Jesus in India

Jesus in India is an English version of Masih Hindustan mein, an Urdu treatise written by the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835 - 1908).
The main thesis expounded in the treatise is Jesus' escape from an ignominious death on the Cross, and his subsequent journey to India in quest of the lost tribes of Israel whom he had to gather into his fold as mentioned in the New Testament.

Abundant evidence has been furnished from Christian as well as Muslim Scriptures, old medical books and books of history, including ancient Buddhist records, to illustrate the theme.

Starting upon his journey from Jerusalem and passing from thence through Nasibus and Iran, Jesus is shown to have reached Afghanistan, where he met the Jews who had settled there after their deliverance from the bondage of Nebuchadnezzar. From Afghanistan Jesus went to Kashmir, where some Israelite tribes had also settled. He made this place his home and here he died. His tomb has been traced and found in Khanyar Street, Srinagar, Kashmir, India.

Another question that has baffled historians is the striking resemblance that exists between Christian and Buddhist teachings and between the life events of both Jesus and Buddha as revealed in their respective Scriptures. Some of the historians hold the view that Buddhist teachings must somehow have reached Palestine and been assimilated by Jesus in his own sermons. Others are of the opinion that Jesus must have come to Tibet before the crucifixion and gone back to Palestine after having imbibed Buddhist teachings.

Repudiating both these views, Hazrat Ahmad writes that Jesus came to India not before the event of the Cross but after it and that it was not he who borrowed Buddhist teachings but the followers of Buddha who seem to have reproduced the entire picture of the Gospels in their books. According to Hazrat Ahmad, Jesus did visit Tibet during his travels in India in search of the lost tribes of Israel. He preached his messages to Buddhist monks, some of whom were converted Jews. The followers of Buddha were deeply impressed by his teachings and took him to be the manifestation of Buddha and their Promised Teacher.

Masih Hindustan mein was written in 1899 and it marks the end of an era in which for centuries Muslims and Christians had believed in the ascension of Jesus to Heaven. It being the first book ever written on the subject with such a rational approach, the book produced a most profound impact. In Muslim circles, the effect has been so marked that the Rector of the Al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a Fatwa (verdict) that according to the Holy Quran Jesus had died a natural death. Its influence on the Christian mind has also been greatly disturbing.

The present English translation was made by Qazi Abdul Hamid, formerly editor of a weekly, The Sunrise, Lahore, in which it appeared serially during 1938-39. It was first published in book form in 1944 by Nashr-o-Ishaat, Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Qadian.