhaskara Ravivarman II (in some versions, Cheramal Perumal, King of Malabar).

He was granted the rulership of a pocket principality
Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
 in Anjuvannam
Anjuvannam

Anjuvannam or Anjuvannan refers to the Jewish community of Kingdom of Cochin.The name derives from the traditional Hindu system of castes where any person not belonging to one of the four principal castes used to be referred to as an anjuvannan....
, near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses". These rights were engraved on a set of bronze
Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
 tablets known as the "Sâsanam" (Burnell, "Indian Antiquary," iii. 333-334), which are still in the possession of the Jewish community of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. The date of the charter can be fixed at about 750; it can not, for paleographical reasons, have been much earlier than this, nor later than 774, since a grant made to the Nestorian Assyrians
Assyrians

Assyrians or Assyrian people may refer to :*the Ancient Assyrians*the modern Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac peopleSee also*Assyrian ...
 at that time was copied from it.

Joseph's descendants continued to exercise dominion over the Jews of the Malabar coast until a conflict broke out between one of his descendants, Joseph Azar
Joseph Azar

Joseph Azar was a Jewish prince of the Anjuvannam in Cochin, South India. He was a descendent of Joseph Rabban. Azar lived in the 15th century CE....
, and his brother in the 1340s. The ensuing strife led to intervention by neighboring potentates and the eradication of Jewish autonomy in southern India.

Resources

  • Blady, Ken. Jewish Communities in Exotic Places. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson
    Jason Aronson

    Jason Aronson is an United States publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse, sexual abuse, stress, trauma, bereavement, and other subjects....
     Inc., 2000. pp. 115-130.


External links