According to the Bible the Jews descended from the patriarch Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They probably lived around1800 BC. They were a clan of nomadic shepherds who originated in Mesopotamia, Iraq. Led by Abraham, they settled in Israel, originally called Canaan and later Palestine.

In 63 BC Palestine came under Rome rule and in AD 70. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Jews from the country which was renamed Palestine. From this time till 1948, when the state of Israel was established, the area came under a succession of conquests. From this time also began the Diaspora (Greek, "scattered"), a continuous process of dispersion when the Jews left Palestine in large numbers and were scattered all over the Roman Empire.

In Europe the Jews were persecuted wherever they settled and were discriminated against in many ways. They were debarred from most professions and from the ownership of the land; were forced to pay arbitrary taxes and to wear a distinctive dress and a badge to show they were Jews. In some cities they had to live to ghettos and had to face death, a trend that ended with the extinction of over six million Jews in fascist (Nazi) Germany.

Their association with India predates the beginning of the Christian era. The oldest communities have been the BeneIsrael, whose home has been mainly the coastal areas of Maharashtra and the Jews of Cochin.

At one time there were 30,000 Jews in India; in 1991 there were a little more than 5,000. A large number migrated to their homeland of Israel which was established in 1948. The Jews in India comprise three main communities - the Bene-Israel, Kerala Jews and Baghdadi Jews.

Several hundred years after the advent of the Bene-Israel and the Jews of Cochin on the soil of India, a growing stream of Jews began to arrive and settle in this country. They came from the Middle East and established themselves mainly in Mumbai, Kokata, Pune and Surat for commercial reasons and probably to escape the persecution they were suffering in the countries where they lived. As far back as the seventeenth century, small groups of Jewish businessmen also settled down in Madras. Then, with the arrival of David Sassoon in the early years of the nineteenth century, the foundation was laid in this country of the famous business house of Sassoons. At about the same time, Jews from the Middle East also converged upon Kolkata.

In the thirties of this century, the rise of Hitler and the persecution of the Jews in Germany sent them fleeing in all directions and some sought refuge in India.

With the passage of time, while adhering strictly to their religion, the Bene-Israel and other Jews began to integrate themselves increasingly with their surroundings, adopting the customs, dress, characteristics and day-to-day practice of the people among whom they lived and worked. Having made India their home, they also began to identify themselves with the towns and villages where they had their abode. This they did by deriving a family name from that of the relevant town of village. Thus from such places as Kehim, Navgaw, Pen, Cheul and Chinchol, such names emerged as Kehimkar, Navgawkar, Penkar, Cheulkar and Chincholkar. These are used as surnames, providing the Indian touch to such Jewish first and second names as Abraham, Jacob, David, Joseph, Elijah, Solomon, and others.