The Jesuit father mentioned here was Catrou. He wrote his General History of the Moghal Empire in 1708 C.E. and stated that %u201Cthe Kashmiris are descendants of the Jews.%u201D (F. Catrou, General History of the Moghul Empire, (trans. Alex. Moore), London, John Murray, 1836, p. 195)
George Forster, in his famous Letters on a Journey from Bengal to England, described his visit to Kashmir: %u201COn first seeing the Kashmirians, in their own country, I imagined from their garb, the cast of their countenance which was long and of a grave aspect, and the forms of their beards, that I had come among a nation of Jews.%u201D (George Forster, Letters on a Journey from Bengal to England, London, 1808, vol. 2, p. 20)
H.H. Wilson writes: %u201CThe physical and the ethnic character, which so sharply marks off the Kashmiris from all surrounding races, has always struck observant visitors to the valley and they have universally connected them with the Jews.%u201D (H.H. Wilson, Travels in the Himalayan Provinces%u2026, London, 1841, p. 129. Reprinted by Sagar Publications, New Delhi, 1971)
