New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will meet Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on 2nd day of his visit to Israel.

Meanwhile, Modi gifted Israel a host of things.

PM on Tuesday gifted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu replicas of two sets of relics from Kerala, regarded as key artifacts of the long Jewish history in India.

They comprise two different sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century, the PMO tweeted.

The first set of copper plates is a cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in India. It is regarded as a charter
describing the grant of hereditary royal privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma) to the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.



According to traditional Jewish accounts, Joseph Rabban was later crowned as the Prince of Shingli, a place in or equated with Cranganore.

Cranganore is where Jews enjoyed religious and cultural autonomy for centuries, before they moved to Cochin and other places in Malabar.

The second set of copper plates is believed to be the earliest documentation of the history of Jewish trade with India.

 


These plates describe the grant of land and tax privileges by the local Hindu ruler to a church. And oversight of trade in Kollam to West Asian and Indian trading associations.