Assyrian Migration to Kerala.

KERALA CHRISTIANITY AND ASSYRIAN CHURCH

Abraham Yeshuratn

This paper is prepared with the purpose of investigating whether at any period

of time in Assyrian history there was migration of Assyrians to Kerala.  This

research is necessitated because there has been a steady stream of articles

recent times claiming Assyrian migration to Kerala. There are also some

intellectually bankrupt claims that there were Assyrian settlers in Kerala

when St. Thomas visited the country. Writers who belong to a particular

communal school of thought attempt to develop distorted factual beliefs to

bolster their communal superiority in a caste-ridden society by using the

internet and research journals. Communal and partisan writers are guilty of

misleading even foreign authors with distortions, exaggerations, subjectivity,

inaccuracy and fabrications to create a sense of legitimacy to their grotesque

lies. This paper attempts to catalogue  the views of revisionist writers who

have used deceptive techniques such as manipulated and wrongly translated

sources, false evidences, bogus ethnology, imaginary stories and spurious

sources in order to make their arguments plausible. So who are the Assyrians?

Alternatively known as Syriac, Nestorian, or Chaldean Christians, they trace

their roots back more than 6,500 years to ancient Mesopotamia, predating the

Abrahamic religions. For 1,800 years the Assyrian empire dominated the region,

establishing one of most advanced civilizations in the ancient world. (An

example of this is the city of Arbel, one of the earliest permanent

agricultural settlements.)The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. during the

rise of the Persians. Then, 600 years later, they became among the earliest

converts to Christianity. Most of Iraq’s Christians call themselves Assyrians,

Chaldeans or Syriac, different names for a common ethnicity rooted in the

Mesopotamian kingdoms that flourished between the Tigris and the Euphrates

Rivers thousands of years before Jesus. Christianity arrived during the first

century, according to Eusebius, an early church historian who claimed to have

translated letters between Jesus and a Mesopotamian king. Tradition holds that

Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles, sent Thaddeus, an early Jewish convert, to

Mesopotamia to preach the Gospel. But Assyrian Christians believe that  it

was St Thomas and his cousin Addai  brought Christianity to Iraq in the first

century. At the Council of Nicea, where the Christian creed was thrashed out

in AD325, there were more bishops from Mesopotamia than Western Europe. The

region became a refuge for those persecuted by the Orthodox Byzantines, such

as the Mandeans – the last Gnostics, who follow what they believe to be the

teachings of John the Baptist. Then there was the Church of the East, which

brought the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato, as well as Greek science and

medicine, to the Islamic world – and hence, via Cordoba, to the new

universities of medieval Europe.  They still speak an endangered form of

Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, and consider themselves the last

indigenous people of Syria and Iraq. Following the birth of Christianity,

Assyrian missionaries spread across Asia, from the Mediterranean to the

Pacific, and built a new empire that lasted until Arab Muslims swept through

the Middle East in 630. As Christianity grew, it coexisted alongside older

traditions — Judaism, Zoroastrianism and the monotheism of the Druze, Yazidis

and Mandeans, among others — all of which survive in the region, though in

vastly diminished form. From Greece to Egypt, this was the eastern half of

Christendom, a fractious community divided by doctrinal differences that

persist today: various Catholic churches (those who look to Rome for guidance,

and those who don’t); the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox (those who believe

Jesus has two natures, human and divine, and those who believe he was solely

divine); and the Assyrian Church of the East, which is neither Catholic nor

Orthodox

EARLY HISTORY

The Assyrians were a Semitic people who originally spoke and wrote Akkadian

before the  Aramaic language became more popular.  Sometime before 2300 BC,

Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula migrated north among the

Mesopotamians. They founded the city of Akkad, forming the vast Akkadian

Empire, which existed from 2270-2083 BC. The Akkadians were the predecessors

to the Assyrians. Historians have divided the rise and fall of the Assyrian

Empire into three periods: The Old Kingdom, The Middle Empire, and The Late

Empire (also known as the Neo-Assyrian Empire).  The Assyrian Empire is

considered the greatest of the Mesopotamian empires due to its expanse and the

development of the bureaucracy and military strategies which allowed it to

grow and flourish. Wolfram von Soden observes: “Because of a dearth of

sources, very little is known of Assyria in the third millennium…Assyria did

belong to the Empire of Akkad at times, as well as to the Third Dynasty of Ur.

Our main sources for this period are the many thousand Assyrian letters and

documents from the trade colonies in Cappadocia, foremost of which was Kanesh

(modern Kultape)[i]”[1] During the Middle Empire the Assyrian kings deported

the subjugated people to neighboring countries and there is no record that

some were sent to Kerala.  Karen Radner states: “The deportees, their labour

and their abilities were extremely valuable to the Assyrian state, and their

relocation was carefully planned and organized. We must not imagine treks of

destitute fugitives who were easy prey for famine and disease: the deportees

were meant to travel as comfortably and safely as possible in order to reach

their destination in good physical shape. Whenever deportations are depicted

in Assyrian imperial art, men, women and children are shown travelling in

groups, often riding on vehicles or animals and never in bonds. There is no

reason to doubt these depictions as Assyrian narrative art does not otherwise

shy away from the graphic display of extreme violence.”[2]  But we are mainly

concerned about the Neo-Assyrian Empire to investigate whether there was any

migration of Assyrians to India, especially to Kerala. The Late Empire (also

known as the Neo-Assyrian Empire) was the period of the largest expansion of

the empire. It was also the era which most decisively gives the Assyrian

Empire the reputation it has for ruthlessness and cruelty.  Kriwaczek

says: Assyria must surely have among the worst press notices of any state in

history. Babylon may be a byname for corruption, decadence and sin but the

Assyrians and their famous rulers, with terrifying names like

Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, rate

in the popular imagination just below Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan for

cruelty, violence, and sheer murderous savagery.[3] Leaving aside the earlier

years of wars, conquests and violence when there was no trace of Assyrians

coming to Kerala, we have to scroll quickly to jump to the period of the

collapse of the Assyrian Empire in 605 B.C. Egypt sent forces to the north,

defeating Judah along the way, in order to join the remaining Assyrian troops.

They met at Megiddo, where they encountered the advancing Babylonian army. The

Assyrian-Egyptian army was defeated by the Babylonians, extinguishing the

final hope for the Assyrian Empire. There are some historians who believe that

this people vanished from the face of the earth and may only be known by means

of the biblical references to it. An objective researcher would never arrive

at such a hasty conclusion.[4]  After being completely defeated, the Assyrians

remained a distinct "nation" of people in Northern Mesopotamia, but would

forever exist under the rule of foreign masters.Although it should be noted

that Assyrian history continued on past that point, and there are still

Assyrians living in the regions of Iran and Iraq, and elsewhere, in the

present day exposed to the rampaging ISIS jihadists. After their empires

collapsed in the 6th and 7th Centuries BC, the Assyrians scattered across the

Middle East. They embraced Christianity in the 1st Century AD, with their

Ancient Church of the East believed to be the oldest in Iraq.

ST. THOMAS CONTROVERSY.

Christianity began in the Middle East, in Palestine, Syria and Egypt, and the

fact that those regions were part of the Roman Empire provided opportunities

for Christian expansion along the trade routes of the Roman world.  The

Persian Empire stretched from Syria to what is now Pakistan and deep into

central Asia and this empire too offered the kind of stability that churches

needed to expand. The backbone of Christian growth was the Silk Route, most of

which ran through Persian territories. The great city of Antioch, where the

term ‘Christian’ first arose no later than 50 A.D, was a terminus for an

ancient trade connecting the Mediterranean world to Persia and Central Asia.

Throughout late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Silk Route ran from Syria

into northern Persia and into what are now the nations of Uzbekistan and

Turkmenistan. Early Christian records mention that Peter and Thomas preached

the Gospel to the Parthians and men such as Thaddaeus, Bartholomew, and Addeus

evangelized the races of Mesopotamia and Persia.[5] According to Assyrian

church history,  in the first decades of the Christian era the Apostle Mar

Addai (St. Addai), who is equated sometimes with the ‘Thaddeus’ of the Twelve,

was sent by St. Thomas the Apostle to the city of Edessa (Osrhoene).  Another

early tradition of the Church attributes the evangelization of the Assyrians

to the missionary activity of the apostles in the region of Adiabene, modern-

day Arbil in northern Iraq.  The other major missionary activity took place by

the end of the first Christian century centered around the royal twin-cities

of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. The city was founded by one of the generals of

Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nicator in the fourth century BC.   According to

the document, the Acts of Mari, St. Thaddeus (Addai) had sent his disciple

Mari from Edessa to preach to the inhabitants of the royal cities.[6]   The

official website of the Eastern Catholic Church states: “This Aramaic speaking

remnant of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church came into existence

immediately after the Resurrection and the Ascension of our Lord and Saviour

Jesus Christ and on the Feast of Pentecost…through the missionary efforts of

the Apostle Saint Thomas (Mar Toma) and the Apostle Saint Jude Thaddeus (Mar

Addai), the church was brought to the city of Edessa which is located in the

north-west of Mesopotamia and established in Persia in 35 A.D.”[7]    Church

historian Missik also confirms the view that St. Thomas was the first

missionary to Syrian/Chaldean church. “The Assyrian Church of the East existed

for centuries before the birth of Nestorius. According to Assyrian tradition,

attested to in several ancient Syriac documents, the Church of the East was

established in Assyria during the

reign of King Abgar V, a contemporary of Jesus Christ, by St. Thomas and St.

Thaddeus as well as other apostles of the original Hebrew Church founded by

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”[8]  Pope Benedict XVI, addressing a vast

crowd at St Peter's Square,  on 27 September, said: "Let us remember that an

ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia then

went on to Western India from where Christianity also reached Southern India.”

Although spirited protests from the Kerala Syro-Malabar Church compelled him

to amend the published text of his speech, the Pope being an erudite historian

and theologian, his original statement based on historical facts cannot be

deprived of its legal force. Andrew Missick writes: “According to ancient

records Thaddeus and Mari went to preach to the Assyrians at the bidding of

Thomas. Thomas later went and ministered to the Assyrians living in Parthia

and in Assyrian principalities and villages along its borders.[9] 

Church historians rely on the writings of Eusebius and Ephraim to gather facts

about the missionary activities of Thomas and other apostles. Herbert

Christian Merillat says that the first fairly reliable evidence that

mainstream churches on the Mediterranean model were gaining a foothold in the

Syriac-speaking world beyond the Euphrates comes from the Edessan Chronicle, as

compiled in the sixth century. It refers to a Bishop Kune, who laid the

foundations of a church in Edessa in the year 313. This is the record's first

mention of a bishop in the region, although, as we have seen, there were

several earlier groups or sects in Edessa that considered themselves

Christians.   Walter Bauer, the German scholar who traced the evolution of

orthodoxy from the varied Christian sects found in the early centuries of the

faith, suggested an ingenious hypothesis. Bishop Kune arrived as a bishop

early in the fourth century, ordained by the bishop of Antioch. He may have

shown the "archive" to Eusebius (who apparently never visited Edessa) when the

church historian was collecting material in nearby Palestine. To make Thomas

and Addai the founders would give the first church in Edessa an apostolic

succession that Marcionites and Bardesanites could not claim.”[10] Rev. Aubrey

R. Vine in his book The Nestorian Churches mentions that the Church of the

East had Metropolitan Sees at Nisibis and Adiabene (Arbil) and Bishoprics at

Nineveh and Singara, all formerly Assyrian imperial cities.[11]  Omission of

Malabar or India is quite conspicuous.

Controversial views are also expressed about the relics of St. Thomas.  The

burial site of St. Thomas has also attracted an assortment of critical

positions that individually challenge the preconceptions of earlier church

historians such as Eusebius, Ephraim, Syrus, Ambrose, Paulinus and Jerome.

After a detailed study and research of all available sources, Ian Hampson has

put forward his own conclusion in St. Thomas Bradley Church website: “My own

theory is this: Thomas left Jerusalem after the persecution of Acts Chapter 8,

and travelled east along the Silk Road trade route to preach in the kingdom of

Parthia, where there were established Jewish communities, including some who

had witnessed the events of Pentecost recounted in Acts 2. The Parthian empire

and Mesopotamia became centres of the early church in the 2nd and 3rd

centuries, so it may be that Thomas had success in establishing churches. At

some point he moved on, probably overland, following the southern branch of

the Silk Road to end up at Taxila, staying there and in surrounding kingdoms

for some time. He was eventually martyred under Gundoferus (or another nearby

king later called Misdaeus / Mazdai) and buried. His body may well have been

taken almost immediately back to an unknown location in Mesopotamia by

disciples of his who had travelled with him, before they were later translated

to Edessa, and thence to Ortona with bits of him spread elsewhere across

Europe. This, I think, matches both the available facts, and also the most

likely chain of events.”[12] The discovery by Archbishop Mor Severious Zakka

in 1964 of the relics of St. Thomas in the sanctuary wall of St. Thomas

Cathedral in Mosul, Iraq, while maintenance work was carried out on the

cathedral has further added fuel to the controversy. This may be considered as

a solid proof that St. Thomas worked as a missionary in the Assyrian/ Chaldean

belt of Mesopotamia. Ghassan Sahathaya says:  “While several apostles of our

Lord Jesus Christ preached in Mesopotamia e.g. St. Thomas the Apostle, between

35-37 A.D., St. Peter the Apostle in 54 A.D., the Church of the East, which

the Chaldean Church is a daughter, gives much credit for its formal

establishment to the efforts of St. Thaddeus (Mar Addai), one of the 72

Apostles, who preached in Mesopotamia between 37-65 A.D. After the martydom of

Mar Addai, two of his disciples continued the missionary work, they were Mar

Agai (65-87 A.D.) and Mar Mari (88-121 A.D.).[13]  After a

critical examination, evaluation, and selection of

material from primary and secondary sources, I have formed the view that St.

Thomas would have worked in Persia and later in Taxila where he

encountered Gondophares, Indo-Parthian king, whose kingdom included

Punjab. Gondophores is known from the apocryphal Acts of Thomas, the Takht-i

Bahi inscription, and coin-issues in silver and copper.  After the death of

St. Thomas, Persian missionaries would have gone to Afghanistan, Mongolia,

Tibet, China, India ( Mylapore) and Sri Lanka.  As Latouretteoints out,

“Christianity was introduced in Persia in the Parthian period, and several

bishoprics were established there. That the Persian church was itself active

in proselytizing abroad at the end of the Sasanian period (224-651) and

immediately after is clear from remains in India and China.”[14] The Sunday

Examiner (Hong Kong) reported on 2 February 2014 that the 2009 discovery of a

Christian site in China has been verified as a historical relic dated to the

missionary enterprise of the Assyrian Church of the East in China. Experts

have verified that a niche in a stone wall with a cross above it, found at the

Longmen Grottoes in central Henan Province was a repository for the ashes and

bones of Christians. The discovery at the UNESCO World Heritage site was made

in 2009 and verified by experts in mid-January 2014. The discovery is dated

between the Ming and Tang dynasties, from 316 to 907AD.This latest discovery

adds to the well-established historical record of the missionary enterprise of

the Assyrian Church of the East in China.[15] All these historical events and

a wealth of corroborative evidences from Persia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and

China  reveal that Christianity came to South India only after the

3rd century. It is quite intriguing that Sri Lankan tradition also claims St.

Thomas’ visit to the island and conversion of people.  Persian missionary work

in south India and Sri Lanka would have been probably linked with the

missionary activities of St. Thomas in Persia.  All foreign travelers who came

to Kerala spoke about the prevalence of Nestorian doctrine in Kerala churches.

Nestorianism became a public issue only in 431 C.E at the Council of Ephesus

and, therefore, in all probability Christianity would have come to Kerala in

the later part of 3rd century or in the beginning of 4th century. The early

Apostles were not Nestorians and the prevalence of Nestorianism in the early

churches of Kerala as testified by foreign witnesses is a clear chronological

evidence that Christianity came to Kerala only in the fourth century. On the

other hand,the history of Christianity in Egypt dates back verily to the

beginnings of Christianity itself. Many Christians hold that Christianity was

brought to Egypt by the Apostle Saint Mark in the early part of the first

century AD.. Saint Mark's first convert in Alexandria was Anianus, a shoemaker

who later was consecrated a bishop and became Patriarch of Alexandria after

Saint Mark's martyrdom. This succession of Patriarchs has remained unbroken

down to the present day, making the Egyptian Christian, or Coptic, Church one

of the oldest Christian churches in existence.

MYTH OF ASSYRIAN IMMIGRATION

T.V. Philip, church historian, says: “Apart from the ecclesiastical

relationship that had been established with the Persian church, there were at

least two important waves of immigration of Persian Christians to India, one

in the fourth century and the other in the ninth century, which strengthened

the already existing communities in India.”[16]  When the Portuguese came to

Kerala, they could not find a single Assyrian settlement, although there were

separate colonies for Jews.  Philip’s claim of “already existing communities”

is devoid of any merit because the Portuguese and Dutch could not see any

Assyrian colony in Kerala. A Dutch Priest, Canter Visscher, settled in Kochi

and wrote a series of 25 letters in 1723 on Kerala, its society, life and

culture, on seasons, on local principalities, political set up, on coins and

currency, temples, agriculture, flora and fauna, calendars and almanac.

He formed the first hand recorded information on Kerala. He has given a long

list of castes that lived at that time, the profession of castes, their

customs and manners.  He even narrates about traders coming from neighborhood

provinces – “people who visited Malabar for trade, who formed the floating

population.  Pattars, Konginis and Yogis came under this group.”[17] There is,

however, absolutely no reference to Assyrian settlement, although the

existence of Jews is mentioned..

The alleged arrival of Thomas of Cana has attracted a farrago of conflicting

views and myths that critically challenge beliefs and theories not backed by

solid evidences.  Philip gives the cause for Assyrian immigration to Kerala:

“The fourth century was a time of severe persecution of Christians in Persia

under Shapur II. The first immigration of Christians from Persia to Malabar is

believed to have taken place during this period. The tradition speaks of one

Thomas of Cana, a Nestorian merchant reached Kodungallur (Cranganore) on the

Malabar coast in south west India in A. D. 345, bringing with him a group of

about 400 Christian families including deacons, priests and a bishop. The

Indian Christians received them with great joy and all proceeded to Cheraman

Perumal, the king of Malabar, and were favourably received by him. The king

granted the Syrian Christians seventy-two marks of distinction enjoyed by high

caste Hindus and they received land at Cranganore to build for them a

settlement and a church.”[18]  This belief without any historical or

documentary evidence has been the basis for the claim of superior Jewish

progeny for local converts. The most important way of clearing intellectual

space for fake scholarship and culture is to marginalize the concept of truth.

Concept of truth has been jettisoned to uphold an unverified religious belief

touted through the years.  Emotions run high on this issue. This is

understandable considering the magnitude of the cherished belief of the

thousands for years. Mar Thoma church website says: “The history of this

ancient Church during 4th to 15th centuries reveals the fact that it was in

friendly relations with the Church in Persia. There is a tradition that a

group of 400 immigrants from Persia arrived in Malabar in AD 345 under the

leadership of a merchant named Thomas of Cana, known as Knaye Thommen.”[19]. 

There is no documentary evidence to prove the migration of Assyrians “during

4th to 15th centuries”,  although there were stray incidents of missionaries

voluntarily going alone to Afghanistan, India, Tibet, Sri Lanka and China to

spread the Gospel. Christianity arrived in ancient Persia not long after the

death of Christ and has waxed and waned ever since. But the period cited --

4th to 15th centuries – was a tumultuous period in Persian Church history.

Apart from persecution by Shapur 11, the spread of Islam from seventh century

onward and persecution of Christians by Harun Al Rashid in eight-century , the

Persian church during this period remained  oppressed and helpless.  From the

invasions of Tamerlane until the accession of Shah Abbas, the Safavid ruler

(1582), a period of two hundred years was so perilous for Persian church and

it was struggling for its existence. There is no relevant primary source or

record in Persian church, specifically at Edessa, about the sending of Thomas

of Cana or a bishop or settlers to Malabar. Even during the days of

persecution, dedicated Christians remained firm in their belief, and were

prepared to die as martyrs instead of migrating to other countries. Majority

of the people were forcibly converted to Islam and Persia became a Muslim

country during this period.

Another claim of Thomas Christians is over their genealogical link with Thomas

of Cana. Even well established churches with large following worldwide have

been functioning with the firm belief that Thomas of Cana was their founder

and that the members have Jewish blood through him. Surprisingly, churches

have been even separated over the right to be the descendants of this

fictitious Thomas of Cana. Anto Akkara writes: “Themajority of church

historians presume that the arrival of a Jewish Christian trader from

Mesopotamia in the 4th century paved the way for domination by the East

Syrians-- better known as Chaldeans-- over the Thomas Christians who had

flourished in India and especially in Kerala”[20] Although Thomas of Cana is

the prime character in the various branches of Syrian Christian churches, his

very arrival itself is built on a solid foundation of fabrication and

omission. Primary sources for Thomas of Cana are not available in the churches

of the Middle East. At the end of 1stcentury, Christianity spread to Edessa.

Archives of Syriac/Syrian, Assyrian/Chaldean, Armenian and Maronite churches

of the Middle East do not have any record to show that Thomas of Cana was sent

either as a bishop or a missionary to Kerala.After the martyrdom of Shimun or

Simeon, Sadoth was chosen bishop. Persecution of Sapor continued during his

time and he was also murdered. Contrary to the contention of some Thomas

Christians, there is no record in the Seleucian church about the sending of

Thomas of Cana, a bishop and 72 families to Kerala. The political climate in

Persia was also not favorable for sending bishops and others to Kerala.

Another significant factor is that the Council of Selucia-Ctesiphon, also

called Council of Mar Isaac, which met in 410 AD, does not contain any

reference to Thomas of Cana in its synodal documents. It was this Council

that established the Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon as its Catholicos, or leader.

It marked a major milestone in the history of the Church of the East and

of Christianity in Asia in general . In Kerala also there is no contemporary

document about the arrival of Thomas of Cana either in churches or in

government archives. Some churches refer to copper plates allegedly given by

the local ruler. Church historian C.B.Frith says in An Introduction to Indian

Church History, “This migration of Christians cannot be treated as historical

fact. No deeds of copper plates in the name of Thomas of Cana are now extant.

"... (and) it would be rash to insist upon all the details of the story of

Thomas the merchant.” In 1806 at the suggestion of Rev. Claude Buchanan,

Colonel Macauly, the British resident, ordered a careful search for the copper

plates and they turned up in the record room of Cochin town. The tables then

contained (1) the grant to Irani Cortton of Cranganore, and (2) the set of

plates of the grant to Maruvan Sopi Iso of Quilon, but those of the grant

to Thomas Cana were not among them. Thomas Christians say that the Portuguese

removed the plates.  It may be pertinent to ask: Then why the Portuguese did

not remove the other plates? Portuguese were keen on collecting historical

records, and it was only after the arrival of the Portuguese that a systematic

attempt was made to write the history of their conquered territories. Alphonse

Mingana, Church historian and scholar, has serious doubts about the mission of

Thomas of Cana to Malabar with bishops and families. Who was the bishop in

Persia or Mesopotamia   who sent Thomas of Cana to Malabar? Church archives in

Edessa have no documentary evidence of Thomas of Cana’s deputation to Malabar.

The only evidence displayed by Syrian Christians is the manipulated copper

plates.  The truth of the matter is there were no such copper plates given to

Thomas of Cana. The Dutch Governor, Moens, says that a Syrian Priest has

confessed to him that “although he was born in Malabar, had grown up among the

Syrian Christians, and even be one of their priests, nothing of the sort was

known to him, so that the search for this written patent was

vain.”[21] Southists Christians in Kerala believe that Thomas of Cana, who is

reverently called Knanaya Thomman, came with 72 families and a bishop in 345

A.D. They are now flaunting the recently conceived name ‘Knanayas’ for their

community. A study of various sources gives the clue that this Thomas was an

Armenian merchant. The Portuguese writer,Penteado (1518), says that he was an

Armenian merchant, and this view is fairly acceptable, although he was not

his contemporary. Armenians claim that an Indian colony existed in Armenia all

the way back in the first century BC. Armenians serving under Alexander the

Great or Persian rulers came to India and they could also have been sources of

early Armenian-Indian connections. In the AGBU News Magazine of Armenians,

July 1, 2001, David Zenian says: “According to a book published by the parish

priest of Senhora da Expectora Church, built on the site in 1523 in suburban

Little Mount of Madras, the Portuguese were told of the burial place of the

Apostle St. Thomas by the natives and were taken there by Armenian merchants

in 1517.”  Akbar allowed the Armenians to build a church in Agra and one of

his wives, Mariam, was an Armenian.  In the absence of any primary source,

circumstantial political events point out that Thomas of Cana was most

probably an Armenian merchant who would have come to Kerala from the nearby

Armenian settlement, Madras.

After reviewing various available sources, I have a vague idea that the

privileges allegedly said to have given by the local ruler were plagiarized

from the privileges given to Joseph Rabban, the Jewish leader. During the 155-

years Portuguese rule, local converts were elevated by them at a single stroke

to the status of higher caste by appointing them as army officers,

administrators, clerks, brokers and police officers. Albuquerque’s policy of

making Portuguese soldiers and other employees to marry local women gave white

complexion to the local converts. The Raja of Kochi was a mere puppet of the

Portuguese and even his crown was made in Lisbon. Portuguese went out of the

way to help Christians because they wanted loyalists in a foreign country.  

As woodcock says: “Wherever they went, colour bars did not exist. Portuguese

soldiers and officials were encouraged to marry Keralan women and Malayalis,

provided they became Christians, had equal rights with whites in the

municipality which was set up in Fort Cochin. Converts were often given high

military and civil posts. And some were even ennobled.”

Syrian converts who had hitherto lived in steep ignorance and illiteracy, were

made literate by opening colleges by the Franciscan at Kodungalore and the

Jesuits at Vaippicotta and Kochi. Economically, the Portuguese trained the

Syrian converts to concentrate on cash crops instead of paddy cultivation.

With the Portuguese in full power for about 155 years, Syrian converts made a

monstrous leap to top echelon in society and administration.  As military and

police officers they could control Nambudhris and Nairs. With enormous profit

from cash crops, Syrian converts as planters became wealthy landlords and

business persons of great affluence and power. When the Dutch and British saw

the Syrian Christians for the first time, they formed the view that Syrians

were the elite in society to be ranked with the other higher castes in Kerala

society.   Probably it was during this period the myths that they were of

Nambuthiri Brahmin or Jewish or Assyrian descent was fabricated to retain

their recently won superior status in a rigid caste-ridden society.  As for

instance, a family diary, Niranam Granthavari, claims that St. Thomas converted

their families and even today the belief is reverently cherished.

[23] According to Syrian Christian tradition St. Thomas came in 52 CE, but the

diary was written in 1815 and this long gap of several centuries makes the

narration fickle and shockingly inaccurate.  Viewed in this perspective, the

story of arrival of Thomas of Cana would have also been probably contrived

later to manipulate a superior Jewish or Assyrian identity for Christians in a

society where people were valued for their caste and birth. This elite status

for Syrian Christians was, however, limited to people who lived in urban areas

where Portuguese administrative, trade, military and residential quarters were

situated. In rural areas Syrian converts were treated as lower castes.   Abbe

J.A. Dubois, a missionary in Mysore, in his letter dated August 7, 1815,

writes: “The Jesuits, on their first arrival in India, hearing of them, in one

way or other converted the greatest part to the Catholic faith. Their liturgy

is to this day in the Syrian language, and in the performance of their

religious ceremonies they use this ancient dead tongue. There remains still

among them large congregations, consisting of 70 or 80,000 Christians, of whom

two-thirds are Catholics, and a third Nestorians. They are all designated

under the contemptuous name of Nazarany, and held by the pagans in still

greater contempt than the Christians of this part of the country. The Nairs

chiefly keep them at a greatest distance, and they form a separate body in

society.”[24] They had to perform compulsory service called ‘oozhiyam’ like

other lower castes. Samuel Mateer, the British missionary, visited some

interior rural areas where Syrian converts lived and has given a picture of

their living condition and poor knowledge of religion.  “The Syrians appear to

be in the lowest condition in the northern and mountainous districts in

Muvdttupulay direction…. Between Cottayam and Trichoor, a distance of about 70

miles, a great field for Christian labour lies open, for which the Alwaye

Itineracy has been established. At Muvdttupulay and Todupulay there are large

numbers of Syrians, poor, hard- working, and kind people, renting lands from

the Nambiiri landlords, for which they pay four or five times the seed sown,

and cultivating areca palms and the fruits, roots, and grains on which they

live. They have no Scriptures or other books, and few schools. Nor is there a

Sirkar District school at either of the two district towns just mentioned. The

priests conduct service and go off to their houses; sometimes indeed there is

no one to hold worship in the churches. The surrounding population have very

little idea as to what God the Syrians worship, or how the ignorance and

spiritual darkness of these poor nominal Christians is very great. On a tour

in that quarter not long ago to see the country, I very carefully and

cautiously examined those whom I met, or stayed with, as to their knowledge of

Christian truth. It was heart-rending to learn of the criminal indifference

and negligence of the priests and to find old men and young quite ignorant,

not only of the Scriptures, which they never read nor hear read, but even as

to who Jesus Christ was. “I know nothing of it “said an old man with whom I

conversed. A youth with handsome open countenance could not tell what kind of

person or character Jesus Christ was — whether a Brahman, a government

officer, a carpenter, or what! He "could not say." One could hardly credit

that such Ignorance was possible; but a native friend, who accompanied me,

also repeated the queries in various forms to make sure that they were

understood, and both of us used their Syriac terms. The old man could mumble

over the creed, but did not know the meaning. “What then do you go to church

for?” "To do the appointed things, and worship the cross. The priest shows us

God." But he could not tell why the cross was worshipped. Another said he went

to worship the Apostle Paul, but did not know who he was, or what he did. “Why

are you baptized? ““For the religion and for the soul; to make me a Mapillay,"

were the answers. " Why do you attend the Holy Communion? “** Because it is

the custom. We are told to do it, but do not know the reason why." “Is it the

same as eating your rice " " Oh no, something quite different, but I do not

know what." Scarcely any knew who the first man was, and such like things. I

found that the Syrians were beneath the Roman Catholics of the neighbourhood,

both in knowledge and in morals”[25] Rev. Samuel Mateer’s  encounter with

Syrian Christians reveals that while in Portuguese administered urban areas

Christians were  enjoying a high standard of living surpassing Nambudhiris and

Nairs. in rural areas, however,  the vast majority of Christians, by today’s

standards, were low and poor. They had to work in the paddy fields of

Nambudhiris and Nairs. Local castes, other than Nambudhiris and Nairs, who

became Christians, got the caste name of ‘mappilais’, and this status would

have probably  freed them from slave labour and temple duties. Rev. Mateer

could not see Assyrian settlers, and the churches were managed not by Assyrian

priests or missionaries but by illiterate local converts with little knowledge

of Christianity. Portuguese priests found even Hindu idols in some churches

and there was a reference to it in the proceedings of the Synod of Dampier.

Pre-Portuguese Christians and Christians converted by Portuguese missionaries

were all local converts, mostly from backward castes since Nambudhiris and

Nairs did not show any inclination to abandon their traditional religion.  As

the Catholic Encyclopedia says: "It may be stated here that

the Syrians of Malabar are as a body natives of the land by descent, and

the Syriac trait in them is that of their liturgy, which is in the Syrian

language. They call themselves Syrians by way of distinction from other body

of Christians on the coast, who belong to the Latin rite." Apparently it was

the Syrian and Latin rite that divided them, although all were local

converts. 

 It is also alleged that two further groups of colonies came from Persia, one

in the 8th century, and the other, led by two bishops, Mar Sarisho (Sabor) and

Mar Peroz (Proth), in the early 9th century. Nagom Aiya refers to this event:

“In the same year (A.D.824) King Sthanu Ravi anxious to secure the pecuniary

assistance from Christian merchants in efforts to repel the invasion of

Malabar by Rahakas granted the Copper Plate” In this the king gave permission

to mar Sapor to transfer to the …church and community at Quilon a piece of the

land with near the city with the several families of low caste attached to

it…”[26]It is doubtful whether the plates were subjected to carbon dating to

fix the date. But one point that emerges from the document is the grant of

land with many low caste families. These low castes became Syrian converts of

bishop Mar Sabor. A trusted low caste worker of the bishop was elevated by him

to the rank of kathanar and he was the famous legendary Paulose kathanar with

mystical powers. The appointment of Paulose is a solid proof that Mar Sabor

was not accompanied by Assyrians or Persians and therefore he had to select a

local convert as kathanar.

There is no valid evidence for Persian migration in the 8th century and in

Persia during this period the church was expanding its activities, in spite of

Muslim persecution. Bukhara was elevated to a metropolitan see city by the

eighth century.[27] It was also a period of missionary activity, not migration

of Assyrians to other countries. In Stewart's words, the missionaries who thus

went out "evangelized and baptized many, worked miracles, and showed signs...

built churches and appointed priests and deacons to care for them.[28]. There

is absolutely no reference in Assyrian political or church history about the

“waves of immigration” of Assyrians to Kerala even before Christianity was

introduced in Persia. The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. The Assyrian

people survived the loss of their state, and they remained

mostly inconspicuous for the next 600 years. This period is called ‘dark age.’

Assyrian historian Peter BetBasoo says: “Assyrians continued living in their

homeland throughout this dark age, until that momentous moment in human

history, when the Lord Son of God gave himself for the salvation of mankind.

Very soon after the crucifixion, the bulk of the Assyrian population converted

to Christianity, although there remained to be Ashurites, until 256 A.D. It

was the Apostle Thomas, with Thaddeus and Bartholomew who came to the Assyrian

city of Edessa and founded the Assyrian Church of the East, the first and

oldest church in the world.

Armed with the word of God, and after 600 years of dormancy, the Assyrians

once again set out to build an empire, not a military empire, but a religious

empire founded on divine revelation and Christian brotherhood. So successful

was the Assyrian missionary enterprise, by the end of the twelfth century the

Assyrian Church was larger than the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches

combined, and it spanned the Asian continent, from Syria to Mongolia, Korea,

China, Japan and the Philippines.

When Marco Polo visited China in the thirteenth century, he was astonished to

find Assyrian priests in the Chinese royal court, and tens of thousands of

Chinese Christians. The Assyrian missionaries had reached China in the sixth

century. With only the Bible, a cross, and a loaf of bread in hand, these

messengers had walked thousands of miles along the old Silk Road to deliver

the word of God. So successful were the missionaries, when Genghis Khan swept

through Asia, he brought with him an army over half of which belonged to

the Assyrian Church of the East. So successful were the missionaries, the

first Mongolian system of writing used the Assyrian alphabet.”[29] I have

given BetBasoo’s views comprehensively to highlight two important points – (1)

there were no “waves of immigration” in the fourth century and (2). St Thomas

served as a missionary in and around Edessa. In the official website of the

Assyrian Church of the East in India, it is shown, “Malankara is another name

for Kerala, the cradle of Christianity in India.   St. Thomas, the Apostle

came to Kerala in A.D. 52 and preached the gospel with great success.   Not

much is known about the early history of these St. Thomas Christians, but two

facts stand out clearly.   Between the 3rd and the 9th centuries there were

waves of immigrants from Mesopotamia to Kerala, and from the early

centuries.”[30] From a research perspective, I delved into all available books

and documents archived in the web database, but I could not come across any

document relating to the migration of Assyrians in the third and ninth

centuries to Kerala. BetBasoo says: “One of the greatest Assyrian achievements

of the fourth century was the founding of the first university in the world.

The School of Nisibis had three departments: theology, philosophy and

medicine, and became a magnet and center of intellectual development in the

Middle East. The statutes of the School of Nisibis, which have been preserved,

later became the model upon which the first Italian university was

based.”[31]  So the Assyrian Christians were leading a normal, peaceful

existence in the 3rd century. When Sapur !! came to power (309-79 A.D),

Assyrian Christians had to face cruel persecution.  As Barnes says: “In 337,

during the reign of Shapur II, there was a rise in the persecution of

Christians, partly due to the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the

identification of Christians as collaborators with the enemy.”[32] . Shāpūr

ordered the persecution and forcible conversion of the Christians throughout

his reign. He murdered Mar Shimun, the Catholicos, along with five bishops and

a hundred minor clergy. Many churches were destroyed. There were many famous

martyrs during this period and the persecution lasted for many years. The

significant factor during this period of persecution was the determination of

the Assyrian Christians, like the martyrs, not to migrate to any other

country. It is believed that some time after the defeat of Julian, “ when fear

of a Roman invasion subsided, Shapur II may have issued a decree of toleration

in some limited form for Christian”[33] There was no migration of Christians

to Kerala or any other country, but Christians from conquered areas were

brought  to Persia.”Multitudes of prisoners from the recaptured border

territories were uprooted and resettled farther east in Persia, especially in

Isfahan and Susiana. They included almost a hundred thousand Christian

families, according to Moses of Chorene, adding not only to the numbers of

Christians in Persia, but also perhaps bringing liturgical manuscripts and

their sacred books. Voobus believes that it was through this influx of

refugees and captives that the four separate Gospels of the Western canon came

into circulation in Persia and gradually replaced Tatian's harmony of the

Gospels, the Diatessaron.”[34] Sapur’s persecution could not eliminate

Christianity from Persia.  As Massoem Price says: “The deportees were settled

in Mesopotamia, Persis (Pars) and Parthia. The decision was based on economic

and demographic reasons, but unintentionally promoted the spread of the new

faith. New cities and settlements in fertile but sparsely populated regions

such as Khuzistan and Meshan were built. Many Christians were employed in big

construction projects and had a large number of skilled workers and craftsmen

among them. The city soon became a significant cultural and educational center

with the famous library and the University of Jundaishapour, home to scholars

from all over including many Christian and Jewish scholars. It also became the

center of silk production in Iran with many Christians involving in every

aspect of silk production, management and marketing.[35]  All these events in

Assyrian political and religious history emphatically contravene the claim

that there were “waves’ of Assyrian migration to Kerala at the time of Sapur’s

persecution.  The Persian Catholicos Mar Shimun was arrested and later

murdered by Sapur.  How could the Catholicos send Thomas of Cana and 400

Christian families to Kerala when he himself  was not in a position to execute

his authority? Samuel Hugh Moffett quotes from Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History, " A

second decree ordered the destruction of churches and the execution of clergy

who refused to participate in the national worship of the sun. Bishop Simon

was seized and brought before the shah who, it is said, had known him from his

youth. He was offered rich gifts to make a token obeisance to the sun, and

when he refused, as his accusers expected, they cunningly tempted him with the

promise that if only he alone would apostasize his people would not be harmed,

but that if he refused he would be condemning not just the church leaders but

all Christians to destruction. At that, the Christians themselves rose up and

refused to accept such deliverance as shameful. So on Good Friday, according

to the tradition (but more likely on September 14), in the year 344, he was

led outside the city of Susa along with a large number of Christian clergy.

Five bishops and one hundred priests were beheaded before his eyes, and last

of all he himself was put to death."  It is a sheer bizarre fantasy to claim

that Bishop Simon sent Thomas of Cana, a bishop and 72 families to Kerala when

he himself was facing execution. But Shapur II’s persecution is repeatedly

projected by Thomas Christians for the arrival of Thomas of Cana at

Kodungallore.    What is more, Persian church history says that Christians

were proud to die as martyrs instead of fleeing persecution. Even women

volunteered to die as martyrs. In most books and websites of St. Thomas

Christians, the persecution of Sapur11 is highlighted to claim the arrival of

Thomas of Cana and later massive Assyrian migration to Kerala and their

descent through these migrants.  Even after Sapur’s death, Assyrian Christians

boldly faced the persecution of Muslim rulers and reorganized themselves into

cohesive social groups without migrating to other countries.  The conquest of

Islam in seventh century put an end to freedom of religion throughout the

Middle East. The situation worsened by the time of Harun Al Rashid seized

power in eight-century AD. The overwhelming population of the area at the time

was Christian, Zoroastrian and Jewish. Their houses of worship were destroyed,

they could not build any new ones and jizya was increased substantially. But

there is no evidence of Assyrian migration to Kerala. As Price says: “Iran

being part of the Greater Muslim Empire was subjected to the same rules. Since

non-Muslims were forced out of the government institutions, they went into

trade and banking. A wealthy class of Christian merchants emerged with cash

but little political influence. Christian artisans, including goldsmiths and

jewelers, would find employment in the large cities. In his account of the

mission of the Nestorian monks, Thomas of Marga relates that the Patriarch

Timothy sent his missionary with a company of merchants who were journeying

together to Mugan (the plain of Mugan?) on the River Aras (Araxes). Muslim

treatment of the religious minorities varied in accordance with the policies

of the caliphs and attitudes of different governors.”[36].  Christians had

accepted the new political climate  and there was no evidence of migration of

Assyrians to Kerala during this period. Bishop Timothy was successful in

maintaining good relations with the Muslims. As Bidwaid says, “ In a letter to

a bishop in western Syria, Timothy praised the situation of nearly all

Christians in his care because they were not politically preferred and were

anything but established. Among them the great pearl of the faith had not been

trampled in the mud as it had been in the West by first one emperor and then

another, demanding the acceptance of what the ruler believed.”[37]

The website Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East states:  “The

Muslim conquest beginning in the 7th century affected the church and brought

new persecutions. The Mongol khans who had been open to Christianity came

under the influence of Islam and turned against the church during their

invasions of the Arabian Peninsula. Many Christians were killed or forced to

convert to Islam. The Church of the East withdrew into the Hakkari mountains

(today's northern Iraq and eastern Turkey) which became the home of the

patriarchal see, and where it remained in isolation for centuries. When the

British established their rule in Iraq after World War I, the patriarch was

exiled to Cyprus. Eventually he moved to the USA, when it became evident that

the Iraqi authorities would not let him return to his people.”[38] It becomes

transparent from all available sources that there was no mass migration of

Assyrians to Kerala during the fourth and ninth centuries as claimed by Thomas

Christians.  Regretfully, even foreign authors and research scholars have been

following the view propagated by Syrian Christian writers and websites without

making proper faculty evaluation to determine whether it is fact-based, well

documented or backed by authentic documentary evidence. Even the arrival of

St. Thomas to Kerala is cherished by them through songs such as the Veeradian

Pattu, Thomma Parvom, and Margom Kali Pattu. But these songs are not contemporary

but were composed in the eighteenth century to be sung primarily in church

festivals. Indian writers such as Nagam Aiya (Travancore Manual), Velu Pillai

(Travancore Manual), Ananthakrishna Iyer (Anthropology) Sangunni Menon and

others have not verified any primary source such as a document, image, or

artifact that provides evidence about the Assyrian immigration; they have not

investigated the original caste before conversion, authenticity of chepped and

documents to fix the age (without carbon dating).T. K. Joseph who was in

charge of Kerala Society Papers has given a completely distorted

interpretation to  historical events with ulterior motives. He has maneuvered

with covert intentions to give Nambudhiri and Jewish progeny to Syrian

Christians when there were no Nambudhiri in the 1st century and the recorded

arrival of the Jews was only in 1000 C.E. Most foreign authors, including

Leslie Brown, have blindly followed T.K. Joseph's papers. Whatever their

motivation, many writers  have published manipulated papers and many more

people have unknowingly and ardently supported them.  Documents such

as Ramban Pattu, Margam Kali pattukal are cited to narrate the events related to

St. Thomas although they are not contemporary works. Family memoir

like Niranam Granthavari can hardly be expected to contain the whole truth. In a

bizarre recollection of what had happened in the first century, family story

tellers living in the 18th century boast of four or five "Brahmin" families

when there were actually no Brahmins. Michael Tharakan, in his paper, Economic

History of Keralam, submitted at the International Seminar on Kerala History,

KCHR, March 16, 2006, observes, “ inevitably almost all Christian Kudumba

Charithrams (family histories) claim that they made their present fortunes in a

comparatively short time in the 18th century.”  It may not be 18th century. The

first encounter of local Christians with Vasco da Gama was in 1502. According

to Portuguese writer, Sousa  Faria,  a Syrian Christian deputation met Vasco

da Gama and requested him to take them under Portuguese control.  K.M.Panikkar

has pointed out in his book, A History of Kerala, “ Kerala Pazhama gives

detailed information about their visit to Gama, which account is also

corroborated by Faria. They surrendered their privileges and authority to

Portugal and undertook to conduct the affairs only in the name of tha

Portuguese king. The ancient records and insignia which the Chief possessed

were also handed over to Gama. More than even this, they suggested to him that

with their help he should conquer the Hindu Kingdoms and invited him to build

a fortress for this purpose in Cranganore.” (pp159-60). From that day onward,

Christians were declared to be  under the political and judicial protection of

the Portuguese. They were allowed to stay within Portuguese fortress and all

non-Christians were expelled. From the time of Albuquerque the Portuguese

recruited Christians in their army and they were used extensively in their

campaigns. Fernandes Chale, a Nair convert, was a commander in many

engagements and was created a Knight of the Order of Christ. He was killed at

the battle of the river Sangulier in 1571 and was buried with honors in Goa.

The Portuguese established a college at Vaipukotta in 1587 and the first

principal was Antonio Morales. Their patronage to Syrian Christians could be

seen from their decision to make Syriac as the medium of instruction in this

college.  They forced the queen of Kollam to repair a church destroyed by

Muslim merchants and locals and she was asked to give all privileges to

Christians. When Cabral reached Kochi after bombarding Calicut to show his

dissatisfaction with the Zamorin,  he sent a Syrian Christian named Michael

Jogue along with an European to negotiate with the Raja of Kochi about the

purchase of pepper and other spices. It was a successful negotiation and the

Raja agreed to allow the Portuguese to use Kochi as a base for their trade.

From this experience, the Portuguese used Syrian Christians as brokers

(tharakan) to deal with kings and pepper merchants while purchasing pepper and

other spices. Brokers were commercial agents and they became immensely wealthy

by getting handsome commission from both parties. In another incident, two

Syrian Christians, Joseph and Mathew, requested Cabral to give them a chance

to go to Christian  Europe since they were Christians. Cabral took them to

Lisbon and they were made full fledged Catholics by removing from their minds

all heretical and Nestorian ideas. Unfortunately, Mathew fell ill and died in

Lisbon. Joseph, however,  got the privilege of going to Venice, Rome and other

places. After reaching Kerala in a Portuguese ship, he wrote about his travel

experiences in European countries in a book entitled “The Travels of Joseph the

Indian.”  Contrary to the views expressed by some Syrian Christian writers, the

Synod of Diamper (Udayamperur) convened by Alexis de Menezes in 1599 was a

success in the sense that  he removed all heretical and Nestorian ideas and

regularized the structure and administration of the Catholic Church.

Syrian Christians remained loyal to Catholic Church. It is a gross distortion

of history that Archbishop Alexis de Menezes forced Christian priests to

attend the Synod and that he sought the help of Kochi Raja to punish

Christians who did not attend the Synod. The Portuguese were in full power and

Christian priests were craving the Archbishop for favour and privileges. So

there was no need for force or the assistance of Kochi Raja. It was a bald-

faced aberration of historical facts by later communal writers to claim pseudo

national spirit against colonial Portuguese. It was Antonio de Gouvera who

first published in Portuguese an account of the Synod of Diamper. All later

editions published by various authors after the exit of the Portuguese

are completely distorted and fabricated to satisfy communal and sectarian

interests. Menezes can be rightly  proud of the fact that the Synod of Diamper

laid a strong and stable foundation for the future of the Catholic Church in

Kerala. Magnificent churches were built and managed  by the Portuguese and

priests were appointed by them, mostly former Syrian converts. There were

convents and monasteries built by Franciscans and Jesuits. The inmates were

Syrian converts. Although the Dutch destroyed many churches, there are even

today many churches with baroque facades in villages along the backwaters and

on the sea shore. Revisionist and communal historians of 19th and 20th

centuries have suppressed all these concrete evidences to bolster their fake

claim to Brahmin and Assyrian pedigree to local caste Christians of the pre-

Coonen Cross pledge. Menezes was a dynamic and sincere Christian who can be

rightly called the architect of Catholic church in Kerala, but maligned by

Syrian Christian writers claiming false heredity to mask their lower caste

parentage. Even Buchanan, Michael Geddes,  Leslie Brown .and many foreign

authors were misled by them. Menezes was later appointed viceroy of Portugal

during the Iberian Union in 1612 and he died in 1617. He was buried with great

honor at the Populo Church in Braga. All Christians in Kerala( former local

Syrian converts and Portuguese converts) remained loyal to Catholic church.

But early in 1661 a Dutch  expedition under Van Der Meyden landed near

Cranganore, concluded an agreement with the Zamorin, and seized the Portuguese

fort of Pallipuram. Taking advantage of the declining power of the Portuguese

and also to have financial and property control , some disgruntled elements

under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas rebelled against the Catholic Church

in 1653 by taking a pledge called “Coonen Cross.” The Coonen Cross revolt was

also not a success because the majority (84) congregations remained loyal to

the Catholic Church. The claim of some Syrian Christian writers is  that the

Coonen Cross revolt was the immediate sequel to  the Synod of Diamper convened

by Menezes and that incident is being used by them  to demonstrate their

pseudo- patriotism in opposing colonial Portuguese Christianity and their

superior caste status over low caste converts by CMS missionaries. But in

reality it had happened about 54 years (over half a century) after the Synod

when the Dutch were winning in some wars against the Portuguese. So the Coonen

Cross pledge was not a patriotic struggle as portrayed by communal writers but

a sectarian opposition to an emerging monolithic Catholic Church.The

Portuguese rule lasted for about 155 years and during this long period Syrian

Christians were elevated to a status superior to Nambudhiris and Nairs and

were also given administrative and military powers. As has been observed

earlier, the Kochi Raja was merely a tool in the hands of the Portuguese. To

show their sovereignty over Kochi, even the Raja's crown was made in Lisbon

and the Portuguese constructed a large stone palace for him at Mattancherry.

It was the springtime for the Christians and some wealthy families would have

earned aristocratic status in society to claim at a later period Nambudhiri or

Jewish or Assyrian genealogy. Family histories written after several centuries

gloat about foreign bloodline  for their ancestors because of their immense

wealth as planters, traders and military men in a caste ridden society. It is

obvious that memories are faulty and the authors, of course, are presenting

their own personal view of their ancestors without any contemporary evidence.

But faulty memories, omission, and slight exaggeration are far different than

completely warping the truth or creating an entirely imaginary life. In the

current cultural climate, it is inevitable that memoirs have a tendency to

stretch the boundary between fact and fiction. 

In my view, the concept of migration of Assyrians or Persians that has been

etched for centuries in the minds of Thomas Christians may be due to the

poignant reminiscence of two migrations Christians faced in the past.  One was

the migration from Mylapore to Kodungalloor when there was persecution of

original Thomas Christians by the Hindus. Even after their arrival in Kerala,

they were pursued by one Monickavasagar who came to Kodungalloor to attack

them. Fleeing Christians had to make perilous journeys through unchartered

dense forests to reach such places as Kuravilangad, Angamaly, Niranam,

Mundakkayam, Kothamangalam and other places. The second migration was not a

single movement, but a phased one spreading over many years. This migration

was due to large scale conversion of lower castes by the British missionaries.

Before the Portuguese came to Kerala, all converts to Christianity were

commonly called Mappillais (like the Moplahs of Malabar) and later Nazaranes,

a contemptuous name given by the Muslims, as Christians are called in Arab

countries. The credit goes to the Portuguese and the Franciscan fathers for

giving the name ‘Syrian Christians,’ because of the Syriac liturgy used by

them. When missionaries belonging to colonial powers came to Kerala, castes of

the converts were retained and different denominations also sprang up. During

the Portuguese period, all Christians enjoyed social freedom. After the exit

of the Portuguese the converts by the British and Roman Catholics were forced

to do compulsory work known as oozhiyam and they were also subjected to many

hardships and in some places persecution. So CMS missionaries themselves urged

them to migrate to forest areas and to start a new living. The migrated

converts joined the mainstream of Christians and the forest areas where they

took refuge gradually became important towns.  As Susan Bayly says: “Using all

the publicity skills at their command, the missionaries broadcast the claim

that all converts, whatever their caste origins, possessed the same status as

Syrians and indeed all Keralan Christians were effectively Syrians. In

appeals, petitions and pamphlets, the missionaries insisted that once a low-

caste pulaya or Ezhava became a Christian, he was entitled to all the marks of

social and ritual standing held by Syrians, including the right to enter Hindu

temple streets and all the other privileged precincts from which they had

previously been banned.”[39] 

Portuguese rule and later British administration gave a new social position to

Syrian Christians in a caste ridden, repressive society. CMS missionaries

wanted to free Christians from compulsory free service called oozhiyam which

was mandatory for all backward castes. They used their clout on the British

Resident and in the Census Report of 1898 Syrian Christians were removed from

the backward classes list. Till 1898 Syrian Christian community was treated by

the Maharajah’s government as backward caste. Removal from backward caste

list was a significant event in Syrian Christian history and this made them

casteless at one stroke. Social position in society based on their income,

wealth, property ownership, job status, education, skills, or power in the

economic and political sphere gave Syrian Christians a distinctive place in

Kerala society, far superior than Nambudhiri Brahmins and Nairs. Another

factor that made the community unique was the Diaspora to Colombo ( Sri

Lanka), Malaya (Malaysia), Singapore, Burma (Myanmar), Persia (Iran) Africa

in the early 19th century, then to the USA, Canada, Australia, the Gulf

counties, England and Europe in the later 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. This

migration has created a distinctive elite, whose sheer economic, educational

and cultural advantages have set it apart from all other castes in Kerala.

The Assyrian Diaspora is often erroneously linked with Assyrian migration to

Kerala. The Assyrian Diaspora has nothing to do with Kerala Christians.  The

Assyrian Church of the East gained official recognition in the 4th century AD.

It faced repression under the Ottoman Turks and shuffled around the region as

a diaspora for much of the 20th century: moving between Iran and Iraq, while a

large contingent found refuge in America. During this period of Muslim rule

proselytization was punishable by death under Sharia law and, therefore,

Assyrian missionaries (not settlers or refugees) went to Transoxania, Central

Asia, India, Mongolia and China where they established numerous churches.

The Church of the East was considered to be one of the major Christian

powerhouses in the world, alongside Latin Christianity in Europe and

the Byzantine Empire. Since World War I, the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac diaspora

has steadily increased so that there are now more Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs

living in western and eastern Europe, North America and Australia, than in the

Middle East. Eden Naby, an Assyrian researcher and Middle East historian, says

"their modern history has been marred by violence and persecution. Between

1914 and 1918, more than 500,000 Assyrians were killed during the Armenian

genocide in present-day Turkey. More recently, the US invasion of Iraq in 2003

and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a secular dictator, has exposed Assyrians

and other minorities to sectarian strife. Emigration has shrunk the community

of Assyrians from about 1.4 million living in Iraq in 1987 to 400,000 at last

count , according to Al Jazeera. Others live in Turkey and Iran.About 40, 000

Assyrians remain in Syria  according to an estimate from the BBC, a number

that experts say is likely in decline. Christians are estimated to have

constituted about 10 percent of Syria's 22 million people before civil war

erupted in 2011. Many Assyrians have since fled to escape the ongoing conflict

and violent attacks by Islamic extremist groups such as ISIS. A majority of

Assyrians now live among the diaspora in the United States and Europe,

including sizable populations in Germany and Sweden." (Christian Science

Monitor, February 25, 2015). Since the Assyrian Genocide, many Assyrians have

fled their homelands for a more safe and comfortable life in the West.  The

Civil War in Lebanon, the coming into power of the Islamic republic of Iran,

the Ba'thist dictatorship in Iraq, and the present-day unrest in Iraq pushed

even more Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs on the roads of exile. Since the

beginning of the 20th century, the Assyrian population in the Middle East has

decreased dramatically. . Even before this latest exodus, at least two-thirds

of Iraqi Christians had fled since the fall of Saddam. Christians were

concentrated in Mosul, Basra and, especially, Baghdad – which before the US

invasion had the largest Christian population in the Middle East. Although

Iraq's 750,000 Christians made up only 7% of the pre-war population, they were

a prosperous minority under the Ba'athists, as symbolized by the high profile

of Tariq Aziz, Saddam's foreign minister, who used to disarm visiting foreign

dignitaries by breaking into Onward, Christian Soldiers in Aramaic, the

language of Jesus.  Despite sizable Christian populations holding on in

Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, there is likely to be little place for Christian

Arabs (Syrian Christians) in a Middle East rebuilt on intolerant ideologies

like those of ISIS terrorists. If the Islamic state proclaimed by ISIS  turns

into a permanent, Christian-free zone, it could signal the demise not just of

an important part of the Arab Christian (Syrian Christian) realm but also of

the secular Arab nationalism Christians helped create in the Middle East. Now

almost everywhere Syrian  Christians are leaving. In the past decade maybe a

quarter have made new lives in Europe, Australia and America. According

to Professor Kamal Salibi,  they are simply exhausted: "There is a feeling

of fin de race among Christians all over the Middle East."  As of today there are

more Assyrians in Europe, North America, and Australia than in their former

homeland. If Assyrians had not come to Kerala when there was genocide in 18th,

19th, and 20th centuries in spite of faster means of travel and communications

, it is indeed a mere fantasy to think that there were waves of Assyrian

immigrants in the 4th and 9th centuries centuries when travel was difficult,

facilities were rare and the handicap of  cultural divides was enormous.

[1] Von Soden, W. The Ancient Orient. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994.pp

49-50

[2]    Karen Radner, 'Mass deportation: the Assyrian resettlement

policy', Assyrian empire builders, University College London, 2012

[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/governors/massdeportation/.    

        [3] Kriwaczek, P. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. Thomas Dunne

Books, 2010.

[4] An example of such an unfounded claim is to be found in the book by, W.

Durant, The

Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage (New York: Simon and Schuster,

1954),

283-284: “Nineveh was laid to waste . . . , the population was slaughtered or

enslaved, . .

. At one blow Assyria disappeared from history. Nothing remained of her except

certain

tactics and weapons of war, . . . Not a stone remained visible of all the

temples . . . ”

[5]  Massoume Price,

http://www.farsinet.com/iranbibl/christians_in_iran_history.html

[6] Rev. David Royel, S.T.L., The Assyrian Church of the East: A Panoramic View of a Glorious

History, http://assyrianchurch.org.au/about-us/history/ancient/

[7] The Eastern Catholic Archdiocese (Chaldean-Syrian,

http://www.easterncatholicchurch.org/about.html

[8] Stephen Andrew Missick, Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the

Assyrian Church and the Christians of St. Thomas in

India

,                                                                              

                    http://www.aina.org/articles/missick.pdf

[9] ibid

[10] The Gnostic Apostle Thomas (c) 1997 Herbert Christian

Merillat. http://gnosis.org/thomasbook/ch14.html

[11] Rev. Aubrey R. Vine (1937), The Nestorian Churches: a Concise History of

Nestorian Christianity in Asia from the Persian Schism to the Modern

Assyrians, London. P.57 

[12]  Ian Hampson, Saint Thomas The Apostle, http://stthomasbradley.org.uk/?

page_id=155

[13] Ghassan Hanna Shathaya, History of the Chaldean

Catholic Church, http://www.chaldeansonline.org/church.html.

[14] K. S. Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 vols. New York,

1937-45, II, pp. 263ff

[15] http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2014/02/05/historic-assyrian-church-of-

the-eas

[16] East of the Euphrates: Early Christianity in Asia by T.V. Philip

http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1553&C=1366

[17] http://dutchinkerala.com/english/article13.php?id=06#.VE3M3yKUeSo

[18] ibid.

[19]    Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, http://marthoma.in/heritage

[20]    Anto Akkara, Thrissur, Chaldean Syrian Collection - SRITE

www.srite.de/index?id=2&cikk=71

[21] Galletti, The Dutch in Malabar, Madras ,Government Press, , 1911, p.173

[22] Woodcock, George, Kerala, Faber And Faber, London, 1967, p.156

[23]“Marthoma sleeha malayalathil vannu margam aruvichappol pattamanaparaurenna kottakkayal

gramathil mukhyapetta illakkar Chankarapuriyennum Pakalonmattam ennum Palliyennum Kaliyakum

Karayennum. Ivaru naalu tharavaattukaru ee vedam anusarichu. Marthoma Sleeha Chankarapuriyilum

Pakalonmattathilum pattavum Koduthu.”(o4.03).

[24] Dubois, Abbe J.A., Letters On The State of Christianity in India, New Delhi:Associated

Publishing House, 1977,p.12.

[25]  Samuel Mateer, Native Life in Travancore, 1883 Book digitized by Google from

the library of New York Public Library 

[26] Aiyya,V.N.Nagam , Travacore State Manual, p.35

[27] The first mosque in Bukhara (later to become one of the holiest cities in

the Muslim world) was not built until 712, the second one not until 771. It is

unclear exactly when Bukhara received its first bishop.

[28] John Stewart, Nestorian Missionary Enterprise ,Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1928,

p.84.

[29] Peter BetBasoo, Brief History of

Assyrians, http://www.aina.org/brief.html

[30] Assyrian Church of the East in

India, http://www.churchoftheeastindia.org/

[31] Peter BetBasoo, op.cited.

[32] T. D. Barnes, “Constantine and the Christians of Persia,” The Journal of

Roman Studies 75, 1985, pp. 131-32.

[33] M. J. Higgins, "Chronology of the Fourth-Century Metropolitans of

Seleucia-Ctesiphon," Traditio 9 (1953): 45-92f.

[34] Moses of Chorene, cited by J. Neusner, History of the lezos in Babylonia,

5 vols. (Leiden: 1966-70), 4:16ff (Excerpts from: A History of Christianity in

Asia”.  By: Samuel Hugh Moffett.

(http://www.syriacstudies.com/) Diatessaron, the four New Testament Gospels

compiled as a single narrative by Tatian about AD 150. It was the

standard Gospel text in the Syrian Middle East until about AD 400, when it was

replaced by the four separated Gospels.

[35] Massouem Price, Christianity in Iran.

http://www.cultureofiran.com/christianity_history.htm

[36] Ibid.

[37]  Raphael Bidawid, Les lettres du Patriarche Nestorian Timothde I (Vatican

City: Vatican Apostolic Library, 1956), p. 41. 

[38] http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/holy-apostolic-catholic-

assyrian-church-of-the-east

[39] Susan Bayly, Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Cambridge University Press, London,

2004, p.292