The “Baghdadi” Jews of India, Burma, and Malaya

Abstract The Baghdadi Jews are primarily Arabic-speaking Jews who migrated to India at the beginning of British rule and remained there until the British left. They settled primarily in Mumbai and Kolkata and established trading centers throughout South and Southeast Asia; this chapter explores their life in India, Burma, and Malaya. They developed their Indo-Judaic identity in four discernable stages in India: an early period during which the Parsis and Armenians were their most significant reference groups; the aftermath of the First War of Independence in 1857, which saw deteriorating relations between the Baghdadis and Indianized communities such as the Bene Israel; the post–First World War period, marked by their unsuccessful struggle to be seen as European and thereby attain privileges and benefits; and finally the post-Independence period, which saw their slow demise. Baghdadi life in Burma and Malaya followed very similar patterns.