Introduction:
Thomas, one of the
twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, is documented to have brought Christianity to
India in 52 AD. He established seven congregations and appointed leaders from
among the local Christians in Malabar. He then moved to Mylapore on the east coast
and established several churches there, where he was martyred at the hands of
some Hindu Brahmins and buried there. For many years both the Malabar and
Mylapore churches existed under some local leaders apparently without any
connection with foreigners. But the Thomas Christian Churches in India soon
suffered weakness and decline over time. However, it was revived and
strengthened by groups of Syrian Christians who migrated from Persia or
Chaldea. Various traditions and evidences also supported their immigration.
1. The
Syrian Connection – Migration:
The connection between
the Church in India and Syro-Persian Christianity began in the third or fourth
century.[1] There was an immigration of Syrian Christians to India, and various
sources of tradition unanimously prove that the Christian community formed by
the Apostle Thomas declined over time. The Syrian Church in Malabar has a
tradition of at least two notable immigrants of influential people from those
countries who settled in India and did much to revive and strengthen the Church
in India. It is generally believed that there were two major migrations of
Syrian Christians to India. The first group migrated in the 4th century and the
second in the 9th century.[2]
1.1. Thomas
of Cana and Indian Christians
In 345 AD, some Syrian
Christians led by a Syrian merchant named Thomas of Cana[3] (variously called
Knaye Thomas or Thomas of Canaan) migrated to India. They played an important
role in the organization and development of the Klanganor church and community
and clearly had a positive impact on all Christians in Kerala.
Many interesting
stories have been told about this man in different ways and we will look at
some of them.
a)
Portuguese account:
From the Portuguese
accounts of Thomas of Cana and his relations with the Indian Christian
community, Alvaro Penteado seems to be the oldest. He wrote to the King of
Portugal about the origin of the Christians of St. Thomas in Quilon and
Cranganore. The first beginnings come from the apostle Thomas. In the post-St
Thomas period, so far as Cranganore is concerned, an 'Armenian' buyer of
advanced age came. With no hope of returning home, he bought from the local
king an unoccupied land with all its revenues, with ownership rights to land
and water within that land. He had two sons. At the time of his death, his
elder son inherited the income from the land the merchant had bequeathed to the
church. The second son was appointed judge over the slaves that the father
bought, freed and converted. Disputes arose between these sons, and each
gathered a faction around him. The elder son was defeated in the light of the
faction. He called the Jews to help him, and the Jews expelled from his land
not only those Christians under the leadership of the second son, to whom they
were again called, but also other Christians who asked for their help.[4]
b) The account of East Syrian Abuna:
According to the East
Syrian Abuna, a merchant from the land of Canane came to Mylapore on a
pilgrimage and found all the houses there in ruins, and believing that nothing
could be done to restore them, he handed over Cranganore. There both plots of
land and built a church on them. A merchant died there and was buried in it.
c)
Description of Mar Thoma IV:
Alphonse Mingana[5]
quotes a letter from the Jacobite Mar Thoma IV[6] in his writing as;
"From this date
(the death of St. Thomas), believers in our country gradually decreased. At that
time St. Thomas appeared in a vision to the metropolitan of the city of Edessa
and said to him, 'Will you not help India?', and he also appeared to Abgar,
king of Edessa, who was king of the Syrians; and then, by order of the king and
the bishop, Three hundred and thirty-six families, including children, the
elderly, the clergy, men, and women, came to India from Canaan (including
Jerusalem) under the leadership of Thomas of Canaan. They all sailed over the
sea and entered Cranganore, our land. They inhabited it with the special
permission of King Shiramona-Pirumala, who ruled India at that time. All this
took place in AD 345. Since then, the church of our country has expanded in all
directions up to the number of seventy-two churches.”[7]
d) Local
account Fr. Matthew:
The local account of
Fr. Matthew has the following version: The Metropolitan of Edessa saw in a
vision at night the sad situation of Malabar Christians and the next day he
told his vision to the Catholics[8] from the East. He, on hearing the report of
the dream, sent messengers to all the churches, monasteries, and cities under
his jurisdiction, and summoned all the Christians before him. Great multitudes,
with their respective bishops and merchants, gathered before the Catholics, who
addressed them and told them of the vision. One of the believers, a certain
Thomas from Jerusalem, said that they had heard about Malabar and India from
strangers. The Catholicos ordered him to visit Malabar and report back. Thomas
therefore set sail and arrived at Maliamkara, where he saw the Christians of
St. Thomas. They told him everything. After consoling them, he returned to the
Catholics, who then offered to sacrifice even their lives for the Christians of
Malabar. Thomas returned to Malabar with a bishop who had a vision, priests and
deacons, men, women and children from Jerusalem, Bagdad and Nineveh. They
landed at Maliamkara in AD 345.
The Indian Christians
received them with great joy. After much deliberation and consultation, they
all proceeded together to 'Sharkun', the king of all Malabar. These complied
with all their requests, gave them as much land as they desired, conferred
royal honors on them, and caused all the grants and honors to be engraved on
copper plates. Then they returned and built the church and the city. The church
was built on Kuramaklur (Cranganore) land given to them by the king. The newly
built town stretched from east to west and legally housed 472 families. From
that time the Syrian fathers came to the city at the behest of the Catholics
from the East, for it was he who sent the Syrians to other parts of the world
until they were suspended. These Syrian fathers ruled the dioceses of India and
Malabar.[9]
Cosmas
Indicopleustes[10] in his book titled "Universal Christian
Topography" he stated that there were Christian churches in India and they
have a close connection with the church in Persia. Thomas of Cana created a
close connection between Indian Christians and Persian Christians. Since then
Syrian bishops came to India at the behest of the Catholics of the East. Syrian
bishops ruled the diocese of India and Malabar. Although there is no clear
evidence which liturgical language was introduced by St. Thomas, it is argued
that Syriac was the liturgical language from the beginning.[11]
The reason why the
Syrian Christian migrated to India during this period is not certain. One
likely reason may be that the Syrians were great traders and it is possible
that instead of casual trade, many of them wanted to move to have a large
profitable business. The situation in Persia during this period may also have
added to other reasons. During this time, the Roman Empire became dominantly
Christian, and the Persian rulers feared that their Christian citizens might
side with the Roman Empire. Therefore, Christians were persecuted in the area,
which may have forced Syrian Christians to migrate to India.[12]
1.2. Second
Syrian Christian Migration:
According to tradition, there was further immigration of
Persian Christians to India (Malabar). A Persian merchant named Marwan Sabriso
arrived in Quilon with a large group that included two bishops, Mar Sapro and
Mar Phroth, in 825 AD Marwan Sabriso built a new church in Quilon. Two sets of
copper plates were granted to this church by King Ayyan of Venad.[13]
Mingana, an 18th
century Indian writer, gives the following account.
Later in 823 AD; The
Syrian ancestors Mar Sapor and Mar Parut came to India with the merchant
Sabrisho and reached Kulam. They went to King Shakirbriti and asked him for a
piece of land where they could build a church and build a city. He gave them
the amount of land they desired, and at the behest of the Catholics who sent
them, they built a church and built a city in the metropolitan areas they came to.[14]
According to what
Francisco Ros found in Syriac books, two brothers came to Quilon in 925 AD,
built a church there and performed some miracles. What these miracles are is
not mentioned in the books, but tradition says that “a brother who had no money
to pay the workers who helped them build the church, paid them sand as wages,
and it immediately turned into rice. Both brothers died there and their bodies
were buried in the church they had built and in which were the stone
inscriptions. They were popularly known as Quadixagel, i.e. E. Saints, and
their feast day was celebrated on May 19”[15]
A Syrian local document
written in Malabar in the early 18th century by a certain Fr. Matthew states
that "in 813 the Syrian fathers Mar Sapor and Mar Parut (Piruz) came to
India, accompanied by the famous Sabr'isho, and reached Kullam (Quilon). They
went to the emperor, Shakribirti, and obtained from him some land in the Kullam
district, where they built a church and a town; and so the Syrian bishops and
metropolitans came to Kullam at the behest of the Catholics.[16]
2. Evidences of the Syrian
Christians Immigrations:
There are some evidences for the
migrations of the Syrian Christians to India.
The Copper Plates:
The Syrian Quilon
Copper Plates (also known as the Kollam Tarisappali Copper Plates) are sets of
copper plate grants issued by Ayyan, Chief of Venad (Kollam) to the Christian
merchant Mar Sabrisho. Of these two sets, five plates still exist and at least
two have been lost. According to C.B. Firth was three in the Jacobite church in
Kottayam and two in the Marthoma Church in Tiruwala. The date is thought to be
around 878 AD, although scientists disagree. The king who issued the charter
was Ayen, King of Venard. The ruler of Ayyan was Sathanu Ravi of the Chera
family ruling at Cranganore in north Malabar.
In one of the deeds, a
grant is made to the Orthodox Church of Tarisa in Quilon. The charter granted
certain rights to the Christian community. They were exempted from paying
certain fixed rates and taxes. They were also given the administration of
customs at Quilon.
The second set of
copper plates is supposed to be a bit more recent. The donor is the same Ayyan
of Vedan, but the donee includes Jews living in Quilon as well as Marigramman.
By this charter, extensive lands are assigned to the church and the protection
of the church is entrusted to the Venadian army.
The colony under the
leadership of Thomas of Kány was granted a charter on one copper plate to their
haed, Irava Korttan. The grantor of the deed was King Vera Raghava
Chakravarti. The charter grants a monopoly on both land and sea trade.[17]
Stone
crosses:
The monument consists
of five carved stone crosses that were discovered in South India. The first
ones were discovered around the middle of the 16th century by the Portuguese on
Mount St. Thomas. The other is in one of the Jacobite churches in Kottayam.
These monuments are of black stone with a carved cross. At the top of the cross
is a dove. The language is Pahlavi, which was the language of the Persian
Empire during the Sassanid dynasty A. C. Brunell comments on this article: "There is such
an agony at the crucifixion that he is the true Christ, the Holy Spirit, and
the holy guide". The crosses are dated by paleographers to the 7th or 8th
century. They are solid evidence of the church in South India at that time in
Mylapore and also in Malabar.[18]
Conclusion:
Two migrations of East
Syrian Christians in the fourth and ninth centuries greatly strengthened Thomas
Christian in India. Since then the Christians were scattered in different
places. They were given high privileges, the local rulers considered them
first-class people in their time and respected them, and they had good
connections with each other. Later the majority lived between Cranganore in the
north and Quilon in south Malabar, a small group being scattered in Mylapore
and other places. Although many of the churches of that time are no more, some
of them remain and can still be seen today.
[1]
Roger E. Hedlund, Indian Christianity: An
Alternative Reading (Aolijen/New Delhi: Clark Theological College/Christian
World Imprints, 2016), 13.
[2] F.
Hrangkhuma, History of Christianity In
India: An Introduction (Bangalore: Theological Book Trust, 2018), 44.
[3]
The meaning of Cana epithet is
unclear; it may refers to the town of Cana or the land of Canaan that mentioned
in the Bible, or it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant (Knayil in Malayam).
Knanaya priest and scholar Jacob Kollaparambil
argues that the “Cana” form is a corruption introduced by European scholars in
the 18th century based on Malayalam form Knay and its variants (Kynai,
kinayi, kinan) found in the folk tradition of the Knanaya and the common
parlance and literature of the people of Malabar.
[4]
Mathias Mundadan, History of Christianity in India Vol-1
(Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1984), 91.
[5]
(1878-1937) was an
ethnic Assyrian theologian, historian, and a former priest who is best known
for collecting and preserving the Mingana
Collection of ancient Middle East manuscripts at Birmingham.
[6]
who was the fourth bishop of Malankara
Church in India in 1688-1728. Malankara church is one of the churches of St.
Thomas Christian in Kerala.
[7]
Alphonse Mingana, The Early Spread of Christianity in India
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1926), 49.
[8] A title
used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian tradition. The
title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an
autonomous church. It is similar to the term patriarch.
[9]
Mundadan, History of Christianity in India…, 93-94.
[10] Also
known as Cosmas the Monk was a Greek merchant and later hermit from Alexandria
of Egypt. He was a 6th century traveller, who visited India in c. AD
520-525. It was during the reign of emperor Justinian. His work Christian Topography
contained some of the earliest and most famous world maps.
[11] Hrangkhuma,
History of Christianity In India…,
46-47.
[12]
Hrangkhuma, History of
Christianity In India…, 45.
[13]
C. P Matthew & M. M
Thomas, The Indian Churches of Saint
Thomas (Kashmere Gate: DJVP/ISPCK, 2005), 23.
[14]
Mingana, The Early Spread of Christianity in India…, 45.
[15]
History of Christianity in India https://dochot.net/document/history-of-christianity-in-india-n-th-ii retrieved at 2:35 pm on 24. 10. 2019.
[16] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nasrani.net/amp/2007/02/16/arrival-of-mar-sabriisho-and-mar-piruz/ retrieved at 3:04 pm on 24.10.2019.
[17]
C. P Matthew & M. M
Thomas, The Indian Churches of Saint
Thomas (Kashmere Gate: DJVP/ISPCK, 2005), 23-24.
[18]
Matthew & M. M Thomas, The Indian Churches of Saint Thomas…,
25.
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