History of Christianity in India

Christianity originated in India in the first century itself. Indian Marthoma Christians is one of the ancient churches. St. Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ came to India in AD 52 to spread the gospel. Thus, in fact Christianity in India is more ancient than the Christianity in European countries and several other countries in the west.

After crucifixion and renaissance of Jesus Christ all the twelve disciples were deputed to various part of the world to spread the gospel.  Each disciple was assigned each region based on lot pick. As a result of the lot picked by St. Thomas, he was deputed to visit present day Afghanistan and India. He reached several parts in present day Afghanistan and the southern part of India, Kerala. At the time St. Thomas visit to Kerala the prominent religions were Buddhism and Jainism.

At the time of St. Thomas visit, afghan was ruled by a King known as King Gondophorus. Until recently the general belief was the story of King Gondophorus is baseless. But the story of his regime was proved beyond doubt when excavations revealed coins with impression of king’s head.

St. Thomas is believed to have traveled by sea to reach Kerala coast. Ties with Arabian countries were strong even before the first century AD. Ships used to carry spices from Kerala to countries in the Gulf region. St. Thomas may have come by one such ship to Kerala around AD 52. He is believed to have landed in Maliankara, near Kondungalur, Kochi. Because of this, St. Thomas Christians were known as Malankara Kristhiyanikal. The usage Malankara Kristhiyanikal was modified later as Malankara Nazaranikal or Marthoma Nazaranikal or simply as Nazaranikal after eight century with the arrival of Muhammadans.

At present, the Christians in India can be divided into two broad categories:

• Malankara Nazaranikal of St. Thomas
• Converts by missionaries (after fifteenth century). 

Ancient Indian Christians ( Malankara Nazaranikal of St. Thomas )

This group comprises of the natives who accepted Jesus Christ after listening to the gospel from St. Thomas. The community remained united and independent till the arrival of Portuguese. In AD 1599 the Portuguese forcefully brought the Malankara Nazaranis to Catholic faith at Synod held in Udeyemberur.

However, in AD 1653, Mathoma Nazaranis declared independence from the clutches of Portugese Catholics. Majority assembled or was represented at Mattacherry, near Kochi to take oath as to remain faithful to Marthoma and not bow before Catholic Bishops. This incidence is marked in the history as Coonan Kurishu Satyam (The bent cross oath). 

Immigrant Christians

There were (very) few migrations in earlier centuries to Kerala especially from gulf regions. Kanayi Thoma and a group of Christians migrated to Kerala in AD 345.

Converts by Missionaries

Several foreigners came to India for trade around sixteenth to eighteenth century. Portuguese were religiously interested as well and wanted the indigenous Kerala malankara christian community to come under the fold of Latin catholic church. But this effort was strongly rejected by the malankara marthoma community at Coonan Cruz oath in 1653 AD. Later when the English ruled India, several missionaries started working and preaching gospel. These christian missionaries started several schools and other educational institutions that geared up the living standards and outlook of the people.