nevertheless the identity of the community evolved. the first generation of jewish settlers in kolkata in the early 19th century spoke judeo-arabic at home and adhered to their arabic style of costumes in public. slowly and unevenly this began to change as their the second generation of jews born in kolkata adopted european dress and lifestyle and english as their language of communication. by 1906 it was recorded that as amongst the wealthier jews in their habits and dress were european though their vernacular remained arabic. amongst lower social classes older generations retained arabic style of dress while younger generations had adopted the european one. their identities evolved too from a judeo-arabic identity towards a judeo-british one.