Jewish copper plate

Jewish copper plate is a copper-plate charter issued by the Cera king of Cranganore Parkaran Iravivanmar (Sanskrit: Bhaskara Ravi Varma), generally dated to the 10th and 11th centuries, granting land to Jewish trader Joseph Rabban of Cochin. Although the traditional date according to the Cochin Jews is AD 379, the presently accepted date of this inscription is AD 1000. It is the earliest evidence of a Jewish community settling in India, although local tradition has it that a previous settlement in Malabar dates to the early centuries AD.

The document records a royal grant to the Jewish chief Joseph Rabban of the rights of Ancuvannam along with the 72 proprietary rights enjoyed by high-ranking nobles of Cera kingdom. The grant is currently preserved in the White Jews’ Synagogue at Mattanceri, Cochin.

It is engraved on two small, rectangular copper-plates. The second side of the second plate is blank. A hole for the ring on which the plates must have been strung, is visible on the impression of each plate. The character which is chiefly used in the document is the Vatteluttu alphabet. Grantha letters are used in a number of Sanskṛit words and in the foreign word "Issuppu". The language used in an early form of Malayalam.

During the visit of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India in 2003, the then provincial tourism minister KV Thomas presented him with a replica of the copper plates.