Okay so I was preparing for any questions that I could be asked in my interviews...One of the questions they could ask me was about my community of east indians...I started reading stuff on the net and a book a neighbour gave me entitled "The East Indians" by E.Baptista...what I found was absolutely startling...Now, most of us catholics here are under the impression that christianity was brought to India by St. Thomas and the people of Kerala or more specifically those on the malabar coast were the first ones to hear the good news. I always assumed that we east indians being Rodrigues',Dsilvas,Fernandes',Dsouzas..etc were converted by the portuguese and therefore the portuguese brought Christianity to us...Well, the first part is true
but the latter is wrong... all wrong..What I found was absolutely astonishing!!!
Now, we all know that St. Thomas preached to the people of Malabar and there starts the history of the Orthodox church in India. But, what we dont know is that historians are almost certain that St. Bartholomew visited Norhtern Konkan. Infact it is said that he met his death at Kalyana (Kalyan) where he was skinned and crucified.Also Pantaneus, some religious head from Alexandria visited north konkan in 189 AD and apparently found a group of christians wih the gospel of Mathew in Hebrew, most probably one left behind by St. Bartolomew himself.This is according to 2 ecclesiastical writers of the 3d and 4th centuries ..Eusebius and St. Jerome. However, there is this dispute amongst historians as to what "india" meant in the texts of those
times...Very often Ethiopia and Arabia was confused with India. Thankfully, Eusebius had made references to the practice of Sati, while St. Jerome referred to India as the land of the Brahmins..clearing up some of the confusion.Moreover, Kosmas, a sailor, visited India in the sixth century and wrote that he saw a christian community in Calliana ( Kalyan). So, this means
that christianity reached not only the malabar coast, but could have also reached the north konkan coast as early as the first century....much before it reached countries like England and Ireland!!!!. However, this wasnt a Roman Catholic church...The North Konkan(NK) was under the church of Persia...yup an eastern church...Now here is where the confusion
begins...Apparntly the church of Persia turned to Nestorianism in 800 AD..The question is..what happened to the christians in the NK???..Friar Jordanus visited India in 1321...He was incidentally the first missionary from Rome to visit India with 4 others who were martyred at 'Thana' (Thane). He took their bodies for burial to 'Sopara'..yes..sopara as in Nalasopara!!
* Sopara incidentally was a religious and cultural centre. Buddhism and Christianity were flouishing there. The old testament refers to Ophir as the place from Solomon got his Gold. Well, Historians believe that Ophir became Sophir to Sophara to Sopara!!!!*
Jordanus wrote that he found a few christians scattered here and there, unbaptised and not sure of the doctrine..they even thought that St. Thomas was christ. When he began to baptise people though, hundreds came forward!!! This could mean that christians held on to their faith but since the church of persia sent no priests, they were left without sacraments. Also The muslim rulers had destroyed quite a bit of the churches in NK, taking with them part of the christian community. The Portuguese on the other hand say that when they arrived in NK, it was a nestorian church that existed there. They went about comverting these christians to Roman Catholics. Historians also believe that there were Nestorian churches in Daman which were destroyed by the Moghuls. So, that means Nestorianism did reach the shores of India. Nobody is sure if the early christians of St. Bartholomew actually converted to Nestorianism or whether the portuguese used it as an excuse to convert them to 'European Christians'. Nobody is even sure if the Muslim rulers managed to wipe out the christian communities of NK creating a break in between.
But one thing is for sure....my ancestors could have been some of the first christians on the earth and they heard the good news from an Apostle of Christ!!!
but the latter is wrong... all wrong..What I found was absolutely astonishing!!!
Now, we all know that St. Thomas preached to the people of Malabar and there starts the history of the Orthodox church in India. But, what we dont know is that historians are almost certain that St. Bartholomew visited Norhtern Konkan. Infact it is said that he met his death at Kalyana (Kalyan) where he was skinned and crucified.Also Pantaneus, some religious head from Alexandria visited north konkan in 189 AD and apparently found a group of christians wih the gospel of Mathew in Hebrew, most probably one left behind by St. Bartolomew himself.This is according to 2 ecclesiastical writers of the 3d and 4th centuries ..Eusebius and St. Jerome. However, there is this dispute amongst historians as to what "india" meant in the texts of those
times...Very often Ethiopia and Arabia was confused with India. Thankfully, Eusebius had made references to the practice of Sati, while St. Jerome referred to India as the land of the Brahmins..clearing up some of the confusion.Moreover, Kosmas, a sailor, visited India in the sixth century and wrote that he saw a christian community in Calliana ( Kalyan). So, this means
that christianity reached not only the malabar coast, but could have also reached the north konkan coast as early as the first century....much before it reached countries like England and Ireland!!!!. However, this wasnt a Roman Catholic church...The North Konkan(NK) was under the church of Persia...yup an eastern church...Now here is where the confusion
begins...Apparntly the church of Persia turned to Nestorianism in 800 AD..The question is..what happened to the christians in the NK???..Friar Jordanus visited India in 1321...He was incidentally the first missionary from Rome to visit India with 4 others who were martyred at 'Thana' (Thane). He took their bodies for burial to 'Sopara'..yes..sopara as in Nalasopara!!
* Sopara incidentally was a religious and cultural centre. Buddhism and Christianity were flouishing there. The old testament refers to Ophir as the place from Solomon got his Gold. Well, Historians believe that Ophir became Sophir to Sophara to Sopara!!!!*
Jordanus wrote that he found a few christians scattered here and there, unbaptised and not sure of the doctrine..they even thought that St. Thomas was christ. When he began to baptise people though, hundreds came forward!!! This could mean that christians held on to their faith but since the church of persia sent no priests, they were left without sacraments. Also The muslim rulers had destroyed quite a bit of the churches in NK, taking with them part of the christian community. The Portuguese on the other hand say that when they arrived in NK, it was a nestorian church that existed there. They went about comverting these christians to Roman Catholics. Historians also believe that there were Nestorian churches in Daman which were destroyed by the Moghuls. So, that means Nestorianism did reach the shores of India. Nobody is sure if the early christians of St. Bartholomew actually converted to Nestorianism or whether the portuguese used it as an excuse to convert them to 'European Christians'. Nobody is even sure if the Muslim rulers managed to wipe out the christian communities of NK creating a break in between.
But one thing is for sure....my ancestors could have been some of the first christians on the earth and they heard the good news from an Apostle of Christ!!!
