The history of the Jews in Pakistan dates at least as far back as 1839, when Pakistan was a part of British India.
Various estimates suggest that there were about 1,000 to 2,500
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
living in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
at the beginning of the 20th century, mostly comprising
Iranian Jews
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor s ...
and
Bene Israel (Indian Jews);
a substantial Jewish community lived in
Rawalpindi,
and a smaller community also lived in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
.
The
Partition of British India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...
along religious lines in August 1947 led to the establishment of two independent sovereign states: a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
-majority
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and a
Muslim-majority
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. Following this event, Pakistani Jews began to leave the new country for India,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
before
their persecution heightened in Pakistan after the establishment of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1948, which ultimately led to
their exodus from the country; today, Pakistan-origin Jews are predominantly found in the Israeli city of
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
(see
Pakistani Jews in Israel), while the
Pakistani government
The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...
claims to host a modest Jewish population. According to Pakistan's
National Database and Registration Authority
The National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and autonomous agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan that regulates government databases and statistically manages the sensitive regist ...
(NADRA), there are 745 registered Jewish families in the country. However, the accuracy and transparency of the NDRA's database has been challenged;
Liel Leibovitz
Liel Leibovitz (born 1976) is an Israeli journalist, author, media critic and video game scholar. Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, immigrated to the United States in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2007. In 2014, he was Visiti ...
, an Israeli journalist, has doubted the correctness of the official numbers.
It has been widely reported in Pakistani media that a man known as Fishel Benkhald, who preserves the last standing
Jewish cemetery in Karachi, has claimed to be last Jew in Pakistan. However, Benkhald's identity has been challenged by his brothers, who claim to be Muslims, and he has been targeted and attacked in the country due to his activism for
religious minorities in Pakistan
Pakistan has various religious minorities. According to the 1941 census of India, there were 5.9 million non-Muslims in the territories that came to form Pakistan in 1947 (West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). During and after Pakist ...
. However, his
Jewishness
Jewish peoplehood (Hebrew: עמיות יהודית, ''Amiut Yehudit'') is the conception of the awareness of the underlying unity that makes an individual a part of the Jewish people.
The concept of peoplehood has a double meaning. The first is d ...
was formally recognized by the Pakistani government in 2017 after numerous appeals.
History
First migrations
A community of Jews fleeing a
revolt in
Mashhad,
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, settled in
Rawalpindi in the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
in 1839. The elaborate early 20th century synagogue they built still stands on Nishtar Street in Rawalpindi's Babu Mohallah neighborhood, between the Bohra Mosque and a large and elaborate Victorian era church.
Colonial era (1842-1947)
According to the 1881 census, there were 153 Jews in
Sindh province. In the Sindh Gazetteer of 1907,
Edward Hamilton Aitken
Edward Hamilton Aitken (16 August 1851, in Satara, India – 11 April 1909, in Edinburgh) was a civil servant in India, better known for his humorist writings on natural history in India and as a founding member of the Bombay Natural History So ...
mentions that according to the 1901 census, the total population of Jews
n Sindhwas 482 and almost all of them lived in Karachi.
By 1919, this figure had risen to about 650. By 1947, there were about 1,500 Jews living in Sindh with the majority residing in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
. Most of these Jews were Bene Israel and they lived as
tradesmen
A tradesman, tradeswoman, or tradesperson is a skilled worker that specializes in a particular trade (occupation or field of work). Tradesmen usually have work experience, on-the-job training, and often formal vocational education in contrast ...
,
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
s, poets,
philosophers and civil servants.
In 1911, Jews constituted 0.3 percent of Karachi's population and at the time of independence from the British Empire their number had reached 2,500. In her 1947 book ‘Malika-e-Mashriq’ (Queen of the East), Mehmooda Rizwiya has written about the Jewish presence in Karachi.
Jews used to live in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
. In a paper titled "Karachi Ke Yahudi” (Karachi's Jews), Gul Hasan Kalmatti indicates that Jews arrived in Karachi from
Maharashtra in the 19th century.
A variety of associations existed to serve the Jewish community in Pakistan, including:
*
Magain Shalome Synagogue
The Magain Shalome Synagogue ( ur, ; he, בית הכנסת מגן שלום) was a synagogue in Karachi, Pakistan. It was built by Solomon David Umerdekar in 1893, when the region was still under British rule as India. The synagogue was closed ...
: Built in 1893 near
Ranchore Line
Ranchore Line ( ur, رنچھور لائن), officially named as Gazdarabad ( ur, گزدر آباد ), is a neighbourhood in the Karachi South district of Karachi, Pakistan. The neighborhood is one of the oldest in Karachi, and has a predominantly ...
, by Solomon David Umerdekar and his son Gershone Solomon. Other accounts suggest that it was built by Shalom Solomon, a surveyor for the Karachi Municipal Committee and his wife Shegula-bai. The synagogue soon became the center of a small but vibrant Jewish community. A member of this Synagogue, Abraham Reuben Kamarlekar, became a councilor in the Karachi City Corporation in 1936.
* Young Man's Jewish Association: Founded in 1903 and whose aim was to encourage sports as well as religious and social activities of the Bene Israel in Karachi.
* Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund: Established to support poor Jews in Karachi.
* Karachi Jewish Syndicate: Formed in 1918 and whose aim was to provide homes to poor Jews at reasonable rent fees.
Post-independence
1947-1970
Leading up to the time of the
Partition of India, some 1300 Jews remained in Karachi, most of them Bene Israel Jews observing
Sephardic Jewish rites. The first real exodus of Jewish refugees from British India to Bombay and other cities in India came just prior to the creation of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1948 when
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
spread to Pakistan. When Israel came into being in 1948, many Jews migrated to Israel, and after the Arab-Israel war a majority of them left Karachi. By 1953, fewer than 500 Jews were reported to be in all of Pakistan.
1971–present
Magen Shalom, the Bene Israel's only synagogue in Karachi founded under the British Raj, was demolished in 1988 to make way for a shopping plaza by order of General
Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...
shortly after the Bene Israel community in Israel petitioned for its maintenance and use as a historical or other community center. As per another account, in July 1988 the synagogue was burnt and brought down by religious zealots (where today a building 'Madiha Square' stands). The last custodian of the synagogue was Rachel Joseph, now deceased. Many Jews who migrated from Pakistan have not updated their status since leaving Pakistan in NADRA's database so the database must be old and there may not actually be as many Jewish Pakistanis left in Pakistan despite NADRA showing existence of Jews in Pakistan.
Dan Kiesel, a Jew of German origin, was employed as a physiotherapist by the
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Counc ...
from 1995 to 1999. His appointment brought some controversy, as Pakistani politicians questioned the hiring an Israeli Jew in the Senate of Pakistan.
The term "Yehudi" and its variants remains a word of derision when directed at a Bene Israel or anyone else as noted by Reverend John Wilson, one of the founders of University of Bombay (now University of Mumbai). In Urdu and Hindi, however, the word simply translates to Jewish. The Bene Israel's prayers include intercessions on behalf of Her Majesty as in several Commonwealth countries. The Jewish Chronicle of London reported on Karachi's Jews as recently as 2007.
In
general elections 2013, it was reported that 809 adult Jews were enrolled as voters. The number of Jewish women voters was 427 against 382 men in the community. By 2017, according to the
Election Commission of Pakistan
The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, l ...
around 900 Jews were registered as voters in the country. Also in 2017 According to the
National Database and Registration Authority
The National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and autonomous agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan that regulates government databases and statistically manages the sensitive regist ...
, there are 745 registered Jewish families in Pakistan.
Most of the Karachi Jews now live in
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada with several spread throughout the United States of America and built a synagogue they named Magen Shalome after the Pakistani Synagogue in Ramla. Developments in the Middle East peace process led to an alleged visit of Pakistan's government's representative's visit to Israel. While, the government denies any such visit to Israel a new controversy broke out when a former minister said that he visited Israel during Nawaz Sharif's tenure as PM.
Notable people
*
Moses Somake
Moses Somake ( – ) was a British architect known for designing several prominent buildings in British India. His works, built before the Partition of India and located in modern-day Pakistan, include the Edward House, BVS Parsi High School, ...
, architect
Lifestyle
Bene Israel maintain
Sephardic Jewish rites as modified by several cross-cultural celebrations based on their current locations in the world.
Antisemitism
Many purport to speak about the state of antisemitism in Pakistan today and in her past. The massive demographic influx of
Mohajirs from the
Dominion of India
The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...
upon independence and the creation of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the consequent
Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...
worsened Jew-hatred as witnessed by the 1948 Muslim occupation and eventual destruction of Karachi's Magane Shalom synagogue. After the 1970s, anti-Semitism worsened towards the Jews of Pakistan.
Mewa Shah Graveyard
The Jewish Bene Israel Graveyard remains in the larger
Mewa Shah Graveyard
Mewa Shah Graveyard ( ur, ) is located in SITE Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The Mewa Shah Qabaristan (Cemetery), one of the largest and oldest graveyards of Karachi.
It is named after the 19th Century Sufi, Mewa Shah, was a Sufi and struggl ...
in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
.
Further reading
* "The Jews of Pakistan-A forgotten heritage", Yoel Reuben (Satamkar), Bene Israel heritage museum and genealogical research centre, 2010
* "So, what's your Kar-A journey into unknown India & Pakistan", Eliaz Reuben-Dandeker, Kammodan Mocadem Publishing house, 2018
* "The guide for the Bene Israel of India-culture, history and customs", Eliaz Reuben-Dandeker, Kammodan Mocadem Publishing house, 2019
* "The Jammaat-Inspiring people of the Bene Israel of India community, Eliaz Reuben-Dandeker, Kammodan Mocadem Publishing house, 2020
Bene Israel graveyard: buried in time or conscience? Dawn News
In search of Jews in Karachi Express Tribune
When Jews found refuge in an unlikely place: Pakistan Haretz
The Jews of Pakistan Daily Times
See also
*
Pakistani Jews in Israel
*
Antisemitism in Pakistan
*
Religion in Pakistan
The official religion of Pakistan is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of the Constitution, and is practised by approximately 96.47% of the country's population. The remaining less than 4% practice Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya, Sikhism and ...
References
Sources
Above material is based on an article of Prof. Adil Najam of
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...
,
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, published in Pakistan's newspaper ''The Daily Times''
1
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of the Jews in Pakistan
Jews and Judaism in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Israel–Pakistan relations
History of the foreign relations of Pakistan