Jesus did the same preaching to Israelites who were living in India, as Jesus was doing before in the area of Jerusalem. These people accepted him and became true Christian. When Islam, came to these Israelites, they became Muslim. Still, their names, names of cities, habits, and traditions are similar to Israelites.
Let it be noted, therefore, that it was extremely necessary, by reason of his office as a divine messenger, for Jesus to have journeyed to Punjab and its neighborhood because the ten tribes of Israel, who in the Gospels have been called the lost sheep of Israel, had migrated to this country. It is a fact that no historian has been able to deny. It was necessary, therefore, that Jesus should have journeyed to this country and, after finding the lost sheep, should have conveyed to them the divine message vouchsafed to him. Had he not done so, the purpose for which he had been sent by God would have remained unfulfilled.
His mission was to preach to the lost sheep of Israel. His passing away from the world without seeking the lost sheep, or, after finding them, failing to teach them the way to salvation, would have been quite like the case of a man who had been charged by his king to go to a desert tribe to dig a well and supply them with water, but who goes instead to some other place where he spends three or four years, taking no steps to search for the concerned tribe. Does such a man carry out the command of the king? Not in the least. The man cares not for that tribe, he merely looks to his own comfort.
If, however, it is asked, how and why it should be supposed that the ten tribes of Israel had come to this country, the answer is that the supporting evidence of this thesis is so strong and incontrovertible that even a dullard will not deny it. It is too well known that people like the Afghans and the old inhabitants of Kashmir are in fact of Israelite origin. For example, the people of Alai Kohistan which is at a distance of two or three days’ journey from the district of Hazara, have called themselves Beni Israel from time immemorial.
Similarly, there is another hilly tract in this region known as Kala Dakah, whose inhabitants also take pride in being of Israelite origin. Then in the Hazara district itself, there is a tribe that claims to belong to the house of Israel. Similarly, the inhabitants of the mountain range between Chillas and Kabul also call themselves Israelites. Dr. Bernier’s view about the people of Kashmir, which is based on the authority of some English scholars, and is expressed in the second part of his book Travels, is only too true. According to him, the Kashmiri people are the descendants of Israel; their dress, their features, and some of their rituals conclusively point to the fact that they are undoubted of Israelite origin.
An Englishman, Forster by name, writes in his book that during his stay in Kashmir he felt as if he was living amidst a tribe of the Jews.56 H. W. Bellows C.S.I. in his book The Races of Afghanistan, published by Thacker Spink & Co. Calcutta, states that the Afghans came from Syria. Nebuchadnezzar took them prisoner and settled them in Persia and Media, from whence at a later date they moved to the East and settled in the Ghor hills, where they were known as Beni Israel. In proof of this, there is the prophecy of the Prophet Idris (Enoch), which says that the ten tribes of Israel who were taken prisoner, escaped from captivity and took refuge in the territory called Arsarah which appears to be another name of the area known as Hazara today, part of the region being called Ghor.
In Tabaqaat-i-Naasri, there is an account of the conquest of Afghanistan by Genghis Khan. It is stated that in the times of the Shabnisi dynasty there lived a tribe known as Beni Israel, some of whom were big businessmen and good traders. In 622 A.D., which is the year of the Holy Prophet Muhammad's Call, these people were to be found in the eastern part of Herat. A Quraish chief Khalid bin Walid brought to them the tidings of the Prophet’s Coming with a view to bringing them under the banner of the Divine Messengers. Five or six chiefs were elected to accompany him, of whom the principal chief was Qais, whose other name was Kish. After accepting Islam, these people fought bravely for the cause of Islam and made many conquests. The Holy Prophets gave them many presents on their return journey, blessed them, and prophesied that they would attain great power and ascendancy.
The Holy Prophets also prophesied that the chiefs of this tribe would always be known as Maliks. He gave Qais the name of Abdul Rashid and conferred upon him the title Pahtaan. Afghan writers say that this is a Syriac word that means a rudder. As the newly converted Qais was, like the rudder of a ship, a guide to his tribe, he was awarded the title Pahtaan. It is not known at what point of time the Afghans of Ghor advanced farther and came to settle in the territory around Kandhar, which is their home today. This happened probably in the first century of the Islamic calendar.
The Afghans maintain that Qais married the daughter of Khalid bin Walid, by whom he had three sons whose names were Saraban, Patan, and Gurgasht. Saraban had two sons, called Sacharj Yun, and Karsh Yun. It is their descendants who are today known as the Afghans or Beni-Israel. The people of Asia-Minor, and Muslim historians of the West, call Afghans Sulaimanis.57 In The Cyclopaedia of India, Eastern, and Southern Asia, by Edward Balfour, Vol. III,58 it is stated that the Jewish people are spread all over the central, southern, and eastern regions of Asia. In early times these people were settled in large numbers in China; they had a synagogue at Yih Chu, the headquarters of the district of Shu.
Dr. Wolf, who wandered for a long time in search of the ten lost tribes of Beni Israel, is of the opinion that if Afghans are the progeny of Jacob, they belong to the tribes of Yahuda and Bin Yamin. Another report proves that the Jews were exiled to Tartary; they were found in large numbers in the territories round about Bukhara, Merv, and Khiva. Prester John, Emperor of Tartary, in his letter to Alexis Communis, the Emperor of Constantinople, writing about his dominions, says that beyond the river Amu there are the ten tribes of Israel who, though they claim to be under their own king, are in reality his subjects and vassals.
Dr. Moore’s researches show that the Tartar tribe named Chosan is of Jewish origin and that among them are to be found traces of the ancient Jewish faith. For example, they still practice the rite of circumcision. The Afghans have a tradition that they are the ten lost tribes of Israel. After the sack of Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar took them prisoner and settled them in Ghor, near Bamiyan. Before the arrival of Khalid bin Walid, they had consistently held fast to the Jewish faith. In appearance, the Afghans resemble the Jews in all respects. Like them, the younger brother marries the widow of the elder brother.
A French traveler, Ferrier by name, who passed through Herat, states that Israelites are found in large numbers in that territory and that they have full liberty in the practice of their religion.59 The Rabbi Bin Yamin of Toledo, Spain in the twelfth century A.D. ventured out in search of the lost tribes. He states that these Jews are settled in China, Iran, and Tibet. Josephus, who wrote the ancient history of the Jews in 93 A.D., in the course of his account of the Jews who escaped from bondage along with the Prophet Ezra, states in his eleventh book that the ten tribes were settled beyond the Euphrates even at that time and that their numbers were uncountable.60 By ‘beyond the Euphrates’ he meant Persia and the eastern territories.
St. Jerome who lived in the fifth century A.D., writing about Prophet Hosea says in the margin, in support of his thesis, that since that day the ten tribes (of the Israelites) have been under king Parthia or Paras, and have not been released from bondage. In the first volume of the same book, it is stated that Count Juan Steram testifies on pages 233-34 of his book that the Afghans admit that Nebuchadnezzar, after the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, exiled them to the territory of Bamiyan (which is adjacent to Ghor, in Afghanistan).
On page 166 of the book, A Narrative of a Visit to Ghazni, Kabul, and Afghanistan by G. T. Vigne, F.G.S. (1840), it is stated that one Mullah Khuda Dad quoted in his presence from a book called Majma-ul-Ansaab, that the eldest son of Jacob was Judas, whose son was Usrak; Usrak’s son was Aknur; Aknur’s son was Maalib; Maalib’s Farlai; Farlai’s Qais, Qais’ Talut; Talut’s Armea, and Armea’s son was Afghan whose descendants are the Afghan people and after whom the latter is named. Afghan, a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar, was known as a descendant of Israel and had forty sons. In the 34th generation of his genealogical tree, after some 2000 years, was born Qais who lived in the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
His descendants multiplied down to 64 generations.61 Afghan’s eldest son, Salm, migrated from his Syrian home and settled in Ghor Mashkoh, near Herat, and his descendants spread into Afghanistan.62 In A cyclopedia of Geography by James Bryce, F.G.S. (London, 1856), on page 11, it is stated that the Afghans trace their genealogy to Saul, the Israelite King, and call themselves the descendants of Israel. Alexander Burns says that the Afghans state that they are of Jewish origin; that the King of Babel captured them and settled them in the territory of Ghor which lies to the northwest of Kabul; that up to 622 A.D. they continued to hold on to the Jewish faith, but that Khalid bin Abdullah (Abdullah has been written mistakenly instead of Walid) married the daughter of a chief of this tribe and made them accept Islam in that year.
On page 39 of Col. G. B. Malleson’s book History of Afghanistan (London 1878), it is stated that Abdullah Khan of Herat, the French traveler named Ferrier, and Sir William Jones, a recognized orientalist, agree that the Afghan people are descended from the Beni-Israel and that they are the descendants of the ten lost tribes.64 The book History of the Afghans, by G. P. Ferrier,65 translated by Capt. William Jesse, published in London (1858), records on page 1 that the majority of oriental historians are of the opinion that the Afghan people are the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel and that the Afghans to hold the same opinion.
The same historian says on page 4 of this book, that Afghans possess evidence that at Peshawar, during his invasion of India, Nadir Shah was presented by the chiefs of the Yoosoofzyes tribe with a Bible written in Hebrew as well as several other articles preserved by their families for the performance of religious rites of their old faith. There were also Jews in Nadir Shah’s camp, who, on seeing the articles, readily recognized them. Again, the same historian states on page 4 of his book that in his opinion Abdullah Khan’s view is highly reliable. Briefly stated this view is as follows: Malek Thalut (Saul) had two sons, Afghan and Djalut.
Afghan was the patriarch of these people. After the reigns of David and Solomon, the Israelite tribes started fighting one another. As a result, each tribe became separated from the other. This state of affairs continued up to the time of Nebuchadnezzar who invaded and killed 70,000 Jews. He sacked the city and took the remaining Jews with him to Babel as prisoners. After this catastrophe, the children of Afghan fled in fear from Judea to Arabia and remained there for a long time. But as water and land were scarce, and man and beast suffered great hardship, they decided to migrate to India.
A party of Abdalees remained in Arabia, and during the Khilafat of Hazrat Abu Bakr one of their chiefs established matrimonial relationship with Khalid bin Walid…. When Iran fell to Arabia, these people migrated from Arabia and settled in the Iranian provinces of Fars and Kirman. They stayed there till Genghis Khan’s invasion. As the Abdalees were helpless against the atrocities of Genghis Khan, they left for India via Makran, Sindh, and Multan. But here too they couldn’t find peace. They eventually arrived at Koh Sulaiman and settled there. The other members of the Abdali tribe also joined them.
They consisted of 24 tribes, all descendants of Afghan who had three sons, Tsera-Bend (Saraban), Arkash (Argoutch), and Karlen (Batan). They had eight sons each who multiplied into twenty-four tribes, each tribe was named after each son. The names of the sons and the tribes are given below: (continued).