174-886: Saint Thomas Christian denominations Syro-Malabar Catholic , Syro-Malankara Catholic , Latin Catholic Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church , Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Malabar Independent Syrian Church Chaldean Syrian Mar Thoma Syrian , St. Thomas Evangelical Protestant denominations Andhra Evangelical Lutheran , Assemblies Jehovah Shammah , Christian Revival Church , Church of North India , Church of South India , Garo Baptist , Indian Brethren , Indian Pentecostal Church of God , Church of God (Full Gospel) , North Bank Baptist Christian , Northern Evangelical Lutheran , Methodist Church , Presbyterian , The Pentecostal Mission , Seventh-day Adventist , United Evangelical Lutheran Christianity
348-468: A Dominican , followed in 1321–22. He reported to Rome , apparently from somewhere on the west coast of India, that he had given Christian burial to four martyred monks. Jordanus, between 1324 and 1328 (if not earlier), probably visited Kulam and selected it as for his future work. He was appointed a bishop in 1328 and nominated by Pope John XXII in his bull Venerabili Fratri Jordano to the see of Columbum or Kulam ( Quilon ) on 21 August 1329. This diocese
522-479: A reformation movement under Abraham Malpan due to influence of British Anglican missionaries in the 1800s. The Mar Thoma Church employs a reformed variant of the liturgical West Syriac Rite. The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India is an evangelical faction that split off from the Marthoma Church in 1961. CSI Syrian Christians are a minority faction of Malankara Syrian Christians , who joined
696-640: A basis of legal equality before the state". The reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707) witnessed one of the strongest campaigns of religious violence in the Mughal Empire's history. Aurangzeb is a controversial figure in modern India, often remembered as a "vile oppressor of Hindus". During his rule Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire, conquering much of southern India through long bloody campaigns against non-Muslims. He forcibly converted Hindus to Islam and destroyed Hindu temples. He also re-introduced
870-518: A book about his travels titled The Travels of Joseph the Indian which was widely disseminated across Europe. Persecution of Hindus Hindus have experienced both historical and ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence, in the form of forced conversions , documented massacres , genocides, demolition and desecration of temples , as well as the destruction of educational centres. Parts of India were subject to Muslim rule from
1044-478: A dead letter." Some temples were destroyed entirely; in other cases mosques were built on their foundations, sometimes using the same stones. Idols in temples were smashed, and the city of Mathura was temporarily renamed as Islamabad in local official documents. The persecution during the Islamic period targeted non-Hindus as well. In some cases, such as towards the end of Mughal era, the violence and persecution
1218-587: A few instances, after the war, the Sultans let the Hindus repair and reconstruct their temples. Such instances, states Jackson, has been cited by the Indian scholar P.B. Desai as evidence of "striking degree of tolerance" by Muslim Sultans. But, this happened in frontier areas after they had recently been conquered and placed in direct Muslim rule, where the Sultan's authority was "highly precarious". Within regions that
1392-602: A flourishing trade with Central Asia, the Mediterranean , and the Middle East, both along mountain passes in the north and sea routes down the western and southern coast, well before the advent of the Christian era, and it is likely that Christian merchants from these lands settled in Indian cities along these trading routes. The colony of Syrian Christians established at Muziris (present-day Kodungallur ) may be
1566-433: A great number of infidels". Madurai region has several Islamic shrines with tombs built during this period, such as one for Ala al-Din and Shams al-Din. In this shrine, the inner columns are irregular and vary in form showing evidence of "reused material". The "destruction of temples and the re-use of their materials", states Shokoohy, was a "practice of the early Sultanates of North India, and we may assume that this tradition
1740-555: A historian despite being trained as a sociologist in service of saffronisation. Her Medieval India was criticized as being a monoscopic clash-of-civilizations narrative between the forces of good (Hindus) and evil (Muslims), and as having portrayed the exactions of the Sultanate rulers and the Mughals as anti-Hindu acts, with all of their contributions to the social, cultural and political ignored. Journalist François Gautier , who
1914-651: A list of restrictions. Early Sultans of the Delhi Sultanate exempted the Brahmins from having to pay Jizya, thus dividing the Hindus and placing the discriminatory tax burden entirely on the non-Brahmin strata of the Hindu society. Firuz Shah was the first to impose the Jizya on Brahmins, and wrote in his autobiography that countless Hindus converted to Islam when he issued the edict that conversion would release them of
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#17327766410482088-742: A local dynastic archdeacon . In the 14th century, the Church of the East declined due to persecution from Tamerlane . The 16th century witnessed the colonial overtures of the Portuguese Padroado aiming to bring St Thomas Christians into the Latin Catholic Church , administered by the Portuguese Padroado Archdiocese of Goa , leading to the first of several rifts in the community. The efforts of
2262-510: A loss to Hindu temple building patronage and an uprooting of Hindu sacred geography. The second half of the 13th-century witnessed raids on Hindu kingdoms by Muslim forces controlling the northwest and north India, states Peter Jackson. These did not lead to sustained persecution of the Hindus in the targeted kingdoms, because the Muslim armies merely looted the Hindus, took cattle and slaves, then left. The raids caused suffering, yet also rallied
2436-565: A millennium, faced considerable persecution from Portuguese evangelists in the 16th century. This later wave of evangelism spread Catholicism more widely along the Konkan coast. The South Indian coastal areas around Kanyakumari were known for pearl fisheries ruled by the Paravars . From 1527, the Paravars, being threatened by Arab fleets offshore who were supported Zamorin of Calicut, sought
2610-640: A mixture of Christian religious belief and Hindu caste culture, remains a defining part of the Paravar life today. In the 16th century, the proselytisation of Asia was linked to the Portuguese colonial policy . Missionaries of the different orders including Franciscans , Dominicans , Jesuits , Augustinians arrived with the Portuguese colonisers. The history of Portuguese missionaries in India starts with
2784-537: A mixture of culture." This is a plausible reference to the earliest Indian churches which are known to have used the Syriac New Testament ; Syriac being a dialect of the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus and his disciples. Pantaenus ' evidence thus indicates that early Christians from the Middle East had already evangelised parts of India by the late 2nd century AD. Another church tradition concerning
2958-843: A number of such documents in the possession of the Syrian churches of Kerala which include the Thazhekad Sasanam , the Quilon Plates (or the Tharisappalli Chepped s ), Mampally Sasanam and Iraviikothan Chepped , etc. Some of these plates have been dated to around 774 AD. Scholars have studied the inscriptions and produced varying translations. The language used is Old Malayalam in Vattezhuthu script intermingled with some Grantha , Pahlavi , Kufic and Hebrew scripts. The ruler of Venad ( Travancore ) granted
3132-511: A part of a holy war ( jihad ), states Peter Jackson . However, states Wink, this killing was not systematic and "was normally confined to the fighting men" though the wars and episodes of routine violence did precipitate a great famine with civilian casualties in tens of thousands. The pervasive and most striking feature of the Arabic literature on Sind and Hind of the 11th to 13th-century is its constant obsession with idol worship and polytheism in
3306-485: A period of two hundred and fifty years, starting in the year 1560. The inquisition was proposed by St. Francis Xavier, to ensure that the new converts were aware about the aspects of Christianity. According to Prakashchandra Pandurang Shirodkar , Hindus faced some persecution along with some fortitude under the Portuguese in Goa. Vicar general Miguel Vaz had written to the king of Portugal in 1543 from Goa requesting that
3480-611: A quest to stop Mughal persecution of Hindus; they were arrested and commanded to convert to Islam on pain of torture and death", states Gier, "they all refused, and in November 1675, Mati Das was sawed in half, Dayal Das was boiled alive, Sati Das was burned alive, and Teg Bahadar was beheaded." According to Deepa Ollapally, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was clearly discriminatory towards Hindu and all other non-Muslims, displaying an "unprecedented level of religious bigotry", but perhaps this
3654-595: A religious group, they refer to themselves as Mar Thoma Khristianis or in English as Saint Thomas Christians , based on their religious tradition of Syriac Christianity . However, from a religious angle, the Saint Thomas Christians of today belong to various denominations as a result of a series of developments including Portuguese persecution (a landmark split leading to a public Oath known as Coonen Cross Oath ), reformative activities during
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#17327766410483828-522: A roughly similar stance and lenses the work as a work of "political theory". Manan Ahmed Asif criticizes the very premises of recovering portions of the Chach Nama as a historical chronicle of Muslim conquest; he argues that the site and times of production dictated its entire content, and that it must be read in entirety, as an original work in the genre of "political theory" where history is creatively extrapolated with romantic fiction to gain favor in
4002-614: A separate bull, that reads Venerabili Fratri Jordano , he was appointed the first Bishop of Quilon on 21 August 1329 AD. In 1321, Jordanus Catalani also arrived in Bhatkal , a place near Mangalore, and established a missionary station there converting many locals. He also evangelised in Thana district (Trombay) near Bombay ; the descendants of these converts would later become part of the Bombay East Indian community. Thomas
4176-541: A separate identity They had regular visitors from their home land. Some of their priests and bishops visited them. But these visiting bishops had no authority over Saint Thomas Christians. The Church is mentioned by Cosmas Indicopleustes (about 535). He notes that, "There are Christians and believers in Taprobane ( Sri Lanka ), in Malabar where pepper grows there is a Christian church. At a place known as Kalyan, there
4350-437: A serious crisis as invading Muslim armies sacked temples and defaced sacred image". The 11th and 12th-century additionally witnessed the rise of irregulars and then Banjara-like groups who adopted Islam. These were "marauding bands" who caused much suffering and destruction in the countryside as they searched for food and supplies during the violent campaign of Ghurids against Hindustan. The religious icons of Hindus were one of
4524-631: A strict Muslim to an apostate, from a free-thinker to a crypto-Hindu, from a Zoroastrian to a proto-Christian, from an atheist to a radical innovator". As a youth, states Eaton, Akbar studied Islam under both Shia and Sunni tutors, but as an adult he looked back with regret on his early life, confessing that in those days he had "persecuted men into conformity with my faith and deemed it Islam". In his later years he felt "an internal bitterness, acknowledging that his soul had been 'seized with exceeding sorrow ' " for what he had done before launching his campaign to "treat all Mughal subjects, regardless of religion, on
4698-547: A threat to the solidarity of Christian belief. According to Maria Aurora Couto , Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier requested the installation of the Goa Inquisition in a letter dated 16 May 1546 to King John III of Portugal , but the tribunal commenced only in 1560. The Inquisition office persecuted Hindus , Muslims , Bene Israels , New Christians and the Judaizing Nasranis . Crypto-Hindus were
4872-404: A willing hand the schools and temples of the infidels, and that they were strictly enjoined to put an entire stop to the teaching and practice of idolatrous forms of worship". According to Eaton these orders appear to have been directed not toward Hindu temples in general, but towards a more narrowly defined "deviant group". The number of Hindu temples destroyed or desecrated under Aurangzeb's rule
5046-556: A year during which Madurai and other Tamil region cities were overrun by the Muslims, the Hindu temples were demolished and the towns looted. A detailed record about the campaign by Amir Khusrau the destruction and plunder. A second destructive campaign was launched by Mubarak Shah, Ala al-Din Khalji's successor. While the looted wealth was sent to Delhi, a Muslim governor was appointed for the region. The governor later rebelled, founded
5220-600: Is India's third-largest religion with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of St Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle , who sailed to the Malabar region (present-day Kerala ) in 52 AD. The Acts of Thomas say that the early Christians were Malabar Jews who had settled in what
5394-425: Is "not beyond the bounds of possibility" that in some instances this happened. But generally, the texts and even the memoirs written by the some Sultans themselves describe how they "set about destroying new temples and replacing them with mosques", and in one case depopulated a town of Hindus and resettled Muslims there. Jackson clarifies that the evidence suggests that the destroyed temples were "new temples", and not
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5568-415: Is a bishop sent from Persia.". St. Gregory of Tours , before 590, reports that Theodore, a pilgrim who had gone to Gaul, told him that in that part of India where the corpus (bones) of St. Thomas had first rested, there stood a monastery and a church of striking dimensions and elaborately adorned, adding: "After a long interval of time these remains had been removed thence to the city of Edessa." As per
5742-415: Is an advocate of Hindutva, has framed the Muslim violence against Hindu expressions of faith as a "Hindu Holocaust". During the Portuguese rule of Goa , several Hindus were coerced into accepting Christianity by the passage of laws that made it difficult for them to practice their faith (such as the ban on the practice of Sati ) or harassed them under pretences or petty complaints. Other Hindus, especially
5916-425: Is available suggests that the victorious Hindu kings undertook significant effort to house the expropriated images in new, grand temples within their kingdom. According to Wink, Hindu destruction of Buddhist and Jain places of worship took place before the 10th-century, but the evidence for such 'Hindu iconoclasm' is incidental, too vague, and unconvincing. According to Wink, mutilation and defilement of sacred icons
6090-594: Is believed that by the time of the establishment of the Sassanid Empire around 226 AD, there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, Afghanistan and Baluchistan , with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity. The existence of Early Christians in India is further substantiated by the records acknowledging the work of Saint Severus of Vienne , a 5th-century missionary of Indian origin who evangelised in Vienne , France. India had
6264-459: Is known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of Church of Rome . Those who were not able to touch the cross tied ropes on the cross, held the rope in their hands and made
6438-429: Is not possible, suggested another Muslim official, then the Hindus should at least be insulted, disgraced and dishonored. These views were not exceptions, rather consistent with Islamic thinking of that era and are "commonly encountered in polemical writing against the infidel in different parts of the Islamic world at different times", states Jackson. This antagonism towards Hindus may have other general reasons, such as
6612-499: Is present-day Kerala before the birth of Christ . St Thomas, an Aramaic -speaking Jew from Galilee (present-day Israel) and one of the disciples of Jesus Christ , came to India in search of Indian Jews . After years of evangelism , Thomas was martyred and then buried at St Thomas Mount , in the Mylapore neighbourhood of Madras (Chennai) . There is the scholarly consensus that a Christian community had firmly established in
6786-419: Is rarely evidenced in Hindu texts, in contrast to Muslim texts on the Islamic iconoclasm in India. Hindu temples were centres of political resistance which had to be suppressed. Bukka Raya I , one of the founders of Vijaynagar Empire , had taken steps to rehabilitate Hindu religious and cultural institutions which suffered a serious setback under Muslim rule. Buddhists centres of learning decayed, leading to
6960-465: Is the small cross at Kottayam dated 7th century. In 829 CE, the Udayamperoor (Diamper) church was built. A priest (or bishop) from Persia Abo came to Kadamattom. With the help of a widow and her son, he built a small hut and lived there. He called the boy Poulose. Abo taught him Syriac and later ordained him as a deacon. After this deacon Poulose disappeared for twelve years. It is said that he
7134-418: Is unclear and subject to scholarly debate. Some suggest he may have built more temples than he destroyed. According to Ikram, "Aurangzeb tried to enforce strict Islamic law by ordering the destruction of newly built Hindu temples. Later, the procedure was adopted of closing down rather than destroying the newly built temples in Hindu localities. It is also true that very often the orders of destruction remained
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7308-628: Is widely disputed due to lack of credible records. According to one of the legends in the Acts of Thomas , Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but Jesus over-ruled him by ordering circumstances so compelling that he was forced to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes, to his native place in northwest India, where he found himself in the service of the Indo-Parthian king, Gondophares . The apostle's ministry reputedly resulted in many conversions throughout this northern kingdom, including
7482-403: The jizya , a tax on non-Muslims, which had been suspended for the previous 100 years by his great-grandfather Akbar . Aurangzeb ordered the desecration and destruction of temples when conquering new lands and putting down rebellions, punishing political leaders by destroying the temples that symbolized their power. In 1669 he issued orders to all his governors of provinces to "destroy with
7656-781: The Anglican Church in 1836, and eventually became part of the Church of South India in 1947, after Indian independence . The C.S.I. is in full communion with the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. By the 20th century, various Syrian Christians joined Pentecostal and other evangelical denominations like the Kerala Brethren , Indian Pentecostal Church of God , Assemblies of God , among others. They are known as Pentecostal Saint Thomas Christians . Their traditions go back to first-century Christian thought, and
7830-495: The Bombay East Indian Christians who are predominantly Roman Catholics and inhabitants of the north Konkan region. In Portuguese Bombay and Bassein missionary work progressed on a large scale and with great success along the western coasts, chiefly at Chaul, Bombay, Salsette, Bassein, Damao, and Diu; and on the eastern coasts at San Thome of Mylapore, and as far as Bengal etc. In the southern districts
8004-555: The Church of the East , which was also established by Thomas the apostle according to early Christian writings. The Primate or Metropolitan of Persia consecrated bishops for the Indian Church, which brought it indirectly under the control of Seleucia . The Church of the East traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , said to be founded by Thomas the Apostle . Other founding figures are Mari and Addai as evidenced in
8178-772: The Doctrine of Addai and the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari . This is the original Christian church in what was once Parthia : eastern Iraq and Iran. The See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon developing within the Persian Empire, at the east of the Christian world, rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians. The First Council of Nicaea , held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey ), convoked by
8352-469: The Goan Inquisition , with the oppression of Hindus and the destruction of mandirs . Christian missionaries introduced the western educational system to the Indian subcontinent, to preach Christianity and campaign for Hindu social reforms . However, the convents & charities of missionaries are being targeted these days, specifically by banning them from getting foreign aid through
8526-701: The Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated Francis Ros, S. J. as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Angamalé for the Saint Thomas Christians; thus created another suffragan see to Archdiocese of Goa and Latinisation of St Thomas Christians started. The Saint Thomas Christians were pressured to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and most of them eventually accepted
8700-809: The Malabar Coast in the late 15th century, came Portuguese missionaries who made contact with the St Thomas Christians in Kerala. These Christians were following Eastern Christian practices and under the jurisdiction of Church of the East . The missionaries sought to introduce the Latin liturgical rites among them and unify East Syriac Christians in India under the Holy See . This group, which existed in Kerala relatively peacefully for more than
8874-737: The Malabar region by 600 AD at the latest; the community was composed of Nestorians belonging to the Church of the East in India , who used the East Syriac Rite of worship. Following the discovery of the sea route to India , by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in the 15th century AD, Western Christianity was established in the European colonies of Goa , Tranquebar , Bombay , Madras and Pondicherry ; as in Catholicism (of Latin and Syriac Rites ) and various forms of Protestantism . Conversions also took place through
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#17327766410489048-534: The Mappila (Moplah) Muslims of Malabar , South India in the 19th century and the early 20th century (c.1836–1921) against native Hindus and the state. The Malabar Rebellion of 1921 is often considered as the culmination of Mappila riots. Mappilas committed several atrocities against the Hindus during the outbreak. Annie Besant reported that Muslim Mappilas forcibly converted many Hindus and killed or drove away all Hindus who would not apostatise, totalling
9222-778: The Modi administration . Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of India's Christians are found in South India , Goa & Bombay. The oldest known Christian group in North India are the Bettiah Christians of Bihar, formed in the early 1700s. The Church of North India and the Church of South India are a United Protestant denomination; which resulted from the evangelism and ecumenism of Anglicans , Calvinists , Methodists and other Protestant groups who flourished in colonial India . Consequently, these churches are part of
9396-513: The Nasrani people by referring to them by the name Essanis . The embassy of King Alfred in 883 AD sent presents to St. Thomas Christians. Marco Polo who visited in 1292, mentioned that there were Christians in the Malabar coast. The French or Catalan Dominican missionary Jordanus Catalani was the first Catholic European missionary to arrive in India. He landed in Surat in around 1320. By
9570-762: The Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. Due to the Christianisation of Goa , over 90% of the Goans in the Velhas Conquistas became Catholic by the 1700s. The Portuguese government supported the missionaries. At the same time many New Christians from Portugal emigrated to India as a result of the Portuguese Inquisition . Many of them were suspected of being Crypto-Jews and Crypto-Muslims , converted Jews and Muslims who were secretly practising their old religions. Both were considered
9744-425: The Raja of Cochin . He allowed four priests to do apostolic work among the early Christian communities scattered in and around Cochin. Thus Portuguese missionaries established Portuguese Mission in 1500. Dom Francisco de Almeida , the first Portuguese Viceroy got permission from the Kochi Raja to build two churches – namely Santa Cruz Basilica (1505) and St. Francis Church (1506) using stones and mortar, which
9918-408: The Sackings of Goa and Bombay-Bassein and to escape the persecution of the Goan Inquisition . The Franciscans spearheaded the evangelisation of the "Province of the North" ( Província do Norte ) headquartered at Fort San Sebastian of Bassein (close to present day Mumbai ), but the fort's officials were subordinate to the viceroy in the capital of Velha Goa . From 1534 to 1552, a priest by
10092-400: The Thiruvithamcode Arappally in Kanyakumari district. The Apostle also preached in other parts of India . The visit of the Apostle Thomas to these places and to Mylapore on the East coast of India can be read in the Ramban Songs of Thomas Ramban , set into 'moc', 1500. He was martyred in 72 at Little Mount, a little distant from St. Thomas Mount , and was buried at San Thome , near
10266-428: The VHP & the BJP . Various groups of Hindu militants have also caused the demolitions of churches in certain states and territories of India , except in Kerala (the Malabar region). Eusebius of Caesarea 's Ecclesiastical History (5:10) states that Bartholomew, a disciple of Jesus, went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew . One tradition holds that he preached
10440-453: The fall of Constantinople to the Sunni Islamic Ottoman Caliphate marked the end of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) , and severed European trade links by land with Asia. This massive blow to Christendom spurred the Age of Discovery as Europeans started seeking alternative routes east by sea along with the goal of forging alliances with pre-existing Christian nations. Along with Portuguese long-distance maritime travelers that reached
10614-414: The partition of India , as members of various communities moved to what they hoped was the relative safety of an area where they would be a religious majority. Upto a million Hindus died during the partition. The 1947 Mirpur massacre and the 1947–1948 Rajouri massacre of Hindus and Sikhs in the Jammu division of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir , began in November 1947, some months after
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#173277664104810788-417: The social status system according to their professions with special privileges for trade granted by the benevolent kings who ruled the area. After the 8th century when Hindu Kingdoms came to sway, Christians were expected to strictly abide by stringent rules pertaining to caste and religion. This became a matter of survival. This is why St. Thomas Christians had such a strong sense of caste and tradition, being
10962-410: The "various expressions of religious persecution in India prior to the coming of the Muslims and particularly between the Śaiva and the Buddhist and Jaina sects". She questions what persecution means, and if it means religious conversions, she doubts that conversions can be interpreted as forms of persecution. According to Thapar, it is quite correct to mention that Muslim iconoclasts destroyed temples and
11136-605: The 11th-century from Hindustan. The Delhi Sultanate started in the 13th-century and continued through the early 16th-century, when the Mughal conquest replaced it. Jackson states that the Delhi Sultans of this period saw themselves first and foremost as Islamic rulers for the "people of Islam". They were emphatically not "sultan of the Hindus". The Muslim texts of the Delhi Sultanate era treated Hindus with disdain, remarking "Hindus are never interesting in themselves, but only as converts, as capitation tax payers, or as corpses". These medieval Muslim rulers were "protecting and advancing
11310-410: The 4th century. He was granted copper-plates by the Chera Dynasty , which gave his party and all native Christians socio-economic privileges. The community of Christians that came along with Knai Thoma is called Knanaya Christians. The Saint Thomas Christian community in Kerala was further strengthened by the arrival of various waves of Syriac Christians from the Middle East. This also resulted in
11484-401: The Apostle is credited by tradition for founding the Indian Church in 52 AD. This church developed contacts with the Church of the East religious authorities based in Edessa, Mesopotamia at the time. Historically, this community was organised as the Province of India of the Church of the East by Patriarch of Babylon Timothy I (780–823 AD) in the eighth century, served by bishops and
11658-488: The Apostles foreigners? Granting that Judea was the country of Peter, what had Saul to do with the Gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?." Ambrose (340–397) writes "When the Lord Jesus said to the Apostles, go and teach all nations, even the kingdoms that had been shut off by the barbaric mountains lay open to them as India to Thomas, as Persia to Mathew." There are other passages in ancient liturgies and martyrologies which refer to
11832-497: The Arab term) as well as " People of the Book " and are required to pay jizya for religious freedom. The historicity of the Chach Nama has been questioned. Francesco Gabrieli considers the Chach Nama to be a "historical romance" which was "a late and doubtful source" for information about bin-Qasim and must be carefully sieved to locate the facts; on such a reading, he admired bin-Qasim's proclamations concerning "principle of tolerance and religious freedom". Peter Hardy takes
12006-434: The Book" and the Sultan should "at least refrain from treating Hindus with honour or permitting idolatry in the capital". Failure to slaughter the Hindus has led to polytheism taking root. Another wazir while theoretically agreeing to these view, stated that this would not be practical given the small population of Muslims and such a policy should be deferred until Muslims were in a stronger position. If eradication of Hindus
12180-472: The Bull Quequem Reputamus, raised Funchal as an archdiocese and Goa as its suffragan , deputing the whole of India under the diocese of Goa . This created an episcopal see – suffragan to Funchal , with a jurisdiction extending potentially over all past and future conquests from the Cape of Good Hope to China. The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived with Afonso de Albuquerque during
12354-551: The Catholic Church and later became autonomous eastern catholic church named Syro Malabar Church (suriyani malabar sabha). Following the synod, the Indian Church was governed by Portuguese prelates. They were generally unwilling to respect the integrity of the local church. This resulted in disaffection which led to a general revolt in 1653 known as the " Coonan Cross Oath ". Under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas , Nazranis around Cochin gathered at Mattancherry church on Friday, 24 January 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3) and made an oath that
12528-781: The Catholic faith, but a part of them switched to West Syriac Rite . Resentment of these measures led to some part of the community to join the Archdeacon , Thomas , in swearing never to submit to the Portuguese Jesuits in the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653. Those who accepted the West Syriac theological and liturgical tradition of Gregorios became known as Jacobites . The others who continued with East Syriac theological and liturgical tradition stayed faithful to
12702-480: The Church. These events led to the gradual and lasting schism among the Saint Thomas Christians of India, leading to the formation of Puthenkūr (New allegiance) and Pazhayakūr (Old allegiance) factions. The Pazhayakūr comprise the present day Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and Chaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the East Syriac Rite. The Puthenkūr , who entered into a new communion with
12876-657: The Danish settlement of Tranquebar. They translated the Bible into the local Tamil language , and afterwards into Hindustani . They made little progress at first, but gradually the mission spread to Madras , Cuddalore and Tanjore . The Bishop of Tranquebar is still the official title of the bishop of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tamil Nadu which was founded in 1919 as a result of
13050-667: The East Bishop during the 1870s. The Assyrian Church is one of the descendant churches of the Church of the East. Thus it forms the continuation of the traditional church of Saint Thomas Christians in India. Oriental Protestant denominations include the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India . The Marthoma Syrian Church were a part of the Malankara Church that went through
13224-900: The East Syriac liturgy of the historic Church of the East. The Oriental Orthodox faction includes the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , resulting from a split within the Malankara Church in 1912 over whether the church should be autocephalous or rather under the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch . As such, the Malankara Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Church independent of
13398-499: The East had declined drastically, and the 16th century witnessed the Portuguese colonial overtures to bring St Thomas Christians into the Latin Catholic Church , administered by their Padroado , leading to the first of several rifts ( schisms ) in the community. The attempts of the Portuguese culminated in the Synod of Diamper in 1599 and was resisted by local Christians through the Coonan Cross Oath protest in 1653. This led to
13572-652: The Elder and the author of Periplus of the Erythraean sea, Muziris in Kerala could be reached in 40 days' time from the Egyptian coast purely depending on the southwest monsoon winds. The Sangam works Puranaooru and Akananooru have many lines which speak of the Roman vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports of the great Chera kings in search of pepper and other spices, which had enormous demand in
13746-955: The German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and Church of Sweden Mission, the successors of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau . The seat of the bishop, the cathedral and its church house, the Tranquebar House are in Tiruchirappalli . German missionary Johann Phillip Fabricius , who arrived in South India in 1740, published the first Tamil to English dictionary and refined the Tamil Bible translation. Saint Thomas Christian denominations The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala , India , which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to
13920-788: The Gospel in India, prior to his travels to Armenia , while others hold that Bartholomew travelled as a missionary in Ethiopia , Mesopotamia , Parthia , and Lycaonia . According to the tradition of Saint Thomas Christians , Thomas the Apostle landed in Kodungallur in the present day Indian state of Kerala in AD 52, and established the Ezharappallikal in or near ancient Jewish colonies by preaching among local Jews and Brahmins . After years of evangelization in South India, Saint Thomas
14094-467: The Hindus as infidels. According to Jackson, these records need to be interpreted and relied upon with care given their tendencies to exaggerate. This was not a period of "uncompromising iconoclasm", states Jackson. Cities that quickly surrendered to the Islamic army, says Jackson, "got a better deal" for their religious monuments. According to Richard Davis, targeting sacred temples was not unique to Muslim rulers in India. Some Hindu kings too, prior to
14268-824: The Holy See in Rome. This includes the aforementioned Syro-Malabar Church as well as the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church , the latter arising from an Oriental Orthodox faction that entered into communion with Rome in 1930 under Bishop Geevarghese Ivanios (d. 1953). As such the Malankara Catholic Church employs the West Syriac liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, while the Syro-Malabar Church employs
14442-667: The Indian subcontinent. There is piecemeal evidence of iconoclasm that began in Sind region, but the wholesale and more systematic onslaught against major Hindu religious monuments is evidenced in North India. Richard Eaton , Sunil Kumar, Romila Thapar , Richard H. Davis and others argue that these iconoclastic actions were not primarily driven by religious zeal, but were politically strategic acts of destruction in that temples in medieval India were sites associated with sovereignty, royal power, money, and authority. According to Wink,
14616-480: The Inquisition be established in Goa as well. Three years later, St. Francis Xavier made a similar request in view of the Muslims in the region and some New Christians abandoning their faith. On hearing of the excesses of the Inquisition in Goa, Lourenco Pires, Portuguese ambassador at Rome, expressed his displeasure to the crown while warning that this zeal for religion was actually becoming a disservice to God and
14790-413: The Islamic believers and weakened a Hindu kingdom by weakening its prince's standing among his Hindu subjects. These raids were into Rajput kingdoms, those in central India, Lakhnawti–Awadh, and in eastern regions such as Bihar. Numerous Islamic texts of that era, states Wink, also describe "forced transfer of enslaved Indian captives ( ghilman-o-jawari, burda, sabaya ), specially women and children" over
14964-705: The Islamic faith", with two Muslim texts of this period remarking that the Sultan had a duty "eradicate infidelity and humiliate his Hindu subjects". According to Jackson, some of the conquered Hindu subjects of the Delhi Sultanate served these Sultans were "doubtless usually slaves". These Hindus built the mosques of this era as well as developed the Indo-Islamic architecture, some served the court in roles such as treasurers, clerks, minting of new coins, and others. These Hindus were not persecuted, instead some were rewarded with immunities and tax exemptions. Additionally, captured Hindu slaves were added as infantry troops in
15138-673: The Jesuit mission in Madura was the most famous. It extended to the Krishna river, with a number of outlying stations beyond it. The mission of Cochin, on the Malabar Coast, was also one of the most fruitful. Several missions were also established in the interior northwards that of Agra and Lahore in 1570 and that of Tibet in 1624. Still, even with these efforts, and many vast tracts of the interior northwards were practically unreached. With
15312-641: The Jews at "Maliyankara" on the sea coast. Jews were living in Kerala from the time of Solomon. Later, large numbers of them arrived in 586 BC and 72 AD. Malabari Jewish tradition hold these facts. Its traditionally believed that during his stay in Kerala , the Apostle baptized the Jews and some of the wise men who adored the Infant Jesus . The Apostle established seven "and a half" churches in Malabar at Kodungalloor ( Muziris ), Paravur , Palayoor , Kokkamangalam , Niranam , Nilackal , Kollam , and
15486-530: The Muslim destruction of religious architecture was a means to eradicate the vestiges of Hindu religious symbols. Muslim texts of this period justify it based on their contempt and abhorrence for idols and idolators in Islamic thought. Peter Jackson notes that the Muslim historians of the medieval era viewed the creation and expansion of Islamic Sultanates in Hindustan as "holy war" and a religious conquest, characterizing Muslim forces as "the army of Islam" and
15660-485: The Muslim or Hindu kings, nor were attempts made to annihilate a specific religion. According to Romila Thapar , with the onset of Muslim rule all Indians, higher and lower caste were lumped together in the category of "Hindus". While higher-caste Indians regarded lower castes to be impure, they were now regarded as belonging to a similar category, which partly explains the belief among many higher caste Indians ".. belief among many upper caste Hindus today that Hinduism in
15834-723: The Nasranis. The First Council of Nicaea , held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey ), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed . Many historians have written that ‘’Mar John, the Bishop of Great India’’ attended
16008-773: The Patriarch of Antioch, whereas the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church is an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church and is headed by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. The Iraq -based Assyrian Church of the East 's archdiocese includes the Chaldean Syrian Church based in Thrissur . They were a minority faction within the Syro-Malabar Church, which split off and joined with the Church of
16182-672: The Persian Church suffered severe persecutions. The persecuted Christians and even bishops, at least on two occasions, sought an asylum in Malabar. The Rock crosses of Kerala found at St.Thomas Mount and throughout Malabar coast has inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac . It is dated from before the 8th Century. In 825, the arrival of two bishops are documented, Sapor and Prodh. Le Quien says that "these bishops were Chaldaeans and had come to Quilon soon after its foundation. They were men illustrious for their sanctity, and their memory
16356-427: The Portuguese clergy who reached Kappad near Kozhikode on 20 May 1498, along with the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama who was seeking to form anti-Islamic alliances with pre-existing Christian nations. The lucrative spice trade was further temptation for the Portuguese crown. When he and the Portuguese missionaries arrived, they found Christians in the country in Malabar known as St. Thomas Christians who belonged to
16530-477: The Portuguese culminated in the Synod of Diamper , formally subjugating them and their whole Archdiocese of Angamaly as a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of Goa administered by Roman Catholic Padroado missionaries. The death of the last metropolitan bishop – Archbishop Abraham of the Saint Thomas Christians , an ancient body formerly part of the Church of the East in 1597 gave
16704-611: The Portuguese, organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church, entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch , and they inherited the West Syriac Rite from the Syriac Orthodox Church, which employs the Liturgy of Saint James , an ancient rite of the Church of Antioch , replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. The Eastern Catholic faction is in full communion with
16878-529: The Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed . It is documented that John, the Bishop of Great India attended the council. The prelate signs himself as "John the Persian presiding over the Churches in the whole of Persia and Great India." Some centuries following,
17052-500: The Saint Thomas Christians seventy-two rights and privileges which were usually granted only to high dignitaries. These rights included exemption from import duties, sales tax and the slave tax. A copper plate grant dated 1225 AD further enhanced the rights and privileges of Nasranis . Other references to Saint Thomas Christians include the South Indian epic of Manimekalai , written between 2nd and 3rd century AD, which mentions
17226-509: The Sharia, as well as entitled to protection and limited religious freedoms in a Muslim state. Muslim texts of that period are replete with iconoclast rhetoric, descriptions of mass-slaughter of Hindus, and repeats ad nauseam about "the army of Islam obtain[ing] abundant wealth and unlimited riches" from the conquered sites. The Hindus are described in these Islamic texts as infidels, Hindustan as war zone ("Dar-al-Harb"), and attacks on Hindus as
17400-573: The Sultanate facing a military threat from outside. The army of Ala al-Din Khalji from Delhi Sultanate began their first campaign in 1310 against the Hindu kingdom in Madurai region – called Ma'bar by court historians, under the pretext of helping Sundar Pandya. According to Mehrdad Shokoohy – a scholar of Islamic studies and architectural history in Central and South Asia – this campaign lasted for
17574-515: The Sultanate's army for their campaign against other Hindu kingdoms. Some Sultans adopted Indian customs such as ceremonial riding of elephants by kings, thus facilitating the public perception of the new monarch. This suggest that the Sultans cultivated some Hindus to serve their aims, rather than indiscriminately persecute every Hindu. In general, Hindu subjects of Delhi Sultanate were generally accepted as people with dhimmi status, not equal to Muslims, but "protected", subject to Jizya tax and with
17748-463: The Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, an Oriental Orthodox church, inherited from them the West Syriac Rite, replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. Puthenkūr is the body from which present day Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , CSI Syrian Christians , Mar Thoma Syrian Church , St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India , Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and Malabar Independent Syrian Church originate. In 1453,
17922-547: The Thomas Christians back. Carmelites could convince the majority that the local church needs bishops and the consecration of the Archdeacon Thomas was invalid because the consecration was conducted not by a bishop, but by priests. Many leaders of the community rejoined the missionaries. But in 1663, Dutch conquered Cochin supplanting the Portuguese on the Malabar coast. Portuguese Missionaries had to leave
18096-561: The United Provinces. These attacks began between 25 and 28 October 1946 in the Chhapra and Saran districts of Bihar and then spread to Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur and a large number of scattered villages of Bihar. The official estimates of the dead at that time were 445. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious groups, experienced severe dislocation and violence during the massive population exchanges associated with
18270-523: The West. The lure of spices attracted traders from the Middle East and Europe to the many trading ports of Keralaputera (Kerala) — Tyndis, ( Ponnani ), Muziris , near Kodungallur, Niranam, Bacare, Belitha, and Comari ( Kanyakumari ) long before the time of Christ. Thomas the Apostle in one of these ships, arrived at Muziris in 52, from E’zion-ge’ber on the Red Sea. He started his gospel mission among
18444-512: The birth of Jesus holds that Gaspar , one of the three Biblical Magi , travelled from India to find the infant Jesus along with Melchior of Persia and Balthazar of Arabia . An early 3rd-century AD Syriac work known as the Acts of Thomas connects the tradition of the Apostle Thomas' Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. The year of his arrival
18618-406: The broke images of Hindus but it should also be mentioned that Muslim rulers made donations to Hindu sects during their rule. As part of the scholarly debate on Indian historiography, many have criticized Marxian historians for using negationism to whitewash some of the atrocities committed by Muslim rulers. B. R. Ambedkar criticized Marxists, as he deemed them to be unaware or ignorant of
18792-457: The characteristic features of the society"—he reappointed every deposed Brahmin (of Brahmanabad) to their jobs, exempted them from Jizya, allowed holding of traditional festivals, and granted protection to temples but enforced the caste-hierarchy with enhanced vigor, drawing from Sharia, as evident from his treatment of Jats. Overall, Friedmann concludes that the conquest, as described in the Chach Nama , did "not result in any significant changes in
18966-480: The council. Church life bore characteristics of a church which had its origin and growth outside the Graeco-Roman world . There was no centralized administrative structure on a monarchical pattern. The territorial administrative system which developed after the diocesan pattern within the eastern and western Roman empires did not exist in the Indian Church. "They have the uncorrupted Testament Which they believe
19140-512: The country and they consecrated Palliveettil Chandy kathanaar as the bishop for the Catholic Thomas Christians on 1 February 1663. Meanwhile, Thoma I appealed to several eastern Christian churches for regularizing his consecration. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch responded and sent metropolitan Gregorios Abdul Jaleel of Jerusalem to India in 1665. He confirmed Thoma I as a bishop and worked together with him to organize
19314-499: The court of Nasiruddin Qabacha. Wink states that some scholars treat the Chach Nama and other Muslim texts of its era, as "largely pseudo-history". He concurs that the skepticism about each individual source is justified and the Chach Nama is part fiction. Wink adds, taken together the common elements in these diverse sources suggest that Hindus were treated as dhimmis and targeted for certain discriminatory measures prescribed in
19488-627: The decline of the Portuguese power, other colonial powers namely the Dutch and British gained influence, paving the way for the arrival of Protestantism. Beginning in about 1700, Protestant missionaries began working throughout India; this led to the establishment of different Christian communities across the Indian Subcontinent. The first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two Lutherans from Germany, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau , who began work in 1705 in
19662-721: The driven people to one lakh (100,000). In 1946, around seven weeks after Direct Action Day , violence was directed against the Hindu minority in rural Noakhali district and Tippera . Rioting in the region began in the Ramganj police station area. The rioting spread to the neighbouring police station areas of Raipur, Lakshmipur, Begumganj and Sandip in Noakhali and Faridganj, Hajiganj, Chandpur, Laksham and Chudagram in Tippera. From 2 October, there were instances of stray killings. Relief operations took place and M K Gandhi visited
19836-699: The enslavement of their dependents; kingdoms ruled by Hindu and Buddhist kings were attacked, their wealth plundered, tribute ( kharaj ) settled and hostages taken, often as slaves to Iraq. According to Wink, a historian specializing in Indo-Islamic period in South Asia, these Hindus were given the choice to either convert to Islam and join the Arab armies, or be sealed (tattooing the hands) and pay Jizya (a tax). The Chach Nama and evidence in other pre-11th century Persian texts suggests that these Hindu Jats also suffered restrictions and discrimination as non-Muslims, as
20010-460: The entire community had declared itself to be Christian. The Portuguese navy destroyed the Arab fleet at Vedalai on 27 June 1538. Francis Xavier , a Jesuit, began a mission to the lower classes of Tamil society in 1542. A further 30,000 Paravars were baptised. Xavier appointed catechists in the Paravar villages up and down the 100 miles (160 km) coastline to spread and reinforce his teachings. Paravar Christianity, with its own identity based on
20184-460: The establishment of Knanaya colonies in Kerala during the 4th century. Babylonian Christians settled on the Malabar coast in the 4th century. Mar Sabor and Mar Proth arrived in Kollam in the 9th century. Saint Thomas Christians seem to have enjoyed various rights and privileges as well as a high status as recorded on copper plates, also known as Cheppeds, Royal Grants, Sasanam, etc. There are
20358-483: The evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution. Historically, this community formed a part of the Church of the East, served by metropolitan bishops and a local archdeacon . By the 15th century, the Church of
20532-437: The fear of apostasy given the tendency of everyday Muslims to join in with Hindus as they celebrated their religious festivals. Further, the succession struggle after the death of a Sultan usually led to political maneuvering by the next Sultan, where depending on the circumstances, the victor championed either the orthodox segment of the Islamic clergy and jurists, or gave concessions to the Hindus and other groups for support when
20706-442: The first Christian community in South India for which there is a continuous written record. The Chronicle of Seert describes an evangelical mission to India by Bishop David of Basra around the year 300, who reportedly made many conversions, and it has been speculated that his mission took in areas of southern India. Knai Thoma , a Syriac Christian merchant, brought a group of 72 Christian families from Mesopotamia to Kerala in
20880-410: The first baptism in India. This church is therefore considered an Apostolic See credited to the apostolate of St. Thomas . Although little is known of the immediate growth of the church in the northwestern regions of India, Bar-Daisan (154–223 AD) reports that in his time there were Christian tribes in North India that claimed to have been converted by Thomas and had books and relics to prove it. It
21054-517: The formation of first Islamic sultanates in India, expropriated sacred idols from temples and took it back to their capitals as a political symbol of victory. However, the sacred temples, icons and the looted image carried away was still sacred and treated with respect by the victorious Hindu king and his forces, states Richard Davis. There is hardly any evidence of "mutilation of divine images and intentional defilement" of Hindu sacred icons or temples by armies in control of Hindu rulers. The evidence that
21228-506: The forty-second of his "Carmina Nisibina" that the Apostle was put to death in India, and that his remains were subsequently buried in Edessa , brought there by a merchant. St. Ephraem in a hymn about the relics of St. Thomas at Edessa depicts Satan exclaiming, "The Apostle whom I killed in India comes to meet me in Edessa." Gregory Nazianzen , (329–389), in a homily says; "What! were not
21402-742: The great of Wessex in England sent donations to the Christians in Malabar. Marco Polo visited Malabar on his return journey from China . He wrote about the people whom he saw in Malabar, this way. "The people are idolaters, though there are some Christians and Jews among them. They speak a language of their own. The king is tributary to none." The two Rock crosses of Kerala are found at Kottayam, one each at Kadamattam, Muttuchira and at St.Thomas Mount, in Mylapore. and throughout Malabar coast has inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac. The earliest
21576-399: The holy book." In short, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala have blended well with the ecclesiastical world of the Eastern Churches and with the changing socio-cultural environment of their homeland. Thus, the Malabar Church was Hindu or Indian in culture , Christian in religion , and Judeo-Syriac-Oriental in terms of origin and worship. According to the 1st century annals of Pliny
21750-434: The holy see of St.Thomas the Apostle". The life-style of the Saint Thomas Christians might be stated as "Indian in culture, Christian in faith and Oriental in worship". Socially and culturally these Saint Thomas Christians remain as a part of the wider Indian community. They keep their Indian social customs, names and practices relating to birth, marriage, and death. They have Biblical names ( Mar Thoma Christian names ). At
21924-588: The iconoclasm was a product of "religious, economic and political" and the practice undoubtedly escalated due to the "vast amount of immobilized treasure" in these temples. As the Indo-Islamic conquests of the 11th and 12th-centuries moved beyond Panjab and the Himalayan foothills of the northwest into the Ganges-Yamuna Doab region, states Andre Wink, "some of the most important sacred sites of Indian culture were destroyed and desecrated," and their broken parts consistently reused to make Islamic monuments. Phyllis Granoff notes that "medieval Indian religious groups faced
22098-475: The king and his brother. The Acts of Thomas identifies his second mission in India with a kingdom ruled by a certain King named Mahadwa belonging to a 1st-century dynasty in southern India. Niranam Pally also known as St Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church is believed to be one of the oldest churches in India. The church was founded by St. Thomas in AD 54. On his way from Kollam in the northeast direction, he arrived at Niranam "Thrikpapaleswaram" by sea. The church
22272-417: The kingdom. Again according to Shirodkar, the Inquisition led to the downfall of the Portuguese Empire in the East. Muslim and Hindu communities in British India have lived in a delicate balance since the end of Muslim rule. Violent clashes have often appeared, and the partition of India in 1947 has only perpetuated these confrontations. Mappila Riots or Mappila Outbreaks refers to a series of riots by
22446-403: The last one thousand years has been through the most severe persecution that any religion in the world has ever undergone." Thapar further notes that "The need to exaggerate the persecution at the hands of the Muslim is required to justify the inculcation of anti-Muslim sentiments among the Hindus of today." Thapar states that the belief in a severe persecution in the last millennium brushes away
22620-425: The modern city of Chennai . The body of Apostle Thomas was translated to Edessa, Iraq. It is now in Ortona , Italy . Relics of Apostle Thomas were translated to the San Thome Cathedral in Chennai and to St Thomas Church in Palayur, near Guruvayoor at Chavakkad Taluk, Thrissur District in Kerala. Several ancient writers mention India as the scene of St. Thomas ’ labours. Ephrem the Syrian (300–378) writes in
22794-413: The name António do Porto converted over 10,000 people, built a dozen churches, convents, and a number of orphanages hospitals and seminaries. Prominent among the converts were two yogis from the Kanheri Caves who became known as Paulo Raposo and Francisco de Santa Maria. They introduced Christianity to their fellow yogis, converting many in the process. The descendants of these Christians are today known as
22968-405: The oath. Because of the weight it is believed by the followers that the cross bent a little and so it is known as "Oath of the bent cross" (Coonen Kurisu Sathyam). This demanded administrative autonomy for the local church. A few months, later Archdeacon Thomas was ordained as bishop by twelve priests with the title Thoma I . At this time, Rome intervened and Carmelite Missionaries were sent to win
23142-507: The old one's near Delhi whose devotees were already paying regular Jizya to the Sultan's treasuries. In some cases, the policies on destroying or letting Hindus worship in their old temples changed as Sultans changed. The Muslim nobles and advisors of the Sultans championed persecution of Hindus. Jackson shows how the Muslim texts of that era frequently mention themes such as the Hindu "infidels must on no account be allowed to live in ease and affluence", they should not be treated as "Peoples of
23316-476: The oldest order of Christianity in India . The Archdeacon was the head of the Church, and Palliyogams (Parish Councils) were in charge of temporal affairs. They had a liturgy -centered life with days of fasting and abstinence. Their devotion to the Mar Thoma tradition was absolute. Their churches were modelled after Jewish synagogues . "The church is neat and they keep it sweetly. There are mats but no seats. Instead of images, they have some useful writing from
23490-445: The period of Muhammad ibn Qasim till the fall of the Mughal Empire . There is a tendency among some historians to view the Muslim conquests and Muslim empires as a prolonged period of violence against Hindu culture, with Will Durant calling the Muslim conquest of India "probably the bloodiest story in history." David Lorenzen asserts that during the Islamic rule period there was state-sponsored persecution against Hindus, yet it
23664-410: The permanent schism among the Thomas' Christians of India, leading to the formation of Puthenkūr (New allegiance, pronounced Pùttènkūṟ ) and Pazhayakūr (Old allegiance, pronounced Paḻayakūṟ ) factions. The Pazhayakūr comprise the present day Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the original East Syriac Rite liturgy . The Puthenkūr group, who resisted
23838-405: The place on a peace mission even as threats against the Hindus continued. While claims varied, the official Muslim League Bengal Government estimates of those killed were placed at a conservative 200. According to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , 9,895 people were forcibly converted in Tippera alone. Ghulam Sarwar Hossain, a religious leader who belonged to a local political party dominated by Muslims,
24012-482: The prelacy of Mozambique (1612), Peking (1609) and Nanking (1609) in China. A significant portion of the crew on Portuguese ships were Indian Christians. The Portuguese were however unable to establish their presence in Mangalore as a result of the conquests of the Vijayanagara ruler Krishnadevaraya and Abbakka Rani of Ullal , the Bednore Queen of Mangalore. Most of Mangalorean Catholics were not originally from Mangalore but from Goa , which they fled during
24186-402: The primary target of the 250 years of persecution and punishment for their faith by the Catholic prosecutors. Most affected were the Shudras (12.5%) and farmers (35.5%). In 1557, Goa was made an independent archbishopric, and its first suffragan sees were erected at Cochin and Malacca . The whole of the East came under the jurisdiction of Goa and its boundaries extended to almost half of
24360-429: The protection of the Portuguese who had moved into the area. The protection was granted on the condition that the leaders were immediately baptised as Christians and that they would encourage their people also to convert to Christianity. The Portuguese in turn wanted to gain a strategic foothold and control of the pearl fisheries. The deal was agreed and some months later 20,000 Paravars were baptised en masse, and by 1537
24534-427: The relationship with their home Church in Persia, which was also established by St. Thomas the Apostle. Following is a rough chronology of events associated with St. Thomas Christianity. Doctrine of the Apostles states that, "India and all its countries . . . received the Apostle's hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas…." From an early period the Church of St. Thomas Christians came into a lifelong relationship with
24708-498: The requirement to pay Jizya. This discrimination against Hindus was in force in the latter half of the 14th-century, though Jackson finds it difficult to establish if and how this was enforced outside of the major centers under Muslim control. The Muslim commanders of Delhi Sultanate regularly raided Hindu kingdoms for plunder, mulct their treasuries and looted the Hindu temples therein, states Jackson. These conquests of Delhi Sultanate armies damaged or destroyed many Hindu temples. In
24882-521: The rise to prominence of Brahmanical institutions. A lot of Vedantic literature got translated into these languages between the 12th and 15th centuries. Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent began in the early 8th century CE with a Muhammad ibn Qasim -led army. This campaign is narrated in the Chach Nama by Bakr Kūfī, a 13th-century manuscript which claimed to be based on an earlier Arabic record. The Chach Nama mentions temple demolitions, mass executions of resisting Sindhi forces and
25056-449: The same time they follow a number of Jewish customs like worship, baptism, wedding and other ceremonies which are entirely different from Western Churches. The rulers of Kerala, always appreciated the contributions of St. Thomas Christians to the country and society. Thazhekad sasanam and deeds on copper plates bear witness to it. Five sheets of the three copper plates are now in the custody of St. Thomas Christians. In 883 King Alfred
25230-474: The seven "and a half" churches established by Thomas the Apostle during his mission in Malabar. These are located at Kodungalloor ( Muziris ), Paravur , Palayoor , Kokkamangalam , Niranam , Nilackal , Kollam , and the Thiruvithamcode Arappally in Kanyakumari district . The Nasranis are an ethnic people, and a single community. As a community with common cultural heritage and cultural tradition, they refer to themselves as Nasranis . However, as
25404-435: The short lived Madurai Sultanate and renamed himself as Sultan Ahsan Shah in 1334. The successive sultans of the new Sultanate did not have the support of the regional Hindu population. The Madurai Sultanate's army, states Shokoohy, "often exercised fierce and brutal repressive methods on the local people". The Sultanate faced constant battles with neighboring Hindu states and assassination by its own nobles. Sultan Sikandar Shah
25578-429: The specifics of caste issues. The Hindutva approach to historiography has been accused of saffronising history, by minimizing or outright excluding the contributions Muslim rulers to Indian society, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being accused of saffronising school textbooks that they deemed to have overt Marxist or Eurocentric political overtones. Meenakshi Jain has been criticized for being inducted as
25752-507: The structure of Indian society". According to Johnson and Koyama, quoting Bosworth, there were "certainly massacres in the towns" in the early stages of campaign against Hindus in Sind, but eventually they were granted dhimmi status and peace treaties were made with them. After the conquest of Sindh, Qasim chose the Hanafi school of Islamic law which stated that, when under Muslim rule, people of Indic religions such as Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains are to be regarded as dhimmis (from
25926-497: The subcontinent. Christians were involved in the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Indian independence movement , the All India Conference of Indian Christians advocated for swaraj (self rule) & opposed the partition of India . There are reports of crypto-Christians who keep their faith in secret or hiding, due to the fear of persecution by Hindu extremists . Some Christians have gone through forced conversion to Hinduism by political parties , such as Shiv Sena ,
26100-417: The targets of these Islamic campaigns. The 11th to 13th-century period did not witness any systematic attempts at forced conversions of Hindus into Muslims, nor is there evidence of widespread Islamicization in al-Hind that emerged from the violent conquest. The political power shifted from Hindu kings to Muslim sultans in conquered areas. If some temples were not destroyed in these areas, it did result in
26274-404: The then Archbishop of Goa Menezes an opportunity to bring the native church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. He was able to secure the submission of Archdeacon George , the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. Menezes convened the Synod of Diamper between 20 and 26 June 1599, which introduced a number of reforms to the church and brought it fully into
26448-412: The then-largest Christian church within India. The Christians were friendly to Portuguese missionaries at first; there was an exchange of gifts between them, and these groups were delighted at their common faith. During the second expedition, the Portuguese fleet comprising 13 ships and 18 priests, under Captain Pedro Álvares Cabral , anchored at Cochin on 26 November 1500. Cabral soon won the goodwill of
26622-538: The time of the British (6,000 - 12,000 Jacobites joined the C.M.S. in 1836, after the Synod of Mavelikara; who are now within the Church of South India ), doctrines and missionary zeal influence ( Malankara Church and Patriarch/Catholicos issue (division of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (1912)). St. Thomas Christian families who claim their descent from ancestors who were baptized by Apostle Thomas are found all over Kerala . St. Thomas Christians were classified into
26796-426: The tradition of Saint Thomas Christians , St. Thomas the Apostle established his throne in India and India was his See (Kolla Hendo), therefore the see of the metropolitan of Saint Thomas Christians was India and used the title Metropolitan and Gate of all India. In Syriac Manuscript Vatican Syriac Codex 22 the title given for the Metropolitan of the Saint Thomas Christians was "the superintendent and ruler of
26970-583: The upper caste Bamonns and Chardos were convinced into accepting Christianity by offering favourable status to converts (indiacatos) and mestiços in terms of laws and jobs. An Inquisition - which literally means a period of prolonged and intensive questioning, was established in 1560 by Portuguese officials in the Estado Português da Índia . The Goa Inquisition was directed against backsliding New Christians (that is, former Hindus and Muslims who had recently converted to Christianity), and it has been recorded that around 57 Goan Catholics were executed over
27144-432: The west coast of India, i.e., Malabar . Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During that period, there was persecution against Christians. So in AD 345 under the leadership of Thomas of Cana 72 families landed at Muziris near Cranganore. They formed the group known as Knanaya Christians. They cooperated with the Malankara Church, attended worship services together but remained
27318-478: The work of St. Thomas in India . These passages indicate that the tradition that St. Thomas died in India was widespread among the early churches. Many writers have mentioned that the Apostle established seven "and a half" churches in Malabar. They are: Doctrine of the Apostles states that, "India and all its countries...received the Apostle's hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas…." From 345 AD, when Knanaya Christians arrived from Persia , they had continued
27492-477: The world: from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to Burma, China and Japan in East Asia. In 1576, the suffragan See of Macao (China) was added; and in 1588, that of Funai in Japan. The Diocese of Angamaly was transferred to Diocese of Craganore in 1605, while, in 1606 a sixth suffragan see to Goa was established at San Thome, Mylapore, near the modern Madras, and the site of the National Shrine of St. Thomas Basilica. The suffragan sees added later to Goa. were
27666-479: The worldwide Anglican Communion , World Communion of Reformed Churches and World Methodist Council . Christianity is the largest religion in parts of Northeast India , specifically in Nagaland , Mizoram & Meghalaya . It also is a significant religion in Arunachal , where about 30 percent of the state is Christian. Along with native Christians, small numbers of mixed Eurasian peoples such as Anglo-Indians , Luso-Indians and Armenian Indians also existed in
27840-468: Was a consequence of the opposition he faced from a number of his family members. During the medieval span, she states, "episodes of direct religious persecution of Hindus were rare", as were communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. According to Nicholas Gier, there were harmonious Hindu-Muslim relations in most Indian communities, and the Indian population grew during the medieval Muslim times. No populations were expelled based on their religion by either
28014-547: Was a well known exorcist. He is well known in Kerala as Kadamattathu Kathanar. Abo died and was buried in Thevalakara church (now St. Mary's Orthodox Church). There are many accounts of visits from Rome, before the arrival of Portuguese. John of Monte Corvino , was a Franciscan missionary who traveled from Persia and moved down by sea to India, in 1291 Odoric of Pordenone who arrived in India in 1321. He visited Malabar, landing at Pandarani (20 m. north of Calicut ), at Cranganore , and at Kulam or Quilon . Jordanus ,
28188-638: Was already under firm control of the Delhi Sultanate, the direct evidence of this is meagre. One example referred to is of a claimed request from the king of China to build a temple in India, as recorded by Ibn Battuta. Jackson states that it is questionable and has no corroborating evidence. Similar few examples near Delhi, such as one for Sri Krishna Bhagwan temple, cannot be verified whether they were ever built either. Some modern era Indian texts mention that Hindu and Jain temples of Delhi Sultanate era received endowments from Muslim authorities, presenting these as evidence of lack of persecution during this period. It
28362-457: Was brought to the south by the sultans of Ma'bar". Indologist Crispin Branfoot said that the Madurai Sultanate "sacked and desecrated Hindu temples throughout the Tamil country", and these were restored and reconsecrated for worship by the Vijayanagara rulers. The Mughal emperor Akbar has been a celebrated unusual example of tolerance. Indologist Richard M. Eaton writes that from Akbar's time to today, he has attracted conflicting labels, "from
28536-427: Was held sacred in the Malabar Church. They constructed many churches and, during their lifetime, the Christian religion flourished especially in the kingdom of Diamper." The beginning of Kolla Varsham resulted in the origin of Christianity in Kerala as an individual religion outside vedic Vaishnavism In 190, Pantaenus , probably the founder of the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria , visited India and
28710-439: Was killed at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai in AD 72. The neo-Gothic Cathedral Basilica of San Thome now stands on the site of his martyrdom and burial. A historically more likely claim by Eusebius of Caesarea is that Pantaenus , the head of the Christian exegetical school in Alexandria, Egypt went to India in AD 190 and found Christians already living in India using a version of the Gospel of Matthew with "Hebrew letters,
28884-482: Was mutual. Hindus too attacked and damaged Muslim tombs, even when the troops had orders not to harm religious refuges of Muslims. These "few examples of disrespect for Islamic sites", states Indologist Nicholas Gier, "pale in comparison to the great destruction of temples and general persecution of Hindus by Muslims for 500 years". Sources document brutal episodes of persecution. Sikh texts, for example, document their "Guru Teg Bahadur accompanying sixteen Hindu Brahmins on
29058-435: Was reconstructed several times with some parts dating back to a reconstruction in 1259. The architecture of the church bears a striking similarity to ancient temple architecture . Another ancient church is St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church , located at Palayur in Thrissur district in Kerala. According to Saint Thomas christian tradition, the Syrian church was established between 52 and 54 AD by St Thomas , where he performed
29232-497: Was sporadic and directed mostly at temple buildings, not people. However, he also points to the mentions of socio-religious conflict by poets like Kabir . The extent of persecution of Hindus under Muslim rule is subject to scholarly debate, and there have been criticisms that the historiography of India is being distorted by communal politics. According to André Wink , the mutilation and destruction of Hindu religious idols and temples were an attack on Hindu religious practice, and
29406-424: Was the first in the whole of the Indies , with jurisdiction over modern India, Pakistan , Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Burma , and Sri Lanka. In 1347, Giovanni de' Marignolli visited Malabar. Another prominent Indian traveler was Joseph, priest over Cranganore. He journeyed to Babylon in 1490 and then sailed to Europe and visited Portugal , Rome, and Venice before returning to India. He helped to write
29580-420: Was the last sultan. He was killed by the invading forces of Vijayanagara Empire army in 1377. The Muslim literature of this period record the motive of the Madurai Sultans. For example, Sultan Shams al-Din Adil Shah's general is described as leaving for "holy war against the infidels and taking from them great wealth and a vast amount of booty". Another record states, "he engaged in a holy war (ghaza) and killed
29754-598: Was the main organiser of the riot. According to political scientist Bidyut Chakrabarty , Hindus widely believed that the local administration had planned the riot and that the police helped Ghulam Sarwar escape arrest. A large number of victims were Namasudra (a Bengali Hindu lower caste). According to a source quoting from the State Government Archives, in Naokhali 178 Hindus and 42 Muslims were killed while in Tippera 39 Hindus and 26 Muslims were killed. Women were abducted and forced into marriage. In retaliation, Muslims were massacred in Bihar and in Garhmukteshwara in
29928-478: Was then usual elsewhere for the non-Muslim subjects ( ahl adh-dhimma ) per the Islamic law (Sharia), states Wink. Yohanan Friedmann however finds that the Chach Nama holds that most contemporary religious as well as political authorities collaborated with the invaders, and those who promptly surrendered were not only gifted with huge sums of money but also entrusted to rule conquered territories. Friedmann also notes that bin-Qasim "gave his unqualified blessing to
30102-428: Was translated for them by St. Thomas the apostle himself." Theophilus (ca 354) as recorded by church historian Philostorgius mentions about a church, priests, liturgy, in the immediate vicinity of the Maldives , which can only apply to a Christian church and faithful on the adjacent coast of India. The people referred to were the Christians known as a body who had their liturgy in the Syriac language and inhabited
30276-415: Was unheard of at that time, as the local prejudices were against such a structure for any purpose other than a royal palace or a temple. In the beginning of the 16th century, the whole of the east was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Lisbon . On 12 June 1514, Cochin and Goa became two prominent mission stations under the newly created Diocese of Funchal in Madeira . In 1534, Pope Paul III by
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