It was in the nineteenth century …that the West began to take a more serious interest in the countries of the Far East, and reports began to filter in from several Western explorers describing their astonishment at encountering tribes all over the north-west of India who were clearly of Jewish descent.
The missionary doctor Joseph Wolff, for example, reported:
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All the Jews of Turkistan assert that the Turkomauns are the descendents of Togarmah, one of the sons of Gomar, mentioned in Genesis 10:3…..but in the reign of Gheghis Khan they lost all their written accounts…..
Some Affghauns claim a descent from Israel. According to them, Affghaun was the nephew of Asaph, the son of Berachia, who built the temple of Solomon. The descendents of Afhhaunn, being Jews, were carried into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, from whence they were removed to the mountain of Ghoree in Affghanistan, but in the time of Mohammed turned Mohammedans.
G. T. Vigne, a French travelling scholar and member of the Royal Geographical Society…wrote:
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The father of Ermiah was the father of the Afghans. He was a contempory of Nebuchadnezzar, called himself Beni Israel and had forty sons. But a descendant in the thirty-fourth generation was called Kys, and he was a contemporary of the prophet Mohammed.
One of the most important contributions is The Lost Tribes by Dr George Moore, who found many Hebrew inscriptions on archaeological sites in India. Quite close to Taxila, now in Sirkap, Pakistan, a stone was dug up that bears an inscription in Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke.
The eleventh century Arab historian Biruani wrote that at that time no foreigners were being allowed into Kashmir, other than Hebrews.
The inhabitants of Kashmir are different from the other peoples of India in every respect. Their way of life, their behaviour, their morals, their character, their clothing, their language, customs and habits are all of a type that might be described as typically Israelite. Like present day Israelis, the Kashmirs do not use fat for frying and baking, they only use oil. Most Kashmirs like boiled fish, called fari, eaten in remembrance of the time before their Exodus from Egypt (We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt: Numbers 11:5)
Butchers knives in Kashmir are made in the half-moon shape typical of the Israelites and even the rudders of the boat people (Hanjis) are of a similar heart shape.
The men wear distinctive caps on their heads. The clothing of the old women of Kashmir is very similar to that of Jewish women, and like them they also wear headscarves and laces. Like young Jewish girls, the girls of Kashmir dance in two facing columns with linked arms, moving together forwards and backwards to the rhythm. They call their songs rof.
After bearing a child, a woman in Kashmir observes forty days seclusion for purification; this too is a Jewish custom. Many of the older graves in Kashmir are aligned in an east-west orientation, whereas Islamic graves usually point north-south.
Note: The above is quoted from the book Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten, who agrees with Laurence Gardner that the disciple Thomas went to India, but claims that Jesus went with Thomas.
I also understand that the women secretly light one candle for shabbat in a special wicker basket;
and I think the men pray [ muslim style] on a prayer mat that resembles a tallit
You are descended it seems from everyone. If you were a dog that would make you a mongrel. I like to think of ‘Heinz 57’ as an apt description.
Let me share with you an excerpt from amazing letter from an extraordinary woman, now living in Jerusalem:
The Pathans: The Pathans are proud of several things – one, they’ve never assimilated; two, they acknowledge their roots from the tribes of Israel (some claim to be Benjaminites while others claim to be Menashe; I concur with the latter opinion); three, although they are offically Moslems, they wear a fringed garment that resembles tzitzit, keep their heads covered, observe the Sabbath, and circumcise their sons at exactly 8 days old. The Pathans are fiercely brave and totally committed, having succeeded to drive the Russian Army out of Afghanistan. The Pathans have totally frustrated the Christian missionaries. One major group of USA missionaries who have completely struck out in Afghanistan writes, “Since their entire way of life is opposed to change, the Pathan present one of the strongest challenges to the Christian Church today. Much intercession is needed if they are to be successfully reached with the Gospel.”
Israel could use 15 million fighters of their caliber. 🙂
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The prophet Isaiah teaches us that an ingathering of the exiles will herald the day of Redemption, for “You will be gathered up one by one, O Children of Israel; It shall be on that day that a great shofar [ram’s horn] shall sound, and those lost in the land of Assyria and foresaken in the land of Egypt [and from all the other countries of exile and dispersion] will come [together] and bow down to Hashem on the holy mountain of Jerusalem (Isaiah 27:12-13).
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I’m descended from one of the FOUND tribes, namely, Levi. That, and a few dollars, can get me a decent dark beer.