Native Jews of Ernakulum claim that the original Kadavumbagam Synagogue was built in the medieval port of Cranganore. One story relates that the Moors had arrived sometime earlier and had developed a good relationship with the native ruler. The Jews became involved in the lucrative spice trade and the Moors looked at them as competition to be gotten rid of. Therefore, the Moors persecuted the Jews and eventually they left their synagogue at Cranganore and re-settled in Ernakulum in 1154. The Rajah of Cochin was sympathetic to their plight and protected them. In 1200 they built the Kadavumbagam Synagogue. Another story indicates that in 1524, the Jews in Cranganore fled persecution by the Moors and settled in Ernakulum. A third tale indicates that in the mid 16th century, Jews in the area surrounding Ernakulum fled persecution by the Portuguese, thus winding up in Ernakulum under the beneficent hand of the Rajah of Cochin.