Mor Sabor and Mor Afroth, according toSyrian Christians ofKerala, were two bishops from theChurch of the East (often described in local memory as “Syrian bishops”) who are believed to have arrived around 825 AD along with a group of Christian settlers from Persia. Together, they establishedecclesiastical institutions in several regions. Revered for their devoutness, they were posthumously recognized assaints by the local ecclesiastical body.[1][2] The mission is said to have received permission from the then king of Kerala to build a church in Kollam.[3][4][5]
That the historicity of this mission cannot be verified does not dispute the epigraphical evidence that Christians were on theMalabar Coast in 9th century AD.Kollam Syrian copper plates, a 9th-century royal grant from Kerala, mentions that certain Maruvan Sapir Iso built a church at Kollam with the blessing of the thenEmperor of Kerala. It is likely that Mar Sapir had a companion named Mar Proth.[6] A stone cross, one of the five Persian Crosses, withSassanid Pahlavi inscription recovered also mentions certain "Afras the Syrian" as "the son of Chaharabukht".[7]
Mor Sabor and Mor afroth, as bishops from theChurch of the East, played a significant role in consolidating theEast Syriac tradition among the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala in the 9th century.The Quilon Copper Plate Grants (849 AD) issued to them by Chera ruler Ayyanadikal Thiruvadikal secured land, trade rights, and privileges for the Christian community, enabling it to flourish as a distinct socio-religious body in Kerala. Through their liturgical, institutional, and communal contributions, Mor Sabor and Mor afroth helped establish the foundations ofSyriac Christianity in India, a legacy that continues in theMalankara Church
MS Vatican Syriac N. iv., which is dated to 1556 and written in the Kottakkavu Church, has the following colophon in folio 278:
"By the help of our Lord we have finished this book of the Prophets; it was written on a Monday, the 18th of February, in the year 1556 of the birth of our Lord. I, priest Jacob, the disciple of Mar Jacob, and from the village of Puraur, have written this book in the holy Church of Mar Shapur and Mar Iapot [Aprot]. May the holy name of God be praised for ever. Amen!"[9]
The Persian cross founded by Sabor and Proth atKadamattom ChurchTomb of Mar Abo (often identified as Mar Sabor among somePuthenkoor denominations) at Marthamariam church,Thevalakkara
The Kollam Plates in the World of the Ninth Century Indian Ocean. Delhi: Primus Books (upcoming).
M. R. Raghava Varier and K. Veluthat, 2013.Tarissāppaḷḷippaṭṭayam, Trivandrum: National Book Stall
C. G. Cereti, 'The Pahlavi Signatures on the Quilon Copper Plates', inExegisti Monument (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 2009).
C. G. Cereti, L. M. Olivieri, and J. Vazhuthanapally, 'The Problem of the Saint Thomas Crosses and Related Questions', East and West 52:1/ 4 (2002).
M. G. S. Narayanan,Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala (Trivandrum: Kerala Historical Society, 1972).
W. Baum and R. Senoner (eds. and trans.), Indien und Europa im Mittelalter: Die Eingliederung des Kontinents in das europäische Bewußtsein bis ins 15. Jahrhundert (Klagenfurt: Kitab, 2000).
When they arrived on the Malabar Coast, the Portuguese noted at least 78 extant church communities closely interwoven with the local community in different parts of Kerala.Quilon,Angamaly,Kaduthuruthy and Cranganore (now known asKodungallur) had the largest population ofSaint Thomas Christians in Kerala. Giovanni Empoli, who came toQuilon in 1503, estimated that there were more than three thousand St. Thomas Christians in Quilon alone.[10]
After 1561, Thomas Christians were branded heretics by theGoa Inquisition. The infamousSynod of Diamper (1599) anathematized all Christians of India who did not submit to Rome. The synod even branded Mar Sabor and Mar Prot as "Nestorian heretics" at the instance of the Portuguese.[8]
"Mar" (Syriac: "lord") is an episcopal title used in theMalabar churches and in West Asia, while "Sapor" (Syriac: Shapur) and "Prodh" (Syriac: Firuz) are alternative names used in theSasanian Empire in the 4-5th centuries AD. A Christian grant made by theKollam ruler dating to about 824 AD bears the name "Maruvan Sapir Iso", which is believed to be an amalgamation of "Mar Sapor" and "Mar Prodh" or simply the Syriac nameSabrisho, popular in the Church of the East.[11]
