Nicolas Notovitch

Notovitch is known for his 1894 book claiming that during the unknown years of Jesus, he left Galilee for India and studied with Buddhists and Hindus before returning to Judea.

According to Notovitch's writing, after breaking his leg in India and while recovering from it at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, he learned of the Tibetan manuscript Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men (Isa being the Arabic name of Jesus in Islam).

Notovitch's account and the supposed translation of the alleged manuscript were published in French in 1894 as La vie inconnue de Jésus-Christ (The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ).

The account claims that during his unknown years, Jesus left Galilee for India and studied with Buddhists and Hindus there before returning to Judea.

[4][13] J. Archibald Douglas, who was a professor of English and History at the Government College in Agra, visited the monastery in 1895 to interview the head lama, who again stated that Notovitch had never been there and that no such writings existed.

Other European scholars also opposed Notovitch's account and Indologist Leopold von Schroeder called the story a "big fat lie".

[4] Kashmiri writer Fida Hassnain explains Notovich's defense of his account, stating:Notovitch responded publicly by announcing his existence, along with the names of people he met on his travels in Kashmir and Ladakh.

In the French journal La Paix, he affirmed his belief in the Orthodox Church, and advised his detractors to restrict themselves to the simple issue of the existence of the Buddhist scrolls at Hemis.

[28] In his book Jesus Lived in India, German author Holger Kersten promoted the ideas of Nicolas Notovich and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

[29] In his 2002 comedic novel Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, absurdist author Christopher Moore parodies the notion of Jesus travelling to India.