Christianity in India

Indian Christians

Varghese Palakkappillil · Sonia Gandhi · Mother Teresa · Anna Chandy · George Fernandes · Diana Hayden · John Abraham · Saint Alphonsa · Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy · Malaika Arora · James Michael Lyngdoh · Leander Paes
Total population
24,080,016 (2001)[1] 2.3% of the Indian Population
Regions with significant populations
Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, North-Eastern States, Southern India
Languages
Various Indian and other languages
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant. Significant communities of Pentecostal, Baptist and Syrian Orthodox
Related ethnic groups
St. Thomas Christians, Goan Catholics, East Indians, Mangalorean Catholics, Khasis, Mizos, Nagas, Anglo-Indians

Christianity is India's third-largest religion, with approximately 24 million followers, constituting 2.3% of India's population.^[2] The works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings state that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle, who visited Muziris in Kerala in 52 CE to proselytize amongst Kerala's Jewish settlements; however this is disputed due to lack of credible historical evidence.^[3][4][5] Although, the exact origins of Christianity in India remain unclear, it is generally agreed that Christianity in India is almost as old as Christianity itself and spread in India even before it spread in many, predominantly Christian, nations of Europe.^[6][7]

Today Christians are found all across India and in all walks of life, with major populations in parts of South India, the Konkan Coast and the North-East. Indian Christians have contributed significantly to and are well represented in various spheres of national life. They include former and current chief ministers, governors and chief election commissioners.^[8][9] Indian Christians also have one of the highest literacy, work participation and sex ratio figures among the various religious communities in India.^[10][11][12] Most Christians in India are Catholic (Latin rite). The Eastern rites include the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, which are prominent in Kerala. Other churches include the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Church of South India (CSI), the Church of North India (CNI), Presbyterian Church of India, Indian Pentecostal Church, The Pentecostal Mission and other evangelical groups. The Christian Church runs thousands of educational institutions and hospitals contributing significantly to the development of the nation.^[13]

Early Christianity in India

A Peutinger Table's depiction of Muziris near the tip of India where St. Thomas is believed to have landed in 52 A.D.

According to Indian Christian traditions, the apostle Thomas arrived in Kodungallur (also Muziris), Kerala established the Seven Churches and evangelized in present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu.^[14]

As with early Christianity in the Roman Empire, it is assumed that the initial converts were largely Jewish proselytes among the Cochin Jews who are believed to have arrived in India around 562BC, after the destruction of the First Temple^[15][16]. Many of these Jews presumably spoke Aramaic like St. Thomas, also a Jew by birth, who is credited by tradition with evangelizing India.

More likely to be historical than the tradition that the apostle Thomas himself went to Inida is the claim of Eusebius of Caesarea that Pantaenus, the head of the Christian exegetical school in Alexandria, Egypt went to India during the reign of the Emperor Commodus and found that Christians already existed in India, and that these Christians were using a version of the Gospel of Matthew with "Hebrew letters."^[17] This is plausibly a reference to the earliest Indian churches using the Syriac New Testament, which we know to have been the case. Pantaenus' evidence thus indicates that Syriac-speaking Christians had already evangelized parts of India by the late second century.

San Thome Basilica in Chennai is built over the site where St.Thomas is believed to be originally interred

An early third-century Syriac work known as the Acts of Thomas^[18] 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 is widely disputed due to lack of credible records.^[3] According to one of the legends in the Acts, Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission but the Lord overruled the stubborn disciple 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 the king and his brother.^[18] The Acts of Thomas identifies his second mission in India with a kingdom ruled by King Mahadwa, one of the rulers of a first-century dynasty in southern India. According to the tradition of the Mar Thoma or “Church of Thomas,” Thomas evangelized along the Malabar Coast of Kerala State in southwest India, though the various churches he founded were located mainly on the Periyar River and its tributaries and along the coast, where there were Jewish colonies. He reputedly preached to all classes of people and had about seventeen thousand converts, including members of the four principal castes. According to legend, St. Thomas attained martyrdom at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai and is buried on the site of San Thome Cathedral.^[19]

Detail of a stained glass window at the Anglican St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai showing Thomas the Apostle in the centre flanked by St. Gabriel and St. Michael on either side. St. Thomas occupies a position of immense significance in Indian Christianity irrespective of denominational differences

Critical historians treated the Acts of Thomas as an idle tale and denied the historicity of King Gundaphorus until modern archeology established him as an important figure in North India in the latter half of the first century. Many coins of his reign have turned up in Afghanistan, the Punjab, and the Indus Valley. Remains of some of his buildings , influenced by Greek architecture, indicate that he was a great builder.

Although little is known of the immediate growth of the church, Bar-Daisan (A.D. 154-223) reports that in his time there were Christian tribes in North India which claimed to have been converted by Thomas and to have books and relics to prove it.^[18] But at least by the time of the establishment of the Second Persian Empire (A.D. 226), there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, Afghanistan and Baluchistan, with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.^[18]

Although there was a lively trade between the Near East and India via Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, the most direct route to India in the first century was via Alexandria and the Red Sea, taking advantage of the Monsoon winds, which could carry ships directly to and from the Malabar coast. The discovery of large hoards of Roman coins of first-century Caesars and the remains of Roman trading posts testify to the frequency of that trade. Historian Vincent A. Smith wrote, “It must be admitted that a personal visit of the Apostle Thomas to South India was easily feasible in the traditional belief that he came by way of Socotra, where an ancient Christian settlement undoubtedly existed. I am now satisfied that the Christian church of South India is extremely ancient... ”.^[18]

Relationship of the St. Thomas Christian groups

4th century missions

The renovated Mar Thoma Church, Kodungaloor; the first Christian church in India, built 52 A.D.

India had a flourishing trade with Central Asia, Mediterranean, and Middle East, both along mountain passes in the north and sea routes along the western and southern coast, well before the start of Christian era, and it is likely that Christian merchants settled in Indian cities along trading routes.^[19]

The Chronicle of Seert describes an evangelical mission to India by bishop David of Basra around the year 300;^[20] this metropolitan reportedly made many conversions,^[21] and it has been speculated that his mission took in areas of southern India.^[22] According to Travancore Manual, Thomas of Cana, a Mesopotamian merchant and missionary, brought a mission to India in 345 AD.^[23] He brought 400 Christians from Baghdad, Nineveh, and Jerusalem to Kodungallur. He and his companion Bishop Joseph of Edessa sought refuge under King Cheraman Perumal from persecution of Christians by the Persian king Shapur II. The colony of Syrian Christians established at Kodungallur may be the first Christian community in South India for which there is a continuous written record.^[24] A number of historians claim that Thomas of Cana was confused with the 1st century apostle Thomas by India's Syrian Christians sometime after his death and became their Apostle Thomas in India.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Jesus in India theories

The ancient navigation route from the Judeo-Roman world to the Malabar coast

There are also two sets of distinct accounts of Jesus travelling through India.^[29] According to the first set of accounts, Jesus traveled and studied in India between the ages of twelve and thirty. According the second set of accounts, Jesus did not die on the cross, but after his apparent death and resurrection he journeyed to Kashmir to teach the gospel, and then remained there for the rest of his life^[29][30]. The origin of the first set of accounts is attributed to Russian author Nicolas Notovitch who published the book La vie Inconnue du Jesus Christ (The Unknown life of Jesus Christ) in 1894.^[29] Other writers have suggested, however, that Notovitch's claims were a hoax.^[31]

The origin of the second set of accounts is attributed to Kashmiri author Mirza Gulam Ahmed who published the book Masih Hindustan Mein (Jesus in India) in 1899.^[32] These two accounts are generally not presented in combination. While travel between Middle-East and India was common during those times, these accounts are not given serious thought and treated as speculation since there is no historical account, either in early Christian writings or Indian historical accounts, to either confirm or refute Jesus traveling to India.^[29]

Medieval Period

A set of palm leaf manuscripts from the 15th or 16th century, containing Christian prayers in Tamil. They are thought to be the work of early missionaries, or of the Syrian Malabar church

The Syrian Malabar Nasrani community was further strengthened by various Persian immigrant settlers, the Christian-Jewish Knanaya colonies of third century, Manichaeanism followers, Babylonian Christians settlers of 4th Century A.D, the Syrian settlements of Mar Sabor Easo and Proth in 7th Century A.D. and the immigrant Persian Christians from successive centuries. Archaeological excavations at Pattanam show that the ancient port town of Muziris was in modern Kerala. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes it as a port of “leading importance”. The Kerala Syrian Church was in communion with the Assyrian Church of the East till the Portuguese arrival in the late 15th century. Bishops came from Syria.

The South Indian epic of Manimekalai (written between 2nd and 3rd century CE) mentions the Nasrani people by referring to them by the name Essanis. The embassy of Alfred in 833 CE described the Syrian Christians as being prosperous and enjoying high status in the Malabar coast. Marco Polo also mentioned the Nasranis and their ancient Church in the Malabar coast in his writings Il Milione. The Saint Thomas Christians still use the Syriac language, (a dialect of Aramaic, also the language which Jesus spoke^[33]) in services. This group, which existed in Kerala relatively peacefully for more than a millennium, faced considerable persecution from Portuguese evangelists in the 16th century.^[34][35] This later wave of evangelism spread Catholicism more widely along the Konkan coast. ^[36][37]

The French Dominican missionary Jordanus Catalani was the first European to proselytise in India. He arrived in Surat in 1320. After his ministry in Gujarat he reached Quilon in 1323. He not only revived Christianity but also brought thousands to the Christian fold. He brought a message of good will from the Pope to the local rulers. As the first bishop in India , he was also entrusted with the spiritual nourishment of the Christian community in Calicut , Mangalore, Thane and Broach (north of Thane).^[38]

Modern Period

Portuguese-Tamil Primer (1554). One of the earliest known Christian books in an Indian language

St. Francis CSI Church, in Kochi, originally built in 1503, is the oldest European church in India

Portuguese missionaries reached the Malabar Coast in the late 15th century.They made contact with the St Thomas Christians in Kerala (who were following Eastern Christian practices at that time) and sought to introduce the Catholicism among them. Throughout this period, foreign missionaries also made many new converts to Christianity. Early Roman Catholic missionaries, particularly the Portuguese, led by the Jesuit St Francis Xavier (1506-52), expanded from their bases on the west coast making many converts. With the Papal bull Romanus Pontifex the patronage for the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia was given to the Portuguese. The Portuguese colonial government in Goa supported the mission in India with incentives for baptized Christians. They offered rice donations for the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies for the middle class and military support for local rulers^[39]. As a result of these incentives many converted Indians were opportunistic Rice Christians, who practiced their old religion alongside Christianity^[39]. This was seen as a threat to the immaculateness of the Christian belief. St. Francis Xavier, in a 1545 letter to John III of Portugal, requested an Inquisition be installed in Goa. However the Inquisition, considered one of the most violent institutions in the History of Goa targeted Hindus, Jews, and many newly converted Christians,^[40][41][42] was only installed eight years after St.Francis Xavier's death. Modern-day Goa has a substantial Roman Catholic population with around 30% of the population professing the faith. The undecayed body of St. Francis Xavier is still on public view in a glass coffin at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa. Mangalore is another significant region on the west coast which has a huge Christian population. In 1321, the French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani of Severac (in south-western France), who also worked in Quilon arrived in Bhatkal, a place near Mangalore and established a missionary station there. Many locals were converted to Christianity by Jordanus. .^[38] 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 are descendants of Goan Catholics who fled Goa during the Portuguese-Maratha Wars and the Goan Inquisition. The origin of Christianity in North Konkan, was due to the proselytizing activities of the Portuguese in the 16th Century. The French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani of Severac (in south-western France) started evangelizing activities in Thana.^[43] On the occasion of The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the Christians of North Konkan, who were known as Portuguese Christians discarded that name and adopted the designation East Indians.^[44]

William Carey translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages and dialects

Established in 1818 by the Serampore Trio, the Sentate of Serampore is the not only the first modern university in India but also the premiere Protestant Theological university in India

The first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two Lutherans from Germany, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau, who began work in 1705 in 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. Today bishop of Tranquebar is the official title of a bishop in the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in South India which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and Church of Sweden Mission. The seat of the Bishop, the Cathedral and its Church House ("Tranquebar House") is in Tiruchirappalli.^[45] Beginning in the eighteenth century, Protestant missionaries began working throughout India, leading to the growth of different Christian communities. In 1793, William Carey, an English Baptist Minister came to India as a Missionary. He worked in Serampore, Calcutta, and other places as a missionary. He started the Serampore College. He translated the Bible into Bengali.^[46] He worked until his death in 1834. The London Missionary Society was the first Protestant mission in Andhra Pradesh which established its station at Visakhapatnam in 1805.^[47]Anthony Norris Groves, a Plymouth Brethren missionary came to India in 1833. He worked in the Godavari delta area until his death in 1852. John Christian Frederick Heyer was the first Lutheran missionary in the region of Andhra Pradesh. He founded the Guntur Mission in 1842. He studied Sanskrit and medicine in Baltimore, and set sail for India from Boston in 1841 with three other missionary couples on the ship Brenda. He traveled to India a second time in 1847, spending a decade, mainly in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state, in southern India, where he ministered and performed yeoman service to the people there. 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.^[48] Mormon missionaries, including Hugh Findlay, arrived in Bombay and Pune in the early 1850s, but did not meet with success.

During the nineteenth century, several American Baptist missionaries evangelized in the northeastern parts of India. In 1876, Dr. E. W. Clark first went to live in a Naga village, four years after his Assamese helper, Godhula, baptized the first Naga converts. Rev. and Mrs. A.F. Merrill arrived in India in 1928 and worked in the southeast section of the Garo Hills.^[49] Rev. and Mrs. M.J. Chance spent most of the years between 1950-1956 at Golaghat working with the Naga and Garo tribes. Even today the heaviest concentrations of Christians in India continue to be in the Northeast.^[50]

Art and Architecture

The Nasrani Menorah of the St. Thomas Christians

There are a large number of items of artistic and architectural significance in the religious and domestic life of Indian Christians.^[51] Altars, statues, pulpits, crosses, bells and belfries of churches along with other household items are among the many things that form part of the Sacred art of the Indian Christians.^[52] Church art and architecture of Kerala from the beginning of Christian presence in the region have been greatly influenced by those of other nations and religions as they have been influenced by Kerala’s wealth of artistic and architectural traditions.^[53]

Christian art and architecture in Kerala in pre-European periods has not only developed from contact with the countries that had trading posts there but also from indigenous forms and techniques of art and architecture. The advent of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English has had a great deal of influence on the art and architecture of the church in Kerala.^[54] The description of the visits of a Portuguese Archbishop Dom Menezes to various churches before the arrival of western powers in India throws some light on the structures and arrangements of the churches before western elements and types were introduced into Kerala. There were three striking objects of significance in front of the typical Malabar churches, either inside the courtyard or just outside it: (1) the open-air granite(rock) cross which the present writer has christened Nazraney Sthamba (2)Kodimaram (Dwajasthamba) or Flag-staff made of Kerala's famed teak wood (e.g. at Parur), and often enclosed in copper hoses or paras (as at Changanassery, Pulinkunnu, or Chambakkulam), or made out of some other wood or other material (3) the rock Deepasthamba or lampstand.^[55]

Altar of the St. Mary's Church in Kottayam; also can be seen are two Persian crosses from 7th century on either side; The church was originally built in 1550

The Basilica of Bom Jesus completed in 1605 is considered one of the best examples of Baroque architecture in India

Se Cathedral is one of the oldest and most celebrated religious buildings in Goa and is one of the largest churches in Asia.

All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad built in 1887 is one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in India.

The tower of St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata was rebuilt along the lines of the Bell Harry Tower of Canterbury Cathedral following the 1934 Calcutta earthquake

Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi

St. Philomena's church in Mysore

The ornate monumentality of the European churches was introduced to India when parts of Malabar coast came under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. They introduced the Romano-Portuguese style, which was assimilated with such artistic and structural finesse by the artists of Kerala, that it created some of the finest pieces of artistry. This laid the foundations for Indian Baroque.^[56] After the arrival of Vasco 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 were great builders 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.^[57]

Indian Christian art and architecture during the British 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 patronized is generally referred to as the British Regency style which included Neo-Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture.^[58] Most Protestant cathedrals and churches in India conform to this style. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kolkata is a typical example of the Gothic Revival style.^[59] St. Mary’s church, Chennai, the first Anglican Church built east of the Suez is one of the first examples of colonial architecture in India.^[60] French and Danish influences on Christian art and Architecture in India can be seen in their respective colonies.^[61] Today one can see a harmonious blending of the East and the West in the Christian art and architecture of India.^[62]

Culture

St. Mary's church, Secunderabad decorated for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve

While Christians in India do not share one common culture, it is for the most part a blend of Indian and European cultures. It differs from one region to another depending on several factors such as the prevailing rite and tradition and the extent of time for which Christianity has existed in those regions. The St. Thomas Christians of Kerala (the first region in India to be proselytized by Christian missionaries) have a distinctively different culture when compared to Christians in other parts of the country.^[63] Historical ties with the Syriac Orthodox Church and assimilation of Indian traditions have contributed to the development a unique culture among Kerala’s Christians.^[64] The use of ornamental umbrellas and elephants for Christian religious festivities illustrates the indigenous character of Kerala’s Christianity.^[65] Goa was colonized by the Portuguese in sixteenth century A.D; as a result of which Goan Chrisitans have adopted a more western culture.^[66] The dance, song and cuisine of Goa has been greatly influenced by the Portuguese.^[67] Contemporary Goan Christian culture can be best described as an increasingly anglicized Indo-Latin culture.^[68] Mangalorean Catholics are descended mainly from the Goan Catholic settlers, who had migrated to South Canara from Goa, a state north of Canara, between 1560 and 1763 during the Goa Inquisition and the Portuguese-Maratha wars. After migration to Mangalore, they adopted the local Mangalorean culture, but retained many of their Goan customs and traditions.^[69] Christianity in other parts of India spread under the colonial regimes of the Dutch, Danish, French and most importantly the English from the early seventeenth century to the time of the Indian Independence in 1947. Christian culture in these colonial territories has been influenced by the religion and culture of their respective rulers.^[70]

An Indian Catholic girl receives her first communion

Children participating in the Goan carnival circa 1980. The carnival is celebrated annually in February before the start of Lent

Religion plays a significant role in the daily life of Indian Christians. India ranks 15 among countries with highest church attendance.^[71] Religious processions and carnivals are often celebrated by Catholics.^[72] Cities with significant Christian populations celebrate patron saint days. As in other parts of the world, Christmas is the most important festival for Indian Christians. Anglo-Indian Christmas balls held in most major cities form a distinctive part of Indian Christian culture.^[73] Good Friday is a national holiday. All Souls Day is another Christian holiday that is observed by most Christians in India.^[74] Most Protestant churches celebrate harvest festivals, usually in late October or early November.^[75] Christian weddings in India conform to the traditional white wedding. However it is not uncommon for Christian brides particularly in the south to wear a traditional white wedding sari instead of a gown.^[76]

Contemporary Christian culture in India draws greatly from the Anglican culture as a result of the influence of the erstwhile British Raj. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer is a widely used supplement for worship in the two major Protestant denominations: Church of South India and Church of North India.^[77] Today Christians are considered to be one of the most progressive communities in India.^[78] Urban Christians are to a greater extent influenced by European traditions 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.^[79] The Christian church runs thousands of educational institutions which have contributed to the strengthening of Christian culture in India.

Prominent Indian Christians

Pandita Ramabai

Genelia D'Souza

Demographics

Part of a series on
Christianity in India
Background
Nasrani St. Thomas Christians (history) Ancient Crosses of India Synod of Diamper Coonan Cross Oath
People
St. Thomas the Apostle St. Francis Xavier St. Gonsalo Garcia Devasahayam Pillai St. Alphonsa Muttathupadam Thomas of Cana Mother Teresa Mar Augustine Kandathil Mar Sapor and Prodh Marthoma Metrans St. Gregorios of Parumala St. Baselios Eldho Fr. Kuriakose Elias Chavara St. Geevarghese Mar Dionysius William Carey
Churches
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Chaldean Syrian Church of North India Church of South India Jacobite Syrian Latin Catholic Malankara Malankara Orthodox Syrian Malabar Independent Syrian Mar Thoma Presbyterian St. Thomas Evangelical Syro-Malabar Catholic Syro-Malankara Catholic The_Pentecostal_Mission
Indian Christianity portal

Distribution of Christian population in different Indian states^[116]

The total number of Christians in India as per Census in 2001 are 24,080,016 or 2.34% of the population.^[2]

The majority of Indian Christians are Roman Catholics accounting for a total of 17.3 million members^[117], including 500,000 members of the Syro-Malankara Church^[118] and 3,900,000 of the Syro-Malabar Church. In January 1993 the Syro-Malabar Church and in February 2005 Syro-Malankara Church were raised to the status of major archiepiscopal churches by Pope John Paul II. The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest among 22 Eastern Catholic Churches who accept the Pope as the "visible head of the whole church".

Most Protestant denominations are represented in India, as a result of missionary activities throughout the country. The largest Protestant denomination in the country is the Church of South India, since 1947 a union of Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational, Methodist, and Anglican congregations with approximately 3.8 million members. It is also one of four united churches in the Anglican Communion.^[119] A similar Church of North India had 1.25 million members^[120]. These churches are in full communion with the Anglican Communion. The Mar Thoma Church has 700,000 members^[121], and derives from the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, which numbers 1.2 million and is in communion with the Anglicans, but not a full member. In 1961, the evangelical wing of the church came out of Mar Thoma Church and formed the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India which has 10,000 members^[122]. Syrian Orthodox Church of Malabar rites 1,200,000 members^[123], respectively. There were about 1,267,786 Lutherans^[124], 648,000 Methodists^[125], and 2,392,694 Baptists in India^[126]. Pentecostalism, another denomination of Protestantism, is also a rapidly growing religion in India. It is spreading greatly in northern India and the southwest area, such as Kerala. The major Pentecostal churches in India are the Assemblies of God, The Pentecostal Mission (TPM — founded in 1923.^[127][128]), Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) with 900,000 members.^[129] New Apostolic Church founded in 1969, with total adherents of 1,448,209.^[129] The New Life Fellowship (founded in 1968) now has approximately 480,000 adherents, and the Manna Full Gospel Churches and ministries (founded in 1968 with connections to Portugal) has 275,000.^[129] Evangelical Church of India now has over 680 churches with a 250,000 community.^[130] Another prominent group is the Brethren. They are known by different names: Plymouth Brethren, Indian Brethren, Kerala Brethren. The Presbyterian Church of India has 823,456 members.^[131]

From the late nineteenth century, the fastest growing Christian communities have been located in the northeast, in the Seven Sister States, among the Khasis, Mizos, and the Nagas. Today Christians are most prevalent in the northeast, and in the southwestern states of Kerala and Goa. The states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in South India and Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya in North-East India account for 60% of India's total Christian population.^[132]

Although about 50% to 70% of Christians in India are widely reported to be Dalit Christians,^{[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141]} the Sachar Committee on Muslim Affairs reported that only 9% of Indian Christians have Scheduled Caste status, with a further 32.8% having Scheduled Tribe status, and 24.8% belonging to other disadvantaged groups.^[142] This discrepancy in the numbers is generally attributed to the Indian Constitution's discriminatory Scheduled Caste Order of 1950 that dismantled the social, economic and educational benefits of Dalits who converted to Christianity.^[143] As a result of this, many of India's Christian Dalits identify themselves as Hindu for all public and official purposes in order to avail themselves of constitutional reservation benefits.^[144] This has led to an increase in the number of Crypto-Christians among lower caste converts.^[145] Consequently, the 50% to 70% figure includes members of Dalit castes who are not officially recognised as Christians.^[146][147]

States with highest percentage of Christians in 2001

State	Population	Christian (%)	Christian (numbers)
India	1,028,610,328	2.3	24,080,016
Mizoram	889,000	90.5	804,545
Nagaland	1,990,000	90.0	1,791,398
Meghalaya	2,319,000	70.3	1,630,257
Manipur	2,294,000	34.0	779,960
Goa	1,343,998	26.0	349,439
Kerala	31,841,000	19.0	6,049,790

Conflicts

Hindu-Christian conflict

Pope John Paul II with M. G. Ramachandran on his visit to Madras in 1984

Historically, Hindus and Christians have lived in relative peace since the arrival of Christianity in India from the early part of the first millennium. In areas where Christianity existed in pre-European times like Kerala, land to build churches was often donated by Hindu kings and Hindu landlords. The arrival of European colonialists brought about large scale missionary activity in South India and North-East India. Many indigenous cultures were converted to Christianity. Sometimes they were voluntary, and other times they were coerced. The Goan Inquisition is pointed out as a blot in the history of Goa. In more contemporary periods, Hindu-Christian amity is sometimes challenged by partisan politics and extremism from both communities.

Aggressive proselytizing by Christian missionaries under British rule was a cause of resentment among Hindus and Muslims in the 19th century, who felt that their cultures were being attacked. This was one of the several causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British Raj. The role of the Anglican padres and chaplains in that conflict is recounted in William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal^[151] Also, many Christian ideals prompted reform movements within the Hindu society in the 19th century, the most notable being the Brahmo Samaj, which was influenced by British Christian Unitarianism. Hindus who have converted to Christianity in more recent times typically retain their social customs, including caste practices and combine Hindu customs with Christianity to achieve a unique brand of Indian Christianity.^[152]

A church that has been burnt down during the 2008 Religious violence in Orissa

There has been an increase in anti-Christian violence in recent years particularly in the states of Gujarat and Orissa; which is usually perpetrated by Hindu nationalists. The acts of violence include arson of churches, re-conversion of Christians to Hinduism by force and 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.^[153][154] An Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were torched alive while sleeping on 22 January, 1999 in Orissa. According to some, the number of incidents of anti-Christian violence has multiplied since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began its rule in March 1998.^[154] Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are generally held responsible for violence against Christians in India.^[154] Sangh Parivar and local media were involved in promoting anti-Christian propaganda in Gujrat.^[154] In its annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians."^[155] 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. A rationale offered for violence against Christians in India is that the community is growing at an alarming rate through forced conversions. As a response to allegedly aggressive missionary activity four Indian states Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu (later repealed) have passed laws restricting or prohibiting religious conversion.

The Government of the state of Tripura has claimed that it has evidence that the Baptist Church of Tripura has been supporting the terrorist group National Liberation Front of Tripura. The NLFT is a separatist group that has been accused of forcing tribals to become Christians and has banned Hindu festivals.^[156]

Many Mangalorean Catholics who refused to embrace Islam were imprisoned into such dungeons at Seringapatam

Muslim-Christian conflict

Although there have been relatively fewer conflicts between Muslims and Christians in India in comparison to those between Muslims and Hindus, or Muslims and Sikhs, the relationship between Muslims and Christians have been turbulent at times. With the advent of European colonialism in India, Christians were sometimes persecuted in a few Muslim ruled kingdoms in India.

Persecution of Christians was committed by Tippu Sultan, the Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore against the Mangalorean Catholic community. Tippu was widely reputed to be anti-Christian.^[157] Tippu also ordered the destruction of 27 Catholic churches which contained beautifully carved with statues of various saints.^[158] Tippu Sultan's invasion of the Malabar affected the Syrian Malabar Nasrani community of the Malabar coast. Many churches in the Malabar and Cochin were damaged. The old Syrian Nasrani seminary at Angamaly which had been the center of Catholic religious education for several centuries was razed to the ground. Ancient religious manuscripts of the Syrian Malabar Nasrani have been lost forever. Over the course of this invasion, many Syrian Malabar Nasrani were killed or forcibly converted to Islam.^[159] His persecution of Christians also extended to captured British soldiers. There were a significant amount of forced conversions of British captives between 1780 and 1784. During the surrender of the Mangalore fort which was delievered in an armistice by the British and their subsequent withdrawal, all the Mestizos and remaining non-British foreigners were killed, together with 5,600 Mangalorean Catholics.^[158]

In modern times, Muslims in India who convert to Christianity are often subjected to harassment, intimidation, and attacks. In 2006, a Christian convert and missionary named Bashir Tantray was killed allegedly by militant Islamists in Kashmir (the only Indian state with a Muslim majority).^[160]. A Christian priest, K.K. Alavi, who is a convert from Islam, recently faced the ire of his former Muslim community and has received many death threats. An Islamic extremist group named "The National Development Front" actively campaigned against him.^[161].

See also

Christianity by Country

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• List of notable Indian Christians
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• List of Protestant missionaries in India
• History of Pentecostalism in India
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• Marathi Christians

References

External links

• Indian Christianity
• Christians of India

• A History of the Church of England in India
• History of Syrian Church in India
• Catholic encyclopedia - entry on India
• St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India
• Churches In India
• Orthodox Church in India
• Christian Pilgrimage sites in India
• History of Syrian Orthodox Church in India
• Divine Recruits
• Christians in Secular India
• Non institutional Christians in India - following the example of the Christians in the Bible

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