Suzanne Marie Olsson is an American author best known for investigating the bloodline and alleged tomb of Jesus in India. She wrote ‘Jesus in Kashmir, The Lost Tomb’ , research of the RozaBal in Srinagar, Kashmir alleged to contain the remains of Jesus, a claim first made widely known in the book titled ‘Book of Balauhar and Budasaf, the Ikmaj-ud-Din’, authored by scholar Al-Shaik-Said u Sadiq, who died in 962 AD.
The theory appeared at various times in history, including the ‘Waqi’at-i-Kashmir’ (‘Story of Kashmir’, published 1747), also known as the ‘Tarikh Azami (‘History by Azam’) by Khwaja Muhammad Azam Didamari, a local Srinagar Sufi writer.
The tomb was mentioned again as the tomb of Jesus when a court case centered around control of the shrine in 1184AD/1770AD.
In 1902, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, published his research book, ‘Jesus in India’ and founded an entire religious movement with millions of members worldwide, the Ahmaddis, who support the evidence that Jesus’ final resting place is indeed the Roza Bal tomb in Kashmir.
Olsson is a graduate of New York University and lifetime member of Mensa.
Through the American and International Red Cross, she has served in dangerous active war zones providing shelter, food, blankets, and medical care in the aftermath of bombings, floods, and earthquakes while living in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. She has also lived and worked at providing humanitarian aid in New Zealand, Fiji, South Korea, Thailand, Nepal, Egypt, and Israel. She now lives in the United States.
She began examining Jesus’ connections with India without religious preconceptions, curious to understand what linked her family to popular books about the desposyni.
In 2005 she published ‘Jesus in Kashmir, The Lost Tomb,’ which includes extensive, well sourced historical research, theories, and personal experiences during times of conflict in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Her book has been warmly accepted for its original research, advancement of science, and her support of humanitarian aid and peace in the region.
The book researches the ancient claims that there is a tomb for Jesus in Kashmir, a theory supported historically by ancient documents and actual relics found within the tomb and documented in her book. In support of the theory, she also cites the “Rod of Jesse” found within the tomb that provides the lineage from Jesse (father of King David) to Jesus. This was recovered from within the sarcophagus itself. She has linked the arrival of the magi with Persian kings of the time, striking new research she has discovered and documented for the first time.
The 17th century text, ‘Tarikh-i-Kashmir’ by Khwaja Hassan Malik mentions an inscription in Kashmir noting that Yuz Asaf entered Kashmir in 78 AD. An old Hindu text, the ‘Bhavishya Mahapuroma,’ records Jesus as having lived in Kashmir years after his crucifixion. Another inscription is said to have existed at the Temple of Solomon (in Srinagar) which is claimed to have been carved by Jesus and St. Thomas when they visited and repaired the Temple. The court of King Gondopharnes in nearby Taxila also mentions the visit of Thomas to the area circa 52–54 AD. Stone pillars were removed in recent times when Hindus converted the Temple of Solomon to a Shiva Temple, renaming it Shankacharya. The ancient carvings bearing the names of Jesus and Thomas also lends validity to the claims for Yuz Asaf (Jesus/Issa) being there.
Olsson begins her book with her family’s contribution from family bibles to the des Marets genealogy published by the Demarest Family Association in 1966, tracing the Des Marets–Baldwin lineage back to the First King of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. He was a French Merovingian.
In 1996, author Laurence Gardner published ‘Bloodline of the Holy Grail.’ Olsson realized that her family was mentioned in Gardner’s ‘Grail King’ charts (King Baldwin of Jerusalem, of the Baldwin-des Marets lineage) and contacted him. Gardner acknowledged her work and theories in his book, ‘The Magdalene Legacy’ (2005 edition, Harper-Collins Publishers, pp. 358–359,360.)
She hoped for DNA from the tombs of Biblical figures to establish family bloodlines. She gave priority to sites including Roza Bal that she feared could be destroyed by Islamist movements, like some World Heritage sites in Iraq.
Other sites that she suggested for DNA study have been the Cave of Machpelah, the tomb of King David, the tomb of Joseph the Patriarch in Shechem, Rachel’s tomb, and the grave of Bibi Injeel (Urdu for “The Lady from the Bible”) located on the Old Silk Road in Kashgar, China. The China grave was recently allegedly demolished by the Chinese Government during a rebuild of the Old Quarter of Kashgar.
Olsson became aware of a family in Kashmir claiming to be desposyni, the lineage of Jesus, and went to Kashmir to investigate. She proposed their family DNA could be compared with her family and if remains were retrieved from the tombs to determine if a relationship existed. However, the patriarch of the family who claimed to possess the proof in ancient documents, Bashrat Shaheen, died before the project got underway. The documents he claimed to have cannot be located.
Olsson gained full support and permission to obtain DNA from several sites while living in Kashmir, India and in Murree, Pakistan, but did not complete her research due to a lack of funding. In accord with the local requirements, she also used her ancestry, based on the genealogies of Laurence Gardner’s book ‘Bloodline of the Holy Grail’ to request access to the graves as allowed under Islamic law for anyone trying to establish legal family relationships through DNA studies.
A local legend states that a grave at Pindi Point in Murree is that of Jesus’ mother, Mary, Local historians claim that the town, Mari, was named after her. The leading Pakistani archaeologist Ahmad HasanDani, warmly supported Olsson’s project and agreed to supervise exploration of this shrine with Olsson. He was the lead archaeologist listed on the permits. The project ran out of funds and was not completed.
AFP reported that Olsson made excavations at Murree under Dani’s supervision. Olsson states that excavations never began due to a lack of funding, although the project ideas had been warmly received and reported on in the region. As stated in her book, ‘Jesus in Kashmir, The Lost Tomb’, testing DNA from the Murree site and from Roza Bal, along with carbon-dating, will eventually determine if any bloodline connections existed.
At the time when Olsson was in India, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah of Kashmir owned the waqf (trust) that controlled the Roza Bal tomb in Srinagar. After several meetings at his office, he gave his approval for DNA research, to be led by locally respected Kashmir University affiliates.
However, a caretaker at Roza Bal alleged that Olsson attempted to desecrate the tomb by secretly exhuming its contents. Olsson’s book states that the trouble began over a dispute about money (baksheesh) after which the caretaker planted false newspaper articles about the project.
Olsson describes the added difficulty of religious sensitivities in the region in the midst of the Taliban War. The shrine managers then compelled her to abandon the project for her own personal safety, as described in her book, and in newspaper articles.
Publicity
Olsson is mentioned in reviews and documentaries, stating her views on the tomb of Jesus and his unknown years in India. She appeared with the Dalai Lama, Elaine Pagels, Corrado Balducci, the Chankacharya (a Hindu religious leader), and others.
Yashendra Prasad and the Film Board of India produced the film ‘Jesus in India’ in support of Olsson. She also appears in a documentary by Hollywood film producer Paul Davis. She was a guest speaker in Washington DC at the 2009 Kashmir Peace Conference in which she offered ideas to members of Congress to restore peace in the region.
Bibliography
• Jesus in Kashmir: The Lost Tomb. Book Surge, 2005. ISBN 978–1419611759
• Fida Hassnain Roza Bal The Tomb of Jesus. BookSurge, 2008. ISBN 978–1419697586
References
• Arshad, Sameer (8 May 2010). “Tomb Raider: Jesus buried in Srinagar?” Times of India.
• • Bindra, Prerna Singh “Heaven on earth.” India Today, 1 April 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2014,
• • Jesus In India by Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad
• • Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order, page 208, Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 978–0–521–84964–7
• •• • Mostafa Vaziri, Buddhism in Iran: An Anthropological Approach to Traces and Influences, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN 978–1–137–02293–6
• • Raja Sharma, I See Buddha in Jesus-Years in Kashmir, Lulu, 2011. ISBN 978–1–4583–4432–8
• • Suzanne Olsson, author’s website
• • “Borough History”. Borough of Demarest, NJ. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • Voorhis D. Demarest (1964). The Demarest family. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • The man who would be king, Guardian, 24 March 1999
• • Genesis of the The Grail Kings
• • Ford, Dana; Tawfeeq, Mohammed (24 July 2014). “Extremists destroy Jonah’s tomb, officials say.” CNN. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • “Tomb of Joseph the Patriarch”. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • “Marian Shrine in Murree (Pakistan)”. The Marian Library. June 2001. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • “Letter from the author of ‘Saving theSavior’. Ben Salahuddin, about Suzanne Olsson”. Newagegod.com. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • Marian Shrine at Murree
• • Lawrence Joffe (31 March 2009). “Obituary: Ahmad Hasan Dani”. The Guardian. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • AFP, “Researcher hopes to find Christ’s remains.” New Straits Times, 11 March 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
• • “History.” J&K Wakf Board for Muslim Specified Wakfs & Specified Wakf Properties. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
• • Olsson, Jesus in Kashmir, The Lost Tomb, p. 337–8.
• • “Kashmir shrine bars tourists over Jesus burial row.” Pakistan: Dawn. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
• • Shahnawaz Khan (28 May 2010). “Jesus: Dead or Alive?” South Asia Wired. Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
• • “Experts Appearing in the Film”. Jesus in India — The Movie. Retrieved 2014–08–01.
25. • “2009 Kashmir Peace Conference.” 28 (7). The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. September 2009.
External links-Additional Reading
Islam- Religious Views Regarding DNA
• http://benletter.tripod.com/
Stephen Knapp visit to the grave
Paul Davis Film -with Olsson, Dalai Lama, Elaine Pagels
Radio Interview-Olsson on destruction of ancient tombs
Book Trailer
