Jews in Kashan: A Survey on two Assumptions about Their Background and History

The history of Jewish in Iran goes back to the ancient Babylonian captivity, Medes and Achaemenids. Despite their small numbers, they have been effective in Iran’s political, religious, scientific and economic life. Comparing to other places in Iran and other regions of the world, Kashan has provided a more favourable place for Jews to live and flourish for some centuries in a way that some Jews have called Kashan a Little Jerusalem or the galaxy of Jewish scholars and writers. This paper examines two assumptions about Jewish history in Kashan: the first notion talks about the Jewish presence in Kashan after the Babylonian captivity while the second one considers their migration from Spain and other European cities, especially after the Inquisition. The most important evidence for the first theory is kashan archaeological heritage, the oldness of Jewish community and their cemetery, Judeo-Kashani dialect (including Raji and Luftaii) and their oral tradition that contains ancient terms and language, including Medians. The evidence for the second assumption is the stories of Jewish and Christian travellers and Muslim historians.