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Knanaya
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Knanaya (Heb:?????, Malayalam: ???????, Ar:?????), literally meaning "Knai people" or "Q'nai people", are a Jewish Christian people of early endogamous Jewish descent from Kerala, India. Their heritage and culture is Jewish-Keralite, their language Malayalam and Hebrew. Their loyalties are with the Nasrani community of Syriac Christians from Kerala.
term known as Kanai or Q'nai, (???? singular form of Kanahim/?????) means "Jealous ones for God".
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Knanaya (Heb:?????, Malayalam: ???????, Ar:?????), literally meaning "Knai people" or "Q'nai people", are a Jewish Christian people of early endogamous Jewish descent from Kerala, India. Their heritage and culture is Jewish-Keralite, their language Malayalam and Hebrew. Their loyalties are with the Nasrani community of Syriac Christians from Kerala.
Etymology
The term known as Kanai or Q'nai, (???? singular form of Kanahim/?????) means "Jealous ones for God". It is claimed that the K'nai people are the biblical Aaronites referred to as Kanahi (overly jealous and with zeal), who came to Saba around 135AD from the southern province of Judea (whence the derives the term southists). They were deeply against the Roman rule of Israel and fought against the Romans for the sovereignty of the Jews. During their struggle the K'nai'im people became followers of the Jewish sect led by Jesus the Nazarene. Many of Jesus' followers had names typical among freedom fighters such as Zealot (Simon Cana), Daggerman (Judas Iscariot), Rock (Simon Peter), Thunderson (James & John) etc.. After the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans in 33 CE, the Knanaya intensified their struggle against the Roman rule.
History
Early history
Prior to the arrival of the Knanaya people, the early Nasrani (???????) people in the Malabar coast included native Indian converts and converted Jewish people - Sephardi, Paradesi, and Cochin Jews - who had settled in Kerala during the Babylonian exile and increasing persecution in Europe. They came mostly from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. According to tradition, Kna Jews are also known as Southists (Thekkumbhagar in Malayalam) as they hailed from the southern province of Israel known in the Old Testament as the Kingdom of Judah. The distinction between the northern heavily exogamous Samarians and the southern zealously endagamous tribes of Judea led to the difference among the non-Knanaya Nasranis as Northists and the Knanaya as Southists. The Knanaya (Kanahi people) continue to remain an endogamous group also within the Nasrani community.
In 70 CE, hundreds of Q’nanaim zealots evaded capture from the Romans and took shelter in the fortress at Masada. In 72 CE, after a two year siege, 960 knanaya zealots unwilling to give up to the Romans killed themselves before the Romans could capture them. This act of martyrdom is still commemorated in Israel. In 345 CE a small group of K'nanaim merchants travelled to the Jewish trade posts at Kodungallur in Kerala and settled there. Their descendants are today known in Kerala as Knanaya Nasranis.
Migration
The Knanayas(??????)(short form-"kna") are the descendants of 72 Syro-Aramaic Jewish families who migrated from Edessa (Now Sanliurfa), Turkey, Jerusalem, Israel and Syria the first city state that embraced Christianity in the Roman Empire, to Malabar coast in AD 345, under the leadership of a prominent merchant Knai Thomman (???? ????)(in English, Thomas the Zealot). They built a town in Kodungalloor with a church and 72 houses. The natives called it Mahadevar Pattanam (??????? ????) meaning "town of superiors".
After Mar Joseph (??? ????) (??? ????) had a startling dream in which he saw the plight of the Christian church in Malabar established by St. Thomas, the Apostle, in the first Century. In addition, new trading opportunities in India and the increasing persecution the Knanaya people faced caused many of them to migrate. They consisted of 400 Christians from 72 families of various Jewish clans. Included in the group was a Syriac Orthodox Bishop (Mor Joseph of Urfa), Bishops and deacons. With instructions from the Patriarch of Antioch, they sailed in three ships headed by a leading ship with the flag of King David. The Knanaya people were granted permission to engage in trade and settle down in Kodungallur by the then ruler of Malabar, Cheraman Perumal. The event has been recorded on copper plates given to the community.
Pre-Colonial
Most of the Knanaya people were wealthy plantation owners, merchants and bankers. For buisness purposes, many Knanaya people moved from Kondungallur to large commercial areas such as Kaipuzha, Kottayam, Kozhikode, and Thiruvananthapuram. The increasing Muslim influence caused problems which led to war. An assault upon Kodungallur by Muslim invaders forced the Knanaya people to flee the settlement.
Persecution by Portuguese
During the Portuguese occupation, the Knanaya people were discriminated oppressers due to their Jewish roots. The Nasranis, who were, until then, the "living fossils" of the Christian-Jewish tradition, lost their very defining ethos. The only Nasranis who managed to preserve some elements of their Jewish origin were the Knanaya people, because of their tradition of being endogamous within their own community and therefore preserving their Jewish tradition. An Imperial Order was passed to confiscate and sell under public auction the properties of those who celebrated Passover. It was perhaps because of this Order that the Knanaites celebrate Passover in a very private manner without inviting any Christian friend for sharing the Holy Meal.
Modern history
The first belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church in India and second to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. . Knanaya are very much conscious about their origin and up until today safeguard their ethnic character by marrying people from within the community regardless of rite. A Knanaya Syriac Orthodox diocese, established in 1910, is administered by an archbishop who reports directly to the Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrian Orthodox Church. The Knanaya Catholics and their Jewish identity have been acknowledged by the Vatican under Pope Pius X, by instituting in 1911 a diocese only for the Jewish Christians (Syrian-catholic) of Kerala. This diocese is called the Arch Diocese of Kottayam and is in the district of Kottayam in Kerala.
The approximate population of Kna Jews as of 2001: (divided by different denominations)
- Knanaya Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Christians: 100,000
- Knanaya Syrian Malabar Catholic Christians: 140,000
In all over 250,000 Knanaya Christian Jews continue in the ancient Hebrew-Christian tradition.
Culture
Many of the Jewish customs are still preserved by the Knanaya. Kna people are strictly endagamous and no one may convert to join the Kna people although marrying out is an increasing concern for the community. That being said there is a big question about whether to allow other Jews into the community as genetic testing indicates was certainly the practice in the past. The Knanaya and other Nasranis as a whole maintained close relationship with the Jews of Kerala, (known today as Cochin Jews) until the Portuguese inquisition of the Jews and Nasranis in the early 1500s. Kna people are also the victims of increasing missionary efforts not only from Protestant groups ecouraging them to give up on their Jewish customs and traditions, but also from some Jewish groups.
Kna people trace their Jewish identity back to Archiereus Thomas Jude the brother of James Alphaeus and because of this they have frequently been called St. Thomas Christians. They descend from 72 priestly families descended from the same desposyni that Thomas Jude belonged to. the number 72 has a significance for the 72 nations of the world and each of the 72 families have their own unique family rule. One of the primary questions surrounding the acceptance of Jewish people marrying into the Knanaya (Kna people) is which rule they could accept such Jews into.
Although grape produce is now consumed as a result of Portuguese influence, this was originally not the case among the Knanaya people. The tradition is preserved in the consumption of Pesaha pal (passover coconut milk [??? ?????]) instead of wine on the night of passover along with Pesaha-appam (unleavened passover bread). . This tradition of Pesaha appam is observed by the entire Nasrani people till this day. The bridal canopy or nuppah is part of the Knanaya wedding ceremony and there is aceremonial bathing on the eve of the wedding that is parallel to the Jewish mikrah. The dead are buried facing the east to Jerusalem. Thanksgiving blessings which the Knanaya people use which follow the Hebrew formula, Birkat HaMazon (???? ??? ?' ?-?????? ??? ?????, ?????? ??? ?? ????) when initiating a Eucharistic Mass.
See also
External links
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