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Recalling Jewish Calcutta
A multimedia online archive
Editor & Content Head - Jael Silliman
Logisctics - Archival Matter
© Copyright Recalling Jewish Calcutta
The Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta arrived in 1798. They were merchants and traders from Syria, Iraq, Iran and the larger Arab world, who would ply trade routes established by the community. Socio-economically they made a sizeable impact.
They built synagogues, schools, a hospital, iconic buildings and some very popular businesses doing brisk business to this day.
They were unique in their experiences, not stemming from persecution.
The first Baghdadi Jewish immigrant was the ambitious merchant Shalome ben Obadiah Ha Cohen, who, hailing from Aleppo, went to Baghdad, Bombay, Surat and then Calcutta, the seat of the British Empire.This is where he made his fortune and set up the Jewish community in Calcutta.By 1799, there were some fifteen Jews in Calcutta, by 1825, there were roughly 200 and by the end of the century there were almost 2000 Jews residing in Calcutta. In the early 1900’s there were roughly 5000 Jews in the city.Today, the number of Jews has dwindled and there are now less than 20 Jews residing in Kolkata.Jael Silliman, direct descendant of Shalome ben Obadiah Ha Cohen, created a community led digital archive of the Calcutta Baghdadi Jews.
Che Guevara at a jute mill owned by a Calcutta Jewish person , 1959
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Outing at the Calcutta zoo. Year unknown
A promissory note signed by Jewish businessman Elian Gubbay
“I also want people around the world to realise that there are so many different kinds of Jewish communities who have adapted to their place of migration andimbibed local cultures. The Holocaust is not the only thing that we should beremembered for, or by, and with ‘Recalling Jewish Calcutta’, I hope to shed light onthe countless cultural aspects of Calcutta, and India,that the community has helped shape.” Jael Silliman
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