Samaritans Samaritans consider themselves to be descended from tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who stayed in their land and kept their religion. The Jewish belief is that Samaritans are descended from foreigners who replaced the exiled northern tribes and took on the customs of natives.
Kurdish Jews Many travelers and researchers have reported that the traditional folklore of Kurdish Jews claims they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes. According to the memoirs of
Benjamin of Tudela and
Pethahiah of Regensburg, there were about 100 Jewish settlements and substantial Jewish population in
Kurdistan in the 12th century. Benjamin of Tudela also gives the account of
David Alroi, the
messianic leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the
Seljuk Sultan Muktafi and had plans to lead the
Jews back to
Jerusalem.
Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan Among the
Pashtuns, there is a tradition of being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel. This tradition was referenced in 19th century western scholarship and it was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature which was popular at that time (notably
George Moore's
The Lost Tribes of 1861). Recently (2000s), interest in the topic has been revived by the Jerusalem-based anthropologist
Shalva Weil, who was quoted in the popular press as stating that the "
Taliban may be descended from Jews". The traditions surrounding the Pashtuns being the remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" are to be distinguished from the historical existence of the
Jewish community in eastern Afghanistan or northwest Pakistan which flourished from about the 7th century to the early 20th century, but has essentially disappeared from the region due to emigration to Israel since the 1950s.
Mughal-era historiography According to the
Encyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from
Israelites can be traced to
Makhzan-e-Afghani, a history book which was compiled for
Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of the
Mughal Emperor
Jehangir in the 17th century.
Modern findings The
Pashtuns are a predominantly
Sunni Muslim Iranic people, native to southern
Afghanistan and northwestern
Pakistan, who adhere to an indigenous and pre-Islamic religious code of honor and culture,
Pashtunwali. The belief that the Pashtuns are descended from the lost tribes of Israel has never been substantiated by concrete historical evidence. Many members of the
Taliban hail from the Pashtun tribes and they do not necessarily disclaim their alleged Israelite descent. In
Pashto, the tribal name '
Yusef Zai' means the "sons of Joseph".
Assyrian Jews Some traditions of the
Assyrian Jews claim that Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin first arrived in the area of modern
Kurdistan after the
Neo-Assyrian Empire's conquest of the
Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BCE; they were subsequently relocated to the Assyrian capital. During the first century BCE, the Assyrian royal house of
Adiabene—which, according to the Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus, was ethnically
Assyrian and whose capital was
Erbil (
Aramaic:
Arbala; )—was converted to Judaism. King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as the first
proselytes.
Claims from India Bnei Israel The
Bene Israel are a community of Jews in the Indian state of Maharashtra, residing particularly in the
Konkan region. Since the formation of the State of Israel, thousands of Bene Israelis have made
aliyah, although large numbers still remain in India.
Bnei Menashe Since the late 20th century, some tribes in the Indian North-Eastern states of
Mizoram and
Manipur have been claiming that they are
Lost Israelites and they have also been studying
Hebrew and Judaism. In 2005, the chief rabbi of Israel ruled that the Bnei Menashe are descended from a lost tribe. Based on the ruling, Bnei Menashe are allowed to
immigrate to Israel after they formally convert to Judaism. In 2021, 4,500 Bnei Menashe had made aliyah to Israel; 6,000 Bnei Menashe in India hope to make aliyah.
Kashmiri Jews According to
Al-Biruni, the famous 11th-century Persian Muslim scholar: "In former times the inhabitants of Kashmir used to allow one or two foreigners to enter their country, particularly Jews, but at present they do not allow any Hindus whom they do not know personally to enter, much less other people."
François Bernier, a 17th-century French physician and Sir
Francis Younghusband, who explored this region in the 1800s, commented on the similar physiognomy between Kashmiris and Jews, including "fair skin, prominent noses", and similar head shapes.
Baikunth Nath Sharga argues that, despite the etymological similarities between Kashmiri and Jewish surnames, the Kashmiri
Pandits are of
Indo-Aryan descent while the Jews are of
Semitic descent.
Bene Ephraim The Bene Ephraim, also called Telugu Jews, claim descent from the tribe of Ephraim. Since the 1980s, they have learned to practice modern Judaism. They say that they traveled from Israel through western Asia: Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and into China for 1,600 years before arriving in southern India more than 1,000 years ago. They hold a history which they say is similar to that of the shift of
Afghan Jews,
Persian Jews,
Bene Israel, and
Bnei Menashe. The
community has been visited over the years by
rabbis from the chief rabbinate in Israel to study their Jewish
tradition and
practices. They have sought recognition from many rabbis around the world, and they always practiced their own oral traditions and customs (
caviloth), such as: burying the dead; marrying under a
chuppah; observing
Shabbat and other Jewish festivals, and maintaining a
beit din. However, they adopted some aspects of
Christianity after the arrival of British
Baptist missionaries during the early 19th century although nominally practicing Judaism. Because of the long period in which the people were not practicing Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable
Judæo-Telugu language as
other groups did.
Beta Israel of Ethiopia The
Beta Israel ("House of Israel") are Ethiopian Jews, who were also called "Falashas" in the past. Some members of the Beta Israel, as well as several Jewish scholars, believe that they are descended from the lost
Tribe of Dan, as opposed to the traditional account of their origins which claims that they are descended from the
Queen of Sheba and the
Israelite king Solomon. They have a tradition of being connected to
Jerusalem. Early DNA studies showed that they were descended from
Ethiopians, but in the 21st century, new studies have shown their possible descent from a few Jews who lived in either the 4th or 5th century CE, possibly in
Sudan. The Beta Israel made contact with other Jewish communities in the later 20th century. In 1973 Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef, then the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, based on the Radbaz and other accounts, ruled that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel; two years later that opinion was confirmed by a number of other authorities who made similar rulings, including the Chief
Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren.
Igbo Jews The
Igbo Jews of
Nigeria variously claim descent from the tribes of
Ephraim,
Naphtali,
Menasseh,
Levi,
Zebulun and
Gad. The theory, however, does not hold up to historical scrutiny. Historians have examined the historical literature on
West Africa from the colonial era and they have elucidated that such theories served diverse functions for the writers who proposed them.
Black Hebrew Israelites The
Black Hebrew Israelites are an
African American new religious movement which claims that
African Americans are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. The group believe that, following their displacement, the Ten Lost Tribes migrated to and settled in
West Africa and they were subsequently enslaved and transported to America in the
Transatlantic slave trade; where their white slave masters forced them to abandon their Jewish culture and adopt Christianity. The Black Hebrew Israelites also believe that
European Jews are not descended from the original Israelites, instead, Black Hebrew Israelites believe that European Jews are "impostors". For this reason, the group is frequently considered antisemitic. They are not recognized as Jews by any major Jewish organization and they are also not recognized by the modern
State of Israel.
Gogodala people Some
Gogodala people of
Papua New Guinea claim to be one of the lost tribes, adopting some Jewish customs to reflect this. ==Speculation regarding other ethnic groups==