Kashmiri Descent From Lost Tribes of Israel - Theories in Favor

Theories in Favor

The theory is strongly based on the purported similarities between Kashmir place names and Hebrew words and phrases. The name Kashmir itself is said to be based on the Hebrew word Kashir (Hebrew: כשיר‎), "like Syria". The Kashmir valley, said to be the dwelling place of the Ten Lost Tribes, is called Bagh-I-Suleman (Garden of Solomon) in local parlance. The connection between Kashmir and ancient Israel is strengthened further by such Kashmiri place names as "Tomb of Moses" and "Throne of Solomon". There is also a Kashmiri tradition that the 40 years of wandering in the desert actually covered the ground from Asia to Kashmir, and that Kashmir is in fact the Promised Land.

The names of approximately 350 towns and villages in Kashmir bear some resemblance to place names in the Holy Land. These include:

• Bandipoor (similar to Beth Peor)
• Naboo Hill (similar to Mount Nebo)
• Pishgah (similar to Mount Pisgah)
• Mamre (similar to Mamre)

Pathan tribal names that are said to resemble the names of the lost tribes include: Rabbani (Reuben), Shinwari (Shimon), Daftani (Naphtali), Jajani (Gad), Ashuri (Asher), Alfridi (Ephraim), and Yusufzai (sons of Joseph – i.e., Manasseh and Ephraim).

Furthermore, the Kashmiri language is said to be the only language of India to bear an etymological similarity to the languages of Iran and Afghanistan.

François Bernier, a 17th-century French physician and traveler, and Sir Walter Lawrence and Sir Francis Younghusband, who explored this region in the 1800s, commented on the similar physiognomy between Kashmiris and Jews, including “fair skin, prominent noses,” and similar head shapes.

In 1899 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, advanced the theory that Jesus had survived the crucifixion and traveled to Kashmir to find and preach to the lost tribes of Israel. Ahmad claimed that Jesus lived in Kashmir, had children, died at the age of 120, and was buried in Srinagar.