In the 9th century, a group of Jewish merchants called the Radhanites—based, it seems, on the Rhone River in France—established a trade network that stretched into North Africa, the Middle East, what is now Russia and Ukraine, and even as far east as India, China, and Afghanistan. Henry Abramson explains what is known about them, and how the nature of the Jewish Diaspora afforded them economic opportunities. (Video, 5 minutes.)
Read more on Henry Abramson: https://henryabramson.com/2022/12/25/the-jews-of-india-and-china-radhanites-as-the-first-kosher-cruisers-the-hebrew-hammer-the-synagogue-and-the-church-