Annotated bibliographies:
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources

Return to the Eastern Asia timeline.

Country	Year		Events/Assessments/Quotes/Comments
Afghanistan, The Silk Road	350	1	Birnbaum, "350".
	450	1	Blady, p. 178.
	700	1	Shterenshis, 18. Excavations were by Russian historian S. Tolstov 1937-1947.
			Shterenshis, 18.
	800	1	Adler, p. 3 (Obaidallah ibn Khordadhbeh, c. 817)
	875	1	Adler, p. 8 (Eldad the Danite's letter to the Jews of Spain, c. 880).
	900	1	Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Source Book, vol II, p. 63. The term "futuwa" has chivalric overtones, and some futuwa had their own castles. However, the emphasis seems to have been more on local security, not crusading like the Western holy fighting orders. Nicolle thinks they were highly influenced by the "militarized Buddhist monastaries."
	950	1	DBA (miniatures wargaming) Medieval Army List #115 - Ghaznavids (962-1186 AD). Yes, it's a wargame resource book, but they have serious research behind it.
	975	1	Shterenshis, 20. The historian's full name was Abu-Abdallah al-Mukaddasi.
	1000	1	Haaretz , June 13th and Sept. 15th, 2016. Documents displayed to press on 1/3/2013 by Professor Haggai Ben-Shammai, academic director of the National Library of Israel (which now owns them). Manuscripts are in Aramaic, Hebrew, Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Persian and are the family records of Abu Nassan Ben Daniel who lived in early 11th century Bamyan.
	1075	1	Jewish Virtual Library, "Afghanistan".
	1125	1	Shterenshis, 21.
	1150	1	Benjamin of Tudela, p.82. I am assuming that these figures are still family not population counts, given Adler's discussion on this in his footnotes to the Damascus entry.
		2	Benjamin of Tudela, pp. 83-87. I find this quite credible, since it appears in a description of a campaign of the Persian leader against steppes tribesmen where the tribesmen are demonstrating classic steppes tactics -- tactics a Spanish urban Jewish scholar would not naturally know. In this campaign the low-on-supplies Persians reach Naisabur in pursuit of raiders. The Jews block the way and offer battle. The Persians admit they can't win the fight but demand supplies and free passage anyway, threatening to retaliate against the many Jews in Persia. The Naisaburs sell the Persians supplies and let them pass. As for the "scholars" aspect, note that Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) is from that place.
	1200	1	Jewish Virtual Library, "Afghanistan".
	1225	1	Shterenshis, 18. In his footnotes (p.125) he quotes Carpini (page #s are from Dawson's Mission to Asia ). P.41: 'The names of the countries and races they [the Mongols] have conquered are as follows: … Brutachi who are Jews'; p. 58: '… the Brutachi who are said to be Jews and share their heads ...'. This raises an interesting question -- if we know of two steppes tribes that converted to Judaism (the Khazars and Brutachi), were there others?
		2	Graetz, vol. 3, pp. 580-581.
	1250	1	Jewish Virtual Library, "Afghanistan".
	1300	1	Beinart, p. 68.
	1325	1	Shrerenshis, p.23.
	1350	1	Blady, p. 179.
	1375	1	Shterenshis, p. 18.
	1400	1	Shterenshis, p. 59.
	1450	1	Shterenshis, p. 59.
	1550	1	Shterenshis, p. 43. Indeed, Shterensis spends two chapters of his book reviewing the sources that could have mentioned any persecutions or anti-Jewish laws by Tamerlane, and none did.
Armenia, Kurdistan, Daghestan	300	1	Josephus described the Jewish kingdom of Adiabene, part of the Parthian empire and located south of Armenia, capital was Arbela, modern Irbil in in northern Iraq. It was destroyed by Trajan's invasion about 116 CE. History of Adiabene provided in Brook, pp. 261-264. The conversion of King Izates, his mother Helena, and other relatives to Judaism (including Munbaz/Monobaz, who would follow him on the throne) is also given in the Jewish Encyclopedia , "Izates" and linked articles.
		2	Midrash, Gen. R. xlvi.
		3	Mountain Jews claim presence by this time (actually since 722 BCE), but first written documentation by Jews re them not until Benjamin of Tudela: Blady, p. 96. Note : The "by Jews" bit is my addition, since the Kebra Nagast of the 500s refers to an independent Jewish kingdom here.
	350	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Armenia".
	450	1	Moses of Chorine's History of Armenia. ii. 84, 85, iii. 43, 51, 65; cited in the Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Amatuni".
	500	1	Kebra Nagast, Budge translation. Commands to destroy the Jewish kingdom are on pages 196-199. The actual text says "a few Jews shall lift up their heads against our faith in Nagran and Armenia". I feel that since both require a war to defeat, Nagran and Armenia are spoken of in the same terms, and Najran was in then-Jewish Yemen, the Jews of Armenia probably have their own kingdom (or at least territory) too -- especially in conjunction with the other sources.
	1075	1	Blady, pp. 95-99.
	1125	1	Benjamin of Tudela, pp. 77-81.
	1150	1	Benjamin of Tudela, p. 76. From the Marcus Adler translation: "Here live a people who do not profess the Muhammadan religion, but live on the high mountains, and worship the Old Man of the land of the Hashishim. And among them are four communities of Israel who go forth with them in war time. They are not under the rule of the king of Persia, but reside in the high mountains, and descend from these mountains to pillage and to capture booty, and then retire to the mountains, and none can overcome them. There are learned men among the Jews of their land."
	1225	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Caucausus".
	1500	1	Blady pp. 158-168.
	1550	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Daghestan": "They wear the Circassian dress, and always go heavily armed, even sleeping without having removed their weapons. "
Babylonia/ Mesopotamia, Persia			Note : Jewish conditions did differ between Babylonia and Persia. However, for most of the chart's period the two regions were governed by the same power. I therefore kept these two together for most of the chart.
	300	1	The Elephantine papyri chronicle the history of a Jewish military colony in southern Egypt established by the Persian ruler Cambyses around 500 BCE. The Babylonian Jew Zamaris had supplied the Herodians 500 horse-archers with their families, his grandson had trained and led Agrippa II's army, and Deraa supplied Herodians with additional cavalry. (Nicolle, Rome's Enemies 5 , p. 36. and J Roth, p. 6.) Many, many other examples are mentioned in Josephus and other sources.
		2	Farrokh,pp. 3-8. Interestingly, Roman sources tell of noble ( Sardar ) female fighters in the early Sassanian battle lines (Farrokh, p. 59).
		3	Grant, p. 275.
		4	Grant, p. 277.
		5	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Babylonia".
	325	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Babylonia", which mentions enough attacks on Jews for me to code this cell cyan not green, especially when Grant (p.280) describes the position of Babylonian Jews as "precarious" due to subordinate position and some persecution.
	350	1	Grant p. 287-88, citing B. Abodah Zarah, 16a.
	400	1	Grant, p. 288.
		2	Shterenshis, 15. According to Britannica.com, Shushan-Dukht settled a colony of Jews near Isfahan.
		3	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Babylonia".
		4	Grant, p. 288.
	450	1	Grant, p. 288. That this is part of a larger religious war against Mazdakism in which both sides killed Jews: Birnbaum, "470", who also mentions taking of Jewish children. Blady, pp. 58-59, provides more details on these events and those below: - 455 : The rulers' attemps to impose Zorastrianism begins, under Yazdegard II and Firuz. Flight of Jews begins. - 488 : Persian ruler Kavadh I converts to Mazdakism, a communistic belief (popular with the lower classes) which he uses to attack his aristocratic foes. - 511 : Because of the imposition of Mazdakism, the exilarch Mar Zutra ben Tuvia revolts, sets up an independent state. Blady gives the dates 484-491, but that is incompatible with other consistent dates and his own timeline so I used the dates from the other sources.
	475	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Academies in Babylonia".
	500	1	Grant, p. 275.
		2	Grant, p. 277.
		3	Zuckerman, p. 2 and brief reference by Grant, p. 288. Also see notes for 450 above. Graetz, vol. III p. 3 says that the trigger was the Zoroastrian fanatics' ("Zendicks") murdering the president of one of the Jewish Babylonian academies, so Mar Zutra led 400 Jewish warriors and expelled the Zendicks from Jewish Babylonian territories. Graetz also says Zutra was a brilliant tactician and refers to the capital as Machuza, just south of Ctesiphon. The Jewish Encyclopedia Online 's article "Mahoza" makes it clear that Machuza, Mahoza, and Maoga-Makla are the same.
		4	Graetz, vol. III, p. 4.
	575	1	Graetz, vol. III, pp. 8-9.
		2	Wilcox, pp. 4, 40-41. Byzantium got Armenia and Georgia out of the deal.
		3	Grant, p. 288.
	625	1	Wilcox, p. 41.
		2	Grant, p.288-289.
		3	Restoration of the Exilarchy: Zuckerman, p. 2.
		4	Stillman, pp. xxiii, 30 and Blady, p. 59.
	650	1	Stillman, p. xxiii, 31.
	700	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Abbassid Califs".
		2	Graetz, vol III pp. 124-125; Blady, pp. 59-60; Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "ISḤAḲ BEN YA'ḲUB OBADIAH ABU 'ISA AL-ISFAHANI". Different medieval sources give different dates. This took place during a period of multiple rebellions against the Umayyads.
	750	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Abbassid Califs" and Blady, p. 60.
		2	Peter B. Golden, "Khazar Turkic Ghulams in Caliphal Service", Journal Asiatique, volume 292, issue 1-2, 2004, pp. 279-309.
	800	1	Birnbaum, "800".
		2	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Abbassid Califs".
		3	Adler, p. 2 (Obaidallah ibn Khordadhbeh, ca. 817).
	850	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Abbassid Califs" and "Bagdad", also Stillman, p. 167 (citing al-Tabari, Ta'rikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk, 915).
	875	1	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Abbassid Califs" and "Bagdad."
	900	1	Beinart, pp. 30-31 and Cohen, p. 91.
	925	1	Brook, p. 91.
	950	1	Birnbaum, "970".
	1025	1	Cohen, p. 94; Original text in S. Abramson's "Five Sections of Rabbi Hai Gaon's "Sefer Hamekach".
		2	Blady, p. 60.
	1075	1	Stillman, p. 251 (Chronicle of Obadiah, the Norman Proselyte, ca. 1120).
	1125	1	Blady, p. 97 as well as Benjamin of Tudela.
		2	Benjamin of Tudela, pp. 77-81.
	1150	1	Benjamin of Tudela, pp. 52-73. From pp. 54-55: The Caliph “is kind unto Israel, and many belonging to the people of Israel are his attendants; he knows all languages, and is well versed in the law of Israel. He reads and writes the holy language" (Hebrew).
		2	Benjamin of Tudela, p. 76.
		3	Benjamin of Tudela, p. 81.
	1175	1	Cohen, p. 166.
		2	R. Petachia re Jews in 1187: - "If a Gentile or a Jew have a dispute, whether the Jew or the Ismaelite be guilty [the Sultan of Nineveh] locks him up." (Benisch, p. 11) - "From Nineveh, and further on, there are congregations in every city and village." (Adler, p. 69) - "In Persia the Jews are subject to hard bondage and sufferings … the Jews in the land of Babel live in peace." (Adler, p. 71, Benisch pp. 19-21) - "In Babylon there are thirty synagogues" (Benisch, p. 41). This corroborates Benjamin of Tudela's figure of 28 synagogues.
	1200	1	Adler, p. 111-113 (Judah al-Harizi, ca. 1216)
	1225	1	Rubruk (1254).
	1250	1	Birnbaum, "1250".
		2	Baron, A Social and Religious History , vol XVIII, p. 302.
		3	Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Bagdad," and Stillman pp. 65-67.
	1275	1	Stillman, p. 262-263 (Bar Hebraeus' Chronography) and Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Bagdad."
		2	Stillman, p. 262-263 (Bar Hebraeus' Chronography) and Jewish Encyclopedia Online, "Bagdad."
		3	Stillman, p. 67.
	1375	1	Stillman, p. 64-65.
	1500	1	Blady, pp. 61-62.
	1575	1	Baron, A Social and Religious History , vol XVIII, p. 324. Even though Sieur de la Boullay de Gowz's figures are likely exaggerations, the participation of Jewish troops (whatever their number) makes sense.
		2	Blady, p. 63.
China	300	1	Pollak, p. 63. The Kaifeng steele's second, 1512 inscription said that Jews entered China during the Han dynasty. Its first inscription, in 1489, says that Jews came to Kaifeng during the Sung court presence there (960-1126).
	700	1	Pollak, p. 260-263 (pictures of the actual documents are reprinted in the book).
	800	1	Adler, p. 2-3 (Obaidallah ibn Khordadhbeh, c. 817) and Pollak, p. 22.
	875	1	Pollak, p. 22.
	900	1	Pollak, p. 22. Pollak in turn cites Leslie, Donald Daniel. The Survival of the Chinese Jews . Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972. Pollak calls that work "The most comprehensive scholarly study of Chinese Judaism ever attempted, this work includes hundreds of bibliographical references. The prime text for the serious student of Sino-Judaica."
	925	1	Birnbaum, "940". Note: City is reported as made of "cane", presumably bamboo.
	950	1	Marcus, 407-410 (Buzburg ibn Shahriyar of Ramhurmuz's Adjaib al-Hind, 953). "[Isaac] made a present to Ahmed ibn Helal of a black china vase, closed by a brilliant golden cover. 'What is there in this vase?' asked Ahmed. 'A dish of Sikbaj [a dish made of meat, flour, and vinegar] which I have prepared for you in China,' said the Jew ... Ahmed lifted the cover and opened the vase and he found in it golden fishes with eyes of rubies ..." Gee, my favorite place only gives me fortune cookies with my order …
	1000	1	Pollak, p. 8.
	1150	1	Pollak, p. 59. According to the Jewish Virtual Library ("China") it was called the "Purity and Truth" synagogue.
		2	Elkan Adler, p. 49 (Benjamin of Tudela, 1173). This is page 62 in the original document (Marcus Adler translation).
		3	University of Haifa (2008, March 7). " Evidence Of Commerce Between Ancient Israel And China", ScienceDaily . Retrieved March 24, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/03/080304100410.htm
	1200	1	Pollak, p. 55.
	1275	1	Shterenshis, 22.
		2	Pollak, p. 24. Chapter VI - p. 749 of the Henry Yule translation - has the Khan feasting with and respecting the Jews.
		3	At issue is two different translations of Marco Polo's text: Marco Polo, Chapter V, "How the Great Khan caused Nayan to be put to death". The scene is the renewal of loyalty oaths after the battle against Nayan. Both the Pinkerton and Yule translations say Jews and Saracens were present. The Pinkerton translation, p. 129, explicitly says that the Jews were in the army. The Henry Yule translation, available free via Project Gutenberg,can be read as saying that the Jews were merely present. Until I can get a definitive translation, I am assuming that since the scene was a renewal of loyalty oaths shortly after a battle, the "Jewish troops" explanation is the most likely.
	1325	1	Pollak p. 24.
		2	Pollak, p. 23. Minor source conflict: Pollak cites Donald Daniel Leslie's Survival of the Chinese Jews (1972), which on Page 15 quotes Ibn Battuta. In 1829, Rev. Samuel Lee translated Ibn Battuta's account of his travels. This translation has was reprinted in 2004 by Dover Publications, Mineola, New York. I did not see in that translation a mention of Jew's Gate or the identification of Khansa as Hangchow (Battuta in his text admitted he only knew the city by its Arabic name). I do not know what translation Leslie used. The Lee translation (p. 216-217) notes that Khansa is the biggest city he has ever seen in his life, the sub-city that is for the Jews, Christians, and Turks is the most beautiful of Khansa's six sub-cities, and that "their great men are exceedingly wealthy." This more extensive bit was not included in Leslie's and thus Pollak's quote.
	1350	1	Pollak, p. 65-66. The five other mentions of Jews in official Chinese records also listed on these pages. "[According to the] Yuan Shih, the official history of the Yuan Dynasty ... in May-June 1354, this decree is noted: 'The skilled archers of Ningsia and wealthy Muslims[?] and Jews from the various places were summoned to the capital to volunteer for military service.' "
	1400	1	Pollak, p. 61 and 275.
	1475	1	Pollak, p. 58. On the following pages Pollak discusses its contents. Interestingly, the stele also lists major donors to the synagogue.
		2	Pollak, p. 319.
	1500	1	Pollak, p. 62-63. Important note : The Chinese Jewish community, a miniscule % of the Chinese population, is slowly fading through quiet assimilation, not discrimination.
	1550	1	Pollak p. 24.
	1575	1	Pollak pp. 3-9, 24-25. According to Pollak, the Kaifeng Jews were down to 1,000 people, called their religion Yi-tz'u-lo-yeh (i.e. Yisrael), could not eat pork, circumcised their sons, and followed other Jewish laws. Ai could not read Hebrew but said his brothers could, and did not know of the existence of Christianity and assumed that it was just an odd branch of Judaism. Thus, per Per Pollak p. 9-10: "The rabbi, whose Hebrew name is thought to have been Abishai ... [said that he] was now old, sick, and without a competent successor, perhaps Ricci would be interested in moving to Kaifeng and accepting the position of chief rabbi of the city's Jewish community?"
India	300	1	Blady, p. 231.
		2	Blady, pp. 213-214 and 230-231.
	450	1	Grant, p. 288 and Blady, p. 232.
	475	1	Birnbaum, "490". From Birnbaum, "980": "The Hindu ruler of Malabar, Bhaskara Ravi Varma, granted Rabban Joseph the right for Jews to live in Cochin. Most Jewish life centered around the commercial city of Cranganore until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1523."
	500	1	Blady on pp. 233-234 points out the range of dates given for the grant (he says was by Bhaskara Ravi Varma II), as well as the debates over how independent the Jews were. However, he also points out that the rights given to the Jews of Anjuvannam/Shingly were of the at least noble level.
	800	1	Adler, p. 2-3 (Obaidallah ibn Khordadhbeh, c.817)
	950	1	Marcus, pp. 407-410 (Buzburg ibn Shahriyar of Ramhurmuz's Adjaib al-Hind, 953).
	1175	1	Adler, p. 58-59 (Benjamin of Tudela, 1173). Benjamin's "India section" is pages 89-94 of the original (Marcus Adler translation). Describing Quilon on page 59: "And throughout the island, including all the towns there, live several thousand Israelites. The inhabitants are all black, and the Jews also. The latter are good and benevolent. They know of the law of Moses and the prophets, and to a small extent the Talmud and Halacha." Additional medieval reference for this: an 1153 letter to the Fustat Nagid Halfon.
	1200	1	Adler p. 100-101 (The Cairo Geniza, 12??)
		2	Blady, pp. 220-221.
	1250	1	Marco Polo, Chapter XXII "Of the Kingdom of Coilum". Project Gutenburg e-books, Henry Yule translation.
	1325	1	Blady, pp. 234-235. The Jewish heirs' legend is that the younger brother (Joseph Azar) tried to take over from his elder. This breach of custom so angered the other Indian princes that they attacked. Joseph fled and founded Cochin, was then (oddly) joined there by his elder brother.
	1375	1	Blady, p. 213. I used the date from Langer, p. 359.
	1425	1	Adler, p. 154 (Elijah of Ferrara, 1434). "An old man informed me that he had been in India … Now in India there is a king, very mighty and powerful, reigning over the Jews only; the rest of the country is governed by peoples rejecting every form of belief, peoples who kill no living creature for food."
	1475	1	Kritzler, pp. 31-37 and Birnbaum, "1440". Kritzler says "Gaspar" had commanded Calicut's fleet and was captured during a personal recon of da Gama's ships; Birnbaum says Gaspar was a slave. Both sources say Gaspar converted; Birnbaum says it was involuntary, Kritzler says that Gaspar returned to Cochin (where Gaspar's Jewish wife had fled from Calicut). Gaspar asked his wife to convert so she could join him in Portugal but his wife refused.
		2	Blady, pp. 235-237. Paradesis means "foreigners".
	1500	1	Beinart, p. 102.
		2	Birnbaum, "1520".
	1525	1	Blady, p. 213.
	1550	1	Baron, vol. XVIII, p. 102. The fact that a user of Jewish troops is *allied* with the Portuguese implies a complex political situation. Also the rajah's main foe, the king of neighboring Zamorin, also used Jewish troops.
		2	Beinart, p. 102.
		3	Birnbaum, "1560".