Also popularly known as Yahudi Kabristan, the Israel Kabristan (graveyard), this 140+ years old historical site lies at the mouth of what technically used to be the Nizampura village. The patch of land now known as the Israeli Kabristan was gifted to the Jewish community of Baroda in 1875, by the then Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. There is even a ‘Khat’ that testifies to the fact.
Jews of Baroda :
The earliest Jewish settlers in Baroda were David Gershone Agarwarkar who was an ADC to Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III and Judge Kehimkar. Baroda even had Jewish soldiers as a part of the Baroda State Army since 1850.
A Marathi Epitaph for an Israeli Grave :
One might find it strange to find Marathi surnames and epitaphs written in Marathi on the graves of a so called Israeli Kabristan. The explanation for this is that, the Jews adopted names of villages as surnames & adopted the customs, with few original traits. They also learnt Marathi & kept surnames such as Penkar, Kehimker, Arulkar, Songaonkar, Kilankar , Agarwarkar, Mhedekar, Chandgaowkar & Korlekar etc. Thus, many of the epitaphs on the graves are written in Marathi, the epitaphs are also found in Hebrew and English.
All graves at the cemetery belong to the Bene Israelis except for the one at the rear corner, which is said to belong to the son of a Jewish British officer. The is entombed within a small domed enclosure and grave doesn’t have a headstone. It is believed that the stone with inscription was carried away by family members who no longer live in India.
According to the inscription on the entrance of the graveyard the compound wall was constructed by a Mr. Boloman Greso (Agarwarkar) in June 1940, at his own cost of Rs. 2500.
The most recent grave from the graveyard is from the year 2010.
At one time there were about 10 Jewish families in Baroda and maybe 500 in Gujarat, with the overall number slowly declining. At present, the cemetery is looked after by a family of cowherds who reside on the empty patch of the graveyard. The cemetery needs to be properly looked after by the authorities and protect it from the local residents who find it to be convenient place to throw garbage.
Sadly there is not much awareness about this historical site to stop it from disappearing silently.
Partial Source: Edge of a fringe
I had a classmate in kalabhawan engg college, named genriel kolhatkar, moved to Israel after graduation..