Genetic testing: Bene Israel community in India has Jewish roots

Genetic evidence has been provided by scientists of the Jewish roots of the Bene Israel community in the western part of India. According to their oral history, the Bene Israel people descended from 14 Jewish survivors of a shipwreck on India’s Konkan shore. The exact timing of this event and the origin and identity of the Jewish visitors are unknown. Some date the event to around 2,000 years ago. Others estimate that it took place in 175 BCE. Still others believe their Jewish ancestors arrived as early as the 8th century BCE.