This article takes a brief look into the history of conversions to Christianity in Kerala. The Christians of the State can be broadly categorized into three: Syrian Christians who are believed to have been converted from the upper castes (whether such distinction existed at that time is not clear) by Apostle St. Thomas in 1c, Latin Christians who were converted mostly from lower classes by St. Francis Xavier in the 16c and Dalit Christians who were converted in the 19c by the Anglicans and in the 20c by the Catholic denomination of the Syrians. The labels Syrian and Latin came about because of the respective languages that were used in liturgy. (See: Jewish names among Syrian Christians.)
The Syrian Christian community is referred to by historians as Malabar Church and St. Thomas Christians. This congregation was, till the intrusion by the Western Christianity with the arrival of the Portuguese, a distinctive Eastern Church with the Pope of Rome as a hazy father figure at the far end of a thin long line.
Being a Syrian Christian is a matter of birth and inherited religious convictions. Therefore, conversion to that community is an anomaly. In all its known history till the 20c, the Malabar Church never undertook any missionary work. The theology of the community was that every human being achieved salvation through his own religion; a conclusion that modern Christian theology is increasingly accepting. Spreading the Word of Christ and induced or forced conversions to Christianity are two totally different things. As a result, the Syrian Christians remained an exclusive community to which outsiders had no entry.
Two questions arise here: why then did St. Thomas carry out conversions and, why did he convert only the so called upper classes? The Apostle would have, if one accepts oral tradition, received into the Christian fold only those who came forward willingly and out of conviction. On the question of the claimed class distinction in the conversions by the Apostle, it is necessary to understand the background of his mission. His arrival in Kerala (52A.D.) was before the gentiles were accepted into Christianity. Even the word ‘Christian’ did not exist at that time; it was coined in Antioch around 65 A.D. Till then the followers of Christ were known as Nazranis, a name that continues to be used in Kerala.
It is possible that St. Thomas initially targeted the Jews who were already in Kerala. (Several historians claim that the Jews were trading with Kerala even at the time of King Solomon.) Some of the upper crust local people too, presumably, joined the new faith. Here ‘upper crust’ would mean the educated or enlightened who, according to oral tradition, engaged the Apostle in debates.
The Malabar Church enjoyed an organic growth for fifteen centuries, blending with the social structure and being part of it, conforming to the customs and traditions of the land, maintaining upper class stature, receiving support and recognition from the rulers.
The Portuguese arrived in Kerala at the end of the 15c. They initiated a campaign to convert the local Christians (who followed Syriac liturgy) to the Latin Rite. This met with incessant resistance. The net result in the long run was that the Malabar Church was truncated and split into different denominations. Of these, the Catholic faction was subjugated by the Western Latin Church for three centuries.
The arrival of St. Francis Xavier in the middle of the 16c saw a flourish in missionary activity. This great saint of the Catholic Church converted many people of the lower castes to Christianity. He had the patronage of the Portuguese and the maharajas of Travancore and Cochin. In fact, the Maharaja of Cochin had the title ‘Protector of Christians’.
But there were protests against these conversions from the upper classes not on religious grounds but for social and economic reasons. Accepting Christianity released the converts from their obligations under the fine tuned caste system. This led to several problems. To give an example: the coconut pickers who became Christians were no longer under any compulsion to carry out their traditional duty.
This new congregation came to be known as Latin Christians. Whereas the Syrian Christians always enjoyed upper class status, the Latin Christians were treated as lower caste and there were hardly any social interaction between the two. After Independence, the Latin Christians were officially included in the backward class category.
The next round of conversions to Christianity in Kerala was in the 19c by the Anglicans, now known as Church of South India (CSI), who came to Kerala in the wake of the British in the first quarter of the 19c. This episode covered both Syrian Christians and members of some lower castes. The Anglicans championed major causes of the Dalits, like the right of Channar women to cover their breasts in public, and the abolition of slavery. This attracted lower castes to the new edition of Christianity in Kerala.
Then, in the early 1930s, the Syrian Catholic Church suddenly went on a conversion spree against all traditions of the St. Thomas Christians, focusing specifically on the Pulayas who were among the untouchables. They were bonded labor attached to landlords, both Hindu and Christian. Anizham Thirunal Maharaja abolished slavery in Travancore in the mid -19c, but the practice continued in one form or the other till the World War II. The Pulayas were totally at the mercy of their lords. The prospect of joining Christianity appealed to many of them.
Whether all these conversions were genuine, arising out of conviction is debatable. The details about the activities of St. Thomas in Kerala are shrouded in the foggy past. But by no stretch of imagination could he have had the political, financial or military clout to indulge in coercion. The subsequent conversions are unlikely to pass the test because there was an element of quid pro quo involved, in one way or another.
The present scenario in Kerala is that the label ‘Christians’ covers diverse groups without meaningful homogeneity or integration.
Ends.
Also see:
Vedas, Syrian Christians
285 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 285 of 285As I wrote in my earlier posts, Syrian Christians are basically descendants of the hybrid progeny of West Asian Seafarer Merchants and Kerala lower caste aborigine women. I will write more on this later. For the present, it is pertinent to have a look at the role of the Deacons and Arch Deacons (names that were Portuguese innovations) in Syrian Christian history. Till the arrival of the Portuguese in the early 16th century they were known as Moopens ( Malayalam word for tribal elder) and Malankara Moopen (clan elder of Syrian Christians of Malankara as Kerala was called by them) respectively. The Moopens, who were petty merchants, also functioned as priests and so were called ‘Katthanars’ to signify their priestly duties (I will explain the etymology of the word ‘Katthanar’ later). If we dig by a few more centuries into the past of Syrian Christians we will come across some interesting nuggets that will shed light on their existence in the thousand-odd years between the 6th and 17th centuries (I will elaborate later why I begin from the 6th century AD. The matter will not be different even if we begin from the 1st century AD). The first important point is that they never had a native Metropolitan or Bishop consecrated from among them during the period. All the Bishops who tended to their religious needs in Kerala during this period were imported ones. Yes, all of their Bishops during these 10 centuries were foreigners coming from Persia and no Indian was made a Bishop! Such was the esteem the Syrian Christians of India were held in by their religious masters back in Persia then! (Considering the above attitude of the Persians which conveyed a lack of confidence in the knowledge level or intellectual capabilities of the Syrian Christian Mooppens of those days, what a paradox it will be if one were to take at face value, as some credulous people do, the fabrication that the Syrian Christians descended from the wise and learned Brahmins of Kerala! This devious fiction was the creation of the cunning foxes among the Syrian Christian clergy of the middle ages ie., the Archdeacons and Deacons which was later picked up by their quack-historians and narrated extensively in true Goebbelsian style so that it became accepted and quoted as a tradition by even sober writers of history! Lack of literacy or formal learning notwithstanding, the Moopens of the period had the guile and cunning inherent to the shrewd merchants that they were, to find ways to profit even under adverse conditions. Thus, they hit upon the idea of Brahmin conversions when a need arose to secure their social position and related economic prospects- details of which I will explain later).
The original Brahmins of those days were highly learned and distinguished men, many of whom became well known Sages, Philosophers, Litterateurs, Linguists, Astronomers, Administrators, Jurists etc., etc,. Also, the Brahmins were born priests. It was their traditional occupation and monopoly. Had the Brahmins of Kerala become Syrian Christians, they would have brought their learning along with them and passed it on to their progeny so that later Syrian Christians would have become learned and well accomplished like their fathers. Also, given their learning and intellectual gifts the converted Brahmins would have staked a claim to the higher Priesthood of Christianity. But neither of these happened in Kerala during the above said thousand-odd years. That no native Indian Bishop was ever appointed by the Persian Nestorian Church shows that the Persians never considered any of the Moopens fit enough to be elevated and assigned duties of a Bishop! This was primarily because the Moopens were illiterate, ignorant people unfit for serious ecclesiastical duties. They were basically local traders and petty merchants (of West Asian-Kerala aborigine hybrid stock and hence termed ‘Mappila’) who were engrossed in their greedy exertions to make money (as is the case with any merchant even today) and therefore saw their religion only as a social force that gave them an identity (as is the case with many Syrian Christians of Kerala even now). Thus, they took up their religious duties no more seriously than as perfunctory assignments delegated by their Persian Nestorian masters. But the Persian Bishops never came regularly and whatever religious instructions they imparted to the hybrids here were intermittent tutoring with long gaps in between and so no proper and continuous ecclesiastical systems were in place or in operation in Kerala to teach the Syrian Christians the important principles of the Christian faith or the art of writing and maintaining records or to refine them culturally or to inculcate moral values in them. What was the net result? Like other barbarians, they too wallowed in ignorance, darkness and cultural primitiveness during the Dark Ages of History ie. from the 6th to 13th centuries. They neither learned the skills nor acquired the intellectual resources to keep tangible records of their activities as was done by the civilized populations of those days the world over. (Brahmins, Buddhists, Jains and Muslims of India of this period - and also earlier and later periods – kept records and the later scholars of history were indebted to such diligent scribes of yore for their recreation of India’s history).
The Arabs who converted to Islam in the 7th century got a firm foot-hold in the spice trade of Malabar during this period. It was during this period too ( ie., in the 9th century) that the Persian Merchant Prelates by the name Mar Sapor (Shapur) and Mar Proth or Piruz (Feroze) are said to have come to Kollam (note the typical Persian names of these men that are current even today –Sapor is the Latin form of Shapur and Proth is a corruption for Feroze).They were in the line of Persian Bishops who came intermittently over the centuries. From the copper plates supposedly given them by the rulers of Kollam we get the idea that they came essentially for commerce. They were merchants first and took the work of Bishops only as a second job. So they were instrumental in turning Kollam into a thriving centre of international trade with the market bustling with foreign traders importing and exporting goods. But the Syrian Christians revere them as ascetics and holy men. In any case, the fact is that they came during the reign of the Nestorian Patriarch Timothy I of Persia, who granted independence to the Metropolitans of the Mission fields called Exterior Provinces of the Church of the East (Nestorian Church of Persia). Kerala in India was one of the Nestorian Mission fields. Patriarch Timothy I, sent Mar Sapor and Mar Proth with express instructions to rejuvenate the moribund Church in Kerala that had fallen into decay for some time. Hence they toured widely, collected the scattered Nestorian flock of hybrids (of West Asian-Aborigine stock) and went on with a conversion spree. The Persian merchants who accompanied Sapor and Proth made themselves busy with trading activities around the Church they were allowed to build in Kollam, and had large numbers of employees and servants from among the local hybrid Christians and the lower castes of Kerala like Toddy tappers, washer men, potters, tillers of soil and the sundry castes who are termed Scheduled castes now (such as Pulayas, Kuravas and Pariahs). Many of the females of these servants were taken as wives and concubines by the merchants since they had sailed to India as single men unaccompanied by women or family (the itinerant Persian merchants were not concerned about caste distinctions and were only in need of female company which they could easily afford to have since Nestorians were free to take any number of wives and concubines). These servants were all converted by Mar Sapor to Nestorian Christianity and in due course their offspring from the union with the merchants mixed thoroughly with the earlier West Asian- aborigine hybrids who were already Christians for a few centuries. Their descendants can be seen among the present day Syrian Christians of the Districts of Kollam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta.
Mar Proth went to Kodungallur but had to flee to Udayamperur because of a serious quarrel with Muslim Arabs traders settled there over disputes relating to transactions between Muslim Arabs and Jews of Kodungallur and also on issues of trade and religious conversion and the ensuing threat to life from the Muslim Arabs and their hybrid Muslim progeny. On the way back to Kollam, Sabor and Proth converted large numbers of lower castes and Dalits and set up many churches and the so called ‘Pahlavi crosses’ carved in laterite rock (I shall explain where these lower castes came from later).These lower caste and scheduled caste converts later mixed with the existing hybrid Christians and are the ancestors of present day Syrian Christians of Alappuzha, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam , Idukki, Ernakulam and Trichur Distircts. But the Jews never had to run away from Kodungllur since, although inferior to Muslims in military strength, they had economic strength which stemmed from their position as international traders having extensive trade net-works with other Jewish settlers residing in commercial centers throughout the known world then. For this reason they were held in high esteem by the local rulers and the Arab Muslim mercantile class of Kerala. (It seems the Muslim Arabs chose the Nazrani Mappilas under Mar Proth for a different treatment because the Persians were already under Arab yoke at the time and other religions in Persia were teetering in the face of Islam’s onslaught). The Arab Muslim traders and their Indian progeny ie., Arabi Mappilas never hesitated to wield the sword before any obstacle or challenge they faced in Kerala and hence were feared even by the local rulers. Their hegemony continued till the arrival of the Portuguese who had superior military power. The Persian Christian merchants and their Indian progeny ie., Nasrani Mappilas were no match to the Muslims and hence on all occasions had to flee under threat as Mar Proth did. It can be said that if the Muslim Arabi Mappilas were a pride of Lions that roared in Kerala then, the Syrian Christian Nasrani Mappilas were a nest of mice that squeaked and scampered under threat.
It was this pathetically inferior position in militaristic and related social terms that prompted the cunning Syrian Christian Moopens to device tactics of deception in order to shore up their waning acceptance among the local Hindu rulers as traders and merchants who could be banked upon for tax revenues and be treated on a par with the Arabi Mappilas. Thus, the Moopens came up with the fairy tale of their conversion to Christianity from among the early Jewish settlers of Kodungallur in order to dupe the Hindu rulers and they modified this deception later, with Brahmins replacing Jews, to dupe both the Portuguese and Hindu rulers of the day. Still, the local Hindu rulers accorded the Syrian Christians freedom and leeway only up to a certain level. Since they were a wandering merchant community no better than nomads trading in local produce, they never had land ownership and always stayed outside the limits of the towns the rulers resided in. Occasionally, if the local Naduvazhi (ruler) became angry or irritated by the Syrian Christians’ behavior, he used to kick them out of his territory and so they had to go begging to some other nearby Naduvazhi for protection and succor ( I will give some details later). However they were survivors and managed to linger on around the periphery of most of the numerous ancient Principalities in the present day Districts of Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Trichur etc.
It was around this time again ie., 9th century AD that the mythical Kanai Thommen (Thomas of Cana) is said to have arrived in Kodungallur from Armenia or Palestine or Yemen (nobody knows from where exactly!) with his retinue of foreign traders. Unlike Sapor and Proth he never left behind any tangible object like carved crosses or churches for future generations to make sure that he was indeed a real historical figure. We have to rely on Portuguese and Jesuit Chroniclers of the 16th century to know that he arrived in the 9th century, probably after Sapor and Proth came. The Jesuits in turn based their writings on local anecdotes they came across – since the Syrian Christian Nazrani Mappilas existed in an unlettered barbarous state till then, record keeping was not their cup of tea. So, whether Kanai Thommen came or not is anybody’s guess. However he could not have been a Bishop as claimed by some because there are no records on him in the archives of the Eastern Church of Persia or anywhere else. So he could have been a common merchant who accompanied Jewish or Arab Muslim traders coming to India. It is told and in turn admitted by Syrian Christians that he converted many of his slaves/servants to Christianity in Kodungallur and put one of his sons by his aborigine Indian wife in charge of the new converts from backward and scheduled castes who came to be known as Northist Syrian Christians. Another son is considered to be the progenitor of the entire ‘southist’ Knanaya Syrian Christians. It is also said that both these sons and their retinue were kicked out of Kodungallur by the powerful Jews with the concurrence of the ruler when they started quarrelling with them.
The so called ‘southist’ Knanaya Christians are said to be endogamous claiming that they are pure (ie., unmixed with Kerala aborigine blood) Syrians or Armenians or Persians or Yemenis or whatever and hence superior in status ( and also racially superior!) to the Northist Syrian Christians. The reverse story is said of the Southists by the Northists (from these silly and boorish claims and counter-claims made by both the groups one can easily judge in what culturally backward state they remain even now!) I have come across so many of the so called Knanayas in Kottayam, Ranni etc., and find nothing extraordinary or atypical about their looks. I have seen many Iranians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Armenians etc., in my travels abroad and know what most of them look like; almost like Mediterranean Europeans (Greeks, Cypriots, Southern Italians etc.) – fair complexioned, tall and straight in posture with no tummy and with sharp facial features, generally long aquiline noses, thin lips etc. All our Knanaya Syrian Christians are sallow to brown in complexion (some are dark), many are short, stocky and pot bellied, with not so regular if not irregular facial features, fleshy flaring nostrils with bulbous tips and thick and protruding lips, in no way different from the typical features of a West Asian- Indian Aborigine hybrid Syrian Christian of Kerala. These are the physical features defining a Knanaya Christian. (I am sorry if it is felt that I write like a racist but to make the point clear I must be straightforward. Also, making the casteist/racist Syrian Christians taste a bit of their own bitter medicine is in order).So what rubbish are the Knanaya Christians talking when they claim a separate, pure West Asian identity? Their Catholic Archbishop himself is brown complexioned with typical South Indian features (with all the above said dimensions) as can be ascertained from his pictures. Ditto with their Orthodox Bishops. So it is high time that the Knanayas shed their nonsensical position on race and become exogamous with at least other Syrian Christians from whom they are not different in any way. It is again, this ill- informed confusion and haziness relating to Kanai Thommen’s supposed arrival in India that gave the Knanaya Christians the cover to make the unsubstantiated and spurious claim (in the 18th century) that he arrived in the 4th century AD instead of 9th century just to appropriate a longer antiquity vis a vis other Syrian Christians converted by Sabor and Proth, by extending the claimed history of their clan! Now let us leave the mythical Kanai Thommen alone and proceed further to find out how the Syrian Christians existed in Kerala from the 9th century onwards……………………………..(to be continued)
well said sajeeven
Oh , again Pattom Radhakrishnan.... Dear Pattom if you are calling Ezhavas as Untouchables plz do remember Nains (Nairs) are also Untouchables. Dear christioan friends plz get rid of your false notions of Namboothiri connection, Dont think it would give you any mileage. Mr. Pattom, just think how nairs acquired all the said status signs. U will definitely run away ..... .
pana kiyava ,kuliloltu kalan nita irakumbol onna charithra rachna,nenta samudaya kurchu mataram irunu @$$#% matti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkEBtvJTcw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-84JCNCOjec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_0hjZGuH1o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcp4mbDeDPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIkPFJR-RP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7sZpQDjeD4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaPZ0O9s_QE
Full of lies by a typical Syrian Christian.Mr Tharakan is trying to satisfy himself by not identifying with weaker and lower class.This is not Christian Attitude.Please Mr Tharakan READ New Testament and learn what Christianity is about.You are a shame for Christians
Mr. Abraham Tharakan was a good friend of mine though much much older to me, and I still keep in touch with some members of his family. A month or two back I visited his ancestral home and his younger brother, a very eminent police officer, now retired from service.
I am also a Nair. And must say it was quite amusing to read all the theories of who is superior and who is not.
Finally I am proud to be a hindu naidu
In my earlier comments, I attempted to highlight some unacceptable attitudes of Syrian Christians (including attitudes of some of their leaders in the political and religious spheres) that emanate from their self-centered outlook and also some of the retrograde practices many of them follow which in turn spoil their social relations with other communities in Kerala. Such attitude and practices will be unacceptable to any sensible person (whether from within the Syrian Christian community or from outside) who chooses to view them through the lens of modernity or contemporaneity. I had also tried to highlight some events in the social history of Syrian Christians which are usually blacked out or twisted in most of the worthless trash the many Syrian Christian obscurantists write or have written. They have no qualms about presenting such fictional trash as history. The truth is that these obscurantist writers invariably work as propagandists for their community which has a collective interest in maintaining status-quo in the sociopolitical and economic spheres of Kerala. The wealth and corresponding social status some of them now flaunt were partly acquired on the strength of spurious claims they made during the past few centuries including a claim to Brahmin ancestry. This was done by the charlatans among them because the social milieu then prevailing in Kerala favored only the so called high born ones in holding political and social power in general and the acquisition of wealth in particular. Syrian Christians’ gradual rise to relatively better socioeconomic conditions began with the arrival of the Portuguese. In the 16th century the Portuguese wrested control of Kerala’s spice trade from the ‘Moors’ (ie., Arabs and their Indian progeny the Arabi mappilas whom Europeans considered to be not different from the Muslims of the Maghreb and hence called Moors). As the Portuguese were inclined towards favoring their coreligionists the Arabi mappila Muslims were replaced by Syrian Christians as brokers, small traders and suppliers of spices to them. The Syrian Christians were also recruited by them as interpreters, helpers and retainers who in turn wholeheartedly accepted the Portuguese as masters and competed to become their loyal servants. Until then Syrian Christians aka Nazrani mappilas were a widely dispersed, destitute group living off the mercy of the many local rulers of Kerala or the Arabi mappilas.
As the economic lot of the few Syrian Christians who managed to closely align with the Portuguese began to improve, they set about scheming to raise their social position in the estimation of local rulers and chieftains. So they cooked up the theory of conversion of Nampoothiri Brahmins to Syrian Christianity to gain acceptance among the local Hindu elite. But the local Hindu ruling groups who called Syrian Christians ‘mappilas’ (meaning ‘sons-in-law’, which signified their ancient hybrid ancestry originating from the quasi-marital, pre-marital and extra-marital liaisons – aka concubinage - between West Asian traders and local aborigine Dalit women) simply ignored their false claims to Brahmin ancestry and gave them a status no better than that of the Sudras or other lower castes. Even though Syrian Christians’ social position was outside the Hindu caste hierarchy which rendered them immune to caste disabilities suffered by other lower castes, in practical terms they were at the receiving end of the ‘apartheid’ laws and customs pertaining to caste pollution then prevailing in Kerala and so were untouchables to upper caste Hindus (a Syrian Christian was prohibited from touching a Nair or other persons higher up in the caste hierarchy. When it came to Brahmins, Syrian Christians could not even approach them and had to comply with ‘theendal’ rules and keep the prescribed distance lest they pollute the Brahmins). This was partly for the reason that the ancestors of the majority of present day Syrian Christians were pure Dalits who were converted to Syrian Christianity after the arrival of the Portuguese ( I will give details later). These converts later intermarried with the relatively small number of pre-existing hybrid Syrian Christians and in the process managed to completely erase their pre-conversion Dalit identity ( but genetic traits cannot be erased and therefore Dalit identity is still very much evident in the physical features, skin pigmentation etc. of the vast majority of Syrian Christians). Given their out-caste status in practical terms, Syrian Christians were in social interaction with and freely touched lower castes and scheduled castes/tribes with whom they had trade transactions (thus oil produced by a Chakala caste person was bought by Syrian Christians and sold to higher caste Hindus or caretakers of temples who could not have direct interaction with lower castes because of pollution rules and untouchability. It was the same case with most other industrial or agricultural goods produced by lower castes and bought by higher castes. Syrian Christians, who belonged to no-man’s-land when it came to caste hierarchy, acted as intermediaries. Over time Syrian Christian quack historians twisted the significance of some of these intermediary services to suit their ends ie,. to claim that Syrian Christians enjoyed a privileged status in the past and such bluff got to be accepted by ignoramuses. Purification ritual relating to oil is one such bluff. Social expediencies transform into customs over time and later generations would never know how such customs came into existence. Enter Syrian Christian quack historians and suddenly such customs become evidence of the privileges they enjoyed in the past. A typical example of this is the ‘touching of oil by Syrian Christians for purification purposes’ which is quoted by J.Jacob in his post to underline the ‘privileges’ enjoyed by Syrian Christians in the past).
Thus, even as the Hindu ruling classes never accorded Syrian Christians status or privileges reserved for upper caste Hindus the Portuguese readily accepted as true their patent concoction of Brahmin ancestry and gave wide currency to it (probably a ploy by the Portuguese to keep them in good spirits just as the Church leadership in Rome nowadays readily concedes all their demands just to ensure loyalty and to keep them in good spirits – eg., Pope Benedict XVI’s reluctant correction of his original statement which said that St.Thomas never visited South India or Rome’s perpetual readiness to grant Syrian Catholics new Dioceses outside Kerala as and when they make demands even when these Dioceses spread over hundreds of kilometers with their sparse Syrian Christian population scattered far and wide – such demands being made partly to expand the girth of Syrian Christian religious fiefdom in India and partly to elevate and accommodate the power hungry among their priests just as some politicians on becoming Chief Ministers of Indian States create jumbo cabinets to give ministerial berths to the power hungry among them). By the time the Portuguese exited Kerala and the Dutch came in, a small number of Syrian Christians were firmly into spice trade and brokering. Out of this group a very small number of persons (especially persons belonging to the Syrian Catholic faction) became wealthy during the 18th and 19th centuries (during the virtual rule of Cochin by the Dutch or during Marthanda Varma’s and his successor Kings’ rule of Travancore or after the advent of the British Colonials– some of the Syrian Christians who now claim to be traditionally wealthy acquired land and corresponding wealth only in the 19th century after the British took direct control of the administration of Kerala- details of which I will give later)It is this wealth that a few of them acquired thanks to European Colonials and Travancore rulers who between them used these Syrian Christians either as subordinate intermediaries in their political deals or as pawns in their power games in Kerala that is now flaunted by some Syrian Christians as proof of their traditional standing in Kerala society. It is not long term membership of the nobility or gentry of Kerala but the fortuitous play of history that made these Syrian Christian upstarts rich. So it is not surprising that characteristics of the nouveau-riche often appear glaringly in their culture and discourses. Yet, some of them love to ape the English nobility and feel no discomfiture in brazenly calling themselves ‘aristocrats’.
In the modern context it is said that ‘knowledge is power’. But it must be agreed that wealth is also power, which unlike knowledge, used to get easily translated into political power throughout history. Power and privileges go hand in hand. Thus, being considered as one among the traditionally wealthy and therefore power wielding classes of the land (even though substantial wealth among Syrian Christians is confined to just a few individuals who can be counted with ones fingers) will tremendously help a community to ‘win friends and influence people’ among other equally powerful or sometimes more powerful ones among the ruling classes. Influence thus gained in the corridors of power will reinforce existing privileges and could create more privileges. Therefore many Syrian Christians make claims to a venal kind of glory when they gloat over the wealthy past of a few of their clan along with their spurious claims to Brahmin origins. Truth seeking by objective and rational means will result in the exposure of the destitute conditions that the vast majority of Syrian Christians remained in during the bygone ages (and remain to be in even now) or their real subaltern Dalit roots. This will naturally militate against the collective interest of the community which is seeking power (in the political and economic spheres) and influence among identical classes in Kerala. So they have all along tried to pre-empt any such rational enquiry by endlessly repeating falsehood and over time their false claims to Brahmin conversions etc. got accepted by credulous people including some main stream academics as a ‘tradition’. There are other reasons too that make them cling to such falsehoods. To sustain the above kind of power seeking efforts which leverage the goodwill of influential peer groups in society, it is necessary to inflate and continuously project a community’s qualities as outstanding vis a vis the general population and the first step toward such claims is the glorification of the community’s past. Such claims to a glorious past, irrespective of being true or false, have snob value. Therefore, Syrian Christian obscurant writers specialize in the art of eulogizing their imagined past even as they pose as historians, always quoting traditions or myths to substantiate their assertions which invariably end in claims on the exceptional qualities or origins of their community. But these assertions remain puerile and unconvincing to any discerning reader. Thus, I have to say that such Syrian Christian writers practiced or still practice quackery in the writing of history and so their many contentions are not to be taken seriously. The mumbo-jumbo narratives flowing from the pens of such obscurantists cannot stand rational scrutiny and are to be thrown where trash is usually thrown into. No doubt, the authors of such trash too will have a place assigned for them in the dust bin of history.
I have been waiting for a blog discussion on the points I raised. But as yet no Syrian Christian has come forward for a discussion or debate though some other readers have posted brief comments which show that such outsiders are indeed interested in the topic. Therefore, I think I should continue from where I left earlier and post the remaining part of my opinion and observations on the many unacceptable ideas and practices followed by many Syrian Christians and should also delve further on their real history from the 10th century onwards. Herein, I wish to state once again that I have full respect and regards for the minority among Syrian Christians who are perfect gentlemen and who contribute to society and country in many positive and creative ways. My quarrel is with the innumerable bigots, casteists and fossilized obscurants who happen to be in the majority among Syrian Christians and who, though living in India and Kerala, think and act like aliens who are not the least bothered about the progress and growth of the country as a whole, but are concerned only about securing the interests of their community. Their thinking is such that even now they find it hard to accept low caste people as fellow citizens deserving respect and do not hesitate to harm the reputation of such low caste people in word or deed or to lay barriers against their progress even when the slightest of opportunities arise. The comments posted by some Syrian Christians earlier in this Blog deriding the lower castes of Kerala are in tune with this thinking. This is being done even as they make laughable claims to ‘royalty’; especially ‘royalty’ in ‘looks and actions’ of members of their clan. For stridency of claims to superiority of Syrian Christians and for the extent of derision expressed for lower castes, J.Jacob’s post takes the cake. In it, he takes particular pleasure in calling scheduled castes ex-slaves of Syrian Christians. (In comments posted in another Blog, he also resorts to name calling to express ill-feeling for the Ezhava caste). This anachronistic thought process still prevailing among many Syrian Christians (mostly of rural and small town origins) is a throwback to pre-twentieth century social norms which have by now been wholly discarded by upper caste Hindus in Kerala. But many Syrian Christians remain caught in this time warp when every other educated person in India knows that the nation will grow and progress to take its deserving place among the developed ‘first-world’ countries only when those belonging to the lowest rungs of its population too manage to climb the social and economic ladder and reach a certain level of development. So, when Syrian Christian bigots rant against affirmative action or other kinds of Government support which result in improving the lot of the low castes or claim superiority over them in terms of birth, wealth or positions, they are in fact giving expression to their unstated wish to keep the country underdeveloped and backward, only which condition will safeguard and secure in perpetuity their entrenched and selfish interests. It is not surprising that the late author of this blog too (who came out as an erudite person in his many posts) was expressing displeasure with the reservation system followed in India - in a link post of his).
Therefore, when I use the term ‘Syrian Christian’ in a critical note I mean the large number of casteists among them (educated or otherwise) who have no problem subscribing to bigotry and obscurantism and not the small minority of broad minded, modern and progressive Syrian Christians. If such broad minded persons too feel hurt by my critical observations, they may kindly excuse and consider it as, well, collateral damage, without which one cannot do battle with the hardcore casteists among Syrian Christians. It is also wished that the criticisms are taken as an outsider’s observations on the objectionable side of Syrian Christian social norms and outlook which normally will be missed or ignored by insiders, however modern, broad minded or objective they may be, and that such insiders may consider working from within to reform the way ordinary Syrian Christians think and act when it comes to social outlook, caste and community relations in Kerala.
Before proceeding further, I think it will be relevant to refer to the recent ruckus raised by the Syrian Catholic Bishop of Idukki in connection with what has lately come to be called ‘love jihad’. According to the Bishop of Idukki, ‘love jihad’ was practiced by youngsters of Ezhava (Hindu backward caste of Kerala) and Muslim communities on Syrian Christians whereby they enticed Syrian Christian girls to fall in love and elope with them. What incensed the Bishop in particular was that many such young Romeos came from working class back grounds (like auto-rickshaw drivers etc.) apart from being members of lower castes. The Bishop thus made known his bias against not only lower castes but also the working class people, and in the process gave the impression that if such Romeos had been from the upper castes or had come from the rich or privileged classes he would have had no problem and would not have complained. In his speech denouncing what he called ‘love jihad’ the Bishop used the euphemism “S.N.D.P’ to denote the Ezhava boys who ran away with Syrian Christian girls. This alleged hate-speech raked up an issue that, if at all true, was not much known to the general public and in any case was isolated and confined to a few regional pockets of Kerala. The various channels of the visual media vied with each other to give wide publicity to the speech and in the process sensationalized it. In no time all hell broke loose and the Bishop found himself at the centre of a snowballing controversy. The S.N.D.P leader of Kerala roundly rebuked the Bishop for his casteist and class remarks and the angry youth of S.N.D.P lost no time in taking out in procession the Bishop’s portrait garlanded with worn footwear and later burned him in effigy before the State secretariat in Trivandrum. The media added fuel to the fire and the S.N.D.P demanded prosecution of the Bishop for inciting hatred between religious groups. Sensing deep trouble, the Syrian Catholic Church sued for peace by issuing clarifications and disowning the Bishops remarks. Soon, emissaries of the Church rushed to the S.N.D.P leader’s residence. What happened next is well known in Kerala. The emissary (another Bishop) virtually fell at the S.N.D.P leader’s feet and expressed remorse on behalf of the Syrian Catholic Church leadership. Later, the Idukki Bishop retracted his statement. Next came a benevolent statement from the SNDP leader expressing satisfaction at the public display of penitence by the Church leadership. He declared that he accepted the Church leadership’s repentance and considered the matter as closed.
But what is of relevance to this post is that the S.N.D.P. leader chose to end the episode by administering a coup-de-grace. He pointed out the physical resemblance between the Idukki Bishop and a firebrand leftist politician of Idukki who was in the news lately (on account of a controversial speech he made claiming credit for the commission of some till then unsolved murders -rather liquidation of political foes- on behalf of his party). This politician (by now well known in Kerala) is a Hindu Ezhava by caste. In a media conference convened to convey closure of the ‘love-jihad’ issue, the S.N.D.P leader noted the stark physical resemblance of these worthies and with a tinge of dark humour remarked that the resemblance was proof of the Bishop’s Ezhava ancestry. In the S.N.D.P leaders own words, “he is one of us” (ie., the Idukki Bishop is an Ezhava – whose ancestors possibly converted to Syrian Christianity a few generations ago). Thus, in one curt and biting remark that served to cut down to size the chauvinists among Syrian Christians he reminded them of their true ancestry and deftly ended for good an ignoble issue unprecedented in recent history and which could otherwise have roiled Kerala’s civil society for some time to come. The humiliation of the normally vociferous (in print and visual media, blog posts etc.) and implacable casteists among Syrian Christians was complete and none of them demurred (including Syrian Christian politicians or social activists or community leaders). The Syrian Christian casteists were thus clearly shown their place and all others in Kerala came to realize quite convincingly which lower rung of the Hindu caste hierarchy many Syrian Christians (including many of today’s high and mighty who despise lower castes) originally belonged to prior to their conversion to Syrian Christianity not so long ago. (....to be continued)
when st thomas came ..aryans so called brahmins.....kalu kuthitila keralathil...ya fair skin coloured upper caste ..didnt know d name of that caste at that time ..changed to christianity ..true story
I have to make a minor change to my earlier post before proceeding further.
In the above post I made the noting "Pope Benedict XVI’s reluctant correction of his original statement which said that St.Thomas never visited South India". It should be read as "Pope Benedict XVI’s reluctant CHANGE of his original statement which said that St.Thomas never visited South India". The word 'correction' will imply that the Pope's original statement was 'incorrect' which it was not.The Pope was forced to change his original statement because the Syrian Christians of Kerala demanded thus and the Pope did it in order to be politically correct and not because he had a change of mind.
The Pope's original statement remains true. That St.Thomas arrived in Kodungallur is a complete fabrication. This story was made up by the unscrupulous Syrian Christian clergy and repeated by their quack-historians ad-infinitum that over time it came to be accepted as a tradition.I will give my reasonings later.
As I wrote earlier, the Nestorian Christian Church established in the 6th century in Kerala was rejuvenated by Persian merchant-missionaries Sapor and Proth who arrived in the 9th century. Thomas of Cana (called Knai Thommen by Syrian Christians) arrived after them. He was probably from Armenia and could have set sail for India in a vessel owned by Yemeni Jewish merchants from one of the Persian Gulf ports. On the other hand, he could have been a Yemeni or Palestinian who took along with him a group of Armenian merchants in Arab owned vessels. These vessels could have sailed from one of the Persian Gulf ports which were common staging points to India for merchants of all west Asian nationalities in those days .Also, as written by a learned Professor of History in his Blog, Knai Thommen could have been a merchant who relocated to Kodungallur from an Armenian settlement in the region around present day Chennai. Though possibly true, these are all conjectures still. The whole persona of Thomas of Cana rests on orally passed down accounts of Nazrani Mappilas that were recorded by Western chroniclers much later ie., in the 16th and 17th centuries. But such verbatim records of past incidents based on hearsay accounts and anecdotes originating from the simple and ignorant Nazrani Mappilas of the time are by their very nature so fanciful and jumbled, that it is impossible for any reader to take even a wild guess on Knai Thommen’s nationality, ethnicity or purpose of visit, that is, if such a person did come indeed.(As pointed out by some commentators earlier, the copper plates said to detail the privileges given to Thomas of Cana by Cheraman Perumal are obviously fake documents that were forged by the cunning Nazrani mappila clergy of the 16th century with an eye to duping the Portuguese). To add to the enigma of Knai Thommen, doubts are expressed by scholars as to whether this mythical personality was actually an individual. There is a distinct possibility that he could be a composite figure gleaned by myth makers and anecdotists from the characters of various Persian merchant-missionaries who arrived in Kerala on different occasions during the latter half of the 1st millennium CE. All the European chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries have noted the period around or not much earlier than 9th century CE as the arrival time of the missionary whom the anecdotists construed as Thomas of Cana with a variation of nearly a couple of centuries between the arrival dates recorded by different chroniclers. This gave rise to the thinking that Knai Thommen could be the name given to a composite figure constructed by anecdotists from the personalities of various Persian merchant-missionaries who visited Kerala during the period (a la Kunjali Marakkar of later history whom many ordinary people in Kerala now mistakenly think of as a single person. School text books say that it was ‘Kunjali Marakkar’ who led the muslim Arabi Mappilas comprising Kozhikode Samoothiri’s Naval forces, as if Kunjali Marakkar was the name of just one person. The fact is that at least four successive Commanders bearing the titular name Kunjali Marakkar led the Arabi Mappila forces of the Samoothiri during the 16th century with the possibility that some more of their lesser known descendants also went by the name during the early 17th century. Careless equivocacy on the part of some text book writers gives rise to confusion of this kind).That the same kind of ambiguity concerning different missionaries who shepherded Nazrani mappila hybrids in Kodungallur around the 9th century and who possibly called themselves Thomas to claim the Apostle’s legacy (as the Archdeacons turned Bishops did later in history) could have given rise to the mythical person named Thomas of Cana, is a possibility that cannot be discounted.
Some Syrian Christians claim that Thomas of Kana was a Jew. This was a crafty invention made by one of the quack-historians of the Knanaya faction in the nineteen thirties. These and other stories relating to the claimed eminence of Knai Thommen were cooked up by Syrian Christians (both Knanayas and non-Knanayas) for the purpose of using such fables as socio-political props for gaining acceptance and upward mobility in the stratified and unequal society that existed in Kerala then. Again, the tale that Thomas of Cana arrived in the 4th century CE originates from a false claim that was conceived and created by the Southists (present day Knanaya Syrian Christians) in the 18th century. This story was one of the many devious tactics adopted by Knanayas of the 18th century to steal a march over the Northist Syrian Christians in their claims to antiquity and superiority because the two groups were brawling wildly over socio-economic issues of the day (ie.,claims to superiority/inferiority of their pre-conversion race or castes and caste based vocations etc.) which went on to bother the typical Syrian Christian’s psyche ever since - and still bother most of them.
The wild fratricidal brawl between the Southist and Northist Syrian Christians beginning the 16th century on the question of each other’s racial superiority or inferiority was filled with such impetuous passion and seething ferocity that its’ far reaching repercussions are felt in the collective consciousness of Syrian Christians even today. The enduring fall-out of this initial all-encompassing brawl involving Roman Catholic Syrian Christians of the 16t h and 17th centuries was that its many variants came to be enacted during later years for exactly same reasons by more Syrian Christian factions that sprouted one after another - be they the Orthodox or Marthoma or Jacobite ones -, that even today the typical Syrian Christian remains much more caste/class conscious than upper caste Hindus of Kerala and many Syrian Christians have become psychologically conditioned to despise and denigrate lower caste and scheduled caste people for no reason in particular. The saving grace is that such denigration and vituperation they reserve for lower caste people no more take the form of plain abuse, insolence or rudeness as was the case earlier but in many instances have been transformed into subtle though cheeky comments that smack of condescending haughtiness. Note the deceptively patronizing way in which the author of this Blog commented after posting a photograph of a co-villager belonging to the Pulaya caste (a scheduled caste of Kerala) in a link he created and how he described the person in conspicuously condescending ways, pointing out the peculiar style in which the man held his towel to show deference etc. The link post gives the impression that such deferential behavior from a Dalit, say of the Pulaya caste, towards the ones of the author’s clan is the accepted ideal in his village and it is almost as if the author expected such deference from every person of the Pulaya caste towards Syrian Christians irrespective of the former’s personal qualities or station in life. Needless to say, many such outdated, caste related feudal values and sensibilities lurk behind the veneer of sophistication and false modernity put on by many Syrian Christians, especially by the ones who were originally born and bred in villages but got transplanted to cities later in life. This abominable nature, which has become typical of most Syrian Christians now, became indelibly ingrained in their thought process because the many brawls Syrian Christian factions fought over the years were basically all about the question of caste based superiority or inferiority of different groups within their clan, the bulk of whom were lateral entrants from lower castes and scheduled caste Dalit communities. But the Church leaders ( ie., Bishops of the respective factions) who had a vested interest in covering up the truth of the large scale infusion of backward castes and Dalits into their Chruches effectively twisted the significance of these brawls and recounted them as fights over leadership, property, loyalty to different doctrines etc., when these were in fact fights that erupted between existing members and the various low caste groups that joined their Chruches over the years on the question of superiority or inferiority of each other. The turmoil of the times made it expedient, nay imperative for the lower caste/Dalit converts to make the claim that they too belonged to the superior groups of Syrian Christians. Therefore, as time passed and passions subsided, all Syrian Christians found themselves belonging to ‘superior’ groups and the inferior groups which were part of the ‘other’ that was to be hated could only be found outside the Syrian Christian clan! Thus came in handy as objects of revulsion and ridicule the Hindu lower castes and Dalits who remained unconverted.
Evidently, these brawls contributed to the moral degradation of the Syrian Christian psyche to such an extent that even now many of them remain enamored of feudal values and unchristian ideas that pander to blind hatred of the ‘other’ (ie., lower castes and Dalits) and have become psychologically conditioned to view the lower castes with contempt. Thus, many of them unconsciously refuse to accord due dignity to Dalits even now and tend to view Dalits as either their ‘ex-slaves’ or as ones lacking in ‘gentle looks’ or ‘better culture’ as some Syrian Christians commented in this Blog earlier. An unhidden revulsion to the lower castes or Dalits and a baseless assumption that Syrian Christians have Nampoothiri Brahmin ancestry are two attitudes typical of the average Syrian Christian. These counterintuitive attitudes of the community (which is obviously of low origins) show how much they yearn to whitewash their past and to distance themselves from the fact that the vast majority of their clan originated from pure lower castes/Dalits/Tribals (the rest being progeny of half-castes that arose from miscegenation between ancient West Asian traders and women of Indian aborigine groups ie., backward castes/Dalits/Tribals of ancient Kerala). This fact is not so well known to outsiders but very much known to the knowledgeable among Syrian Christians. The burning wish to be recognized as part of the upper layers of the population of Kerala makes Syrian Christians very sensitive and resentful about being placed in the category of lower caste or Dalit/Tribal converts by outsiders (like some commentators of this blog, including this writer), though the knowledgeable ones among them are aware that they are mostly of lower caste origins. Many of them feel deeply ashamed if such a subject is even broached in the course of discussing their ancestry probably because the psychological wounds inflicted by the above said brawls of the past centuries still remain raw and it seems they wish that the trauma and humiliation they underwent in the past on account of belonging to lower or Dalit castes are not revisited upon them. The author of this Blog lamented in one of his link posts that all backward caste and scheduled caste persons are now after reservation benefits and that no one among them wants their caste “to become forward caste” (by improving their socio-economic lot themselves by studying hard, working hard, being enterprising etc.). This lamentation is a pointer to the exact process by which Syrian Christians promoted themselves to the ‘forward caste’ layers of Kerala society during the 18th and 19th centuries. In the true spirit of self-improvement which could bring economic gains and corresponding social promotion in the form of ‘forward caste’ label for any social group as hinted by the author, every Syrian Christian promoted himself to the ‘forward caste’ category (through sheer hard work and enterprise of course; none can deny them that complement) and nowhere does one come across a Syrian Christian nowadays, save a few honest and upright ones, who frankly admits that he is possibly descended from lower castes or Dalits.
Knanaya Syrian Christians, who were known as Southists before the 20th century, claim that they descend from Knai Thommen even as they maintain that ancestors of other Syrian Christians who were known earlier as Northists are converts from Hindu lower castes/scheduled castes. The erstwhile Northists’ position is that they are the real descendants of Knai Thommen and that the Southists are the ones descending from Syrian Christians converted from lower caste/scheduled caste Hindus like washer men, cleaners, scavengers etc. Thus, both the groups stigmatize and brand one another with epithets connected to their alleged Dalit origins while each lay claim to an arguably pedigreed West Asian –Indian aborigine hybrid ancestry originating from Knai Thommen and his Indian aborigine wife (notwithstanding the fact that present day Dalits and Tribals too are descendants of Indian aborigines of yore). The uncertainty inherent to the claims made by each group is further compounded by Syrian Christian writers of later years who were instrumental in fabricating the many fanciful stories connected with the life and social conditions of Syrian Christians of early and medieval eras of Kerala history. These writers’ depictions of their past tend to be impossibly vainglorious inasmuch as they had a vested interest in distorting and falsifying history in order to claim superior social status given the commonness of institutionalized oppression the lower castes of Kerala society were subjected to till recently. Hence, for the purpose of verifying the claims, counter-claims and allegations made by the Northists and Southists (ie., present day Knanaya and non-Knanaya Syrian Christians) regarding each other’s half breed or pure Dalit origins, we have to sift through incidents witnessed and objectively recorded by Portuguese and other European chroniclers of the middle ages.
On such enquiry, we come to understand that the Southist -Northist distinction among Syrian Christians was non-existent till the first half of the 16th century. The mention of a Southist-Northist division among Syrian Christians first appeared in Portuguese records circa 1560 which shows that it was around this time the Syrian Christians divided themselves up into Southists and Northists. It must be noted that this was also the period when European Jesuits started missionary work among the Nazrani mappila Syrian Christians of Kerala (who were till then nominal followers of Nestorian Christianity) and began to convert them to Roman Catholicism. Again, it must be noted that it was also around this time that the Portuguese persuaded the Raja of Cochin to free all lower caste Christian converts from caste based restrictions. Thus, all Christians were liberated from discrimination and oppression suffered by Hindu lower castes. The general doctrine as applicable to upper caste Hindus was that one lost his/her caste (and all caste related privileges) upon conversion to Christianity (or Islam).The Raja of Cochin made this doctrine applicable to lower caste Hindus too whereby they lost caste (and all caste based discrimination and disabilities) upon conversion to Christianity. The European Jesuits’ missionary work involved converting both Hindus (of the low castes) and the shepherd- less, nominal Christian Nazrani mappilas to Roman Catholicism. Till then, the Nazrani mappilas were a marginalized group oppressed by both the Raja and the Muslim Arabi mappilas who controlled foreign trade. The Jesuits found the Nazrani Mappilas living in appallingly degenerate and dissolute social conditions because, beginning the 11th century, there was a centuries- spanning break in their association with Persian missionary-Bishops who used to guide and shepherd them in faith, virtues and values. The first turmoil that arrived and contributed to this break was the Chola-Chera war in Kerala which halted foreign trade conducted by West Asians from Kerala ports and consequently prevented the arrival of Persian missionaries. Next came the Crusades and Mongol invasions of West Asia culminating in Tamerlane’s (Timur’s) brutal pogroms which proved to be tumultuous and disastrous for all societies in West Asia, not the least Nestorian Christians. (It is said that Nestorian Christianity, a once glorious Christian sect, was never the same again after the back breaking devastation wrought upon it by the marauding Mongols).
Cumulatively, these social upheavals resulted in the Nazrani Mappilas of Kerala altogether losing whatever tenuous religious connections they had with West Asia till then. As the European chroniclers noted on arrival in the 16th century, ‘partial religious amnesia’ and collective ‘lost memory’ had by then overtaken the Nazrani mappila community’s self awareness and whatever fragments of faith they still retained were vague and muddled collections of Nestorian beliefs mixed with superstitions and wicked habits like usury, sorcery etc., which were well in tune with the social degradation that gripped the land at that point of time in the history of Kerala. A well known European chronicler noted that some Nazrani Mappilas of the period had not even heard of Jesus Christ and thought that St.Thomas was Christ! They were caught in a religious and moral vacuum during this interregnum of social drift, ie.,between the 11th and 16th centuries, and in no time many dark mores and sinister vulgarities had taken over their thought process and habits. Thus, most of them including the Kathanars ie., Nestorian priests, were mindlessly following many unchristian and anarchic social customs involving polygamy/polyandry, adultery, fornication, concubinage etc., for which the permissive social environment then prevailing in Kerala provided them ample opportunity. This kind of predatory, loose life was the norm and the prevalent customs permitted the rapacious ruling classes and the agrarian and mercantile groups under them to tyrannize and ruthlessly exploit meek and docile subject populations like Dalits and Tribals. (The egalitarian and just society of the Sangam era had disappeared even before the time of the later Cheras). Still, West Asian- Indian aborigine hybrid Nazrani mappilas were living in close proximity to their kinsmen, the Dalits and Tribals. Dalits had been functioning as West Asian traders’ domestic helps and retainers right from the times of Sapor, Proth, Knai Thommen and other Persian missionaries. By the time the Europeans arrived, Nazrani mappilas and their Dalit kinsmen were living in social communion, one group complementing the other in occupational roles. Thus, Dalits helped Nazrani mappilas work the fields or process farm produce and Tribals collected pepper and spices from forest lands for Nazrani mappilas who sold the pepper and spices to the Hindu ruling classes or to muslim Arabi mappilas of the coast. The Nazrani mappilas in turn provided for the daily needs of the Dalits/Tribals who were living in communion with them. Suffice it to say that this symbiotic relationship led Nazrani mappilas to freely take the females of the Dalits and Tribals as wives, concubines and Keeps who in turn bore them children. (That depravity and lasciviousness of this kind still survives in the habits of Nazrani mappilas is borne out by a news story splashed by some TV channels a few months ago. The person accused and arrested in Wayanad for enticing, feeding liquor and raping eight (!) Advasi tribal schoolgirls aged only around 12 to 13 years when their wage- earner parents were away from home happens to be a settler by the name Paulose. But who are the settlers of Wayanad? Syrian Christians of course! As usual, the minister for Tribal welfare visited the area for a first hand appraisal and the matter must have been hushed up soon enough for nothing was heard of it later)
Quite naturally, children born of these illegitimate and irresponsible unions became part of the hybrid Nazrani mappila population of the next generation since the perceived genetic up-gradation and instant social promotion that hybridization accorded to the beneficiary children of Dalit/Tribal women, though determined largely along the male line of descent, was also determined by the skin colour of such offspring. This happened vice versa too with Dalit/Tribal males cohabiting with females of the Nazrani mappilas. Over time, this system of living in communion by Nazrani mappilas and Dalit/Tribals welded the communities together, which in turn stabilized and enhanced the economic benefits resulting from the complementary occupational roles played by each group. This togetherness also gave rise to an amorphous social cluster comprising both the groups whereby the female concubines of the cluster became common fare and hence were accessible to many dominant males of the area. Thus, a female Nazrani mappila Christian could engage in polyandrous concubinage, servicing both Nazrani mappila Christians and Hindus, say Nairs, at the same time.
Quite naturally, children born of these illegitimate and irresponsible unions became part of the hybrid Nazrani mappila population of the next generation since the perceived genetic up-gradation and instant social promotion that hybridization accorded to the beneficiary children of Dalit/Tribal women, though determined largely along the male line of descent, was also determined by the skin colour of such offspring. This happened vice versa too with Dalit/Tribal males cohabiting with females of the Nazrani mappilas. Over time, this system of living in communion by Nazrani mappilas and Dalit/Tribals welded the communities together, which in turn stabilized and enhanced the economic benefits resulting from the complementary occupational roles played by each group. This togetherness also gave rise to an amorphous social cluster comprising both the groups whereby the female concubines of the cluster became common fare and hence were accessible to many dominant males of the area. Thus, a female Nazrani mappila Christian could engage in polyandrous concubinage, servicing both Nazrani mappila Christians and Hindus, say Nairs, at the same time.
Interestingly, an Orthodox Syrian Christian guy from Pathanamthitta District in his comments in another blog (“Winnowed-Syrian Christians, Brahmin ancestors and St.Thomas”), has claimed that 85% of Syrian Christians are Nairs! Though the guy comes out as a clown of low intelligence in his other observations, his claim that many Syrian Christians are descended from Nairs, though grossly inflated and way off the mark in percentage terms, is attested by Chroniclers who noted that Nairs indeed kept Syrian Christian women as concubines even as recently as two to three hundred years ago. Syrian Christian types like the above nut have now begun abandoning earlier claims to Nampoothiri Brahmin ancestry and find it convenient to latch on to a Nair heritage given the social and political clout Nairs wield in Kerala now. At this rate, in a few years time similar nuts will have no problem accepting the plain truth of the Ezhava ancestry of large chunks of their clan, considering the fast pace at which Hindu Ezhavas are gaining socio-political power in Kerala (notwithstanding the hate speech made by the Bishop of Idukki against Ezhavas whose ‘rowdy’ boys allegedly hawk low all over Idukki to snatch and fly away with many an ‘innocent’ little Syrian Christian chick!).Yes, the first scene has just been enacted. The now disgraced Supremo of the Kerala Congress Party (who was merrily feasting on the cash bundles that regularly arrived from Ezhava liquour barons before being ‘unjustly’ pushed out from his ministerial perch by other equally crafty political tricksters) has already made appropriate noises by way of support to the political rally that was led by the SNDP leader (with an eye on future political possibilities, no less!!). By this measure, it is only a matter of time before Syrian Christian casteist nuts of the above kind begin shedding their sense of shame and admitting of their real Dalit origins (which happen to be the base upon which their half-breed ancestry is rooted, leave alone the heavy lateral flow of Dalit and Tribal genes which went on to make their current gene pool over the past 5 centuries) once the Hindu Dalits too come of age socially and become powerful enough, maybe in a couple of generations.
Coming back to the main narrative,the above kind of permissiveness was fairly widespread by the time the Jesuits began their conversion activities. From the viewpoint of Jesuits, such loose living was reprehensible and they decided that the Nazrani mappilas were in moral tatters. Contrary to this, the Nazrani Mappilas found nothing wrong with their freewheeling lifestyle which gave them the opportunity to enjoy plenty of delightful pleasures of the carnal kind and which the Nestorian value systems or the prevailing social environment in Kerala never prohibited. It was this hitherto untamed freedom that the Jesuits tried to curb (but mostly failed) while converting them to Roman Catholicism. Thus began the era of conversion of the Nestorian Nazrani mappilas into Roman Catholicism which restricted the hedonistic freedoms they enjoyed till then and equally disrupted the economic advantages emanating from the till then unfettered social dynamics that nurtured this hedonism. What more ingredients are needed for discontent and resentment to brew?
The recordings of European chroniclers state that the Northists and Southists began to feud wildly and intensely from this time onwards.These ferocious brawls constituted the first campaign of a series of fratricidal fights that were to be waged by the many Syrian Christian factions over the years beginning the 16th century (the various brawls between the Orthodox/ Marthoma /Jacobite factions later in history are other examples with similarity of cause). What was the reason for this intense quarrel and how did it progress? As we will see, within the genesis of these fights lies an unmistakable kernel of concrete evidence underlining the historical fact of a massive infusion of Dalit converts into the Syrian Christian population of the time. These initial fights between Northists and Southists as recorded in history are distinct pointers to the enduring change brought about by the work of the European Jesuit/Carmelite missionaries in Kerala in the Middle Ages. Their proselytizing work considerably contributed to the composite, largely Dalit based genetic makeup of present day Syrian Christians. How did the numerically small West Asian-Kerala aborigine hybrids plus Sapor’s, Proth’s, Knai Thommen’s and other Persian missionaries’ low caste/Dalit converts of the 9th century , together forming the original Nazrani mappila Syrian Christian population prior to the 16th century, grow in numbers later? How did the genetic makeup of Syrian Christians become predominantly of Dalit stock from the 16th century onwards? These seminal changes were the unplanned fallout of work done by European Jesuit and Carmalite missionaries towards converting the Nazrani Mappilas from Nestorianism to Roman (Syrian) Catholicism in the 16th and 17th centuries. Even as they converted the pre-existing Nazrani mappila Nestorian Christians to Syrian Catholicism, the European missionaries, who initially never bothered to draw any caste distinction between the subjects of their proselytizing work, converted to Syrian Christianity large numbers of lower castes and Dalits who were till then living either in occupational and social communion with or in kinship through concubinage or polygamous/polyandrous relationships with the pre-existing Nazrani mappila Nestorain Christians. The large scale conversion of these Dalits to Syrian Christianity resulted in the outbreak of fierce fights between the Southists and Northists of the 16th and 17th centuries
But why? After all both the Southists and Northists were of aborigine Dalit stock too and they knew it. Concubinage and polygamy/polyandry involving pure Dalits/Tribals and the Nestorian Nazrani mappilas were so rampant that Nazrani mappilas and Dalits/Tribals of the day were kindered clans in every respect and they lived in togetherness and communal merriment. Therefore, conversion of pure Dalits into Syrian Christianity should have been a non-issue for Nazrani mappilas when viewed along this angle. So what prompted them to fight over conversion of Dalits? From the Southists’ point of view the reasons had more to do with economic issues than with political or religious issues. The Jesuit missionary activity in Kerala was conducted from around Cochin ( Vipin,Varapuzha, Angamaly etc.) . The ‘Southists’, as the term signifies, belonged to the south of this region known as ‘Thekkumkoor’ in those days (ruled by a Naduvazhi) which geographically coincides roughly with present day Kottayam District. The Northists lived in places around Angamaly, a domain of the Raja of Cochin, roughly coinciding geographically with parts of present day Ernakulam and Trichur Districts. After the Portuguese and later Francis Xavier converted the fisher folk and various other groups of the coast to Latin rite Roman Catholicism during the 1st half of the 16th century the Jesuits who replaced them as proselytizers turned their attention to the Nestorian Syrian Christians settlements of the interior where the Nazrani mappilas had been living in isolation and ignorance with no church or clergy (many had not even heard of Jesus Christ, leave alone knowing anything about the Scriptures- in religious knowledge, awareness and disposition they were no different from their low caste and Dalit Hindu kinsmen as Duarte Barbosa noted).The Jesuits aimed to convert these Nazrani mappila Nestorian nominal Christians and their Hindu low caste/Dalit kinsmen living in social communion with them into Roman Catholicism and succeeded in it during later decades. To accomplish this , the Jesuits turned themselves into presbyters and proselytizers at the same time and began setting up churches in the interior areas of the territories under both the Raja of Cochin and the Naduvazhis of Thekkumkoor, Ambalappuza etc. In these territories the Catholic congregation consisted of both erstwhile Nestorian Syrian Christians and converts from the lower castes (like washer men, oilers, artisans, potters, barbers, palm climbers, and also sundry Dalit castes like Pulayas, Kuravas, Parayas or tribals like Vedas, Malayars, Ooralys etc., who were bonded into agricultural chores and who lived in close proximity to and in togetherness with Nazrani Mappilas, the womanizers of whom regularly took wives, concubines and keeps from such people.
It was the conversions of these Dalits bonded both to agricultural chores and polygamous/polyandrous relationships with Nazrani Mappilas that gave rise to serious problems which incensed the Southists of Thekumkoor. As said earlier, the lower castes and Dalits converted to Syrian Christianity from the territory of the Raja of Cochin immediately became exempt from caste based disabilities. Upon becoming Syrian Christians they began to live as free men, liberated notionally at least, from the bondage of the rewardless agrestic toil they were obliged to do for the benefit of upper castes till then. But the Naduvazhi (ruler) of Thekkumkoor had not granted any remission or exemption from caste based bondage to Dalit converts to Syrian Christianity within his territory. Thus the converts of Thekkumkoor had to continue with the free labour they were obliged to perform for their erstwhile masters. This prompted many of them to flee Thekkumkoor and take refuge in Cochin territory or in Chembakassery etc. Many fled to the eastern hill regions (so called high ranges of the present).Once in Cochin territory or in Chembakassery or the high ranges they became full- fledged Syrian Christians by virtue of anonymity, untainted by their erstwhile Dalit status. Many present day Syrian Christians belonging to regions comprising Ernakulam, Trichur, Alappuza Districts and many regions of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Kollam Districts are descendants of these Dalit converts. Over time many of these Dalit converts returned to different regions of Thekkumkoor to live as out and out Syrian Christians under the tutelage of the Jesuits. Anonymity gave them the perfect camouflage to be part of the Southist Syrian Christian population of Chingavanam, Kadathuruthy etc. too (it was like the brood parasite koel laying its eggs in the crow’s nest). So, many present day Knanayas too descend from these pure Dalits . Needless to say, the southist Nazrani Mappilas were the losers in the bargain. They lost not only the free labour they received from these newly converted Dalit kinsmen of theirs but also the opportunity to freely liaise with the concubines they had among them since Jesuits strictly prohibited concubinage and adultery. Also, they were now obliged to do all the backbreaking labour for the upper caste Hindu landlords. What more is needed for an intense and sustained brawl with the Northists a good number of whom now happened to be run away Dalit Syrian Christians of Thekkumkoor?
Incidentally, many Syrian Christians from areas connected to the coast like North Paravur, Ernakulam, Cherthala, Ezhupunna, Alappuzha, Purakkad, Lower Kuttand, Karthikapally, Kollam(Thevalakkara) etc. have Araya/Mukkuva roots -these Arayas had become Syrian Christians even before the arrival of the Portuguese – and many Syrian Christians of Trichur, Kunnamkulam, Angamaly, Iringalakuda,Moovattupuzah, Perumbavoor, Malayattoor, Kothamangalam etc., have backward caste and Dalit roots like that of Ezhava, Pana, Pulaya etc.,.They too had already become Syrian Christians before the arrival of the Portuguese. The reasons for the conversion of these groups to Christianity- also to Islam- before the arrival Europeans had much to do with the slow waning of certain religions that existed in Kerala for a long time till then and which finally disappeared after the arrival of the Nampoothiris, details of which I will discuss later. Many Syrian Christians of Manarcaud, Kottayam, Pampady, Pala, Vaikom, Changanachery, Niranom, Thiruvalla, Chengannur, Mavelikkara, Karthikapally, Kayamkulam, Kollam (Kallada) etc. have Ezhava and in some cases Pulaya roots (many of them have typical Ezhava looks too). Many Syrian Christians of Kottayam, Pala, Kanjirapally, Ponkunnam, Thodupuzha, Changanacherry, Mallappally, Kozhencherry,Kumbanad, Lower Kuttanad, Thiruvalla, Chengannur, Mavelikkara, Kayamkulam,Kollam (Thevalakkara/Kundara/Kallada/Kadampanad),Pathanamthitta, Adoor, Kottarakkara, etc. have sundry Dalit roots, like that of Pulayas, Kuravas, Sambavas, Parayas etc., or that of tribals like Vedas and Syrian Christians of Upper and North Kuttanad are descended exclusively from Pulayas. (Many of these Syrian Christians have looks that are indistinguishable from Hindu Dalits say Pulayas or Kuravas of the respective regions). A few of these Syrian Christians have substantial infusion of West Asian genes in their genetic makeup. Many others have only a smattering of West Asian genes and the predominant presence in their genetic makeup is that of the above lower/Dalit castes. But the numbers of pure lower caste/Dalit converts are the most among Syrian Christians of these areas. Apart from the understanding provided by history, these inferences can also be easily arrived at from the looks and features of these Syrian Christians – as the S.N.D.P. leader did in the case of the Bishop.
Within a span of around 100 years, five to six generations passed (in those days marriage and childbirth around 15 years of age was common) and these combined congregations of Dalits and Nazrani Mappilas under the tutelage of the European Jesuits mingled, mixed and married to become indistinguishable from each other, thus forming an outwardly homogenous group of Roman Catholic Syrian Christians which could be swayed by the machinations of the West Asian Orthodox Bishops and their Indian stooge the ‘Arkadhikion’ and his cohorts ( who took some time to realize that this kind of open caste mixing within their clan was affecting their clout with the ruler of Thekkumkoor who was the patron of Southist Syrian Christians). But the mixing had already advanced very far and the mixed castes had gelled so very well that by the time of the Connen Cross rift they were one in denouncing the Portuguese ( their benefactors), and deciding to say good-bye to Roman Catholicism for good! As usual, these people of Dalit/lower caste-mix too, began to call themselves ex-Brahmins! Then the Portuguese lured back the majority of them to Catholicism through the opportunist Parambil Chandy (Alexander de’Combo as per Portuguese translation of his name), Archdeacon Thomas’ cousin whom the Archdeacon’s faction accused of having taken bribes from the Portuguese and turned traitor.
Meanwhile the Nazrani Mappilas who migrated to the High ranges after spices and other Hill produce, took tribal women as wives/concubines and their children too became Syrian Christians. The descendants of this mixed people of Dalit- hybrid Syrian Christian and tribal-hybrid Syrian Christian ‘re-hybridization’ are the present day Syro-Malabar Catholics living in places like Kuravilangad, Koothatukulam, Moovattupuzha, Kothamangalam, Ettumanur, Pala, Thodupuzah, Kanjirapally and all the parishes of the Syro-Malabar dioceses of Changanacherry, Pala, Kanjirapally, Idukki, Ernakulam, Angamaly,Irinjalakuda, Trichur, the various dioceses in Malabar and other areas of the High ranges. They are all now die-hard and fanatic members of the Syrian Christian clan!
The faction that never rejoined the Roman Catholic Church took a tangential route to West Syriac orthodox Christianity. Since they were in rivalry with their Roman Catholic kinsmen and were in dire need of numbers to increase their clout they too began to imitate the European missionaries later and started converting and admitting lower castes/Dalits into their fold. This cyclical kind of activity once again gave rise to fierce fights between groups of Orthodox Christians so that we now have the Marthoma and Jacobite factions that branched out from the Orthodox. Not surprisingly, the Orthodox faction calls the Marthomites and Jacobites ‘converts’ and Jacobites brand the Orthodox and Marthomites as ‘converts’ and the Marthomas have chosen to brand many of their own members as converts. ‘Converts’ happen to be the ‘honorific’ (ie., epithet) they reserve for co-religionists they dislike.
I continued posting comments here just to show that the author's claim that Syrian Christians were converted from high castes (ie., Brahmins) was wrong.I think this much is enough for the time being by way of my opinion of Syrian Christian ancestry. As for further discussion on Kerala Christians in general and the history of Christianity in Kerala in particular, I will be active in my Blog named " Christianity in Kerala- Historical Perspectives".
It is really sad to know about the demise of this respected personality(i was very late to know). Thank you sir for your sharing on the blog. Wish your children and grandchildren keep up the legacy of the lineage of your family. May our Lord save your soul.May God bless your family.
Hello Everyone,
Would like to ask a few question to all of you,
what is the origin of Malayalam language?
What is the country name where Kerala is situated?
What is the type of normal food which Christian malayali people have usually?
The type of cloth they wear?
Their skin colour? Their body structure?..... …......
Do they follow any of the Western culture???? No not at all..
Actually they follow the same culture which our motherland India is having.....only if you keep weastern name or pray to Jesus it doesn't mean that you belong to their religion and you wouldn't respect other religions.. It's written in Geeta that your karma is your Dharma unfortunately being an Indian we don't know to love or respect our own culture. The land which gives you food, water, knowledge, shelter, love everything actually that land is your god and goddess.
So, before fighting for anything, try to know your own motherland first.
It's sad to know. May God bless your family.May your soul rest in peace...
Hello Everyone,
Would like to ask a few question to all of you,
what is the origin of Malayalam language?
What is the country name where Kerala is situated?
What is the type of normal food which Christian malayali people have usually?
The type of cloth they wear?
Their skin colour? Their body structure?..... …......
Do they follow any of the Western culture???? No not at all..
Actually they follow the same culture which our motherboard India is having.....only if you keep weastern name or pray to Jesus it doesn't mean that you belog to them... It's written in Geeta that your karma is your Dharma unfortunately being an Indian we don't know to love or respoct our culture. The land which gives you food,water, knowledge, shelter, love that land is your god and goddess.
So, before fighting for anything, try to know your own motherland first.
Mr John Paul, i read most of your comments. Have to conclude that it is crap and utter bullshit full of evangelistic and missionary zeal.
One only need to look at historic and social status of Syrian Christians to conclude about their high caste origins. Without such background, they would not have reached such levels in society and success especially in Indian context.
After all what what is the pride in caste that Syrian Christians claim or any high caste feel proud about? It is the dominant and enterprising nature of their character which leads them to social success, which every forward community claim over others.
Now this may be against christian beliefs but it is on accordance with nature's laws.
anyways christianity has always been anti nature and never scientific , so I don't give a damm about what christianity says or preaches.
What matters is the truth, history and reality in accordance with nature which could be hard reality but still true.
There were so many lower castes converted but what happened to them? why is there is large social economic and political disparity syrian and latin christians or any other lower castes?
I don't demean or look down upon any group, each individual and community strive and grow according to their will to power.
There is nothing wrong in having different levels or castes in society because that is how human beings and nature evolve, by stronger dominating and subjugating the weaker and also providing for them.
This is reality as we see it daily in society, corporate world, business , politics and nations.
This is in accordance with nature's rule of will to power among individuals and groups whether you accept it / like it or not.
Indian society was built upon this hierarchy of duties which came to be called caste and people tended to be endogamous within the groups.
Syrian Christians too followed the same beliefs.
Unfortunately the foreign missionaries brought along with christian equality ideals and other beliefs which were against our traditions and far moved from nature and in the process also tried to disintegrate the Syrian Christians from the social setup.
It doesn't matter whether there was Namboothiri, or Nair or Ezhava or Jewish or any origin, what matters is the socio economic reality of the Syrian christian community that we see today, the fact is that is is a distinct group within the Kerala society like the other groups.
When people claim heritage it is only to make out a reason/evidence for their success which is most likely due to belonging to a higher social group.
Genetically Kerala Christians are a Mostly a mix of Brahmin/Nairs probably contributing about 70 - 80%, 20 - 30 % from Lower Castes and 0 - 10 % (Assyrians from Turkey plus Jews). There is lot of variation within the christians itself. I have listed a sample below. He is simliar to a rajput or brahmin with some middle eastern genes - probably about 5 %
1 S-Indian 46
2 Baloch 35
3 Caucasian 8
4 NE-Euro 3.3
5 SW-Asian 3
6 SE-Asian 2
7 Siberian 1
8 NE-Asian 1
9 American 1
Single Population Sharing:
# Population (source) Distance
1 kerala-christian (harappa) 3.06
2 rajasthani (harappa) 3.56
3 maharashtrian (harappa) 3.85
4 tn-brahmin (xing) 4.12
5 brahmin-tamil-nadu (metspalu) 4.17
6 karnataka-brahmin (harappa) 4.23
7 iyer-brahmin (harappa) 4.72
8 meghawal (reich) 4.79
9 iyengar-brahmin (harappa) 4.91
10 ap-brahmin (xing) 5.17
11 singapore-indian-b (sgvp) 5.18
12 kerala-nair (harappa) 5.36
13 up (harappa) 5.43
14 gujarati (harappa) 5.75
15 bihari-muslim (harappa) 5.82
16 ap-hyderabad (harappa) 6.11
17 bihari (harappa) 6.42
18 up-kshatriya (metspalu) 6.63
19 cochin-jew (behar) 6.63
20 gujarati-b (hapmap) 6.9
The Popes of the past are liars, child rapists and authoritarian imbeciles. They hanged Galileo for saying the world is round. Why would you expect them to accept the christianity reached kerala even before Catholicism began?
If you dont have a birth certificate, there's no historical proof of your birth either. Don't be foolish
@Thomas's work,
Dear brother, you seem to have earned a lot of hatred towards church obviously from a society where we live in, where "God is good and Jesus is bad" and "where spirituality is good and Catholicism is bad".
i request your kind self to have a basic thorough knowledge about the subjects on which you are questioning on.
Galileo was never hanged and also not by the church, Popes of the past were not child abusers as you are claiming...
Please have a look at the wiki link to learn about the death of Galileo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Death
And i welcome you to share about your hypothesis about your ancestry as you were claiming the points mentioned here as fabricated lies.
Thank you
God bless
Shut up
One thing I can tell is that why we r claiming for upper cast if we belong to be so called upper caste what is the benefit for us thing is that in front of Jesus every one. ... Is one and in front of dioces there is huge discrimination
Sam you really don't know how to read history material do you.....nowhere in the blog he is claiming to be superior.....he is just stating facts....our current pride in unity cannot erase the facts of history can it?.....read it understand it and try not to repeat the mistakes our ancestors did.
Large amount of christians may have got converted to syrian catholics. But not to (Malankara orthodox )syrian christians.
Many studies such as DNA studies have proved that Syrian christhians are jew converts and probably native people also.
These brahman stories were made by syrian catholic, to give credible to their palayur church in chavakkad.
A study done by mini karappa and many others Have proved that syrian christians are from lost tribes of israel from king solomon.
Some foolish people, here is saying that there is no proof that St Thomas visited malankara.
There are many proofs.
Many writings prior to AD 500 and also recently for jerushalem shekkel was found from a nair family, and they told it was given by a jew thoma.
https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.historicmysteries.com/thomas-silver-coins-india/amp/?source=images
The oozhiya vela was done by mostly lower caste people, and very little syrian christhians.
Also it was the order by Diwan and king and it was only 60-70 years.It was immediately stopped due to objection from syrian christhians at the start of 18's itself.
The tharissa palli chepped given to Nasranis is a proof that nasranis were noble people.
Even now, if you look you can find the orthodox(Jacobite )syrians come on top of everything from education, household properties.. Everything.. Much more than nairs.
Please give references of syrian catholic conversion instead of just quoting it
Hello krishna Nigalkk okke DNA analysing nadathiyale upper cast ano ennu theliyikkan pattollayirikkum athupoleyanu ellavarudem karyam ennu vicharikkunnath valiya mandatharamanu athukond nigal adhyam upper cast ano lower cast ano ennu oru DNA analysing nadatji urappu varthu
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Funny thing is that you want to prove that your ancestors were Brahmins..
Why then this conversation an all. Go back to your origin.
Yes.. but indus king kanda porus.. lineage of porus who fought with alexander ..king family baptised by st.thomas.. any lights on that pl share
Mr krishna nigalkk chilappol dna test nadathiyal matrame upper cast ano lower cast ano nigal Ennu parishodhikkendivarum karanam nigalude parambharyam agane thanneyanu aaa gathikedu ellavarkum undenni thettudharikkunnath sheriyalla athukond thaga chodhicha chodhyam thirich chodhikkukayanu mr.krishna if you are sure u r an upper cast or lower cast,please go for a DNA analysis
Oo all syrian catholics is directly converted from brahmins , oo that is the reason why the number of brahmins is decreading . Latin is the roman catholic. If you all are bhramins upper caste go back to hindus.
KERALA'S NAMBUTHIRI CHRISTIANS
The Syrian Christians of Kerala of Kerala originated from ancient Nambuthiri Christians converted by St.Thomas in 52 AD. St.Thomas preferred Nambuthiris because they were Savarnas who were the most respected among Keralites. Another reason was that as nobody was allowed to go near Nambuthiris the Christianity will be safe with Nambuthiri Christians.
As Nairs traditionally served Nambuthiris the Nairs obeyed Christian Nambuthiris also. So that the Christian Nambuthiris were also protected by Nairs.
Christian Nambuthiris also would have practised Sambandam with Shudra women.
BAPTISM OF NAMBUTHIRIS
St.Thomas baptized several Nambuthiri families such as Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Thayyil, Payyappilly, Kalli, Kaliyankal, and Pattamukku as Christians.
The first Bishop of Kodungaloor Syro-Malabar diocese Palliveetil Chandy and the founder of Orthodox-Jacobite church Marthoma church were from Pakalomattom Nambuthiri families.
ANCIENT SAVARNAS
Kerala was part of the the ancient Thamilakam. Though Tamil was commonly used in that period the Savarnas of Kerala preferred to talk in Malayalam or Sanskrit. As St.Thomas had mastered Sanskrit most of the conversations was in Sanskrit. Only Nambuthiris Nairs, Samantha Kshatrias and Christian Nambuthiris were considered as Savarnas in ancient Kerala.
OWNERS OF KERALA
According to the legends Lord Parashurama threw his axe from Gokarna in Karnataka to Kanyakumari. After this the coastal areas rose from the sea and thus coastal Karnataka were created.
Kerala was thus given to sixty four families of Nambuthiris who became the original owners of Kerala. St.Thomas might have converted atleast half of Nambuthiri population of Kerala. Thus the Nambuthiri Christians also descended from the Nambuthiris who received Kerala direct from Parashurama.
Thus both Parasurama and St.Thomas were mentors of Christian Nambuthiri community of Kerala.
NAIRS
Nairs originally did not belong to Kerala but they were brought by Nambuthiris as servants and cultivators. Though considered as Shudras Nairs were also considered as Savarnas and held a position quite higher than indigenous Dravidians.
LITURGICAL LANGUAGE OF NAMBUTHIRI CHRISTIANS
Ancient mother tongue of Keralites also might have been Sanskrit though many talked Malayalam also. Nambuthiri Christians of Kerala would have wanted Sanskrit as their liturgical language. Some Nambuthiri Christians however would have preferred Malayalam instead.
St.Thomas had to preach in Sanskrit as the Nambuthiris preferred Sanskrit to Tamil.
But St.Thomas might have preferred Syriac language which was the liturgical language of Church of East of Persia and Church of Babylon founded by himself. It was because St.Thomas Christians of India should be able to converse with their fellow Christians of Persia and Syria. Hebrew was also might have been used extensively by the ancient Nambuthiri Christians of Kerala.
SEVEN AND HALF CHURCHES OF KERALA
St.Thomas established Seven Churches in Kerala and a half church at Kanyakumari. It was because the Kanyakumari fellows always talked half Malayalam.
St.Thomas established Churches are at Kodungallur, Palayoor, Kottakkavu near Paravur, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Nilackal alias Chayal, Kollam, and Thiruvithamcode Arappoli church.
Kodungaloor was the medieval Chera capital. Musiris near Kodungaloor was a important port of Chera dynasty.
Palayoor in Thrissur was one of the seven Churches established by St Thomas.
Kottakkavu was another place where St.Thomas built another church. Kottakkavu was located near North Paravur near Vembanad Kayal.
Kokkamangalam was a place on the western bank of Vembanad Kayal. Kokkamangalam was also known as Kokkothamangalam. At Kokkamangalam St.Thomas established another full Church.
At Niranam another church was established by St.Thomas. Nelkinda, the ancient Pandiyan capital existed near Niranam.
At Nilackal near Sabarimala at the Pathanamthittta district another Church was established by St Thomas.
The seventh full church was established by St.Thomas at Kollam.
At Arappoli near Thiruvithancode at the Kanyakumari district St.Thomas established a half church.
St.Thomas though a fisherman by birth was a trained architect who had built palaces for Indo-Parthian king Gondophares who ruled from his capital at Taxla.
St.Thomas was the founder of Savarna Christianity in Kerala. Savarna Christians of Kerala were mostly Nambuthiris.
ENCOUNTERS WITH TAMILS
St.Thomas had never met any Tamils or any Dravidians in Kerala. This is because the Dravidian Tamils who were considered as Shudras and Avarnas avoided coming near St.Thomas.
ST.THOMAS LEGEND AT MYLAPORE
Account of Franciscan Friar Giovanni de' Marignolli of Forence who visited Chennai and in 1347 AD.
The third province of India is called Maabar, and the church of St.Thomas which he built with his own hands is there, besides another which he built by the agency of workmen. These he paid with certain very great stones which I have seen there, and with a log cut down on Adam's Mountin Seyllan, which he caused to be sawn up, and from its sawdust other trees were sown. Now that log, huge as it was, was cut down by two slaves of his and drawn to these aside by the saint's own girdle. When the log reached the sea he said to it, "Go now and tarry for us in the haven of the city of Mirapolis (Mylapore).
1 ."It arrived there accordingly, where upon the king of that place with his whole army endeavoured to draw it ashore, but ten thousand men were not able to make it stir.
Then St.Thomas the Apostle himself came on the ground, riding on an ass, wearing a shirt, a stole, and a mantle of peacock's feathers, and attended by those two slaves and by two great lions, just as he is painted, and called out
"Touch not the log, for it is mine! ""How," quoth the king,
"dost thou make it out to be thine?
"So the Apostle loosing the cord where with he was girt, ordered his slaves to tie it to the log and draw it ashore. And this being accomplished with the greatest ease, the king was converted, and bestowed upon the saint as much land as he could ride round upon his ass. So during the day-time he used to goon building his churches in the city, but at night he retired to a distance of three Italian miles, where there were numberless peacocks.
2...and thus being shot in the side with an arrow such as is called frictia, (so that his wound was like that in the side of Christ into which he had thrust his hand), he lay there before his oratory from the hour of complines, continuing throughout the night to preach, whilst all his blessed blood was welling from his side; and in the morning he gave up his soul to God. The priests gathered up the earth with which his blood had mingled, and buried it with him. By means of this I experienced a distinct miracle twice over in my own person,which I shall relate elsewhere
1 . Standing miracles are, however, to be seen there, in respect both of the opening of the sea, and of the peacocks
2 . Moreover whatever quantity of that earth be removed from the grave oneday, just as much is replaced spontaneously against the next. And when this earth is taken in a potion it cures diseases, and in this manner open miracles are wrought both among Christians and among Tartars and Pagans
3 .That king also gave St.Thomas a perpetual grant of the public steelyard for pepper and all aromatic spices,and no one dares take this privilege from the Christiansbut at the peril of death
4. I spent fourdays there; there is an excellent pearl fishery at the place.
ST.THOMAS LEGEND AT MYLAPORE
CHURCHES BUILT BY ST.THOMAS
Marignolli says that the Church built by St.Thomas with his own hands was there at Maabar. St.Thomas had built another Church at Mabar with the help of workmen. For the workmen he paid with great precious stones. Maabar is the Arabic name for Pandyan kingdom and Tamilnadu in general.
MIRACLE OF LOG AT SRILANKA
St.Thomas caused a log cut down at Adam's Mountain(peak) Seyllan(Srilanka) and got it to be sawn up. From its sawdust were sown to germinate other trees.
This big log which was cut down by two slaves of St.Thomas.The log was tied with the girdle(belt) of St.Thomas and was drawn to seashore by his two slaves.
When the log of wood reached the Seashore St.Thomas told it to go and wait for them in the haven(harbour) of the city of Mirapolis(Mylapore).
The log floated all the way through sea from Adams peak and reached Madras and was floating at the sea.
Then the king of Madras with his whole army and endeavoured to draw the log ashore. But ten thousand men could not draw it to shore.
ST.THOMAS ATTIRE
Then St.Thomas the Apostle came to the place wearing a shirt, a stole(a long loose robe) and a mantle(a sleeveless cloak) of peacock feathers. He was accompanied by his two slaves and by two great lions. There was a painting in the church depicting him with a peacock feather cloak, riding an ass and accompanied by his two slaves and two lions.
Nestorians usually are iconoclastic who avoided using idols or Pictures. But Marignolli says that he saw a pictue of St.Thomas.
Then St.Thomas called out that the log was his and not to touch it. The king queried How was it his.
The apostle loosened the cord he had tied around his waist and ordered his slaves to rie it to the log and draw it ashore.
The slaves drew the log to the shore without much effort.
The king was converted and bestowed upon the saint as much land as he could ride round upon his ass.
During the day time St.Thomas built his churches in the City. But at night he retired to a place where there were numerous peacocks which was three Italian miles (1.852 km/Roman mile) away.
Thus St.Thomas built two churches at St.Thomas Mount. He built many Churches in the Madras city during the day time.In the night time he rested at Mylapore where there used to be numerous Peacocks.
MARTYRDOM OF ST.THOMAS
St.Thomas was shot with an arrow called Frictia on his side.By this his wound resembled the left flank wound of Jesus Christ into whist he had thrust his hand. He lay there after his complines(evening prayer) preaching throughout night while his blessed blood was welling by his side. In the morning St.Thomas gave up his soul to God. The priests gathered the earth sodden with his blood and buried it with him.
Because of this John of Marignolli experienced a miracle twice over his own person.
Miracles of opening of the sea and Peacocks were seen there.
Whatever quantity of the earth removed from the grave oneday the same amount is replaced spontaneously next day. When this earth is taken as a potion it cures diseases. Because of this miraculous power the earth is taken by Christians and among Tartars (Muslims) and Pagans(Hindus).
That king also gave St.Thomas a perpetual grant of the public steelyard for pepper and all aromatic spices,and no one dares take this privilege from the Christiansbut at the peril of death.
Marignolli spent fourdays there. There was an excellent pearl fishery at the place.
By pearl fishery Marignolli means Tuticorin but it is 600 km away.
Other possibility is that St.Thomas tomb was at Kayalpattinam a seaport at pearl fishery coast. Peacocks are found there too.
TWO MARTYRDOMS
According to Acts of Thomas St.Thomas was executed at a hill called Calamina (Kala-Minar in Jaghatu)in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan by a Indo-Greek king Misdeus in 46 AD. Under the orders from King Misdeus four soldiers stabbed him with spears. After that St.Thomas's body was interred in a Royal sepulchre.
But after one year when Misdeus opened the tomb of St.Thomas he found no body. Misdeus was told that the disciples of St.Thomas stole his body and had taken it to Edessa. Unless by a remote chance that St.Thomas survived the injuries and was rescued by his disciples his second martyrdom at Chennai at 72 AD is not possible.
DEPICTION OF ST THOMAS
After the arrival of Portuguese St.Thomas is depicted in the western style holding a Crozier.
The earlier Indian depiction of St.Thomas wearing a Shirt, Stole and a mantle made of Peacock feather and also riding an ass, accompanied by two Slaves and two Lions and such depiction is not seen in any Portuguese Church.
There is no depiction of St Thomas with Peacocks in any Church now.
SRILANKAN VISIT
St.Thomas bringing logs from Adams peak to Chennai is a little known legend to Srilankans.
MULTIPLE CHURCHES
Marignolli's account states St.Thomas built many Churches at Chennai. But the exact locations of these churches is not known.
SLAVES
Acts of Thomas says that he was sold by Jesus himself as a slave to Indian merchant Abban.
St.Thomas himself owning two slaves unique to Mylapore kegend. These two slaves names are not known. There is no information regarding conversion of these slaves.
These Tamil slaves perhaps were never converted by St.Thomas as St.Thomas preferred to convert higher classes of people only.
KINGS AND BRAHMINS
St.Thomas preferred to convert Kings and Brahmins and Jews. Indo-Parthian king and his family was Baptised by St.Thomas in 46 AD. Similarly Indo-Greek King Misdeus's family was also had been converted by St.Thomas.
The Chennai King also was converted but his name is not Known.
There is no indication he ever talked Tamil or other Dravidian languages. St.Thomas could have preached in Aramaic, Hebrew and Sanskrit.
St.Thomas might have mastered Sanskrit enabling him to convert Nambuthiris (The ancient Brahmins of Tamilaham were Andhanar, Vedhiar and Parpanar).The ancient Liturgical language of Indian Christians could be most likely Sanskrit.
However most of the St.Thomas christians (Nestorians) were centred at Seleucia Ctesiphon, capital of Sassanian Persia. With the arrival of Nestorian Christians from Persia after 486 AD St.Thomas Christians of Chennai and Kodungaloor might have accepted Syriac as their Liturgical language.
Dravidian people of ancient Kerala and Tamilnadu however knew neither Hebrew nor Sanskrit and could not understand the preachings of St.Thomas.
Though St.Thomas was a fisherman from Galilee he had mastered Architecture and Palace building according to Acts of Thomas. St.Thomas was also called Didymus (Twin of Jesus) possibly his physical resemblance to Jesus Christ.
FISHERMEN APOSTLES
The fishermen Apostles from Sea of Galilee were
1. St. Andrew
2. St. Peter
3. St.James and
4. St. John who were brothers
5. St.Thomas
6. St. Bartholomew
Other apostles were Tax collectors and traders.
St.Thomas is revered by St. Thomas Christians of Kerala while St.Bartholomew is referred by Konkani christians of Mangalore and Goa both Brahmin converts from Nambuthiri and GSB communities respectively. Coastal people prefer St.Andrew.
MARTYRDOM OF ST..THOMAS
The Marignolli's account says that St.Thomas was shot with a barbed arrow on his side in the exact place where Jesus was injured.
The acts of Thomas says that four soldiers stabbed him with spears on the orders of Greek king Misdeus on the hill of Calamina (Kala-Minar, Jaghatu, Ghazni Afghanistan at the Greek kingdom called Alexandria of Opiana).
The Portuguese version is that St.Thomas was stabbed with a spear at Mylapore in 72 AD.
TAMIL BRAHMINS
The Portuguese era painting at St.Thomas mount depicts Brahmins closely resembling Iyers or Ayyangars conspiring against St.Thomas. It is not clear whether Christian Nambuthiris accompanied St.Thomas to Chennai. The fate of Tamil Brahmin Iyers converted by St.Thomas at Chennai is also not known.
FROM DRAVIDIAN VIEWPOINT
1.Kerala was not created by Parashurama. Kerala had been homeland of Dravidians from time immemorial. Onam festival celebrated for the past 3800 years after Dravidian king Mahabali was killed by Upendra brother of Aryan king Indra.
2.Kerala was ruled by Tamil Villavar kings from time immemorial. Villavar were supported by Villavar, Malayar and Vanavar clans. Ancient Keralites used Tamil and Pali languages.
3. Christianity, St.Thomas or Nambuthiris were not known to Sangam era Tamils.
4. Sangam age Tamils of Kerala were Jains but Buddhism and Dravidian religeon were also practiced.
5. Sangam age Brahmins were called Anthanar, Parpanar and Vediar who were often drawn from Dravidian communities.
6.Tulu-Nepali invaders such as Nairs, Nambuthiris and Samantha Kshatria appeared in Kerala after Tulu Alupa dynasty prince Banapperumal with the help of Arabs occupied Malabar in 1120 AD.
7.Christianity was not a known religeon to Later Chera Villavar dynasty kings who ruled from Kodungaloor between 800 AD to 1102 AD and Cherai Villavar dynasty which ruled from Kollam between 1102 AD to 1333 AD.
8.The matrilineal Tulu-Nepali kings became rulers of Kerala after the Turkish invasion of Malik Kafur in 1311 AD. With this Nepali clans from Ahichatra such as Nairs and Nambuthiris dominated Kerala after 1333 AD.
9.Until 1339 AD only only few hundred foreign blooded Persian Nestorians called Malabar Suriyani Nasranis existed. Nestorians did not believe Jesus was God and called him a humanbeing. Nestorians refused to accept Mary as "Mother of God" who called her "Mother of Jesus". Nestorian Syrian christians worshipped "Eli" alias "Alaha" as God.
10.The Nestorian Syrian Mapillai Christians were headed by Kurdiah Nestorian Bishops send from Mosul in Iraq.
11. At 1339 AD Villarvettom who ruled from Chendamangalam and his subjects embraced Nestorian Christianity increasing Christian population to 30000.
12.After 1498 AD Portuguese intermixed with Villarvettom Tamils Nestorian Christians to create a 200,000 numbered Portuguese Mestizo community who were Roman Catholics. Only after 1498 AD Kerala Christians accepted Jesus as God and Mary as "Mother of God".
13. Pope encouraged the use of Latin Catholic Liturgy translated into Syriac in the Roman Catholic churches. The Vernacular language of Villarvettom Tamils Malayalam-Tamil was not allowed in the churches.
14. Some of the Portuguese Mestizo Syrian Roman Catholic Tamil community joined the Turkish Western Syriac Jacobite-Orthodox sect and their priests started wearing costume Jacobite priests of Turkey.
15. Most of the Portuguese Mestizo Roman Catholic community was under Kodungaloor Latin Diocese between 1661 AD to 1838 AD where both Latin rite priests and Syriac rite priests existed. Syriac rite priests also used Latin liturgy translated to Syriac. Syriac language was never understood by Villarvettom Portuguese Mestizo Syrian Tamils.
16. Until 1830 AD used Dravidian tongue Malayalam-Tamil alias Malayanma. But after 1830 AD the Syrian Christians abandoned their ancestral language and adopted "Nepali Malayalam" written with Tulu script which had been used by only Nairs and Nambuthiris.
17. Only after British left in 1956 AD a Syrian Christian Bishop who had been educated at Kandy Latin Catholic seminary in Srilanka started the use of Malayalam Liturgy in Roman Catholic churches.
TWO THARISSAPPALLI CHURCHES OR CHOULTRIES
Two Tharissappalli Churches were built under the patronage of Balija alias Ainnootruvar, one at Kollam at 849 AD at Kollam during the reign of Ay king of Venad Aiyanadikal Thiruvadikal and another at Periapattinam at Ramnad district.
A palli either a Choultry for foreign traders or a Christian church was built by Mar Sapir Eso under the auspices of Kollam king. Palli in Tamil has many meanings including resting place a lodge, a Choultry, then a place of worship for jains, a school, Kitchen etc.
It is interesting to note that out of the 26 foreign signatories 13 were Muslims, 6 were Zorastrians, 4 were Jews and another 3 were Christians. The european scholars feigned that the could not decipher the names of the signatories written in Pahlavi, Kufic and Hebrew. If Tharisappally had been a church it could be the most secular church ever bult.
The second Tharisappalli existed at Periappattinam near Valantharuvai at the Ramnad District which had been built in an unknown period prior to 1200 AD. A Jewish Temple otherwise known as Ainootruvan palli had been built by Balijas next to Tharissappalli. A medieval Tamil stone inscription on a four sided stone dated 1200 AD to 1250 AD which describes the boundaries of the Jewish temple has been found at Valantharuvai at Ramnad district . Nestorianism might have had official protection under Balija Trade guilds throughout south India and local kingdoms. Arabs might have destroyed the Periapattinam Tharissapalli church.
ARRIVAL OF NAMBUTHIRIS
Nambuthiris appeared in Kerala after the invasion and occupation of Malabar by Tulu invader Banapperumal(Banu Vikrama Kulasekarapperumal) in in 1120 AD. Arabs who intended to establish a colony in Malabar allied with a Buddhist Tulu prince from Alupa dynasty called Banapperumal. Tulu Bana kings were northern relatives of Villavars and also arch enemies of Villavar kings of Kerala. Both Villavar and Bana kings used Kulasekhara title.
In the earlier period prior to 1120 AD Tuluva Brahmins called Nambuthiris were not allowed in Kerala as Tulunadu had been a enemy country. Arabs brought Nambuthiris inside Kerala in 1120 AD and after 1314 AD Turks gave Tulu-Nepali Tulu samantha Kshatriya, Nepali Nairs and Nambuthiris sovereignty of Kerala.
ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES
Friar John of Montecorvino who visited Kerala in 1292 AD mentioned that few Nestorian Christians and Jews were present at Kerala but they are of little worth and the inhabitants persecuted them, in his "Letters from Cathay and thither" written to Pope in 1305 AD from China.
"There are a very few Christians, and Jews, and they are of little weight. The people persecute much the Christians, and all who bear the Christian name".
John of Montecorvino also mentioned that anybody with Christian name was persecuted in Kerala. The European missionaries such as John of Montecorvino, Jordanus Catalani and John of Marignolli never mentioned any Christian's who descended from Nambuthiris. Neither did they mention the existence of large number of St.Thomas Christians in Kerala.
ABSENCE OF NESTORIAN CHURCHES IN KERALA
There is no record that the early European missionaries ever visiting any Nestorian Syrian Church in Kerala between the period 1292 AD to 1347 AD. The Nestorian Syrians might have been very few in number in 1292 A.D, perhaps only few hundred individuals existed in Kerala. Only Syrian Church the European missionaries ever visited was at Madras. Strangely the St.Thomas shrine of Madras had been maintained by a Muslim Fakir who claimed that it was a tomb of Muslim a saint ie Dargha. Latin monk John of Montecorvino in 1292 AD, Bishop Jordanus Catalani in 1329 A.D and John of Marignolli in 1347 A.D did not recount meeting any Nestorian Bishops, Archdeacons or even Nestorian Priests in Kerala. Neither did they see any Nestorian Church in Kerala. Christianity became a major religeon in Kerala only after the visit of European missionaries and establishment of Kollam Roman Catholic diocese in 1329 A.D.
CONVERSION OF VILLARVETTOM KING.
The Tamil Villarvettom kingdom faced opposition from the Nambuthiris and Nairs after the establishment of Cochin kingdom in 1335 AD.
Villarvettom kings might have descended from Uthiyan branch of Cheran dynasty which ruled from Udayanapuran in Kuttanad. The latter-day capitals of Villarvettom kingdom were Chendamangalam and Udayamperoor. The Villarvettom kingdom ruled the areas between Chendamangalam to Vaikkom. But after Kochi kingdom was established in 1335 AD Thripunitura near Udayamperoor and Vellarapalli were made secondary capitals of Cochin Kingdom. Facing opposition from Tulu-Nepalese invaders the Villarvettom king converted to Christianity around 1339 AD. "Mirabilia" written by Latin Bishop Jordanus Catalani covers the period between 1329 AD to 1338 AD did not mention the presence of any Christian king in Kerala. But Kozhikode Granthavari mentioned the war between Christian Villarvettom kingdom and the combined armies of Samuthiri and Arabs in 1340 AD.
The conversion of Villavar and Panickars of Villarvettom kingdom might have increased the Nestorian Christian population to 30000. This provoked a violent attack from Arabs and their ally the Samuthiri king of Kozhikode in 1340 AD. Capital of Villarvettom kingdom Chendamangalam was destroyed and then the capital was shifted to Udayamperoor. The Villarvettom king wrote a letter to Pope seeking help around 1350 AD. Pope redirected that letter to Portuguese king. A rumour that a powerful Christian king called Prestor John was ruling over India was circulated among the Europe's elite. But no help came from Europe until 1450 AD when the Villarvettom kingdom ended. The Villarvattom kingdom was subjugated by Cochin kingdom and it remained as a vassal country of Cochin until the end of its rule end in 1450 AD. The Kozhikode Granthavari mentioned Villarvettom kingdom as a vassal Christian outsider kingdom related by blood to Cochin kings. This indicates that after 1350 AD Tamil Villarvettom princesses were forced to have Sambandam with Nambiadri kings of Cochin which might have created a Syrian Christians' Nambudiri origin myth.
Nambiadri kings of Kochi descended from Sridevi, the sister of Tulu invader Banapperumal. Nambudiris were Tuluva Brahmins with Ahichatram roots. Tulu princess Sridevi had Sambandam with a Nambudiri and her descendents formed Nambiadri dynasty who originally ruled from Perumbadappu near Vanneri in the Malappuram district prior to 1335 AD.
Last Villarvettom princess Kirubavathi had Sambandam with Ramavarma from Cochin family. But when Ramavarma was converted to Christianity he was killed. The last Villarvettom princess Kirubavathy was converted to Hinduism after a brief ceremony. kirubavathy was made concubine of Cochin Nambiadri king around 1450 AD.
At 1450 AD Villarvettom dynasty was removed from power by Kochi Kings. The territories of Villarvettom kingdom was given to some Panickers from Paliyam who had defected to Nair side. Chendamangalam became their capital. These Panickar chieftains were known as Paliyathu Achan who became chief ministers of Cochin kingdom. But Palakkadu menons were the last to occupy the former Villarvettom territory with the title Paliyathu Achan.
Between 1350 AD to 1498 AD when Nambuthiris became dominant they might have misused the Christian women and had Sambandam with them.The last princess of Villarvettom kingdom Kirubavathy was forced to become the concubine of Cochin Nambiadri Brahmin king after converting her to Hinduism after a brief ceremony. The children of Kirubavathy in Brahmin attire might have accompanied Villarvettom chieftains to meet Vasco Da Gama.
BETRAYAL OF MESTIZOS OF KERALA
The Goan and Mangalorean Mestizos remained loyal to Portuguese until their eviction in 1961 AD. Paradavar remained loyal to Portuguese
But the Syrian Roman Catholic Mestizos under the influence of some priestly families with Nestorian roots started antagonising Portuguese after 1550s.
Archdeacon Marthoma had been writing to many different churches of Levant demanding to send one Bishop to elevate him to Bishophood since 1550 AD. Though one Orthodox Bishop called Ahatallah who had converted to Latin Catholicism came to India in 1552 falsely claiming that he had been made Patriarch of India and China. Portuguese had sent him back in 1553.
The Nestorian priests spread the rumour that Ahatallah had been appointed by Pope as the Arch Bishop of India but Portuguese had drowned him in the Vembanad Backwaters. This led to the upheaval of Roman Catholics in 1653.
The Roman Catholic Syriac rite Nasrani Mapillas peacefully protested against the Portuguese at 1653 AD opposite of "Koonan Kurisu" in Mattancherry which was inside the Portuguese fort. Coonan Cross Oath of 1653 AD which challenged Portuguese authority was similar to Sepoy revolt of 1858 AD against British. But it was only a peaceful protest by a tiny group of Syriac Nasrani Mapillas inside Portuguese Fort. Syriac Nasrani Mapilla priests never revolted against Portuguese with arms.
It was a foolish act of the Roman Catholics to join the revolt, as they were infact Villarvettom Tamils who themselves had Portuguese blood. The Portuguese relied on the 4000 Mestizo soldiers who protected the fort and also required the support of Roman Catholic Tamil Mestizo population who had a populationabout 200000. Only a tiny fraction of Portuguese Catholics might have had Syriac Nestorian blood.
The betrayal of the Tamil Mestizo population led to the Portuguese ouster in 1663 AD. In the laterdays the Tamil Mestizos were forced to join Syriac churches and identify themselves as Syrians. The Portuguese Roman Catholics were brought completely under the control of the former Nestorian priests.
The enormous landed properties accumulated by the churches in the Pirtuguese era attracted the priests with Nestorian background. These former Nestorian priests from Palayoor revolted against Portuguese Archbishop Garcia of Kodungaloor. Portuguese created a class of Nestorian-Catholic aristocracy who controlled the landed properties of the church. These Nestorian-Catholic priests became independent from Portuguese and also from Pope.
The Mestizos by supporting the Dutch protestant colonial rulers brought an end to the progress of Christianity in Kerala and eviction of Portuguese IN 1663 AD.
Between 1660 to 1663 AD Portuguese were defeated and removed from Kochi by Dutch. But the Padroado Portuguese Jesuit missionaries still remained at Kodungaloor.
One priest called Palliveetil Chandy from Pakalomattom family was elevated as Bishop of Kodungaloor arch diocese formed the Syro-Malabar Catholic church at Kodungaloor under Chaldean Catholic church in 1663 AD.
This Chaldean Catholic faction called "Pazhankur" or Old Faction had 84 churches and in its fold with Palliveetil Chandy who formed the Syro-Malabar Church as Bishop. Syro Malabar Church was under Chaldean Catholic church and Eastern Catholic churches. Chaldean Catholic churches never existed in Kerala prior to 1663 AD.
The Villarvettom Mestizo Tamils had to join this unknown Chaldean Catholic church of Mosul in Iraq in 1663 AD. The Kerala's Mestizo Roman Catholics were mostly medival Tamils mixed with Portuguese. They had no reason to join either Chaldean Catholics or Oriental Orthodox Christianity. After Portuguese left they were led by priests from a family of Nestorian Archdeacons they were forced to join the Syriac churches.
But after the reign of Palliveetil chandy between 1663 to 1687 the Kodungaloor diocese became a Latin diocese once again, controlled by Padroado priests under Portuguese crown. Kodungaloor Bishops between 1663 to 1838 were European Latin Bishops.
KODUNGALOOR LATIN DIOCESE
Kodungalur Latin Diocese was established in 1601 AD with Francis Roz as first Bishop. Portuguese facing opposition from Nestorian priests Portuguese appointed Parambil Chandy who was a Chaldean Catholic as Bishop of Latin Diocese of Kodungaloor 1663 AD.
After this Syriac rite churches claimed to be of Syro Malabar church. But Parambil Chandy himself was a Chaldean catholic who used Latin Liturgy.
After Parambil Chandy Portuguese Jesuit Bishops of Kodungaloor continued to to reign over Thrissur, and Angamaly areas.
At Palayoor a factory to process spices existed in the Portuguese and Dutch periods. Palayoor Church had been built by Portuguese.
ORTHODOX CHURCH
The other faction of Portuguese Mestizo catholic Christians was led by Archdeacon Marthoma. In 1665 AD an Orthodox Bishop of Jerusalem ocalled Mar Abdal Jaleel came to India and elevated archdeacon Marthoma as Bishop under a new church Orthodox or Jacobite Church established by Jacob Bardeus in 543 AD. Though the founder Bishop Jacob wore tattered robe Bardeus(tattered cloth stitched) was added to him. But the laterday Orthodox priests were known for their opulent robes.
The Roman Catholics of the 40 churches still thought that they were Catholics. Gradually only realised that they have gone to a completely different Syrian church.
MIGRATION OF SYRIAN CHRISTIANS TO HILLS
During the Portuguese and Dutch era coastal Mestizo communities were encouraged to cultivate pepper at the Westernghats.
This resulted the migration of Roman Catholics from Kodungaloor and Kochi to Angamali, Kuruvilangad and Kottayam. Similar migration of Roman Catholics of Kollam to Pathanamthitta occurred.
FINAL REJECTION OF NESTORIANISM
The Portuguese Roman Catholics underwent a schism of their church in 1663 AD and thereby creating Latin Catholics, Syro-Malabar with roots from Chaldean Catholics and Malankara Orthodox sects. Because of Portuguese efforts all sects rejected Nestorian Syriac Christianity and its heresy in the laterdays. A Nestorian Bishop called Mar Gabriel arrived in Malabar in 1708 AD. Neither Malankara church nor Catholics accepted him. Finally he came to Kottayam Cheria palli under Malankara Orthodox church. He died and was buried there. His burial place was later demolished under the orders of Orhodox Bishop Marthoma in 1730 AD and those stones were used as stepping stones to the parish building . Desecration of the grave of the last Nestorian priest Mar Gabriel also marked the end of Nestorianism in India.
CARMELITES CORRECTING NESTORIAN HERESY
In 1775 AD a Syriac priest of Malayatoor who used Raza Qurbana which was considered heretical by the Carmelite priests of Varapuzha was dragged out of procession, handcuffed, taken to Varapuzha and was chained to a cot. This incidence clearly indicates that only Syriac translation of Roman mass was used in the churches in 1775 AD and not Nestorian Raza Qurbana.
BRITISH HINDERING CATHOLICS
British hindered the local European Catholic Bishops. Syrian Catholic priest Kariattil Mar Ouseph from Alangad sailed to Portugal and was appointed as Bishop of Kodungaloor's Latin diocese in 1785 AD at Lisbon.But Kariattil Mar Ouseph was also a Latin priest who had graduated from Carmelite Propaganda college of Rome. Kariattil Mar Ouseph had written a book called "Noticias do Reino do Malabar" in Portuguese language in 1780. After this the Latin Jesuits Diocese of Kodungaloor with Jurisdiction at Angamaly continued to have European Latin Catholic Bishops until 1838 AD. Kodungaloor Archdiocese merged with Varapuzha Latin Diocese in 1838 AD
Some rebellious Syriac rite priests from Cherthala established a rival monastery called Carmelites of Mary Immaculate at Mannanam in 1831 AD but under Latin Carmelites of Varapuzha.
The Syro Malabar churches started identifying themselves as separate from Latin churches after 1838 AD.
PALAYUR COPPER PLATE
Kollam 781
1606 AD
Script: VATTEZHUTHU
Language : MALAYALAM-TAMIL
Plate belonging to Syro-Roman Church of Palaiyur.
Deed written in 1606 AD.A certain Iravi Narayanan resident of Kuttancherry had received a loan of 1055 Panam from the Vicar of Palayur Church and the functionaries of the Church.
The document recordes the transfer of a landed property situated in Ilangulum in Irinnappuram desam called Vadakemuri land and the adjoining land with forty Nazhi seed sowing capacity owned by Ravi Narayanan, to Palur Church Vicar Paru Kulankara Itty Achanar as parallel to 1055 Panam and interest.
In this way Palur Church Vikari Paru Kulankara Itty Achanar and Functionaries made this land deed written.
Nambuthiri of Kothanallur was a witness. Document was written by Madakkavu Sattappa Menon.
This copper plate does not have any Nepali words.
பாலையூர் தாமிர தகடு.
கொல்லம் 781
கிபி 1606
எழுத்து முறை : வட்டெழுத்து
First Side.
1. கொல்லம் ௭௱௮௰௧(781) -மத கும்ப ஞாயற்றில் எழுதிய வெம்
2. பாட்டம் நெற் பலிச ஓலகரணமாவத பாலூற்பள்ளிலெ விகாரியும்புரொ
3. த்திக்காரரும் கூட கைய்யால் ஆயிரத்த அன்ம் பத்த அஞ்
4. சு புது பணம் கொண்டான் கூத்தம்செரி இரெவிநாராணென்
5. கொண்டான் கொண்டன பரிசாவத இக்கொண்ட புது௧(1) பணம் ௲௫௰
6. ௫ (1055) னும் காரியம் தன்ற்றெ இரிங்ஙப்புரம் தெசத்த இளங்
7. குளத்த வடிக்கெமுறி பறம்பும் அதின அடுத்த கண்டங் ங
8. ள் நால்ப்பதினாழி வித்தினு கண்டவும் கூட நில பா
9. ட்டமுள்ப்பட ஆயிரத்த அன்ம்பத்த அஞ்சு பணத்தின
Second Side.
10. நெற்பலிச கிழிடுமாற எழுதிக் கொடுத்தான் இரெவி நாராணென்.
11. இம்மார்க்கமெ இச்சொன்ன இளங்குளத்தெ வடக்கெமுறிப் பறம்
12. பும் அதிடுத்த கண்டம் நானாழி வித்தின்னு கண்டவும் கூடி ஆ
13. யரத்த ௲௫௰௫(1055) த்தின்ன நெற்பலிச கிழியுமாற எழு
14. திச்சு கொண்டாற் பாலூற் பள்ளியில் விகாரி பரூக்குளங்ஙரெ
15. இட்டி அச்செனாரும் புரொத்திக்காரரும் கூடி இப்படிக்க
16. இதட்டுயும்(இத அறியும்) தாழ்க்கி கொதநல்லூர் நம்புதிரி மா
17. டக்காவில் சாத்தப்பமெனோன் கையழுத்த
LOST LANGUAGE OF KERALA: MALAYALAM-TAMIL OR MALAYANMA
പാലയൂർ ചെമ്പ് തകിട്
കൊല്ലം 781
1606 എഡി
ലിപി: വട്ടെഴുത്ത്
ഭാഷ: മലയാളം-തമിഴ്
മലയാളം (ലിപ്യന്തരണം)
1. കൊല്ലം 781 - മത കുമ്പ ഞായറ്റിൽ എഴുതിയ വെം
2. പാട്ടം നെറ് പലിശ ഓലകരണമാവത പാലൂറ്പള്ളിലെ വികാരിയും പുരൊ
3. ത്തിക്കാരരും കൂട കൈയ്യാൽ ആയിരത്ത അൻമ്പത്ത അഞ്ച്
4. പുതു പണം കൊണ്ടാൻ കൂത്തംചെരിഇരവിനാരാണെൻ
5. കൊണ്ടാൻ കൊണ്ടന പരിശാവത ഇക്കൊണ്ട പുതു(1) പണം 105
6. 5 നും കാരിയം തന്റ്റെ ഇരിങ്ങപ്പുരംദെശത്ത ഇളങ്
7. കുളത്ത വടിക്കെമുറി പറമ്പും അതിന അടുത്തകണ്ടങ്ങ
8. ൾ നാല്പ്പതിനാഴി വിത്തിനു കണ്ടവും കൂട നില പാ
9. ട്ടമുൾപ്പട ആയിരത്ത അന്മ്പത്ത അഞ്ച്പണത്തിന
Second Side.
10. നെറ്പലിശ കിഴിടുമാറ എഴുതിക്കൊടുത്താൻഇരവി നാരാണെൻ
11. ഇമ്മാർക്കമെ ഇച്ചൊന്ന ഇളങ്കുളത്തെ വടക്കെമുറിപ്പറമ്പും
12. അതിടുത്ത കണ്ടം നാനാഴി വിത്തിന്നു കണ്ടവുംകൂടി ആ
13. യരത്ത 1055 ത്തിന്ന നെറ്പലിശകിഴിയുമാറ എഴു
14. തിച്ചു കൊണ്ടാറ് പാലൂറ് പള്ളിയിൽ വികാരി പരൂക്കുളങ്ങരെ
15. ഇട്ടി അച്ചെനാരൂം പുരൊത്തിക്കാരരും കൂടിഇപ്പടിക്ക
16. ഇതട്ടുയും (ഇത അറിയും) താഴ്ക്കി കൊതനല്ലൂർ നമ്പുതിരി മാ
17. ടക്കാവിൽ ചാത്തപ്പമെനോൻകൈയഴുത്ത.
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The Palayur plate of 1606 AD written by a Nair called Chathappa menon and in which a Nambuthiri had been a witness, had been written in Malayalam-Tamil language with Vattezhuthu script which were used in official documents then.
The Nepali Malayalam written in Tulu script remained the private spoken language of Tulu-Nepali clans such as Nairs, Nambuthiris and Samantha Kshatriyas but unknown to rest of the Keralites.
__________________________________________
PALAIYUR PLATE OF KOLLAM ERA 918.
1743 AD
Language: MALAYALAM-TAMIL
Script: VATTEZHUTHU
1. கொல்லம் ௯௱௰அ(918)-மத மீனஞாயற்றில் எழுதிய அட்டிப்பெற்றொலக் கருணமவது பாலயூர் தெசத்த அச்சழித்த
2. கும்மனிய்ப்பறம்பின்ன தெக்கெப்புறம் இம்பொணன் கல்லட்ட அதிற்க்கதெக்கொட்டும் பள்ளிபறம்பின்ன வடக்
3. கெ அதிற்க்க வடக்கொட்டும் படிஞ்ஞாற எடவழிக்க கிழக்கொ ட்டும் கிழக்கெ அற்க்க படிஞ்ஞாட்டும்
4. இ நாலதிற்க்க அகத்தகப்பெட்டத எப்பியெற்பெட்டதும் அந்நு நால றகண்டு யெடம் அற்த்தவும்
5. வாங்ஙி அட்டிப்பெற பிறமுதெலொதகமயி எழுதி கொடுத்தான் அச்சழி த்த ராமன் பங்ஙனும்
6. தம்பிமரும் அம்மாற்க்க இச்சொன்ன பலையூற் தெசத்த அச்சா ழியத்த கும்மனிப்ப
7. ன்ன தெக்கெப்புறம் கல்லிட்ட திற்க்க தெக்கொட்டும் பள்ளிபறம்பி ன்ன வடக்கே அதிற்க்க
8. வடக்கொட்டும் படிஞ்ஞாற எடவழிக்க கிழக்கொட்டும் கிழ க்கெ அற்க்க படிஞ்ஞாட்டும் இந்
9. நாலதிற்க்ககத்தகப்பெட்டத எப்பிற்பெட்டதும் அந்நு நாலறகண்டு யெ டம் அற்த்தவும் கொடுத்த
10. அட்டிப்பெற பிறமுதலொதகமாயி எழுதிச்சு கொண்டன் பலையூர் ப ள்ளி வெகரியும் பொறத்திக்காரும் இம்மாற்க்கமெ
11. இச்சொன்ன பறம்ப அந்நு நாலறகண்ட யெடம் அற்த்தவும் வாங்ஙி பிற முதெலொதகமாயி எழுதி கொடுத்தான் ராமன் பங்ஙனும்
12. தம்பிமரும் அம்மற்க்கமெ இச்சொன்ன பறம்ப அந்நு யெடம் அற்த்தவும் கொடுத்த பிறமுதெலொதகமாயி எழுதிச்சு
13 கொண்டன் பாலயூர் பள்ளி வெகாரியும் பொறவற்த்திக்காரும் இம்ம ற்க்கமெ அறியும் பலதக்கி தலப்பெள்ளி
14. யரு வெற்காவெக்கரூ கூடவ்வும் சவுலக்கட்டில் நட்டரு மம்மம்பில் முத்தவ்வெரும் கூத்தாம்பெ
15. ள்ளி கம்மளும் அறிகெ கொங்ஙாட்டில் கேரளன் கண்டர் கய்யெழுத்த
STONE INSCRIPTIONS IN THE VALIYAPALLI CHURCH AT KOTTAYAM.
Orthodox Syrian Christian Church (With Knanya past)
Church Kollam 725 (1550 AD)
Cross Kollam 754 (1579 AD)
Reign of King Vira Kerala Adityavarman
GRAVE HEADSTONE INSCRIPTIONS
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Period: 1592 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௭௱௬௰௭ 767 மத
2. தனுமாதம் ௧௰ ௳ மாளி
3. க்கல் யிச்ச மாத்துயென்
4. மாத்து நல்லவழி செஇது
On the 19th day of the Month of Dhanus in Kollam 767, Mattuyen Mattu died.
________________________________________________________
Period: 1633 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௮ (808) மா
2. ண்டு சிங்ஙமாதம்
3. ௪௳(3 ம் நாள்) .......ன் சாண்டி
4. நல்லவழி பொயி
On the fourth day of the month of Simha of the Kollam year 808 Chandi died.
________________________________________________________
Period: 1716 AD
1. ௮௱௯௰௧(891) மாண்டு
2. தனுவ் மாதம்
3. ௨௰௪௳(24 ம் நாள்) இள
4. ச்சார் நல்ல
5. வழிக்க பொயி
On the 24th day of the month of Dhanus in the Kollam year 891 Elachar died.
________________________________________________________
Period: 1674 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௪௰
2. ௯(849) மாண்டு சிங்ங
3. மாதம் .............அ
4. ச்சா மாபிள ந
5. ல்ல வழிக்க6. பொயி
On the ............day of the month of the Simha in the Kollam year 849 Achcha mappila died.
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Period: 1674 AD
1. ௮௱௪௰௯(849) ம
2. த மகரமா
3. தம் ௬௳(6 ம் நாள்)
4. அவுதெப்
5. ப நல்ல
6. வழி பொயி
On the 6th day of the month of Makara in the year 849 Avuseppu died.
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Period: 1655 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௩௰(830)
2. மாண்ட தனு ௴
3. ௫௳(5 ம் நாள்) இடெகாடு
4. மாத்து நல்ல
5. வழி எட கூடி
On the 5th day of the month of Dhanus in the Kollam year 830 Edakkadu Mattu died.
VALIAPALLY
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Period : 1710 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱
2. ௮௰௫(885) மாண்ட க
3. ர்க்கட மாதம் ௰
4. ௳(10 ம் நாள்) கொச்சு மறி
5. யம் நல்ல வழி
6. எட கூடி
On the 10th day of the month of Karkatakam in the Kollam year 885, kochu Mariyam died.
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1. கொல்லம் ................
2. ௨௰௫(25) மா ...........
3. தெல மா ....................
4. ௮௳(8 ம் நாள்) கூந...
5. செரி மறி ...................
6. ம்ம நல்ல ...................
Fragment of a Tombstone
________________________________________________________
Period: 1701 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱
2. ௭௰௬(876) மாண்ட
3. துலாமாதம்
4. ௰௮௳(18 ம் நாள்) புன்னூது
5. மாப்பெள நல்ல
6. வழிக்க எட கூடி
On the 18th day of the month of Tula in the Kollam year 876 Punnudu Mappila died.
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1. கொல்லம் ௯ ....
2. மாண்ட தனு ....
3. மாதம் அ ..........
Fragment of a tombstone
________________________________________________________
Period: 1717 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮
2. ௱௯௰௨(892) மாண்
3. டு மகரம் ௰௯(19)
4. மாத்தெ
5. ஆவுதெப்பது
In the Kollam year 892 Makaram month 19th day Matte Avudeppu died
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Period: 1589 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௭௱
2. ௬௰௪(764) மாண்ட
3. சிங்ஙமாத
4. ம் ௭௳(7ம் நாள்) பொ
5. த்தென் இப்ப
6. ச்சன் நல்ல
7. வழிக்க பொ
8. யி மிசியா
On the 7th day of the month of Simha in the Kollam year 764, Ippachan died. Messiah
________________________________________________________
Period: 1650 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮
2. ௱௨௰௫(825) மாண்
3. ட கர்க்கடக
4. ௴ ௨௰௳(20 ம் நாள்) கண்
5. டக்கெல சா
6. .......நல்லவழி
On the 20th day of the month of Karkataka in the Kollam year 825, Kandakkal Sa........ died.
________________________________________________________
Period : 1645 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௨௰(820)
2. மாண்ட விருச்சிய
3. ஞாயிற்று ..............
4. க்கட்டலை யய்ய மா
5. பிள மகள் மறியம்
6. நல்லவழி
On ...... of the month of Vrischika in the Kollam year 820, Mariyam daughter of Ayya Mappila died.
________________________________________________________
Period : 1642 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௰
2. ௭(817) மாண்ட கன்னிஞா
3. யற்று ௪௳(4 ம் நாள்) நா
4. ல் .................... சி அயி
5. ................நல்லவழி
6. க்க பொயி
On the 4th day of the month Kanni in the Kollam year 817, ..................died.
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Period : 1674 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௪௰௯(849)
2. மாண்ட தனு ......... ௨௰
3. ௯௳(29 ம் நாள்).........ச்
4. சி நல்லவழிக்க
5. பொயி
The date is Kollam 849, Dhanus 29, the persons name is damaged
________________________________________________________
Period : 1637 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௰
2. ௨(812) மாண்ட விரிச்சி
3. க மாதம் ௪௳(4 ம் நாள்)
4. ..........ள்ளிவ..............த
5. .....................................
6. நல்ல வழிக்க
On the 4th day of the month of Vrischika in the Kollam year 812, ........... died.
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Period : 1674 AD
1. கொல்லம் ௮௱௪௰
2. ௯(849) மாண்ட சிங்ங
3. மாதம் ௮௳(8 ம் நாள்) அ
4. ச்ச மாபிள ந
5. ல்ல வழிக்க
6. பொயி
On the 8th day of the month of Simha in the Kollam year 849, Achha Mappila died.
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Conclusion:
1. Except month Names no Sanskrit used
2. Tamil Numerals were used
3. Period between 1550 AD to 1717 AD.
4. Kollam era used (Kollam Era+825=Modern Era)
5. Syrian Christians were using Western Tamil not Syriac or Karzoni.
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