In this week’s podcast episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies, we explore the rich history of Kolkata’s Baghdadi Jewish community. Host Alisha Prakash, Travel + Leisure’s associate editorial director, is joined by two members of the community who are helping carry their people’s story and culture into the future.
Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is a city layered in history. There are colonial palaces next to street markets, and winding lanes that take you through the centuries on a stroll. Among the many communities that helped shape its identity is the Baghdadi Jewish diaspora, a small but influential group that arrived from the Middle East in the late 18th century, drawn by the promise of acceptance.
“We were not tolerated in India, we were not accepted in India, but we were embraced by India,” says Jael Silliman, a writer, educator, and lifelong Calcutta resident whose family came from Aleppo and Iraq, in the episode. “Jews rose to every level of society. Whatever they sought to do, they could do that.”
Jewish traders made their way east from the Middle East, following commercial routes to Calcutta, which was just emerging as a hub for British colonial trade, though, as Sillman says, “India has always been a place where Jews came. We’ve been here since the time of King Solomon, from the time of the Bible.” They brought with them Hebrew prayer, Arabic foods, and Judeo-Arabic dialects. “A lot of Baghdadi Jews started to come to Calcutta because of the trade opportunities,” journalist and tour leader Rahel Musleah shares in the episode. “And the fact that there was no anti-Semitism in India, which is a very, very big deal.”
Here, they thrived, building businesses, schools, and synagogues, some of which still stand today, including the grand Magen David Synagogue, a stunning building with Italian marble floors, stained glass, and a striking steeple known by locals as the lal girja, or “red church.”
By the early 20th century, the Baghdadi Jewish population had peaked at nearly 5,000. However, even with a solid diaspora in place, much of their legacy remains hidden in plain sight. You can still find pieces of the culture in places like Nahoum & Sons bakery, founded by a Baghdadi Jewish family, which sells Christmas cakes to lines of customers that include Hindus, Muslims, and Christians alike. “Only in Calcutta, do you have Muslims baking Christmas cakes where there are lines of Hindus lining up to buy them,” Silliman says.
However, this deep interfaith connection wasn’t incidental. “We always had Muslim cooks in our home because we knew that they would never bring ham, pork, or bacon,” Silliman says. “The caretakers of our synagogue today are still Muslim.”
By the 1960s, however, global migration and changing economic conditions saw many Jewish families leave Calcutta for London, New York, or Israel. Today, fewer than 30 remain. But efforts to preserve the community’s legacy are ongoing, including Silliman’s own extensive digital archive and Musleah’s guided heritage tours through her organization, Explore Jewish India. “We are carrying on our traditions wherever we are,” Musleah shares. “Whether we live in the places where we were born, we still have the responsibility to carry on where we came from.”
The community may have grown smaller, but its legacy remains monumental. Learn more about the Baghdadi Jews in Kolkata on this week’s episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies to unravel it all. It’s available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Player FM, or wherever you get your podcasts.
