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Paradesi Jews, who became a major component of the Cochin Jewish
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 ....
 population are the ancient Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s and their descendants from the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 and Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, including the present day Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 and the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
. They traditionally spoke the Ladino language but later spoke 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....
, a form of the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
, in 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....
. They were followers of Halakhic Judaism
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 and are known in Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
  as Juda Mappilas.

Paradesi Jews are part of the Jewish community of Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
 state in 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....
.






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Paradesi Jews, who became a major component of the Cochin Jewish
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 ....
 population are the ancient Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s and their descendants from the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 and Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, including the present day Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 and the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
. They traditionally spoke the Ladino language but later spoke 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....
, a form of the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
, in 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....
. They were followers of Halakhic Judaism
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 and are known in Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
  as Juda Mappilas.

History

The Paradesi Jews are part of the Jewish community of Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
 state in 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....
. They originally came mainly from the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 and Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. They are sometimes called White Jews although that usage is generally considered pejorative or discriminatory and refers to relatively recent Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish immigrants (15th Century onward), predominantly Sephardim and Mizrahim, into Kerala
Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
, in southwestern 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....
. They are an important component of the Cochin Jewish
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 ....
 community. The Paradesi were endogamous to their own group during their settlement in Kerala simmilar to the Knanaya
Knanaya

Knanaya , literally meaning "Knai people" or "Q'nai people", are a Jewish Christian people of early endogamous Jewish descent from Kerala, India....
 people. Many those who left and married the local population established the Nasarani community. This tradition began to break in the late 1940's.

The primary original language of the Paradesim was Ladino, which contributed a number of loanword
Loanword

A loanword is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept whereby it is the Meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself....
s to 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....
, the pre-existing Jewish language
Jewish languages

The Jewish languages are a set of languages and dialects that developed in various Jewish communities around the world, more notably in Europe, West Asia, and North Africa....
 of the Kerala Jewish community.

Persecution by Portuguese

They were persecuted by the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history and also the earliest and longest lived of the modern European Colonialism empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999....
 in their attempt to convert them to Catholicism
Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its Theology and doctrines, its Catholic liturgy, Ethics, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. Many were forced to practice their faith in private. The inquisition targeted the Nasarani community as well who had close ties to the Paradesi people as well.

External links