Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 157
Chapter Eleven—Jesus Goes to India 157 were well-versed in the knowledge of the Torah (the Mosaic Law) and they used to read the Gospel, Psalms, and the Scriptures of Abraham. When they heard of the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and the blessing of God be upon him, they sent an emissary or envoy to investigate and in consequence they accepted Islam. 12. The Beni Israel of Bombay. The Beni Israel of Bombay Presidency are also the descendants of Israel. It is said that they founded their homes in India a long time before Jesus. A comprehensive account of this community is given in a valuable book, ‘The History of the Beni Israel’, written by Hakem Samuel Kehimkar (1830–1899) published in Tel Aviv (Palestine) in 1937. The author first gives the different accounts of this community by various foreign writers. He writes:— (1) The late Dr. Wilson gave a short account to the Bombay Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society on its anni- versary meeting held in 1838, and published it in the Lands of the Bible. He there shows that the Beni-Israel have been established for many ages in his country and takes the view that they belong to the lost ten tribes of Israel. But in this Appeal for the Christian Education of the Beni-Israel , published in the year 1866, he abandoned his former opinion. For he stated in his more recent treatise that the ancestors of the Beni-Israel came from Yemen, or Arabia Felix, in the sixth century of the Christian Era.