Jesus In India — Page 113
J e s u s i n I n d i a 113 Afghanistan (London 1878) , it is stated that Abdullah Khan of Herat, the French traveller named Ferrier, and Sir William Jones, a recognised orientalist, agree that the Afghan people are descended from the Beni-Israel, and that they are the descendants of the ten lost tribes. 64 The book History of the Afghans, by G. P. Ferrier, 65 translated by Capt. William Jesse, and published in London ( 1858 ), records on page 1 that the majority of oriental historians are of the opinion that the Afghan people are the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel and that the Afghans too hold the same opinion. The same historian says on page 4 of this book, that Afghans possess evidence that at Peshawar, during his invasion of India, Nadir Shah was presented by the chiefs of the Yoosoofzyes tribe with a Bible written in Hebrew as well as several other articles preserved by their families for the performance of religious rites of their old faith. There were also Jews in Nadir Shah’s camp, who, on seeing the articles, readily recognised them. Again, the same historian states on page 4 of his book that in his opinion Abdullah Khan’s view is highly reliable. Briefly stated this view is as follows: Malek Thalut (Saul) had two sons, Afghan and Djalut. Afghan was the patriarch of these people. After the reigns of David and Solomon, the Israelite tribes started fighting one another. As a result, each tribe became separated from the other. This state of affairs continued up to the time of Nebuchadnezzar who invaded and killed 70,000 Jews. He sacked the city, and took the remaining 64 See Appendix, extract 19. (Translator) 65 This should be J. P. Ferrier (Joseph Pierre Ferrier). In Urdu J ( ) was written as G ( ) because, at the time of the author, not much distinction was made between and. (Translator)