 Saint Thomas Christian cross from the 9th centurySt George's Church, Kadamattom, Kerala. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 28 million[1] (2.3%) (2011) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Largest Christian population inKerala at 6.14 million (18.4% of state population). Majority inNagaland at 87.92%,Mizoram at 87.16% andMeghalaya at 74.59%. Plurality inManipur at 41.29% andArunachal at 30%. Significant populations inGoa at 25.10%,Pondicherry at 6.3%,Tamil Nadu at 6.1% &Bombay (Mumbai) at 3.45%.[2] | |
| Religions | |
| Protestant (59.22%),Roman Catholic (33.19%),Oriental Orthodox (7.44%), others (0.15%) etc.[3] | |
| Languages | |
| Mizo,Malayalam,Syriac,Latin,Bengali,Punjabi,English,Tamil,Hindi-Urdu,Bodo,Khasi,Karbi,Rabha,Mushing,Naga,Kuki,Garo,Hmar,Nepali,Assamese,Odia,Gujarati,Marathi,Kokborok,Konkani,Kadodi,Kannada,Telugu,Bombay East Indian dialect & otherIndian languages | |
| Names in native languages includeIsai,Kristhava,Masihi-Qaum &Nasrani |
Christianity isIndia's third-most followed religion with 28 million adherents, who make up 2.3 percent of the population as of the2011 census.[1] Christianity is the largest religion in parts ofNortheast India, specifically inNagaland,Mizoram, andMeghalaya.[4] It is also a significant religion inManipur, which is 41 percent Christian.[5]
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of India's Christians are found inSouth India,Goa, &Mumbai (Bombay).[6] The oldest known Christian group inNorth India are theHindustani-speakingBettiah Christians of Bihar, formed in the early 1700s through aCapuchin mission and under the patronage ofRajas (kings) in theMoghal Empire.[7][8][9] TheChurch of North India and theChurch of South India are aUnited Protestant denomination; which resulted from the evangelism/ ecumenism ofAnglicans,Calvinists,Methodists and otherProtestant groups who flourished incolonial India. Consequently, these churches are part of the worldwideAnglican Communion,World Communion of Reformed Churches, andWorld Methodist Council.[10][11][12][13][14] Along with native Christians, small numbers of mixed Eurasian peoples such asAnglo-Indian,Luso-Indian,Franco-Indian andArmenian Indian Christians also existed in the subcontinent.[15] Also, there is theKhristaBhakta movement, who areunbaptised followers of Christ andSt Mary, mainly among theShudras andDalits.[16][17][18][19]
The written records ofSt Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to theIndian subcontinent byThomas the Apostle, who sailed to theMalabar region (present-dayKerala) in 52 AD.[20][21][22] TheActs of Thomas say that the early Christians wereMalabar Jews who had settled in what is present-day Kerala before thebirth of Christ.[23][24] St Thomas, anAramaic-speaking Jew[25][26] fromGalilee (present-day Israel) and one of thedisciples ofJesus Christ, came to India[27] in search ofIndian Jews.[24][28] After years ofevangelism, Thomas wasmartyred and then buried atSt Thomas Mount, in theMylapore neighbourhood ofMadras (Chennai).[20] There is thescholarly consensus that a Christian community had firmly established in the Malabar region by600 AD at the latest;[29] the community was composed ofNestorians orEastern Christians, belonging to theChurch of the East, who used theEast Syriac Rite of worship.[30][31]
Following thediscovery of the sea route to India, by the Portuguese explorerVasco da Gama in the 15th century AD,Western Christianity was established in the European colonies ofGoa,Tranquebar,Bombay,Madras andPondicherry; as inCatholicism (ofLatin orSyriac Rites) and various kinds ofProtestantism.[22] Conversions also took place through theGoan Inquisition, with theoppression of Hindus and the destruction ofmandirs.[32][33][34][35][36][37][38]Christian missionaries introduced thewestern educational system to the Indian subcontinent, to preach Christianity and to campaign forHindu social reforms[39][40][41][42][43][44] like theChannar revolt.[45][46] However,convent schools andcharities are being targeted under theModi administration,[47][48] particularly by banning missionaries from gettingforeign funds.[49][50][51][52]
Christians were involved in theIndian National Congress (INC), which led theIndian independence movement. TheAll India Conference of Indian Christians advocated forswaraj (self rule) andopposed the partition of India.[53][54][55] There are reports ofcrypto-Christians who keep their faith in secret or hiding, due to thefear of persecution; especially Dalit (Outcaste) orAdivasi (Aboriginal) Christians resort to crypsis, becausereservation and other rights are denied to them onconversion.[56][57][58][59][60][61][62] Some Christians have gone throughforced conversion to Hinduism byHindu extremists, such asShiv Sena, theVishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] Various groups of Hindu extremists have also attackedchurches or disrupted church services in certainstates and territories of India.[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78]
According to the traditional account of Saint Thomas Christians, Thomas the Apostle came toKodungallur (Cranganore) in the present dayKerala in 52 AD,[20] and established theEzharappallikal (Seven Churches) in or near ancient Jewish colonies[24] by preaching among localJews andBrahmins.[79] According to St ThomasChristian tradition, Thomas the Apostle did the first baptism in India atSt Thomas Syro-Malabar Church, Palayur, this church is therefore considered anApostolic See credited to the apostolate of Thomas.[citation needed] After some years ofevangelisation in South India, Thomas was martyred at theSt Thomas Mount inChennai (Madras) in 72 AD.[20] The neo-GothicCathedral Basilica of San Thome now stands on the site of his martyrdom and burial.[20][80][81][82][83][84] A historically more likely claim byEusebius of Caesarea is thatPantaenus, the head of the Christianexegetical school inAlexandria, Egypt went to India in 190 AD and found Christians already living in India using a version of theGospel of Matthew with "Hebrew letters, a mixture of culture."[85] This is a plausible reference to the earliest Indian churches which are known to have used theSyriac New Testament;Syriac being a dialect of theAramaic language spoken by Jesus and his disciples.[25][26][83][86]Pantaenus's evidence thus indicates that early Christians from the Middle East had already evangelised parts of India by the late 2nd century AD.[83][85]
Another Christian tradition concerning the birth of Jesus holds thatGaspar, one of the threeBiblical Magi, travelled from India to find theinfant Jesus along withMelchior of Persia andBalthazar of Arabia.[87]
An early 3rd-century ADSyriac work known as theActs of Thomas[88] connects the tradition of the Apostle Thomas's Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. The year of his arrival is widely disputed due to lack of credible records.[citation needed] According to one of the legends in theActs 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 theIndo-Parthian king,Gondophares. The apostle's ministry reputedly resulted in many conversions throughout this northern kingdom, including the king and his brother.[88]
TheActs 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 fromKollam (Quilon) in the northeast direction, he arrived at Niranam "Thrikpapaleswaram" by sea. The church was reconstructed several times with some parts dating back to a reconstruction in 1259. The architecture of the church bears a striking similarity toHindu temple architecture.
Eusebius of Caesarea'sEcclesiastical History (5:10) states that Bartholomew, a disciple of Jesus, went on amissionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of theGospel of Matthew. One tradition holds that he preached the Gospel in India, prior to his travels toArmenia,[89] while others hold that Bartholomew travelled as a missionary inEthiopia,Mesopotamia,Parthia, andLycaonia.[90]
Although little is known of the immediate growth of the church in the northwestern regions of India,Bardaisan (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.[88] It is believed that by the time of the establishment of theSassanid Empire around 226 AD, there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India,Afghanistan andBaluchistan, with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.[88] The SyriacChronicle of Edessa describes a "church of the Christians" in India around 200 AD.[91]
India had a flourishing trade with Central Asia, theMediterranean, 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.[80] The colony ofSyrian Christians established atMuziris may be the first Christian community in South India for which there is a continuous written record.[92]
TheChronicle of Seert describes an evangelical mission to India by BishopDavid of Basra around the year 300,[93] who reportedly made many conversions,[83] and it has been speculated that his mission took in areas of southern India.[94]
From various records of travelers we know the existence of Christian communities in India already by the year 345.[95]
Thomas of Cana, a Syriac Christian merchant, brought a group of 72 Christian families fromMesopotamia to Kerala in the 4th century.[83][96] He was grantedcopper-plates by theChera dynasty, which gave his party and all native Christians socio-economic privileges.[97] The group of Christians that came along with Thomas of Cana (Knai Thoma) are calledKnanaya Christians.[96][98]
The existence ofEarly Christians in India is further substantiated by the records acknowledging the work ofSeverus of Vienne, a 5th-century missionary of Indian origin who evangelised inVienne, France.[99][100]
![Stained glass window of Thomas the Apostle, the traditional founder of Indian Christianity, in his namesake St Thomas CNI church, the 300-year-old Cathedral of Mumbai (Bombay)[101]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSt.Thomas_Cathedral_-_Mumbai.jpg)
TheSaint 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 the establishment ofKnanaya colonies in Kerala during the 4th century. Babylonian Christians settled on theMalabar Coast in the 4th century.Mar Sabor and Mar Proth arrived inKollam in the 9th century.[102]
_plates_1_and_4.jpg)
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.[103] There are a number of such documents in the possession of theSyrian churches of Kerala which include theThazhekad Sasanam, theQuilon Syrian copper plates (orTharisappalli Cheppeds]]),Mampally Sasanam andIraviikothan 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 inVattezhuthu script intermingled with someGrantha,Pahlavi,Kufic andHebrew scripts. The ruler of Venad (Travancore) granted 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[which?] grant dated 1225 AD further enhanced the rights and privileges ofNasranis.
Other references toSaint Thomas Christians include the South Indian epic ofManimekalai, written between the 2nd and 3rd century AD, which mentions theNasrani people by referring to them by the nameEssanis.[104] The embassy ofKing Alfred in 883 AD sent presents to St. Thomas Christians.[105]Marco Polo who visited in 1292, mentioned that there were Christians in the Malabar coast.[106]
The French or CatalanDominican missionaryJordan Catala was the firstCatholic European missionary to arrive in India. He landed inSurat in around 1320. By a separate bull that readsVenerabili Fratri Jordano, he was appointed the first Bishop ofQuilon on 21 August 1329 AD.[107][108] In 1321, Jordanus Catalani also arrived inBhatkal, a place near Mangalore, and established a missionary station there converting many locals.[108] He also evangelised inThana district (Trombay) nearBombay; the descendants of these converts would later become part of theBombay East Indian community.[109][110]
Thomas the Apostle is credited by tradition for founding the Indian Church in 52 AD.[20][84][111] This church developed contacts with theChurch of the East religious authorities based inEdessa, Mesopotamia at the time.
Historically, this community was organised as theProvince of India of theChurch of the East byPatriarch of BabylonTimothy I (780–823 AD) in the eighth century, served by bishops and a local dynasticarchdeacon.[112] In the 14th century, the Church of the East declined due topersecution fromTamerlane.[113][114] The 16th century witnessed the colonial overtures of the PortuguesePadroado aiming to bring St Thomas Christians into theLatin Catholic Church, administered by thePortuguese PadroadoArchdiocese of Goa, leading to the first of several rifts in the community.[115][116][117] The efforts of the Portuguese culminated in theSynod of Diamper, formally subjugating them and their wholeArchdiocese of Angamaly as a suffragan see to theArchdiocese of Goa administered byRoman CatholicPadroado missionaries.
The death of the lastmetropolitan bishop – Archbishop Abraham of theSaint Thomas Christians, an ancient body formerly part of theChurch of the East[118][119] in 1597 gave the then Archbishop of GoaMenezes an opportunity to bring the native church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. He was able to secure the submission ofArchdeacon George, the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. Menezes convened theSynod of Diamper between 20 and 26 June 1599,[120] which introduced a number of reforms to the church and brought it fully into theLatin Church of the Catholic Church. Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated Francis Ros, S. J. as Archbishop of theArchdiocese of Angamalé for the Saint Thomas Christians; thus created another suffragan see to Archdiocese of Goa andLatinisation of St Thomas Christians started. TheSaint Thomas Christians were pressured to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and most of them eventually accepted the Catholic faith, but a part of them switched toWest Syriac Rite.[120] Resentment of these measures led to some part of the community to join theArchdeacon,Thomas, in swearing never to submit to the Portuguese Jesuits in theCoonan Cross Oath in 1653. Those who accepted the West Syriac theological and liturgical tradition of Gregorios became known asJacobites. The others who continued with East Syriac theological and liturgical tradition stayed faithful to 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 ArchdeaconThomas, Nazranis around Cochin gathered at Mattancherry church on Friday, 24 January 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3) and made an oath that 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 ofChurch of Rome.[121] Those who were not able to touch the cross tied ropes on the cross, held the rope in their hands and made 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 titleThoma I. At this time, Rome intervened and Carmelite Missionaries were sent to win 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 the country and they consecratedPalliveettil Chandy kathanaar as the bishop for the Catholic Thomas Christians on 1 February 1663. Meanwhile,Thoma I appealed to several eastern Christian churches for regularising his consecration. TheSyriac Orthodox Patriarch responded and sent metropolitanGregorios Abdul Jaleel ofJerusalem to India in 1665. He confirmed Thoma I as a bishop and worked together with him to organise the Church. These events led to the gradual and lasting schism among the Saint Thomas Christians of India, leading to the formation ofPuthenkūr (New allegiance) andPazhayakūr (Old allegiance) factions.
ThePazhayakūr comprise the present daySyro-Malabar Catholic Church andChaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the East Syriac Rite.[122][123][124] ThePuthenkūr, who entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, anOriental Orthodox church, inherited from them the West Syriac Rite, replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy.Puthenkūr is the body from which present dayJacobite Syrian Christian Church,Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,CSI Syrian Christians,Mar Thoma Syrian Church,St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India,Syro-Malankara Catholic Church andMalabar Independent Syrian Church originate.[125][126][127]
In 1453, thefall of Constantinople to theSunni IslamicOttoman Caliphate marked the end of theByzantine (Eastern Roman Empire), and severed European trade links by land with Asia. This massive blow toChristendom spurred theAge of Discovery as Europeans started seeking alternative routes east by sea along with the goal of forging alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.[128][129] Along with Portuguese long-distance maritime travelers that reached theMalabar Coast in the late 15th century, came Portuguese missionaries who made contact with theSt Thomas Christians in Kerala. These Christians were followingEastern Christian practices and under the jurisdiction ofChurch of the East. The missionaries sought to introduce theLatin liturgical rites among them and unifyEast Syriac Christians in India under theHoly See. This group, which existed inKerala relatively peacefully for more than a millennium, faced considerable persecution from Portuguese evangelists in the 16th century.[130][131] This later wave of evangelism spread Catholicism more widely along theKonkan coast.[132][133]
The South Indian coastal areas around Kanyakumari were known for pearl fisheries ruled by theParavars. From 1527, the Paravars, being threatened by Arab fleets offshore who were supportedZamorin of Calicut,[134] sought the protection of thePortuguese 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 the entire community had declared itself to be Christian. The Portuguese navy destroyed the Arab fleet atVedalai on 27 June 1538.[135][134]
Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, began a mission to the lower classes of Tamil society in 1542.[136] 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.[137] Paravar Christianity, with its own identity based on a mixture of Christian religious belief and Hindu caste culture, remains a defining part of the Paravar life today.[134][138]
In the 16th century, the proselytisation of Asia was linked to thePortuguese colonial policy.[139] Missionaries of the different orders includingFranciscans,Dominicans,Jesuits,Augustinians arrived with the Portuguese colonisers. The history of Portuguese missionaries in India starts with the Portuguese clergy who reachedKappad near Kozhikode on 20 May 1498, along with the Portuguese explorerVasco da Gama who was seeking to form anti-Islamic alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.[140][141] The lucrative spice trade was further temptation for the Portuguese crown.[142] When he and the Portuguese missionaries arrived, they found Christians in the country in Malabar known as St. Thomas Christians who belonged to the then-largest Christian church within India.[141] 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.[143]
During the second expedition, the Portuguese fleet comprising 13 ships and 18 priests, under CaptainPedro Álvares Cabral, anchored at Cochin on 26 November 1500. Cabral soon won the goodwill of theRaja 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. DomFrancisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy got permission from the Kochi Raja to build two churches – namelySanta Cruz Basilica (1505) andSt. Francis Church (1506) using stones and mortar, which 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.[144]
In the beginning of the 16th century, the whole of the east was under the jurisdiction of theArchdiocese of Lisbon. On 12 June 1514, Cochin and Goa became two prominent mission stations under the newly createdDiocese of Funchal inMadeira. In 1534,Pope Paul III by the Bull Quequem Reputamus, raised Funchal as anarchdiocese andGoa as itssuffragan, deputing the whole of India under thediocese of Goa. This created anepiscopal see –suffragan toFunchal, with a jurisdiction extending potentially over all past and future conquests from theCape of Good Hope to China.
The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived withAfonso de Albuquerque during thePortuguese conquest of Goa in 1510.[145] Due to theChristianisation of Goa, over 90% of theGoans in theVelhas Conquistas became Catholic by the 1700s.[146]
The Portuguese government supported the missionaries. At the same time manyNew Christians from Portugal emigrated to India as a result of thePortuguese Inquisition. Many of them were suspected of beingCrypto-Jews andCrypto-Muslims, converted Jews and Muslims who were secretly practising their old religions. Both were considered a threat to the solidarity of Christian belief.[144] According toMaria Aurora Couto,Jesuit missionaryFrancis Xavier requested the installation of theGoa Inquisition in a letter dated 16 May 1546 toKing John III of Portugal, but the tribunal commenced only in 1560.[147] The Inquisition office persecutedHindus,Muslims,Bene Israels,New Christians and theJudaisingNasranis.[148]Crypto-Hindus were the primary target of the 250 years of persecution and punishment for their faith by the Catholic prosecutors.[149] Most affected were theShudras (12.5%) and farmers (35.5%).[150]
In 1557,Goa was made an independent archbishopric, and its first suffragan sees were erected atCochin andMalacca. The whole of the East came under the jurisdiction ofGoa and its boundaries extended to almost half of 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.
TheDiocese 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 ofSt. Thomas Basilica. The suffragan sees added later to Goa. were the prelacy of Mozambique (1612), Peking (1609) and Nanking (1609) in China.
A significant portion of the crew on Portuguese ships were Indian Christians.[151]
ThePortuguese were however unable to establish their presence in Mangalore as a result of the conquests of theVijayanagara rulerKrishnadevaraya andAbbakka Rani ofUllal, the Bednore Queen of Mangalore. Most ofMangalorean Catholics were not originally fromMangalore but fromGoa, which they fled during theSackings of Goa and Bombay-Bassein and to escape the persecution of theGoan Inquisition.
TheFranciscans spearheaded theevangelisation of the "Province of the North" (Província do Norte)[152] headquartered atFort San Sebastian of Bassein (close to present dayMumbai), but the fort's officials were subordinate to the viceroy in the capital ofVelha Goa. From 1534 to 1552, a priest by 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 theKanheri Caves who became known as Paulo Raposo and Francisco de Santa Maria. They introduced Christianity to their fellow yogis, converting many in the process.[152] The descendants of these Christians are today known as theBombay East Indian Christians who are predominantly Roman Catholics and inhabitants of the north Konkan region.
InPortuguese 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 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 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 twoLutherans from Germany,Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg andHeinrich Plütschau, who began work in 1705 in the Danish settlement of Tranquebar.[153] They translated the Bible into the localTamil language, and afterwards intoHindustani. They made little progress at first, but gradually the mission spread toMadras,Cuddalore andTanjore.[153] TheBishop of Tranquebar is still the official title of the bishop of theTamil Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tamil Nadu which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission andChurch of Sweden Mission, the successors ofBartholomäus Ziegenbalg andHeinrich Plütschau. The seat of the bishop, the cathedral and its church house,the Tranquebar House are inTiruchirappalli.
German missionaryJohann Phillip Fabricius, who arrived in South India in 1740, published the first Tamil to English dictionary and refined the Tamil Bible translation.[154]
Christian Friedrich Schwarz was a prominent German Lutheran missionary who arrived in India in 1750. His mission was instrumental in the conversion of many people fromTamil Nadu to Lutheranism. He died in Tamil Nadu and was buried in St.Peter's Church at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.[154][155][156]
Hermann Gundert a German missionary, scholar, and linguist, as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureateHermann Hesse was a missionary in theSouth Indian state ofKerala and was instrumental in compiling a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam (1859), in which he developed and constructed the grammar currently spoken by theMalayalis, published a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872), and contributed to work onBible translations into Malayalam.[157][158]
Eugen Liebendörfer was the first German missionary doctor in India as part of theBasel Mission. He built hospitals in Kerala andKarnataka.[159]
Another Basel MissionaryFerdinand Kittel worked in South Indian state of Karnataka in places such as Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka. He is renowned for his studies of the Kannada language and for producing a Kannada-English dictionary of about 70,000 words in 1894. He also composed numerous Kannada poems.[160][161][162]
Hermann Mögling was a German missionary to Karnataka, he is credited as the publisher of the first ever newspaper in the Kannada language called asMangalooru Samachara in 1843.[163] He was awarded a doctorate for his literary work in Kannada called as Bibliotheca Carnataca. He also translated Kannada literature into German.
Another Lutheran German missionary to Kerala wasVolbrecht Nagel, he was a missionary to the Malabar coast of India. Initially associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church, he later joined theOpen Brethren, and is remembered now as a pioneer of theKerala Brethren movement.[164]
In 1793,William Carey, an EnglishBaptist Minister, came to India as a missionary but also as a man of learning in economics, medicine andbotany.[165] He worked inSerampore, Calcutta, and other places. He translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages and dialects. He worked in India despite the hostility of the British East India Company until his death in 1834. Carey and his colleagues, Joshua Marshman and William Ward, blended science, Christianity, and constructive Orientalism in their work at the Danish settlement of Serampore, near Calcutta. Carey saw the dissemination of European science and Christianity as mutually supportive and equally important civilising missions. He also supported a revival of Sanskrit science. Carey played a key role in the establishment of the Agricultural Society of India. Ward, beginning in 1806, published important commentaries on ancient Hindu medical and astronomy texts. In 1818, Carey and his fellow missionaries foundedSerampore College to nurture a uniquely Indian variety of European science.[166]
TheLondon Missionary Society was the first Protestant mission inAndhra Pradesh which established its station atVisakhapatnam in 1805.[167]Anthony Norris Groves, aPlymouth Brethren missionary arrived in 1833. He worked in theGodavari delta area until his death in 1852.John Christian Frederick Heyer was the first Lutheran missionary in the region ofAndhra Pradesh. He founded the Guntur Mission in 1842. Supported initially by the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and later by the Foreign Mission Board of the General Synod, Heyer was also encouraged and assisted by British government officials. He established a number of hospitals and a network of schools throughout the Guntur region.[168]
TheChurch Missionary Society (CMS), a mission society working with theAnglican Communion,[169] began sending missionaries to India and established mission stations atChennai (Madras) andBengal, then in 1816 atTravancore.[170] TheCMS Mission to India expanded in the following years. The successors of the Protestant church missions are theChurch of South India and theChurch of North India.[169]
Marathi Christians can be found in the areas ofAhmednagar,Solapur,Poona, andAurangabad. They were converted through the efforts of theAmerican Marathi Mission,The SPG Mission, and theChurch Mission Society ofChurch of England in the early 18th century. British missionaryWilliam Carey was instrumental in translating the Bible into theMarathi language.[171]
During theBettiah Raj of Bihar, the ethnoreligious community ofBettiah Christians was established in India in the 17th century by Christian missionaries belonging to theOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin, a Roman Catholicreligious order.[172] The Capuchins were personally invited to establish the Bettiah Christian Mission by Maharaja Dhurup Singh after the Italian Capuchin priest Joseph Mary Bernini treated his ill wife.Pope Benedict XIV, on 1 May 1742, approved the appointment of the Capuchins at the Bettiah Fort in a letter to Maharaja Dhurup Singh.[173]
Many upper-class Bengalis converted to Christianity during theBengali Renaissance underBritish Rule, includingKrishna Mohan Banerjee,Michael Madhusudan Dutt,Anil Kumar Gain, and Gnanendramohan Tagore,Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee.[174]
During the 19th century, several American Baptist missionaries evangelised in the northeastern parts of India. In 1876, Dr. E. W. Clark first went to live in aNaga village, four years after his Assamese helper, Godhula, baptised the firstNaga converts. Rev. and Mrs. A.F. Merrill arrived in India in 1928 and worked in the southeast section of theGaro Hills.[175] Rev. and Mrs. M.J. Chance spent most of the years between 1950 and 1956 at Golaghat working with the Naga and Garo tribes.[176] Even today, the heaviest concentrations of Christians in India continue to be in the Northeast among theNagas,Khasis,Kukis, andMizos.[177]
Indian Christians were involved even at early stages of the nationalist movement in colonial India, both in theIndian National Congress and the widerIndian independence movement:[53]
Indian Christian involvement in the early stages of the nationalist movement is also reflected in the high levels of participation in the activities of the Indian National Congress. During the period from its inception up until about 1892 all the evidence suggests that Indian Christians enthusiastically supported the National Congress and attended its annual meetings. For example, according to the official Congress report, there were 607 registered delegates at the Madras meeting of 1887; thirty-five were Christians and, of these, seven were Eurasians and fifteen were Indian Christians. Indian Christians alone made up 2.5 per cent of the total attendance, in spite of the fact that Christians accounted for less than 0.79 per cent of the population. The Indian Christian community was also well represented at the next four sessions of the Congress. The proportion of Indian Christian delegates remained very much higher than their proportion in the population, in spite of the fact that meetings were sometimes held in cities such as Allahabad and Nagpur, far removed from the main centres of Christian population.[53]
TheAll India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC) played an important role in the Indian independence movement, advocating forswaraj andopposing the partition of India.[54] The AICIC also was opposed to separate electorates for Christians, believing that the faithful "should participate as common citizens in one common, national political system".[53][54] The All India Conference of Indian Christians and theAll India Catholic Union formed a working committee with M. Rahnasamy ofAndhra University serving as president and B.L. Rallia Ram ofLahore serving as general secretary; in its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee prepared a 13-point memorandum that was sent to theConstituent Assembly of India, which asked forreligious freedom for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in theConstitution of India.[54]
There are a large number of items of artistic and architectural significance in the religious and domestic life of Indian Christians.[178]Altars,statues,pulpits,crosses,bells andbelfries of churches along with other household items are among the many things that form part of thesacred art of the Indian Christians.[178]
The following artistic elements predate European Christianity and form an integral part of the religious art and architecture of theSaint Thomas Christians:
After the arrival ofVasco da Gama and more especially after the commencement of Portuguese rule in India, distinct patterns of Christian art developed within the areas of Portuguese influence, mostly along the coasts of the peninsula. The Portuguese commissioned monumental buildings and promoted architecture more than any other form of fine art.St. Francis Church, Kochi is the first European place of worship in India and incidentally also the place where Vasco da Gama was first buried. The Christian art of Goa reached its climax in church building, laying the foundations of Indian Baroque.[178]
Indian Christian architecture during theBritish Raj has expanded into several different styles as a result of extensive church building in different parts of the country. The style that was most patronised is generally referred to as theBritish Regency style followed byNeo-Gothic andGothic Revival architecture.[179] Most Protestant cathedrals and churches in India conform to the Neo-Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture styles. The adaptation of European architectural elements to the tropical climate in India has resulted in the creation of theIndo-Gothic style.[180]St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata, is a typical example of this style.St. Mary's Church, Chennai, the first Anglican church built east of theSuez, is one of the first examples of British colonial architecture in India.[181] French andDanish influences on Christian art and architecture in India can be seen in their respective colonies.[182]
![Built in 1562, Se Cathedral is an example of the Portuguese-Manueline style of architecture.[183][184]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSe%25E2%2580%2599_Cathedral%2c_Goa.jpg)
![St. Paul's CNI Cathedral, Calcutta is one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in India.[185]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSt_Paul%2527s_Cathedral%2c_Kolkata.jpg)
![St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore is an example of the English Baroque style in India.[186][187]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSt._Marks_Cathedral%2c_Bangalore._(Old_Postcard_Re-print)%2c_India_Post_(2014).jpg)
![Church of South India Cathedral of St. George, Chennai is an example of the Neoclassical style.[188]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGeorge%2527sCathedral.jpg)
![The Gothic Revival style Medak Cathedral is one of the largest churches in Asia.[189]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMedak_Cathedral_(1).jpg)
![The Gothic Revival style All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad illuminated at night[190]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAll_Saints_Cathedral%2c_Allahabad_in_the_night.jpg)
![Buff-coloured basalt and limestone doorway to the CNI Afghan Church[191]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAfghan_Church_-_Doorway.jpg)
![St. James' Church, Delhi, built on a Greek cruciform plan, is an example of the Renaissance Revival style in India.[192]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSt._James_Church_9.jpg)
Kerala Christians have a unique tradition of photographing funerals.[193]
While Christians in India do not share one common culture, their cultures for the most part tend to be a blend of Indian, Syrian and European cultures. It differs from one region to another depending on several factors such as the prevailingliturgical rite and tradition and the extent of time for which Christianity has existed in those regions. The ancientSaint Thomas Christians ofKerala have a distinctively different culture when compared to Christians in other parts of the country.[194] Historical ties with theChurch of the East and assimilation of Indian culture have contributed to the development of a unique subculture among these traditional Syrian Christians or Nasranis of Kerala.[194] The use of ornamental umbrellas for Christian religious festivities illustrates an example of the indigenous character of Kerala's Syriac Christianity.[195] TheMalankara Nasranis (Thomasine Christians) have a unique Syro-Malabarese culture which includesChristianised Jewish elements, along with some Hindu customs.
As a result of theChristianisation of Goa by the Portuguese in the 16th century AD,Goan Catholics have adopted a more Western culture.[196] The dance, song and cuisine ofGoa has been greatly influenced by the Portuguese.[197] Theculture of Goan Catholics is a mix ofPortuguese andKonkani cultures, with the former having a more dominant role because the Portuguese ruled Goa directly from 1510 to 1961.[198]Mangalorean Catholics, who are mainly migrants from theKonkan region to theCanara subregion ofCarnataca, have developed a distinctMangalorean Catholic culture.[199] Christianity in other parts of India spread under the colonial regimes of the Dutch, Danish, French and most importantly the English from the early 17th century to the time of the Indian Independence in 1947.Christian culture in various parts of India, has been influenced by the religion and culture of their respective colonisers.[200]
Contemporary Christian culture in India draws greatly from theEnglish culture, as a result of the influence and dominance of formerBritish Indian rule, this is evident in the culture ofBombay East Indian Christians, who were the first subjects of English rule, in the erstwhileSeven Islands of Bombay and the adjacent areas of North Konkan. TheBook of Common Prayer is a widely used supplement for worship in the two majorAnglican Protestant denominations:Church of South India andChurch of North India.[201] Today Christians are considered to be one of the most progressive communities in India.[202] Urban Christians are to a greater extent influenced by European culture, which is considered an advantage in the business environment of urban India; this is given as an explanation for the large number of Christian professionals in India's corporate sector.[203] The Christian church runs thousands ofeducational institutions which have contributed to the strengthening of Christian culture in India.
Religion plays a significant role in the daily life of Indian Christians, India ranks 15 among countries with based onchurch attendance.Religious processions andcarnivals are often celebrated byIndian Catholics.[204] Cities with significant Christian populations celebratepatron saint days. As in other parts of the world, Christmas is the most important festival for Indian Christians.Anglo-Indian Christmasballs held in most major cities form a distinctive part of Indian Christian culture.[205]Great Friday is a national holiday,All Souls Day is another holiday that is observed by most Christians in India.[206] Most Protestant churches celebrate harvest festivals, usually in late October or early November.[207] Easter and All Saints Day are also observed by many.
Christian weddings in India conform to thewhite wedding. However, some Christian brides in the south, wear a whitesari instead of a white dress (gown).[208] Prior to the 1960s, thedhothi was worn bySouth Canarese Christian bridegrooms to theirChurch weddings; it has almost completely been replaced by the blacksuit and tie nowadays.[209]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 8,305,000 | — |
| 1961 | 10,729,000 | +29.2% |
| 1971 | 14,225,000 | +32.6% |
| 1981 | 16,650,000 | +17.0% |
| 1991 | 19,455,000 | +16.8% |
| 2001 | 24,080,016 | +23.8% |
| 2011 | 27,819,588 | +15.5% |
| Source:[210][211][212] | ||
The 2001 census of India recorded 24,080,016 Christians in the country, representing 2.34 per cent of the population.[213] A majority of Indian Christians areProtestants, followed byCatholics andOriental Orthodox etc.
Christianity is the predominant religion in the northeastern states ofNagaland,Mizoram,Meghalaya, andManipur. There are also substantial Christian populations in the regions ofArunachal, Assam,Tripura, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Kerala,Tamil Nadu, Goa and theAndaman and Nicobar Islands.[214] The Christian population ofBombay (Mumbai) area, is above the national average of 2.3 percent and found to be at 3.45 percent according to the 2011 census.[2]
According toPew Research, 74% of Christians in India belong to disadvantaged social groups, largely concentrated in the South, East, and Northeast. This includes 33% belonging to Scheduled Castes (a.k.a.Dalit Christian), mostly in South India, and 24% to Scheduled Tribes, mainly in the East and Northeast[215] A 2015 study estimates some 40,000 Christian believers from a Muslim background in the country, most of them belonging to Protestantism.[216]
| States | Christian population | Percentage (%) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerala | 6,141,269 | 18.38 | "Significant" |
| Meghalaya | 2,213,027 | 74.59 | "Majority" |
| Nagaland | 1,739,651 | 87.93 | "Majority" |
| Manipur | 1,179,043 | 41.29 | "Plurality" |
| Mizoram | 956,331 | 87.16 | "Majority" |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 418,732 | 30.26 | "Plurality" |
| Goa | 366,130 | 25.10 | "Significant" |
The native majority ofGoa is Christian. According to the 1909 statistics in the Catholic Encyclopedia, the total Christian population in Portuguese controlled Goa was 293,628 out of a total population of 365,291 (80.33%).[218] Due to emigration of natives (mostly Goan Catholics) from Goa to cosmopolitan cities in India (Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.) and to foreign countries, as well as mass migration of non-Christians to Goa from other states of India since the 20th century, the demographics of Goa have been severely altered. Less than 50% of Indian residents in Goa are ethnicGoans.[219]The census of India provides us with the official numbers for Christian population in India. The Indian census has been recorded every ten years since 1871 and has always included religion (along with population, race, rural distribution, and occupation, among others).[220] The most recently published census is from 2011.[221] Subsequent estimates from 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 are also considered reliable.[222]
| State/UT | Total population | Christian population | ST Christian population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % of India | % of State | Number | % of State Christian | ||
 India | 1,210,854,977 | 27,819,588 | 100 | 2.30 | 10,327,052 | 37.12 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 84,580,777 | 1,129,784 | 4.06 | 1.34 | 26,512 | 2.35 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,383,727 | 418,732 | 1.51 | 30.26 | 389,507 | 93.02 |
| Assam | 31,205,576 | 1,165,867 | 4.19 | 3.74 | 495,379 | 42.49 |
| Bihar | 104,099,452 | 129,247 | 0.46 | 0.12 | 32,523 | 25.16 |
| Chhattisgarh | 25,545,198 | 490,542 | 1.76 | 1.92 | 385,041 | 78.49 |
| Goa | 1,458,545 | 366,130 | 1.32 | 25.10 | 48,783 | 13.32 |
| Gujarat | 60,439,692 | 316,178 | 1.14 | 0.52 | 120,777 | 38.2 |
| Haryana | 25,351,462 | 50,353 | 0.18 | 0.20 | — | — |
| Himachal Pradesh | 6,864,602 | 12,646 | 0.05 | 0.18 | 275 | 2.17 |
| Jharkhand | 32,988,134 | 1,418,608 | 5.1 | 4.30 | 1,338,175 | 94.33 |
| Karnataka | 61,095,297 | 1,142,647 | 4.11 | 1.87 | 12,811 | 1.12 |
| Kerala | 33,406,061 | 6,141,269 | 22.08 | 18.38 | 32,844 | 0.53 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 72,626,809 | 213,282 | 0.77 | 0.29 | 88,548 | 41.52 |
| Maharashtra | 112,374,333 | 1,080,073 | 3.88 | 0.96 | 20,335 | 1.88 |
| Manipur | 2,855,794 | 1,179,043 | 4.24 | 41.29 | 1,137,318 | 96.46 |
| Meghalaya | 2,966,889 | 2,213,027 | 7.95 | 74.59 | 2,157,887 | 97.51 |
| Mizoram | 1,097,206 | 956,331 | 3.44 | 87.16 | 933,302 | 97.59 |
| Nagaland | 1,978,502 | 1,739,651 | 6.25 | 87.93 | 1,680,424 | 96.6 |
| Odisha | 41,974,218 | 1,161,708 | 4.18 | 2.77 | 816,981 | 70.33 |
| Punjab | 27,743,338 | 348,230 | 1.25 | 1.26 | — | — |
| Rajasthan | 68,548,437 | 96,430 | 0.35 | 0.14 | 25,375 | 26.31 |
| Sikkim | 610,577 | 60,522 | 0.22 | 9.91 | 16,899 | 27.92 |
| Tamil Nadu | 72,147,030 | 4,418,331 | 15.88 | 6.12 | 7,222 | 0.16 |
| Tripura | 3,673,917 | 159,882 | 0.57 | 4.35 | 153,061 | 95.73 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 199,812,341 | 356,448 | 1.28 | 0.18 | 1,011 | 0.28 |
| Uttarakhand | 10,086,292 | 37,781 | 0.14 | 0.37 | 437 | 1.16 |
| West Bengal | 91,276,115 | 658,618 | 2.37 | 0.72 | 343,893 | 52.21 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 380,581 | 80,984 | 0.29 | 21.28 | 57,280 | 70.73 |
| Chandigarh | 1,055,450 | 8,720 | 0.03 | 0.83 | — | — |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 343,709 | 5,113 | 0.02 | 1.49 | 2,658 | 51.99 |
| Daman and Diu | 243,247 | 2,820 | 0.01 | 1.16 | 16 | 0.57 |
| Delhi | 16,787,941 | 146,093 | 0.53 | 0.87 | — | — |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 12,541,302 | 35,631 | 0.13 | 0.28 | 1,775 | 4.98 |
| Lakshadweep | 64,473 | 317 | 0 | 0.49 | 3 | 0.95 |
| Puducherry | 1,247,953 | 78,550 | 0.28 | 6.29 | — | — |
| Religion | SC | ST | OBC | Forward Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhism | 89.5% | 7.4% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
| Sikhism | 30.7% | 0.9% | 22.4% | 46.1% |
| Hinduism | 22.2% | 9.1% | 42.8% | 26.0% |
| Christianity | 9.0% | 32.8% | 24.8% | 33.3% |
| Islam | 0.8% | 0.5% | 39.2% | 59.5% |
| Jainism | 0.0% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 94.3% |
| Zoroastrianism | 0.0% | 15.9% | 13.7% | 70.4% |
| Others | 2.6% | 82.5% | 6.2% | 8.7% |
| Total | 19.7% | 8.5% | 41.1% | 30.8% |
In 2011, Pew reported 18,860,000Protestants, 10,570,000Catholics, 2,370,000Oriental Orthodox and 50,000 other Christians in India.[3] Other sources estimate the total number ofProtestants throughout the country in several hundreds of denominations at 45 million (45 million).[226][227] Several sources estimate Catholic population in India at over 17 million (1.7 crore)[228][229] The largest single denomination is theCatholic Church.[230]Anglicans within the unitedChurch of North India andChurch of South India, constitute the second largest group at over 5 million (5 million).[231][232]
TheSaint Thomas Christians (Syro Malabar Church,Syro-Malankara Catholic Church,Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,Jacobite Syrian Christian Church,Chaldean Syrian Church,CSI Syrian Christians,Mar Thoma Syrian Church,Pentecostal Syrian Christians,St. Thomas Evangelical Church andMalabar Independent Syrian Church) ofKerala form 18.75% of the Christians in India with 4.5 million of them.[233][234] 310,000 were members of theSyro-Malankara Church[235][when?] and 4,000,000 of theSyro-Malabar Church.[citation needed][when?] In January 1993, the Syro-Malabar Church and in February 2005, the Syro-Malankara Church were raised to the status ofmajor archiepiscopal churches byPope John Paul II. The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest among the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches who accept the Pope as the visible head of the whole church.[236] The Oriental Orthodox churches in India include theMalankara Orthodox Syrian Church with 1120,000 members, theJacobite Syrian Christian Church with 800,000 members and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church with 30,000 members. TheMalankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church is anEastern Protestant denomination with 1,100,000 members.[20][237]
Most Protestant denominations are represented in India, as a result of missionary activities throughout the country, such as theAmerican Missionary Association,the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Mission, theChurch Mission Society of theChurch of England and many other missions from Europe,America and Australia. In 1961, an evangelical wing of the Mar Thoma Church split and formed the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India which has 35,000 members.[238] There are about 1,267,786Lutherans,[239] 648,000 Methodists,[240] 2,392,694 Baptists,[241] and 823,456 Presbyterians in India.[242]
TheOpen Brethren movement is also significantly represented in India. The main Brethren grouping is known as theIndian Brethren (with a following estimated at somewhere between 449,550[243] and 1,000,000), of which theKerala Brethren are a significant subset. The closely relatedAssemblies Jehovah Shammah have around 310,000 adults and children in fellowship as of 2010.[243] They are often considered part of the wider Brethren movement, although they were founded by an indigenous evangelist (Bakht Singh) and developed independently of the older Indian Brethren movement, which originated from missionary endeavours.
Pentecostalism is also a rapidly growing movement in India. The major Pentecostal churches in India are theIndian Pentecostal Church of God,[244] theAssemblies of God,The Pentecostal Mission,[245][246] the New Apostolic Church with 1,448,209 members,[244] theNew Life Fellowship Association with 480,000 members, theManna Full Gospel Churches with 275,000 members,[244] and the Evangelical Church of India with 250,000 members.[247]
The arrival of European colonialists brought about large-scale missionary activity inCoastal andNortheast India. TheCuncolim Massacre[260] and theMahratta invasions of Goa-Anjediva and Bombay-Bassein are among the first known clashes.[261] Christianity has beenpropagandised as a"foreign" religion, with the growth ofHindu fundamentalism,[262][263][264] despite the fact that severalChristian individuals and institutions have been forIndian nationalism.[265][266][267][268]
During the1997–1999 anti-Christian violence in Gujarat, theHuman Rights Watch reported that from 25 December 1988 to 3 January 1999, at least 20 prayer halls were damaged or burnt down and Christian institutions were attacked in theDangs district, and its surrounding districts and at least 25 villages had reported incidents of burning and damages to prayer halls all over Gujarat.[269][270]
On 22 January 1999, an Australian missionaryGraham Staines and his two sons were burnt to death byDara Singh while sleeping in his station wagon atManoharpur village inKeonjhar district in Odisha, India.[271][272] In the annual human rights reports for 1999, theUnited States Department of State also criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians".[273] The report on anti-Christian violence listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christians pilgrims. The states ofRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh andTamil Nadu passed laws placing restrictions on forced religious conversions as a result of communal tension between Christians and Hindus.[274] The legislation passed in Tamil Nadu was later repealed.[274]
In 2007, 19 churches were burned by Hindu right-wingers in Odisha following conflicts between Hindus and Christians regarding Christmas celebrations in theKandhamal district.[275]
In 2008, there was again violence against Christians, particularly in the state ofOdisha.[276] After themurder of Swami Lakshmanananda byIndian Maoists (communist insurgents), tensions flared between the two communities in 2008. Christians were blamed and attacked in Orissa with 38 killed and over 250 churches damaged while several thousands of Christians were displaced. SittingBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAManoj Pradhan was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six years by a fast track court for a murder during the 2008 communal riots in Odisha'sKandhamal district.[277][278][279] The2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa spilled over and escalated into the2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka state. The acts of violence include arson and vandalism of churches, forced conversion of Christians toHinduism by threats of physical violence, distribution of threatening literature, burning of Bibles, raping of nuns, murder of Christian priests, and destruction of Christian schools, colleges and cemeteries.[276][280][281]
A program or movement with its roots inHindutva ideology, known asGhar Wapsi ('returning home'), sponsored by a number ofHindu nationalist groups, facilitates the mass conversion of Christians – and, especially, Muslims – "back" to their supposedly "inherent" or "natural" religion of Hinduism. Organisations which promoteGhar wapasi include the far-rightRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), theVishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) andDharm Jagaran Samiti. Its support by influential officials within the BJP, the governing party, has led to criticism such that support threatens the secularism and freedom of religion enshrined in India's constitution.[282][283]
India is number 10 on Open Doors' 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the fifty countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.[284] However, a faction of theSyrian Christians of Kerala do support the Hindutva ideology and extremist groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS);[285] which was involved in the violent and forceful demolition of theBabri Masjid.[286][287] While some have argued thatHindu caste based discrimination has continuedamong Christians in India,[288][289] otherIndians andHindus have deniedcaste based reservation toDalit Christians.[290][291][292]
The relationship between Muslims and Christians in India has also been occasionally turbulent. With the advent of European colonialism in India throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Christians were systematically persecuted in certain Muslim-ruled kingdoms in India, particularly the actions byTippu Sultan, the ruler ofMysore against theMangalorean Catholics (South Canara). Thecaptivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam, which began on 24 February 1784 and ended 15 years later on 4 May 1799, remains the most disconsolate memory in that community's history.[293]
The Bakur Manuscript reports Tippu Sultan as having said:[294]
All Musalmans should unite together, considering the annihilation of infidels as a sacred duty, and labour to the utmost of their power, to accomplish that subject.
Soon after theTreaty of Mangalore in 1784, Tipu gained control ofSouth Canara.[295] He issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates,[296] and deport them to Seringapatam, the capital of his empire, via theJamalabad-fort route.[297] However, there were no priests among the captives. Together with Fr Miranda, all the 21 arrested priests were issued orders of expulsion to Goa, fined Rs 200,000, and threatened with death by hanging if they ever returned.[294]
Tipu ordered the destruction of twenty-seven Catholic churches[when?] all intricately carved with statues depicting various saints. Among them were Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres atMangalore, Jesu Marie Jose atOmzoor, the Chapel atBolar, the Church of Merces atUllal, Imaculata Conceiciao atMulki, Sao Lawrence atKarkal[citation needed] and Immaculata Conceciao at Baidnur.[294] All were razed to the ground, with the exception of theChurch of Holy Cross atHospet, owing to the friendly offices of the Chauta Raja ofMoodbidri.[298]
An instigating factor that helped spark theIndian Rebellion of 1857 was, for Muslims sepoys, resistance to theEast India Company's introduction of the newEnfield Rifle-Musket – abhorrent to them due to a belief that the weapon's cartridges, which they would be required to handle and even to bite open the encasing papers, were greased with pig fat, a religiously unacceptable agent for Muslim soldiers. Sepoys interpreted the rumours of grease constituents as a deliberate ploy by the company to defile Muslim soldiers so that they would convert to Christianity.[299] In combination with a corresponding idea that cow fat was included to defile Hindu soldiers, this was perceived as an attempt to imposeChristian law inHindustan.[300]
HistorianWilliam Dalrymple notes the religiously imbued rhetoric employed, in contrast to nationalistic sentiment. For instance, whenMughal EmperorBahadur Shah Zafar met the sepoys on 11 May 1857, he was told: "We have joined hands to protect our religion and our faith." They later stood inChandni Chowk, the main square, and asked the people gathered there, "Brothers, are you with those of the faith?"[300] Those British men and women who had previously converted to Islam such as the defectors, Sergeant-Major Gordon, and Abdullah Beg, a former Company soldier, were spared.[301] In contrast, foreign Christians such as the Rev Midgeley John Jennings, as well as Indian converts to Christianity such as one of Zafar's personal physicians, Chaman Lal, were killed outright.[301] Dalrymple recounts that as late as 6 September, when calling the inhabitants of Delhi to rally against the upcoming British assault, Zafar issued a proclamation stating that this was a religious war being prosecuted on behalf of "the faith", and that all Muslim and Hindu residents of the imperial city, or of the countryside were encouraged to stay true to their faith and creeds.[300] He observes that the Urdu sources of the pre- and post-rebellion periods usually refer to the British not asangrez ('the English'),goras ('whites') orfirangis ('foreigners'), but askafir ('infidels') andnasrani ('Christians').[300]
Muslims in India who convert to Christianity are considered apostates and subject to harassment, intimidation, and attacks by Muslims.[302][303] InJammu and Kashmir, a Christian convert and missionary named Bashir Tantray was killed, allegedly by militant Islamists in 2006.[304][unreliable source?]
Estimated 2010 Christian Population 31,850,000 (pages 19, 60, 75) Protestant 18,860,000 Catholic 10,570,000 Orthodox 2,370,000 Others 50,000 (pp. 27, 83)
Being the largest Protestant church in India, the CSI celebrates her life with Indian culture and spirituality and she also raises her voice for the voiceless on matters of justice, peace and integrity of creation.
The Church of South India is the result of the union of churches of varying traditions Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. It was inaugurated in September 1947, after protracted negotiation among the churches concerned. Organized into 22 dioceses, each under the spiritual supervision of a bishop, the church as a whole is governed by a synod, which elects a moderator (presiding bishop) every 2 years. Episcopacy is thus combined with Synodical government, and the church explicitly recognizes that Episcopal, Presbyterian, and congregational elements are all necessary for the church's life.
The Church of South India created a polity that recognized Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational elements and developed a book of worship that bridged the liturgical traditions that came into this new church. It set up a plan by which existing ministries were accepted while including processes which would lead to the time, a generation later, when all ministers would have been ordained by bishops in apostolic succession. The Church of South India was important as a prototype for a new American church because two factors had come together: the cross-confessional nature of its constituent parts and the intention to be, in effect, the Protestant Christian presence in communities all across the southern territories of its nation.
...churches that would combine the episcopal, presbyterian and congregational forms of church polity, and would accept the historic episcopate without committing the church to any particular theological interpretation of episcopacy. This is essentially what has been done both in the Church of South India and the Church of North India.
The Church of North India is a united church which came into being as the result of a union of six churches on 29th November 1970. The six churches were: The Council of the Baptist Churches in Northern India, The Church of the Brethren in India; The Disciples of Christ; The Church of India (formerly known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon); The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences); The United Church of Northern India. ... The Church of North India is a full member of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the Council for World Mission, the Anglican Consultative Council, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
Most Indian Christians believe that the apostle Thomas arrived in southwest India (the present state of Kerala) in 52 CE and several years later was martyred outside the city of Mailapur (now part of metropolitanChennai), on a hill now calledSt Thomas Mount.
It is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Israel in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem (Matt. 26:73)
The earliest historical evidence, however, regarding the existence of a Church in South India dates from the sixth century AD
The Portuguese also sought to convert Indians to Roman Catholicism. Until 1540 the pace was slow and erratic. With the arrival in India of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and its Jesuit troops, however, 'intolerance became the theme.' The Portuguese destroyed all of the Hindu temples in Goa, their Indian Ocean capital, and many in other settlements as well. 'Most Hindu ceremonies were forbidden, including marriage and cremation.' In 1560, the Portuguese instituted the Inquisition, and by 1600 two-thirds of the population of the city of Goa were Christians. Many of the newly converted Christians nevertheless remained quite conscious of their caste position in the Hindu hierarchy. It was not unusual for a person to identify himself as a Goan Christian Saraswat Brahmin.
There are various versions about the wording of swearing, one version being that it was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another that it was directed against the authority of church of Rome
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Schwarz, Christian Friedrich".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 389.This Bungalow in Tellicherry ... was the residence of Dr. Herman Gundert. He lived here for 20 years.
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