History of St.Thomas Christians of Kerala

The history of St.Thomas Christians or Marthoma nazranis is mostly twisted and tampered to suit to the esteem various completing factions. The history of St.Thomas Christians or Marthoma nazranis in India can be broadly divided into two periods. Before Vasco Da Gamma (AD52 -1499) and after Gamma ( AD 1500 – to present).  After the Portuguese intervention in Kerala, rifts originated in Malankara church and continue till date. Several factions originated in due course of time and each claim themselves to be the real descendents of St. Thomas. And some faction’s acts as Trojan Horses and try to bring all Marthoma nazranis to the Catholic fold by illegally misusing the titles and the traditions, instead standing by itself as separate church. 

The History of Malankara Sabha

Malankara sabha or Marthoma nazranis refers to the descendents of St. Thomas in Kerala. St. Thomas apostle is believed to have visited India in AD 52 along with Jewish merchants.  St.Thomas landed at Malinkara near Muziris. As a result, the term Malankara Nasranis was applied to the followers of St.Thomas. Nazarani is a Syrian term which refers to followers of Nazarane Jesus.

St.Thomas converted several locals to Christianity and had also erected seven churches in Kerala. The seven churches established by St. Thomas are Niranam, Kodungallur, Kollam, Nilakkal, Kokkamangalam, Palayoor and Thiruvithankodu. After several years of spreading gospel in India, St .Thomas is believed to have attained martyrdom in AD72 at Mylapore near Chennai.

 The new converts survived through centuries mostly with the help of Syrian Churches outside India, who provided priests/bishops to Malabar. Till fifteenth century Malankara church was united under the local head, Archdeacon or Jathikku Karthavyan. But, every thing changed with the entrance of Portuguese in India, with Vasco Da Gama in 1498. Portuguese wanted to establish a Latin Catholic rite church in India. In Goa they appointed Alexix De Menezes as the Archbhishop of Goa. Menezes wanted to bring the St. Thomas Christians also under his authority. He visited Kerala with this mission in mind and convened a Synod at Diampur in AD1599. Archbhishop Menezes had the military of Portuguese and Kochi raja surrounding the church at the time of Synod and forced the participants to accept the decrees read out.  Thus for the first time in the history the Malankara church was brought under Latin Catholic rite. However, the latinization of the church was more than what could be accepted by the Malankara nazaranis. The devotees reunited under the Archdeacon Thomas and declared disassociation with Latin Catholics and Menezes by taking pledge to adhere and to be loyal only to St. Thomas in Mattancherry in AD1653. This oath is popularly known as Coonan Cross Oath. Malakara church thus declared its independence from foreign acquisitions and ordained Archdeacon Thomas as new Metropolitian under the title, Mar Thoma I.

 After coonan cross, the Portuguese missionaries started their attempts to reconcile with Mar Thoma nazranis. Shortly, they succeeded in making the devotees believe that the ordination of Mar Thoma I is not legitimate. In fact, as at that time there was no bishops in Malankara church, Archdeacon Thomas was ordained as Metropolitian by twelve priests by laying hands upon him. However in 1663, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese and all the Portuguese missionaries had to leave Malabar. Before they left, they ordained Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar as Bhishop of Archdiocese of Angamaly on 1^st February 1663. Consequently, the Malankara church split into two factions for the first time.  The faction that that supported Chandy Metran entered in communion with Roman Catholic Church of Rome. The other faction then known as ‘puthenkoor’ continued to stay faithful to Mar Thoma I. However, he was facing strong accusations over the legitimacy of his ordainship and was hence difficult to keep his church close knit. In 1665, Mor Gregorios Abdul Jaleel send by Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch reached Malabar with the help of Dutch navigators. The puthenkoor faction enthusiastically welcomed him.

 As centuries went by, many more splits happened for some reason or the other in the Malankara (puthenkur) church giving birth to Mar Thoma Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic(rite) Church, Jacobite Syrian Church and Malankara Independent church. The figure below illustrates the major factions and the years of splits.

The Malankara Church went through rough times at several occasions. The first ever major threat was from the Portuguese. They believed all newly discovered regions are to be under the jurisdiction of Latin Church. All writings and texts were put to fire by Menezes, thus erasing the entire traces of history of Syrian Christians. The attack of Tippu Sultan’s army on Kerala towards the end of eighteenth century was another major blow. Many churches were torched and many had to flee. Another threat over the existence of church was posed by the Anglican missionaries who came in to India along with British invasion. A synod at Mavelikara was convened by Cheppad Mar Dionysious in 1843 to end the relations with the Anglican Church. Thus the Marthoma Nazrani sabha has come through turbulent and difficult times suffering several set backs, injuries and sacrifices to be what is today.