When we hear the name of India we usually think of: its expanding economic and geo-political significance; its cricket achievements; its ancient Jewish communities; the coming of Te’oma (Thomas), one of the followers of Yeshua-Jesus, who introduced the Messianic faith there; or of the numerous Israelis who flock there following their military service and hang out in the Himalaya’s or on the beaches of Goa.
There is, however, another aspect relating to India – the strategic role it played in the modern-day restoration of the Jewish people to the land of covenant promise. India was the magnet which drew Britain, the Cyrus nation, into involvement in the Middle East region. Why was India the magnet?
By geographical ‘chance’ India was at the eastern end of major international trade routes and for millennia precious commodities from India and further East made their way West. The Eastern Mediterranean region was central in this economic dynamic. Great empires of antiquity and in the modern period coveted the region because of these numerous trade routes, and subsequently it was in constant conflict.
The epicentre of this broader area was the land of Israel which was often a ‘buffer zone’ in this clash between the empires. It was ‘the land between empires.’
The land of Israel was also significant as it was bequeathed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by a covenant oath – and would be where Almighty God’s wonderful plan for worldwide redemption would take place. What is this worldwide redemption? It is the overturning of the death penalty upon Adam, Hava-Eve, and humankind through the death and resurrection of Yeshua ben Yosef – Jesus the son of Joseph. The land of Israel therefore was also the epicentre of a battle in the heavenlies between the Kingdom of God (Heaven) and the kingdom of darkness.
Jewish connections to India
For millennia there had been direct Israel-India connections. It is believed that some materials for Solomon’s Temple might have originated in India, and according to some local traditions Jewish people went to live in India after the destruction of the First Temple. Later the Persian Empire controlled the entire region from the land of Israel to India, as too did Alexander the Great for a short time.
There was also trade between the Roman Empire and India during the Second Temple period, and the land of Israel was no doubt involved in this dynamic. Jewish exiles then made their way to the west coast of India after the destruction of the Second Temple, arriving about 72 AD (CE). These Jewish exiles arrived shortly after the arrival there of Te’oma or Thomas, a Jewish follower of Jesus the Messiah who introduced the Messianic faith into India. Thereafter Indian people came into covenant-union with a circumcised Jew, Yeshua-Jesus – an Easterner just like them.
The coming of the European sea-faring empires
After the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453 they took control over the lucrative trade routes connecting the East with the West. This monopoly forced the European powers to seek alternative routes to the East, which culminated in 1498 when Vasco Da Gama of Portugal landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast of India – thereby establishing a direct link between West and East. The other European powers followed, especially the British, Dutch and French. In time the English East India Company became the most important European entity in India. Due to this new dynamic less trade now went through the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Napoleon and French attempts to get to India
The search for a quicker route to the East thereafter intensified, especially by the French, who made one unsuccessful proposal to the Turks in 1665. Then in 1671 the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz advised Louis XIV of France that to truly establish French authority in the Eastern Mediterranean he should reconstruct the ancient canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He predicted that the true commercial route to India would be found via Egypt. This proposal also failed.
Then in 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, as part of a broader plan which involved linking up with Tippu Sahib, the Sultan of Mysore, and ousting the British from India. This quest was stopped when the British admiral, Horatio Nelson, destroyed the French fleet in Egypt. Napoleon then invaded the land of Israel, but was ultimately defeated there and forced to return to France.
Although Napoleon’s plan was unsuccessful British policymakers now realised the vulnerability of the region – and which was now ‘a road to India.’ Interestingly the French Revolution and Napoleon’s invasion also awoke interest, especially with Evangelical Christians, concerning the restoration of the Jewish people to the land of covenant promise, which they maintained would lead to the return of Jesus to Jerusalem. In time these two aspects, Israel’s restoration and economics/geo-politics, would merge, and India would play a significant role in this dynamic.
The first Indian War of Independence, or the Indian Mutiny, in 1857 caused British policy-makers to further see the necessity for a quicker route to India. Then when a French consortium built the Suez Canal in 1869, British strategists realised they would need to control this vital waterway, as it was centrally located on ‘the road to India.’ India by now was the ‘pearl’ of the British Empire.
The British Government then purchased the controlling shares of the Suez Canal Company in 1875, and landed troops there in 1882, effectively taking control of Egypt. Thereafter Britain was in the commanding position on ‘the road to India.’ It was imperative during this period for Britain to maintain amicable relations with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which basically controlled the east bank of the Suez Canal – the Sinai and adjacent land of Israel.
The World Wars
Matters changed in 1914 when the Ottoman Turks sided with Germany in the First World War. Troops from India were landed in Mesopotamia (Iraq), while other Indian troops lined the Suez Canal when the first ANZACS arrived there in late 1914.
Indian soldiers thereafter fought at Gallipoli, as well as in the Middle East campaign between 1916-18. Representative Indian troops were at Jerusalem for the official entrance of General Allenby on 11 December 1917, at which time Muslim soldiers from India guarded the Holy Places of Jerusalem. It was during this very period that the British Government officially endorsed the request of the Jewish Zionist Movement for having a Jewish National Home in the land of Israel.
In 1918 Indian cavalry captured Haifa, and were heavily involved in the capture of Syria. Indian soldiers therefore played a significant role in negating the influence of Islam over the region – sufficient for the foundations of a Jewish National Home to be established in the land of Israel under British protection and with the legal endorsement of the League of Nations.
During World War Two soldiers from India served in the Eastern Mediterranean region, playing an important role in stopping the German-led Axis forces from capturing Egypt and further East. This had more than military importance, as the Nazi leadership decided on 20 January 1942 to murder eleven million Jewish people, including the 700,000 or so in the Middle East. A specialised murder squad was sent to the region ready to begin this task, together with ‘local collaborators’ – pending a German-led victory at El Alamein.
This did not happen as the Allies were victorious at El Alamein – and amongst the thousands killed were hundreds of soldiers from India. This Allied victory stopped the Holocaust from entering into the Middle East and Indian soldiers therefore played a supporting role in preserving the Jewish community in the region and especially in the land of Israel.Is there a ‘divine connection?’
Perhaps the most significant role played by India was after 1798 by being the magnet which drew Britain into taking control over the land of Israel. There seems little doubt that if Britain had no imperial interests in India, then they would not have been in ‘the land between empires’, and they would not have been the modern-day Cyrus nation which restored Israel to its land.
When Almighty God created the earth, He knew exactly what He was doing by placing India at one end, Britain at the other end – and the land of Israel in between. It would almost seem there was ‘a divine connection’ between India and the land of Israel. The significance of this connection relates to the central role which Israel and the Jewish people there will play in the ultimate fulfillment of God’s worldwide redemptive plan – the return of Jesus to Jerusalem.
Perhaps there might even be a prominent role still to be played by India in the outworking of this great plan of redemption?
© Kelvin Crombie, Heritage Resources, 2025. This article is based on a recent publication, The land of Israel, Jesus and India – A divine connection? Further information: kelvin@heritageresources.com.au
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