Main Office:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: (01628) 634221
Fax: (01628) 771208
Telex: 847526 Comgra G
E-mail: casualty.enq@cwgc.org

BOMBAY see Mumbai

BANGALORE:

• European Cemetery: Bangalore is located between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai) and was the capital of Mysore Government in India. It was under British rule from 1800 to 1947.
  Two Jewish graves can be found in the European Cemetery on Hosur Road, Bangalore:
  The earliest belongs to M. Horvitz, b. Australia in Runoleff, d. Bangalore on 20 June 1898. Grave is facing East to West with headstone towards the West. The headstone is engraved with writing in Hebrew. The grave is the first one at the end of the central passage of the cemetery near the gap in the wall leading to the second level of the cemetery and is on the right hand side. The grave is made of granite stone and is gray in color. I have taken a photo of it. You can access under the heading "Soldiers graves from the Protestant Cemetery Hosur Road No.1" at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9460.
  The second grave belongs to Rose Hickey, d. on 9 February 1917, aged 48 years, and is the last plot (Plot 5) and on the left side. The original location was Plot No.5, Row No.1. A new row has been added so that the current location is Plot No.5, Row No.2.    View Headstone
  Source: Ronnie Johnson, ronniebangalore@gmail.com [February 2006]
   

CHENNAI: (formerly known as Madras), located in Tamil Nadu Province.

• UPDATE:  Person to contact about grave locations: Gershon Joshua at +91-984-122-2488, a native of Ernakulaum, is currently taking care of the cemetery. He has one key. The other is with a local woman who lives near the cemetery. Source: Rocky Peltzman, Chennai India 600 090. TELEPHONE NUMBER:( +91) 979-098-5429. rockyp49@yahoo.com. I will be working in Chennai until end of March 2009. [July 2008]

• Mint Street Burial Ground: [original name] Plots were relocated to Kasimode and then to Lloyds Road in 1983. Directions: Down Mount Road (renamed Anna Salai; still known by Mount Rd.), the hwy crosses the city in a SW direction from Ft. St. George in north. Pass St. Thomas' Mount to the airport & city limits in South. Head E to Bay of Bengal. The 18th century overgrown cemetery has a rusty iron gate in the walled enclosure. Three of the oldest tombstones are Abendo Sardo, d. 1707, Abraham Salomns d. 1745, and Salomon Franco d. 1763, all Portuguese Jews. The most recent headstone is 1964. (possibly only 9 stones) Source: Shemot June 1995, vol 3 no. 2; article by Sally Solomon, member of JGS Great Britain.
• Source: http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/india.htm : "This cemetery is on Lloyd's Road, a poor market area of the road west of the Marina Fish Market, and contains stones moved from the old Mint Street Cemetery (Isaac Abendana Sardo, Madras Hebrew Merchant, d. 10 May 1709; Abraham Salomons, beloved merchant etc., d. V June, MDCCXLV; Salomon Franco, Merchant from Leghorn, d. 26 Yiar A.M 5523º). It is adjacent to the Chinese cemetery and both cemeteries have clusters of vendors and squatters with vegetables displayed on the road itself at the entrances. Esther Cohen was buried here in l964 and Isaac Joshua's wife Miriam in l998. The wall of the cemetery is in need of repair and construction: some deteriorating base areas need to be reconstructed and the intrusion of a tree growing into a section of the wall needs to be dealt with; the wall itself needs to be raised to match the height of the Chinese cemetery wall in order to prevent intruders from climbing over. The gate of the cemetery is rusted and insubstantial and needs to be replaced with something more dignified. Guarded in the past with the help of Walter Wolff (deceased) and Sally Solomon, now of London, England, the cemetery is in the trusteeship of Isaac Joshua, resident of Chennai member of the Thekkumbagham synagogue and president of the Association of Kerala Jews." [October 2000]
• UPDATE: "The Jewish cemetery, located off Lloyd's Road, is the last memorial to what was once a significant Jewish presence in this city. A Jewish settlement first established itself in Chennai (Madras) to export the diamonds of Golconda to London. They lived in what is still called Coral Merchants' Street in northeast George Town. ... and import in exchange from their fellow Jews' silver, rough and polished coral and pearls. They lived in what is still called Coral Merchants' Street in northeast George Town. By the late 18th Century, the trade had died out with the Golconda vein spent and the last Jewish merchant to live in the city, Moses de Castro, departing in 1786. In a 19th century coincidence, another community associated with gems and jewellery moved into the street and to this day, the Nattukottai Chettiars' town choultry is here. The Jews of Madras had a synagogue and their cemetery next to it near the northern end of Mint Street. When a school was built here in 1983, the tombstones were moved to the `Jewish corner' in the Lloyd's Road cemetery. The tombstone of Jaques (James) de Paiva, the first of the Jewish diamond merchants, was one of the four in the Mint Street cemetery at the time of transfer. It, however, does not seem to have made it to Lloyd's Road. The tombstones that did were of Solomon Franco (1763) and Issac Sard (1709), both diamond merchants. The third survivor was the tombstone of Esther Cohen (1964), perhaps the last burial at the old site. The only burial in the new site has been of Eileen Joshua in 1997. Judging from their names, those Jewish diamond merchants who lived and traded in Madras were of Spanish and Portuguese origin. They were Sephardic Jews whose forefathers had probably fled to Holland during the Inquisition. That was the time the White Jews of Kerala too had first arrived in Cochin. If Armstrong plays in Cochin, he'd find a synagogue but not too many worshippers to attend his performance. In Madras, I hope, he'll get to meet the few Indian Jews who still call it home. He might even get that key from one of them." Source: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/30/stories/2002093000180300.htm [July 2008]

CHENNAMANGALAM: Kerala State
http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/india.htm has photo of synagogue and history. "Chennamangalam/Parur: The surveyors were unable to uncover any tombs or markers, though there may be some under heavy growth on the hillside area out from Chennamangalam." [October 2000]

• This unnamed Jewish cemetery has a tombstone outside the building dated 1269 and says Sarah, daughter of Israel. It is said to have been brought from Kottapuram (now, Shingly) and probably is the oldest Hebrew text in India. Jews moved here from Cranganore in 1524. Source: the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (website now at: http://www.bacsa.org.uk - July 2008).

• A few yards away from Synagogue Chennamangalam on Jew Street is a small concrete pillar into which is inset the tombstone of Sara Bat-Israel, dated 5336 (1576). Source: The Jewish Travel Guide . London: Jewish Chronicle, 1992. Source: Bernard Kouchel koosh@worldnet.att.net
• Veli CSI Cemetery: This White Jews' Cemetery originally excluded Black Jews. The liberal Gandhain mood in 1930s, plus fact that their cemetery was full, allowed Black Jews to use the cemetery, but only in the area against the wall. This was later relaxed. Source: The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (website now at: http://www.bacsa.org.uk - July 2008)

• Old Cemetery:
• New Cemetery: http://www.isjm.org/Links/india.htm : Source is Survey of Jewish Monuments in India. "Recently [late 1990s] the Malabari Cemetery at Mattancheri was vandalized and encroached upon - all the tombs except one were destroyed and houses were built on the site. Two years ago there was a similar attempt to destroy the old cemetery of Ernakulam which was only turned back by the Jewish Community with great effort. There is now a concerted effort by the Corporation of Cochin to acquire a portion of the new Cemetery in Ernakulam to allow construction of a road."
  http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos1-2/kerala.htm has photo. [October 2000]

KADAVUMBAGAM:

• In Kadavumbagam, cemetery (?) tomb of Nehemiah ben Abraham Motha, a Yemeni who died in 1615 is still venerated. Another place says the Kadavumbagam cemetery was abandoned in the 1950s when the congregation emigrated to Israel. Source: The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia, (website now at: http://www.bacsa.org.uk - July 2008).

• At 24 U.C. Banerjee Road not far from the main cemetery at Narkeldanga is a tiny [unnamed] private Jewish cemetery with a few graves, which opened in the 1870s and closed after about twenty years. Of the seven graves, of which two are infants, four were identified and are included in the general Calcutta list with the notation that the burials are in this cemetery. The original part of the list prepared in 1954 by Rabbi Musleah had first names, with no surname indicated. Esmond D. Ezra updated it in 1984. He attempted to indicate last names where possible. Two letters indicating the general area and then a number indicate the grave locations. According to Esmond Ezra, some of the names with no location listed died in the 1950s. Ezra also gave credit to many, who helped him create his list. This cemetery is located beyond the Soorah Bridge, although it was incorrectly identified as being on Kolutol St. and Harinbari Lane in some city directories, but that is the Armenian Burial Ground. Because most of the 3,000 names did NOT have a last name indicated, I used the last name in the string of names (sometimes 10 or more!) as the last name. It might be the last name of the father. Please use the last name only knowing that it is used as a finding aid more than definite name. The names were very different from most western European names. It was not always even clear if a person was male or female. The names were sent by Henry Brownrigg to Alec Shapiro, through the auspices of the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (website now at: http://www.bacsa.org.uk - July 2008).
• Main Cemetery: at Narkeldanga

KOTTAPURAM: (now Shingly) see CHENNAMANGALAM

MALA:

• "Marked as a Jewish cemetery with a clear sign over the entrance gate in English and Malayalam, the site is protected by the townspeople; a framed black sign inside the gate lists the three trustees of the cemetery, from Chennamangalam and Ernakulum, who deeded and handed over the cemetery to the Mala Panchayat on April 1, 1955. There is currently no Jewish community left in Mala. The cemetery is in two sections of land; in the first, there were three tomb stones - two were in the first section of open field, one was partly hidden under a cashew tree. The second section - at least twice as large - lies beyond the first on higher ground that is separated from the first by a stone wall, has no graves or tombstones. A court edict, brought about by petition from the Ernakulum Jewish community, has kept the town from using this spacious part of the cemetery area for a soccer/play field. The cemetery is located in a central residential area of Mala and is flanked on either side by attractive residences." Source: http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/india.htm [October 2000]

MATTANCHERI: Cochin State

• Malabari Cemetery at Mattancheri: http://www.isjm.org/Links/india.htm : (Survey of Jewish Monuments in India) "Recently [late 1990s] the Malabari Cemetery at Mattancheri was vandalized and encroached upon - all the tombs except one were destroyed and houses were built on the site. Two years ago there was a similar attempt to destroy the old cemetery of Ernakulam which was only turned back by the Jewish Community with great effort. There is now a concerted effort by the Corporation of Cochin to acquire a portion of the new Cemetery in Ernakulam to allow construction of a road." [August 2000]
      Also see http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos1-2/kerala.htm .
        "Little is left of the Malabari cemetery in Mattancherry, now located in the compound of a (non-Jewish) family house. It consists of a collection of gravestones set within a tomb-shaped concrete structure about 6'x 8', used by the family to spread out wet mats or other items to dry. This compound is on the corner of the Brown Jews' Cemetery St. and the side road that leads to the tomb of Nehemiah Ben Abraham, a revered local prophet whose tomb (early 17th century) - the last intact and well maintained remnant of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Cochin - brings worshippers of all religions to pay their respects." Source: http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/india.htm [October 2000]

Council of Indian Jewry
c/o The Jewish Club
Jerro Bldg., 2nd floor
137 Mahatma Gandhi Road
Mumbai 400 023.
Tel. 91 22 270 461, Fax. 91 22 274 129.
Source: http://www.amyisrael.co.il/asia/india/index.htm [October 2000]

• Bene Israel Cemeteries: on Mazagaon Road, Grant Road and Haines Road.
• Iraqi cemetery is at Deslile Road. (See below for source ? [SIC])

NEW DELHI:
"Adjoining the synagogue, all tombstones face west toward Jerusalem. Bombay and New Delhi." Source: Freedman, Warren. World Guide for the Jewish Traveler . NY: E.P. Dutton Inc, 1984. Extracted by Bernard Kouchel; koosh@worldnet.att.net [March 1994].

POONA: see under Mumbai

• "David Sassoon's Poona home, where he died in 1864 much mourned by Jews and Indians alike, was across the street from the synagogue. His sons buried him in the synagogue grounds in a fine mausoleum. The synagogue and mausoleum were visited by the President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussein, at a special Memorial Service on 10 December 1968, on the occasion of the Centenary celebration of the Sassoon General Hospitals in Poona established by the Sassoons." Source: http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/10/m1.htm" [October 2000]

SATAMBA: see Virjoli

SHINGLY: formerly KOTTAPURAM, see CHENNAMANGALAM

THANE:

• "A centuries old Jewish cemetery with gravestones bearing Hebrew inscriptions has been discovered recently in Thane, near Bombay. The old cemetery, very near to a currently active one, was discovered during a road-widening project undertaken by municipal authorities." Source: Dateline World Jewry , May 1999. World Jewish Congress, 501 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10022

• Formerly in the Kolaba District, the Satamba (Virjoli) cemetery now is in the Raigad district. The site is between Ghosala and Virjoli (Satamba), Roha Taluka, Raigad District, State. A double cemetery, one part for the Satamker family and the other for the Ghosalker family. As all the members of these two families left their villages, the cemeteries are left unattended and in a few years nothing will remain of them. I would be grateful to those who could take pictures of the graves and send me a copy. Source: Ch. Levi Alvares (member of the Indian Synagogue in Kyriat Gat, Israel). "Mas Bertounet", 26120 Montmeyran, (Drome) France. Email: MXSLA@hotmail.com  UPDATE: Formerly in the Kolaba District, the Satamba (Virjoli) cemetery now is in the Raigad district. The site is between Ghosala and Virjoli (Satamba), Roha Taluka, Raigad District, State of Maharshtra, India. Source: Ch. Levi Alvares at MXSLA@hotmail.com