Joseph Rabban (

old Malayalam Old Malayalam, inscriptional language found in Kerala from ''c.'' 9th to ''c.'' 13th century AD, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam. The language was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of the Chera Peruma ...

:Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy: Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cēra Perumāḷs of Makōtai (c. AD 800 - AD 1124).'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 451-52. Issuppu Irappan, also Yusuf/Oueseph Rabban) was a prominent

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

merchant/aristocrat in the

entrepôt An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into c ...

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in ...

(Muyirikkottu) on the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

in early 11th century AD. Jewish copper plate (c

According to the

Jewish copper plates of Cochin Jewish copper plates of Cochin (Malayalam: ജൂതശാസനം), also known as Cochin plates of Bhaskara Ravi-varman, is a royal charter issued by the Chera Perumal king of Kerala, south India to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish merchant magnate of ...

(c. 1000 AD), a charter issued by the Chera king at Kodungallur, Rabban was granted the rights of merchant guild anjuman/hanjamana along with several other trade rights and aristocratic privileges. He was exempted from all payments made by other settlers in the city of Muyirikkottu to the king (at the same time extending to him all the rights of the other settlers). These rights and privileges were given perpetuity to all his descendants. Anjuman was a south Indian merchant guild organised by Jewish,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, and

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

merchants from West Asian countries.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 136, 144. Rabban's descendants continued to have prominence over other Jews of the Malabar coast for centuries. A conflict broke out between descendants, Joseph Azar, and his brother Aaron Azar in the 1340s.Sidney Mendelssohn (1920), ''The Jews of Asia,'' p. 109

References

* Blady, Ken. ''Jewish Communities in Exotic Places''. Northvale, NJ:

Jason Aronson Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, per ...

Inc., 2000. pp. 115–130.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabban, Joseph Cochin Jews History of Kerala Indian Jews Mizrahi Jews People of the Kodungallur Chera kingdom 10th-century Jews 11th-century Jews 10th-century Indian people 11th-century Indian people 10th-century merchants 11th-century merchants