Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:Christianity in India

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{short description|Type of religion in India}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox religious group
| group = Christians in India
| image = Nasrani cross.jpg 
| caption = [[Saint Thomas Christian cross]] from the 9th century [[St. George's Church, Kadamattom|Kadamattom Church]]
| pop = 26 million<ref name="Reporter">{{Cite news|date=26 August 2015|title=India's population at 1.21 billion; Hindus 79.8%, Muslims 14.2%|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-s-population-at-1-21-billion-hindus-79-8-muslims-14-2-115082600038_1.html|access-date=18 February 2021|archive-date=24 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424101619/https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-s-population-at-1-21-billion-hindus-79-8-muslims-14-2-115082600038_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (2.3%) (2011)
| regions = Largest Christian population in [[Christianity in Kerala|Kerala]] at 6.14 million (18.4% of state population), Majority in [[Christianity in Nagaland|Nagaland]] at 87%, [[Christianity in Mizoram|Mizoram]] at 86% and [[Christianity in Meghalaya|Meghalaya]] at 75%. Plurality in [[Christianity in Manipur|Manipur]] at 42% and [[Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh|Arunachal Pradesh]] at 30%. Significant populations in [[Christianity in Goa|Goa]] at 25%, [[Christianity in Puducherry|Pondicherry]] at 6.3% and [[Christianity in Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] at 6.2%. 
| langs = [[Malayalam]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Latin]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[English language|English]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Hindi-Urdu]], [[Bodo language|Bodo]], [[Khasi language|Khasi]], [[Karbi language|Karbi]], [[Mizo language|Mizo]], [[Rabha language|Rabha]], [[Mishing language|Mushing]], [[Naga languages|Naga]], [[Kukish languages|Kuki]], [[Garo language|Garo]], [[Hmar language|Hmar]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Kokborok]], [[Konkani]], [[Kadodi]], [[Kannada]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[East Indian language|Bombay East Indian]] and various [[India]]n languages | religions = [[Protestantism in India|Protestant]] (59.22%), [[Catholic Church in India|Catholic]] (33.19%), [[Oriental Orthodoxy in India|Syrian Orthodox]] (7.44%), Others (0.15%) etc.<ref name="Pew1">{{cite web |last1=Hackett |first1=Conrad |title=Global Christianity A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population |url=https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf |publisher=Pew–Templeton global religious futures project |pages=19, 27, 57, 60, 75, 83, 90, 119 |date=December 2011 |quote=Estimated 2010 Christian Population 31,850,000 (pages 19, 60, 75) Protestant 18,860,000 Catholic 10,570,000 Orthodox 2,370,000 Others 50,000 (pp. 27, 83) |access-date=24 April 2021 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201151952/https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> 
| notes = Names in native languages include ''Eesai'', ''Kristhava'', ''Masihi-Qaum'', ''Nasrani''
| native_name_lang =
| related_groups =
}}
{{Christianity in India sidebar}}
{{Christianity by country}}

[[Christianity]] is [[Religion in India|India's third-largest religion]] with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the [[2011 Census of India|2011 census.]]<ref name="Reporter"/> The written records of [[Saint Thomas Christians]] mention that Christianity was introduced to the [[Indian subcontinent]] by [[Thomas the Apostle]], who sailed to the [[Malabar region]] (present-day [[Kerala]]) in 52 AD.<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch">{{cite book|last1=Fahlbusch|first1=Erwin|author-link1=Erwin Fahlbusch|last2=Bromiley|first2=Geoffrey William|author-link2=Geoffrey W. Bromiley|last3=Lochman|first3=Jan Milic|author-link3=Jan Milic Lochman|title=The Encyclodedia of Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUBZlth2qgC&q=Muziris|year=2008|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-2417-2|page=285}}</ref><ref name="CarmanRao2014">{{cite book |last1=Carman |first1=John B. |last2=Rao |first2=Chilkuri Vasantha |title=Christians in South Indian Villages, 1959–2009: Decline and Revival in Telangana |date=2014 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-1-4674-4205-3 |page=31 |language=en |quote=Most Indian Christians believe that the apostle Thomas arrived in southwest India (the present state of Kerala) in 52 C.E. and several years later was martyred outside the city of Mailapur (now part of metropolitan [[Chennai]]), on a hill now called [[San Thome|St Thomas Mount]].}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-christianity-came-to-india-kerala-180958117/ | title=The Surprisingly Early History of Christianity in India | access-date=26 May 2019 | archive-date=20 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220035012/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-christianity-came-to-india-kerala-180958117/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208073816/http://stthoma.com/ | archive-date=8 February 2011 | url=http://stthoma.com/ | title=About Thomas The Apostle | publisher=sthhoma.com | access-date=26 June 2020 }}</ref>

The [[Acts of Thomas]] say that the early Christians were [[Indian Jews|Malabarese Jews]], who had settled in present-day Kerala before the [[Nativity of Jesus|birth of Christ]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yvTEAAAQBAJ |title =The Acts of St. Thomas in India |isbn = 9781087965710 |last1 = Curtin|first1 = D. P.|last2 = James|first2 = M.R.|date = June 2018|publisher =Dalcassian Publishing Company }}</ref><ref name="Puthiakunnel">{{Cite encyclopaedia |last=Puthiakunnel |first=Thomas |date=1973 |publisher=BNK Press |pages=26–27 |url=https://archive.org/details/stthomaschristia0000unse_e8v5/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater&q=Puthiakunnel |encyclopaedia=The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India |editor=George Menachery |volume=2 |location=Madras |title=Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas |oclc=1237836 |url-access=registration}}</ref> St Thomas, an [[Aramaic]]-speaking Jew<ref name="Allen Myers">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1987 |title=Aramaic |encyclopedia=The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary |publisher=William B. Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, MI |editor=Allen C. Myers |page=72 |isbn=0-8028-2402-1 |quote=It is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Israel in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem (Matt. 26:73)}}</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Aramaic language |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaic-language |access-date=5 August 2023}}</ref> from [[Galilee]] (present-day [[Israel]]) and one of the [[Twelve Apostles|disciples]] of [[Jesus Christ]], came to India<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 September 2006 |title=Benedict XVI, General Audience, St Peter's Square: Thomas the twin |url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060927.html |access-date=5 August 2023 |website=w2.vatican.va}}</ref> in search of [[Indian Jews]].<ref name="Puthiakunnel"/><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhKGPprbQaYC&q=St.+Thomas |title=The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities |publisher=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem |year=2003 |isbn=965-278-179-7 |editor-last=Slapak |editor-first=Orpa |page=27 |via=University Press of New England}}</ref> Following years of [[evangelism]], Thomas was [[Christian martyr|martyr]]ed and then buried at [[San Thome|St Thomas Mount]], [[Mylapore]].<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch"/> A [[scholarly consensus]] exists that a Christian community had firmly established in [[Malabar region|Malabar]], by 600 AD at the latest; these communes were composed mainly of [[Nestorians]] belonging to the [[Church of the East in India]], that used the [[East Syriac Rite]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Christianity |quote=The earliest historical evidence, however, regarding the existence of a Church in South India dates from the sixth century AD |author=Suresh K Sharma, Usha Sharma}}</ref>

Following [[Portuguese discoveries|the discovery of a sea route to India]] by the Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] in the 15th century AD, [[Western Christianity]] was established in the European colonies of [[Portuguese Goa and Damaon|Goa]], [[Tranquebar]], [[Portuguese Bombay|Bombay]], [[Madras Presidency|Madras]] and [[Pondicherry]]; in the form of [[Catholicism]] (particularly of [[Latin liturgical rites|Latin Rite]]) and [[Protestantism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-christianity-came-to-india-kerala-180958117/ |title=The Surprisingly Early History of Christianity in India |access-date=26 May 2019 |archive-date=20 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220035012/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-christianity-came-to-india-kerala-180958117/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Conversions took place through the [[Goan Inquisition]]; with the [[persecution of Hindus|oppression of Hindus]] and the destruction of [[Hindu temples]].<ref>{{harvnb|Machado|1999|pp=94–96}}</ref><ref name="Salomon, H. P 2001 pp. 345-7">Salomon, H. P. and Sassoon, I. S. D., in Saraiva, Antonio Jose. ''The Marrano Factory. The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians, 1536–1765'' (Brill, 2001), pp. 345–7.</ref><ref name="rediff.com">{{Cite news |title='Goa Inquisition was most merciless and cruel' |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/14inter1.htm |newspaper=Rediff.com |date=14 September 2005 |access-date=2016-05-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rao |first=R. P. |year=1963 |title=Portuguese Rule in Goa: 1510-1961 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |page=43 |oclc=3296297}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/student/Goa-Inquisition/2015/09/03/article2979630.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118130358/http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/student/Goa-Inquisition/2015/09/03/article2979630.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 November 2015|title=Goa Inquisition|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=2016-05-17}}</ref><ref name="Teotonio De Souza">{{cite book|last=de Souza|first=Teotonio|title=Discoveries, Missionary Expansion, and Asian Cultures|year=1994|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|page=80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtf1eRE8FC8C&q=persecution|access-date=30 January 2014|isbn=9788170224976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Langford Louro |first1=Michele |last2=Spodek |first2=Howard |date=2007 |title=India in the World; the World in India 1450-1770 |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/india-in-the-world-the-world-in-india-1450-1770/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Association for Asian Studies |language=en-US |quote=The Portuguese also sought to convert Indians to Roman Catholicism. Until 1540 the pace was slow and erratic. With the arrival in India of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and its Jesuit troops, however, 'intolerance became the theme.' The Portuguese destroyed all of the Hindu temples in Goa, their Indian Ocean capital, and many in other settlements as well. 'Most Hindu ceremonies were forbidden, including marriage and cremation.' In 1560, the Portuguese instituted the Inquisition, and by 1600 two-thirds of the population of the city of Goa were Christians. Many of the newly converted Christians nevertheless remained quite conscious of their caste position in the Hindu hierarchy. It was not unusual for a person to identify himself as a Goan Christian Saraswat Brahmin.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Saraiva |first1=António José |url=https://brill.com/view/title/7235 |title=The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536-1765 |last2=Salomon |first2=Herman Prins |last3=Sassoon |date=2001-09-28 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0086-8 |doi=10.1163/9789047400868_022}}</ref>{{pov statement|date=January 2024}} [[Christian missionaries]] introduced the [[western education]]al system to the Indian subcontinent, to spread [[Christianity]] and campaign for Hindu social reforms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/christian-impact-india-history |title=Christian Impact on India, History of |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126213953/https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/christian-impact-india-history |archive-date=26 January 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/christianity-hasnt-failed-in-india-conversion-not-goal/501136/|title=Christianity hasn't failed in India. Conversion isn't its only goal|date=12 September 2020|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=26 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926224530/https://theprint.in/opinion/christianity-hasnt-failed-in-india-conversion-not-goal/501136/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10603/13999/11/11_chapter%204.pdf|title=The Work of Pioneer Missionaries|access-date=9 September 2020|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185553/http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10603/13999/11/11_chapter%204.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Among [[North India]]'s oldest Christians are [[Bettiah Christians|those of Bettiah]], Bihar, formed in the early 1700s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kalapura |first1=Jose |title=Philanthropic Organizations and Community Development: The Case of the Bettiah Christians in India |journal=Asian Journal of Social Science |date=2015 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=400–434 |doi=10.1163/15685314-04304005 |jstor=43953933 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43953933}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kalapura |first1=Jose |title=King, Fort, Zamindaris and Missionaries: The Founding of Bihar's Oldest Christian Community, 1745 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2000 |volume=61 |pages=1011–1028 |jstor=44148177 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148177}}</ref>
The [[Church of North India]], the [[Church of Pakistan]], and the [[Church of South India]] are a [[United Protestant]] denomination, that resulted from the evangelism and ecumenism by [[Anglicans in India|Anglicans]], [[Calvinist]]s, [[Methodist]]s and other [[Protestants in India|Indian Protestants]]; who flourished in [[colonial India]]. Consequently, these churches are part of the worldwide [[Anglican Communion]], [[World Communion of Reformed Churches]] and [[World Methodist Council]].<ref name="CSI2010">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.csisynod.com/aboutus.php |publisher=[[Church of South India]] |access-date=22 August 2020 |language=en |year=2010 |quote=Being the largest Protestant church in India, the CSI celebrates her life with Indian culture and spirituality and she also raises her voice for the voiceless on matters of justice, peace and integrity of creation. |archive-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811022709/http://csisynod.com/aboutus.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.csisynod.com/history.php |publisher=[[Church of South India]] |access-date=22 August 2020 |language=English |date=2010 |quote=The Church of South India is the result of the union of churches of varying traditions Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. It was inaugurated in September 1947, after protracted negotiation among the churches concerned. Organized into 22 dioceses, each under the spiritual supervision of a bishop, the church as a whole is governed by a synod, which elects a moderator (presiding bishop) every 2 years. Episcopacy is thus combined with Synodical government, and the church explicitly recognizes that Episcopal, Presbyterian, and congregational elements are all necessary for the church's life. |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214005331/https://www.csisynod.com/history.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Watkins">{{cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=Keith |title=The American Church that Might Have Been: A History of the Consultation on Church Union |date=2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-63087-744-6 |pages=14–15 |language=English |quote=The Church of South India created a polity that recognized Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational elements and developed a book of worship that bridged the liturgical traditions that came into this new church. It set up a plan by which existing ministries were accepted while including processes which would lead to the time, a generation later, when all ministers would have been ordained by bishops in apostolic succession. The Church of South India was important as a prototype for a new American church because two factors had come together: the cross-confessional nature of its constituent parts and the intention to be, in effect, the Protestant Christian presence in communities all across the southern territories of its nation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=IDOC International |date=1971 |publisher=IDOC-North America |page=85 |language=English |quote=...churches that would combine the episcopal, presbyterian and congregational forms of church polity, and would accept the historic episcopate without committing the church to any particular theological interpretation of episcopacy. This is essentially what has been done both in the Church of South India and the Church of North India.}}</ref><ref name="WMC2020">{{cite web |title=Church of North India |date=9 November 2019 |url=https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/asia/name/india-church-of-north-india/ |publisher=[[World Methodist Council]] |access-date=25 June 2020 |language=English |quote=The Church of North India is a united church which came into being as the result of a union of six churches on 29th November 1970. The six churches were: The Council of the Baptist Churches in Northern India, The Church of the Brethren in India; The Disciples of Christ; The Church of India (formerly known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon); The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences); The United Church of Northern India. ... The Church of North India is a full member of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the Council for World Mission, the Anglican Consultative Council, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. |archive-date=27 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627112920/https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/asia/name/india-church-of-north-india/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Christianity is the largest religion in some parts of [[Northeast India]], specifically in [[Nagaland]], [[Mizoram]], and [[Meghalaya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhimomi |first=Kaholi |url=https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474439824.003.0014 |editor1=Kenneth Ross |editor2=Daniel Jeyaraj |editor3=Todd Johnson |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |title=Christianity in South and Central Asia |date=2019 |location=Edinburgh |publication-date=2019 |pages=156–167 |language=en |chapter=Northeast India |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9781474439824.003.0014 |isbn= 9781474439848|s2cid=242239030 }}</ref> It also is a significant religion in [[Arunachal]], where approximately 30 percent of the state is Christian.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Center |first=Pew Research |date=2021-09-21 |title=3. Religious demography of Indian states and territories |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/09/21/religious-demography-of-indian-states-and-territories/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}</ref>

Christians were involved in the [[Indian National Congress]] and the [[Indian independence movement]]. The [[All India Conference of Indian Christians]] advocated for ''[[Maharashtra Swaraj Party|swaraj]]'' (self rule) and [[opposition to the partition of India|opposed the partition of India]].<ref name="Thomas1974">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Abraham Vazhayil |title=Christians in Secular India |date=1974 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |isbn=978-0-8386-1021-3 |pages=106–110 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Oddie2001"/><ref name="Pinto2017">{{cite journal |last1=Pinto |first1=Ambrose |title=Christian Contribution to the Freedom Struggle |journal=Mainstream |date=19 August 2017 |volume=LV |issue=35 |language=en}}</ref> Along with native Christians, small numbers of mixed Eurasian peoples such as [[Anglo-Indian people|Anglo-Indians]], [[Luso-Indians]] & [[Armenians in India|Armenian Indians]] also existed in the subcontinent. There are also reports of a number of [[crypto-Christian]]s in recent years, due to the [[Violence against Christians in India|fear of persecution]] by [[Hindu extremist]]s.<Ref>
{{Cite news|url = https://m.timesofindia.com/india/brutality-and-persecution-drive-indian-christians-underground/articleshow/88453599.cms|title = Brutality and persecution drive Indian Christians underground |website = [[The Times of India]]|access-date = 7 April 2022|archive-date = 29 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211229094423/https://m.timesofindia.com/india/brutality-and-persecution-drive-indian-christians-underground/articleshow/88453599.cms|url-status = live}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/asien/indien/190253/from-thomas-the-apostle-to-crypto-christians/|title=From Thomas the Apostle to Crypto Christians|date=11 April 2014 |access-date=7 April 2022|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407131537/https://www.bpb.de/themen/asien/indien/190253/from-thomas-the-apostle-to-crypto-christians/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/world/asia/india-christians-attacked.amp.html?espv=1|title=Arrests, Beatings and Secret Prayers: Inside the Persecution of India's Christians|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/national/arrests-beatings-and-secret-prayers-inside-the-persecution-of-india-s-christians-1064158.html?espv=1|title = Arrests, beatings and secret prayers: Inside the persecution of India's Christians|date = 24 December 2021|access-date = 7 April 2022|archive-date = 7 April 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220407131850/https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/national/arrests-beatings-and-secret-prayers-inside-the-persecution-of-india-s-christians-1064158.html?espv=1|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iirf.eu/news/archiv/india-attack-on-indian-revival-meeting-sends-christians-underground/|title=India: Attack on Indian revival meeting sends Christians underground &#124; IIRF|access-date=7 April 2022|archive-date=30 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230015326/https://www.iirf.eu/news/archiv/india-attack-on-indian-revival-meeting-sends-christians-underground/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Ancient period ==
{{Main|Church of the East in India}}

=== St. Bartholomew ===
{{Main|Saint Bartholomew }}

[[Eusebius of Caesarea]]'s [[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]] (5:10) states that Bartholomew, a disciple of [[Jesus]], went on a [[missionary]] tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. One tradition holds that he preached the Gospel in India, prior to his travels to [[Armenia]],{{sfn|Butler|Burns|1998|p=232}} while others hold that Bartholomew travelled as a missionary in [[Ethiopia]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[Parthia]], and [[Lycaonia]].<ref name=EB>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Micropædia. vol. 1, p. 924. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1998. {{ISBN|0-85229-633-9}}.</ref>

=== St. Thomas ===
{{Main|Saint Thomas Christians}}
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumb|250px|[[Indo-Roman trade and relations|Roman trade with India]] originated in Ancient Egypt according to the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] (1st century).]]

According to the tradition of [[Saint Thomas Christians]], [[Thomas the Apostle]] landed in [[Kodungallur]] in the present day Indian state of [[Kerala]] in AD 52,<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch"/> establishing the [[Ezharappallikal]] through the conversion of local [[Jews]] and [[Brahmins]] to Christianity.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtbYEAAAQBAJ |title = The Ramban Pattu |isbn = 9781087913766 |last1 = Curtin|first1 = D. P.|last2 = Nath|first2 = Nithul.|date = May 2017|publisher = Dalcassian Publishing Company }}</ref> After years of evangelization in South India, Saint Thomas was killed at [[St. Thomas Mount]] in [[Chennai]] in AD 72.<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch"/> The neo-Gothic [[San Thome Cathedral Basilica|Cathedral Basilica of San Thome]] now stands on the site of his martyrdom and burial.<ref>Stephen Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707'' (2004). p 29</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Menachery|first=George|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/56405161|title=Thomapedia|date=2000|publisher=Thomapedia|isbn=81-87132-13-2|oclc=56405161}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Varghese|first=Pathikulangara|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/255155413|title=Mar Thomma Margam : a new catechism for the Saint Thomas Christians of India|date=2004|publisher=Denha Services|isbn=81-904135-0-3|oclc=255155413}}</ref>{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=285}}<ref name="missick">{{cite journal|title=Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church and the Christians of St. Thomas in India|author=Stephen Andrew Missick|journal=Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies|url=http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v14n2/missick.pdf|access-date=19 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227170937/http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v14n2/missick.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Origin of Christianity in India&nbsp;– A Historiographical Critique by Dr. Benedict Vadakkekara. (2007). {{ISBN|81-7495-258-6}}.</ref> A historically more likely claim by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] is that [[Pantaenus]], the head of the Christian [[exegetical]] school in [[Alexandria, Egypt]] went to India during the reign of the Emperor [[Commodus]] and found Christians already living in India using a version of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] with "Hebrew letters, a mixture of culture."<ref>Eusebius of Caesarea, ''Historia Ecclesiastica''5. 9–10. Pantaenus, who was known by Clement of Alexandria (Eusebius ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' 5.11.1–2; 6.13.2) and Origen (Eusebius, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' 6.14.8), was certainly a historical person.</ref> This is a plausible reference to the earliest Indian churches which are known to have used the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Syriac New Testament]]; [[Syriac language|Syriac]] being a dialect of the [[Aramaic|Aramaic language]] spoken by [[Jesus]] and his disciples.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Montgomery|first=Robert L.|title=The Lopsided Spread of Christianity: Toward an Understanding of the Diffusion of Religions|year=2002|location=Westport|publisher=Praeger Publishers|page=27|isbn=9780275973612|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RkeOLTrPDI0C&q=%22Aramaic+spoken+by+Jesus%22}}</ref><ref name="missick"/><ref name="Allen Myers"/><ref name="Britannica"/> [[Pantaenus]]' evidence thus indicates that Syriac-speaking Christians had already evangelised parts of India by the late 2nd century AD. 

Another church tradition concerning the birth of Christ holds that [[Caspar (magus)|Gaspar]], one of the three [[Biblical Magi]], travelled from India to find the [[Christ child]] along with [[Melchior (magus)|Melchior of Persia]] and [[Balthazar (magus)|Balthazar of Ethiopia]].

An early 3rd-century AD [[Syriac language|Syriac]] work known as the ''[[Acts of Thomas]]''<ref name="AFM"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gnosis.org/library/actthom.htm,|title=From "The Apocryphal New Testament" Translation and notes by M. R. James, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> connects the tradition of the Apostle Thomas' Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. The year of his arrival is widely disputed due to lack of credible records.<ref name=Medlycott>A. E. Medlycott, (1905) "India and the Apostle Thomas"; Gorgias Press LLC; {{ISBN|1-59333-180-0}}.</ref> According to one of the legends in the ''Acts of Thomas'', Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but Jesus over-ruled him by ordering circumstances so compelling that he was forced to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes, to his native place in northwest India, where he found himself in the service of the [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom|Indo-Parthian]] king, [[Gondophares]]. The apostle's ministry reputedly resulted in many conversions throughout this northern kingdom, including the king and his brother.<ref name="AFM" /> The ''Acts of Thomas'' identifies his second mission in India with a kingdom ruled by a certain King named Mahadwa belonging to a 1st-century dynasty in southern India.

[[St. Mary's Church, Niranam|Niranam Pally]] also known as St Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church is believed to be one of the oldest churches in India. The church was founded by [[Thomas the Apostle|St. Thomas]] in AD 54. On his way from [[Kollam]] in the northeast direction, he arrived at Niranam "Thrikpapaleswaram" by sea. The church was reconstructed several times with some parts dating back to a reconstruction in 1259. The architecture of the church bears a striking similarity to ancient [[Hindu temple architecture|temple architecture]]. Another ancient church is [[St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church, Palayoor|St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church]], located at [[Palayoor|Palayur]] in [[Thrissur district]] in [[Kerala]]. According to [[Saint Thomas christian]] tradition, the Syrian church was established between 52 and 54 AD by [[Thomas the Apostle|St Thomas]], where he performed the first baptism in India. This church is therefore considered an [[Apostolic See]] credited to the apostolate of [[Thomas the Apostle|St. Thomas]].

Although little is known of the immediate growth of the church in the northwestern regions of India, [[Bardesanes|Bar-Daisan]] (154–223 AD) reports that in his time there were Christian tribes in North India that claimed to have been converted by Thomas and had books and relics to prove it.<ref name="AFM">A. E. Medlycott, ''India and The Apostle Thomas'', pp.18–71;
M. R. James, ''Apocryphal New Testament'', pp.364–436;
A. E. Medlycott, ''India and The Apostle Thomas'', pp.1–17, 213–97;
Eusebius, ''History'', chapter 4:30;
[[J. N. Farquhar]], ''The Apostle Thomas in North India'', chapter 4:30;
V. A. Smith, ''Early History of India'', p.235;
{{harvnb|Brown|1956|pp=49–59}}</ref> It is believed that by the time of the establishment of the [[Sassanid Empire]] around 226 AD, there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, [[Afghanistan]] and [[Balochistan (region)|Baluchistan]], with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.<ref name="AFM" /> The existence of [[Early Christian]]s in India is further substantiated by the records acknowledging the work of [[Severus of Vienne|Saint Severus of Vienne]], a 5th-century missionary of Indian origin who evangelised in [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], [[France]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kurikilamkatt |first1=James |title=First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India: Ancient Christianity in Bharuch and Taxila |date=31 December 2005 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=978-1-925612-63-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7U7VDwAAQBAJ |access-date=2 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Paul |title=Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan: A General Survey of the Progress of Christianity in India from Apostolic Times to the Present Day |date=17 December 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-22821-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GsJEAAAQBAJ |access-date=2 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Malabar Christians of 19th century.jpg|[[Saint Thomas Christians]] or Syrian Christians of ancient days from an old painting.
File:Kodungaloor Mar Thoma Church.jpg|[[Ēḻarappaḷḷikaḷ|Mar Thoma Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]], in [[Muziris|Muziris present-day Kodungaloor]], is believed to be the first Christian church built in India, circa 52 A. D.
St.Thomas Cathedral - Mumbai.jpg|Stained glass window of [[Saint Thomas the Apostle]], the traditional founder of Indian Christianity, in [[Saint Thomas Cathedral, Bombay|his namesake St. Thomas CNI church]], the 300 year old Cathedral of [[Mumbai]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=D'Souza |first1=Ornella |title=Mumbai's oldest church – St Thomas Cathedral to celebrate its three-hundredth anniversary on Christmas Day |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/just-before-monday/report-mumbai-s-oldest-church-st-thomas-cathedral-to-celebrate-its-three-hundredth-anniversary-on-christmas-day-2699173 |website=DNA India |language=en |date=23 December 2018 |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423015127/https://www.dnaindia.com/just-before-monday/report-mumbai-s-oldest-church-st-thomas-cathedral-to-celebrate-its-three-hundredth-anniversary-on-christmas-day-2699173 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Santhome Basilica.jpg|[[St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica, Chennai]] built over the tomb of [[Saint Thomas the Apostle]]
Kottayam Valiapally.jpg|Altar of the St. Mary's Church in [[Kottayam]] flanked by two [[Saint Thomas Christian cross|Saint Thomas crosses]] from the 7th century AD on either side. The crosses pre-date the church which was built in 1550 AD.
File:Thiruvithamkode Arappaly.jpg|St. Mary's [[Thiruvithamcode Arappally]] of [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]] in [[Kanyakumari district|Kanniyakumari]],[[Tamil Nadu]] is believed to have been founded by St. [[Thomas the Apostle]] in 63 AD.
File:Arakuzha Syrian Catholic Church.jpg|[[Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Arakuzha|Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church]] at [[Arakuzha]], Kerala is an ancient [[Nasrani (India)|Nasrani]] church established in 999 AD.
File:Parumala Church.jpg|[[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]], the shrine of [[Geevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala|St Geevargeese Mar Gregorios]], an Oriental Orthodox Saint, in [[Kerala]].
File:Eliasthirdtomb.jpg|Tomb of the [[Ignatius Elias III|Saint Moran Mor Ignatius Elias Third]] (the only Universal Syrian Orthodox Patriarch to be buried in India) at Manjinikara, [[Kerala]].
</gallery>

=== 4th-century missions ===
India had a flourishing trade with [[Central Asia]], the [[Mediterranean]], and the [[Middle East]], both along mountain passes in the north and sea routes down the western and southern coast, well before the advent of the Christian era, and it is likely that Christian merchants from these lands settled in Indian cities along these trading routes.<ref>Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707'' (2004). p 29</ref> The colony of [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christians]] established at [[Muziris]] (present-day [[Kodungallur]]) may be the first Christian community in South India for which there is a continuous written record.<ref>K.S. Latourette, ''A History of the Expansion of Christianity,'' 7 vols., London, 1940–1949</ref>

The [[Chronicle of Seert]] describes an evangelical mission to India by Bishop [[David of Basra]] around the year 300,<ref>{{harvnb|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=53}}</ref> who reportedly made many conversions,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Stephen Andrew |last=Missick |title=Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church and the Christians of St. Thomas in India |journal=Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies |volume=XIV |year=2000 |access-date=2 March 2009 |pages=33–61 |url=http://www.aina.org/articles/missick.pdf |issue=2 |archive-date=4 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304164708/http://www.aina.org/articles/missick.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and it has been speculated that his mission took in areas of southern India.<ref>Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707'' (2004). p 41</ref>

[[Knai Thoma]], a Syriac Christian merchant, brought a group of Christian families from [[Mesopotamia]] to Kerala in the 4th century.<ref name="Frykenberg">{{cite book|first=Robert |last=Frykenberg|title=Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=113| isbn=978-0199575831|date=2010}}</ref> He was granted [[Thomas of Cana copper plates|copper-plates]] by the [[Chera Dynasty]], which gave his party and all native Christians socio-economic privileges.<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Daniel|year=2018|title=The Syriac World|publisher=Routledge Press|pages=663–670|isbn= 9781138899018}}</ref> The community of Christians that came along with Knai Thoma is called [[Knanaya]] Christians.<ref name="Frykenberg"/>{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=286}}

== Medieval period ==

The [[Saint Thomas Christian]] community in Kerala was further strengthened by the arrival of various waves of Syriac Christians from the Middle East. This also resulted in the establishment of [[Knanaya]] colonies in Kerala during the 4th century. Babylonian Christians settled on the [[Malabar coast]] in the 4th century. [[Mar Sabor and Mar Proth]] arrived in [[Kollam]] in the 9th century.<ref name="Malekandathil2010">{{cite book|author=Pius Malekandathil|author-link= Pius Malekandathil|title=Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rN69iFj1PJoC|year=2010|publisher=Primus Books|page=39|isbn=978-93-80607-01-6}}</ref>

[[File:Quilon Syrian copper plates (849 CE) plates 1 and 4.jpg|thumb|right|Kollam Tharisappalli or Quilon copper plates (849 CE) commissioned during the reign of Sthanu Ravi Varma, and given to the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christian]] leader Maruvan Sapir Iso, granting land for the construction of a Syrian Church near Kollam in [[Kerala]]]]
[[Saint Thomas Christians]] seem to have enjoyed various rights and privileges as well as a high status as recorded on copper plates, also known as Cheppeds, Royal Grants, Sasanam, etc.<ref name="SG Pothen">Syrian Christians of Kerala- SG Pothen- page 32-33 (1970)</ref> There are a number of such documents in the possession of the [[Saint Thomas Christian churches|Syrian churches]] of Kerala which include the ''Thazhekad Sasanam'', the [[Quilon]] Plates (or the [[Tharisapalli plates|''Tharisappalli Chepped''s]]), ''Mampally Sasanam'' and ''Iraviikothan Chepped'', etc. Some of these plates have been dated to around 774 AD. Scholars have studied the inscriptions and produced varying translations. The language used is Old Malayalam in [[Vatteluttu|Vattezhuthu]] script intermingled with some [[Grantha script|Grantha]], [[Pahlavi script|Pahlavi]], [[Kufic]] and [[Hebrew]] scripts. The ruler of Venad ([[Travancore]]) granted the Saint Thomas Christians seventy-two rights and privileges which were usually granted only to high dignitaries. These rights included exemption from import duties, sales tax and the slave tax. A copper plate{{which|date=March 2020}} grant dated 1225 AD further enhanced the rights and privileges of [[Syrian Malabar Nasrani|Nasranis]].

Other references to [[Saint Thomas Christians]] include the South Indian epic of [[Manimekalai]], written between 2nd and 3rd century AD, which mentions the [[Nasrani (India)|Nasrani]] people by referring to them by the name ''Essanis''.<ref name="Shattan">Manimekalai, by Merchant Prince Shattan, Gatha 27</ref> The embassy of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] in 883 AD sent presents to St. Thomas Christians.<ref>''Anglo Saxon Chronicle'' Part II, 750–919 AD</ref> [[Marco Polo]] who visited in 1292, mentioned that there were Christians in the Malabar coast.<ref>Marco Polo. ''The Book of Travels''. page 287.</ref> 

The French or Catalan [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] missionary [[Jordanus Catalani]] was the first [[Latin Christian|Catholic]] European missionary to arrive in India. He landed in [[Surat]] in around 1320. By a separate bull, that reads ''Venerabili Fratri Jordano'', he was appointed the first Bishop of [[Quilon]] on 21 August 1329 AD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quilondiocese.com/quilon.php?Pid=16&Mid=73 |title=Milestones in the History of the Diocese of Quilon |access-date=25 April 2017 |archive-date=20 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620025717/http://www.quilondiocese.com/quilon.php?Pid=16&Mid=73 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="JOR">{{cite web
|url= http://www.quilondiocese.org/former%20prelates%20of%20diocese.htm
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060618161814/http://quilondiocese.org/former%20prelates%20of%20diocese.htm
|url-status= dead
|archive-date= 18 June 2006
|title= The greate prelates who shaped the history of diocese of quilon
|access-date= 17 January 2008
|publisher= Quilon Diocese}}</ref> In 1321, Jordanus Catalani also arrived in [[Bhatkal]], a place near Mangalore, and established a missionary station there converting many locals.<ref name="JOR" /> He also evangelised in [[Thana district]] (Trombay) near [[Bombay (Mumbai)|Bombay]]; the descendants of these converts would later become part of the [[Bombay East Indian]] community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Thane-I/population_christians.html#2 |title=Gazetteers Of The Bombay Presidency – Thana |access-date=23 July 2010 |archive-date=10 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110033730/http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/Thane-I/population_christians.html#2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.east-indians.com/history.pdf |title='''East Indians''' (the indigenous Catholic inhabitants of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein) |access-date=2 March 2008 |publisher=The East Indian Community |archive-date=10 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210185336/http://www.east-indians.com/history.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Modern period ==
[[File:Church of the East in the Middle Ages.svg|thumb|right|270px|[[Church of the East]] and its [[Dioceses of the Church of the East, 1318–1552|dioceses]] and missions throughout [[Asia]], including [[India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)|India]]]]
===Portuguese efforts to Catholicize Saint Thomas Christians===
{{See also|Saint Thomas Christians}}
[[Thomas the Apostle]] is credited by tradition for founding the Indian Church in 52 AD.{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=285}}<ref>N.M.Mathew. St. Thomas Christians of Malabar Through Ages. CSS Tiruvalla. (2003). {{ISBN|81-7821-008-8}}.</ref><ref>Origin of Christianity in India – A Historiographical Critique by Dr. Benedict Vadakkekara. (2007). {{ISBN|81-7495-258-6}}.</ref> This church developed contacts with the [[Church of the East]] religious authorities based in [[Edessa, Mesopotamia]] at the time.

Historically, this community was organised as the [[India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)|Province of India]] of the [[Church of the East]] by [[Patriarch of the Church of the East|Patriarch of Babylon]] [[Timothy I (Nestorian patriarch)|Timothy I]] (780–823 AD) in the eighth century, served by bishops and a local dynastic [[archdeacon]].{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=52}} In the 14th century, the Church of the East declined due to [[Persecution of Christians#By Tamerlane|persecution]] from [[Tamerlane]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dailyhistory.org/How_did_Timur_change_the_history_of_the_world|title=How did Timur change the history of the world - DailyHistory.org|website=dailyhistory.org|access-date=5 March 2022|archive-date=5 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305053212/https://dailyhistory.org/How_did_Timur_change_the_history_of_the_world|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://listverse.com/2018/01/15/10-terrors-of-the-tyrant-tamerlane/|title=10 Terrors of the Tyrant Tamerlane|date=15 January 2018|website=Listverse|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106184721/https://listverse.com/2018/01/15/10-terrors-of-the-tyrant-tamerlane/|url-status=live}}</ref> The 16th century witnessed the colonial overtures of the Portuguese ''[[Padroado]]'' aiming to bring St Thomas Christians into the [[Latin Church|Latin Catholic Church]], administered by the [[Portuguese Padroado]] [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman|Archdiocese of Goa]], leading to the first of several rifts in the community.<ref>Frykenberg, p. 111.</ref><ref name=BritannicaIndia>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115623/Christians-of-Saint-Thomas "Christians of Saint Thomas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328144941/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115623/Christians-of-Saint-Thomas |date=28 March 2015 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 9 February 2010.</ref><ref>Frykenberg, pp. 134–136.</ref> The efforts of the Portuguese culminated in the [[Synod of Diamper]], formally subjugating them and their whole [[Archdiocese of Angamaly]] as a suffragan see to the [[Archdiocese of Goa]] administered by [[Latin Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Padroado]] missionaries.

The death of the last [[metropolitan bishop]]&nbsp;– Archbishop Abraham of the [[Saint Thomas Christians]], an ancient body formerly part of the [[Church of the East]]{{sfnm|Frykenberg|2008|1p=93|Wilmshurst|2000|2p=343}} in 1597 gave the then Archbishop of Goa [[Aleixo de Menezes|Menezes]] an opportunity to bring the native church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. He was able to secure the submission of [[Givargis of the Cross|Archdeacon George]], the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. Menezes convened the [[Synod of Diamper]] between 20 and 26 June 1599,<ref name="synod">[http://www.synodofdiamper.com/synod.php Synod of Diamper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031723/http://www.synodofdiamper.com/synod.php |date=12 November 2020 }} on Synod of Diamper Church website.</ref> which introduced a number of reforms to the church and brought it fully into the [[Latin Church]] of the Catholic Church. Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated Francis Ros, S. J. as Archbishop of the [[Diocese of Angamaly|Archdiocese of Angamalé]] for the Saint Thomas Christians; thus created another suffragan see to Archdiocese of Goa and [[Latin]]isation of St Thomas Christians started. The [[Saint Thomas Christians]] were pressured to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and most of them eventually accepted the Catholic faith, but a part of them switched to [[West Syriac Rite]].<ref name="synod" /> Resentment of these measures led to some part of the community to join the [[Archdeacon]], [[Thoma I|Thomas]], in swearing never to submit to the Portuguese Jesuits in the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] in 1653. Those who accepted the West Syriac theological and liturgical tradition of Gregorios became known as [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church|Jacobites]]. The others who continued with East Syriac theological and liturgical tradition stayed faithful to the Catholic Church and later became autonomous eastern catholic church named Syro Malabar Church (suriyani malabar sabha) .

Following the synod, the Indian Church was governed by Portuguese prelates. They were generally unwilling to respect the integrity of the local church. This resulted in disaffection which led to a general revolt in 1653 known as the "[[Coonan Cross Oath]]". Under the leadership of Archdeacon [[Thoma I|Thomas]], Nazranis around Cochin gathered at Mattancherry church on Friday, 24 January 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3) and made an oath that is known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of [[Latin Church|Church of Rome]].<ref name=Gazette>{{cite book |title=Census of India (1961: Kerala|date=1965 |publisher=Office of the Registrar General|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JCaAAAAIAAJ|language=en|page=111|quote=There are various versions about the wording of swearing, one version being that it was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another that it was directed against the authority of church of Rome}}</ref> Those who were not able to touch the cross tied ropes on the cross, held the rope in their hands and made the oath. Because of the weight it is believed by the followers that the cross bent a little and so it is known as "Oath of the bent cross" (Coonen Kurisu Sathyam). This demanded administrative autonomy for the local church.

A few months, later Archdeacon Thomas was ordained as bishop by twelve priests with the title [[Thoma I]]. At this time, Rome intervened and Carmelite Missionaries were sent to win the Thomas Christians back. Carmelites could convince the majority that the local church needs bishops and the consecration of the Archdeacon Thomas was invalid because the consecration was conducted not by a bishop, but by priests. Many leaders of the community rejoined the missionaries. But in 1663, [[Netherlands|Dutch]] conquered Cochin supplanting the Portuguese on the Malabar coast. Portuguese Missionaries had to leave the country and they consecrated [[Palliveettil Chandy]] kathanaar as the bishop for the Catholic Thomas Christians on 1 February 1663. Meanwhile, [[Thoma I]] appealed to several eastern Christian churches for regularizing his consecration. The [[Syriac Orthodox]] Patriarch responded and sent metropolitan [[Gregorios Abdul Jaleel]] of [[Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] to India in 1665. He confirmed Thoma I as a bishop and worked together with him to organize the Church. These events led to the gradual and lasting schism among the Saint Thomas Christians of India, leading to the formation of ''Puthenkūr'' (New allegiance) and ''Pazhayakūr'' (Old allegiance) factions.

[[File:Branches & Denominations of Saint Thomas Christians.svg|thumb|500px|Historic divisions among Saint Thomas Christians]]

The ''Pazhayakūr'' comprise the present day [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]] and [[Chaldean Syrian Church]] which continue to employ the East Syriac Rite.<ref>"Synod of Diamper." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 23 December 2011.</ref><ref>For the Acts and Decrees of the Synod cf. Michael Geddes, "A Short History of the Church of Malabar Together with the Synod of Diamper &c." London, 1694;Repr. in George Menachery, Ed., Indian Church History Classics, Vol.1, Ollur 1998, pp.33–112</ref><ref name="ODCC">''Addai and Mari, Liturgy of''. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005</ref> The ''Puthenkūr'', who entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, an [[Oriental Orthodox]] church, inherited from them the West Syriac Rite, replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. ''Puthenkūr'' is the body from which present day [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church]], [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]], [[CSI Syrian Christians]], [[Mar Thoma Syrian Church]], [[St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India]], [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]] and [[Malabar Independent Syrian Church]] originate.<ref>Thomas Joseph , “Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church,” in Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay, https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Malankara-Syriac-Orthodox-Church {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801114619/https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Malankara-Syriac-Orthodox-Church |date=1 August 2021 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasrani.net/amp/2007/02/13/kerala-syrian-christian-the-tomb-of-the-apostle-persian-church-syond-of-diamper-coonan-cross-oath-divisions/|title=Kerala Syrian Christian, Thomas the Apostle in India, the tomb of the Apostles, Persian Church, Syond of Diamper – Coonan Cross Oath, Subsequent divisions and the Nasrani People|date=13 February 2007|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=22 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522022802/https://www.nasrani.net/amp/2007/02/13/kerala-syrian-christian-the-tomb-of-the-apostle-persian-church-syond-of-diamper-coonan-cross-oath-divisions/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Sebastian P. Brock , “Thomas Christians,” in Thomas Christians, edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay, https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307151211/https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians |date=7 March 2022 }}.</ref>

=== Arrival of Europeans ===
[[File:St Francis Church Fort Kochi DSC 1048.JPG|thumb|300px|[[Church of Saint Francis, Kochi|St. Francis Church, Kochi]], originally built in 1503, is the first European colonial church built in India. The Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] died at [[Cochin]] in 1524 and was originally buried in this church]]
{{Main|Portuguese discoveries|Latin Church in India|Christianisation of Goa|Portuguese in Goa and Bombay|Primate of the East Indies|Pearl Fishery Coast}}

In 1453, the [[fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Sunni]] Islamic [[Ottoman Caliphate]] marked the end of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire)]], and severed European trade links by land with Asia. This massive blow to [[Christendom]] spurred the [[age of discovery]] as Europeans started seeking alternative routes east by sea along with the goal of forging alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.<ref name="GT-DEX-1453-09">{{cite web|title=Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Fall of Constantinople and spurring "age of discovery"|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars14011600/p/Byzantine-Ottoman-Wars-Fall-Of-Constantinople.htm|access-date=18 August 2012|archive-date=4 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604120350/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars14011600/p/Byzantine-Ottoman-Wars-Fall-Of-Constantinople.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="GT-DEX-1453-10">{{cite web|title=Overview of Age of Exploration |url=http://www.learnerator.com/ap-european-history/study-center/summaries/age-of-exploration/overview |access-date=18 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709074111/http://www.learnerator.com/ap-european-history/study-center/summaries/age-of-exploration/overview |archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> Along with Portuguese long-distance maritime travelers that reached the [[Malabar Coast]] in the late 15th century, came Portuguese missionaries who made contact with the [[Saint Thomas Christians|St Thomas Christians]] in Kerala. These Christians were following [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] practices and under the jurisdiction of [[Church of the East]]. The missionaries sought to introduce the [[Latin liturgical rites]] among them and unify [[Church of the East#India|East Syriac Christians in India]] under the [[Holy See]]. This group, which existed in [[Kerala]] relatively peacefully for more than a millennium, faced considerable persecution from Portuguese evangelists in the 16th century.{{sfn|Brown|1956}}<ref name="Podipara">Podipara, Placid J. (1970) "The Thomas Christians". London: Darton, Longman and Tidd, 1970. (is a readable and exhaustive study of the St. Thomas Christians.)</ref> This later wave of evangelism spread Catholicism more widely along the [[Konkan]] coast.<ref>{{cite web 
 |url=http://old.mbconf.ca/mb/mbh3509/christin.htm 
 |title=Christianity in India 
 |publisher=M.B. Herald, Vol. 35, No. 9 
 |access-date=13 March 2008 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309035010/http://old.mbconf.ca/mb/mbh3509/christin.htm 
 |archive-date=9 March 2008
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Asia and Western Dominance: A Survey of the Vasco Da Gama Epoch of Asian History, 1498–1945|publisher=The Pacific Historical Review|date=4 November 1954|pages=407–408 |volume=23 |isbn=0-04-950005-8}}</ref>

The South Indian coastal areas around Kanyakumari were known for pearl fisheries ruled by the [[Paravar]]s. From 1527, the Paravars, being threatened by Arab fleets offshore who were supported [[Zamorin]] of Calicut,{{sfn|Hastings|2000|pp=166–168}} sought the protection of the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]] who had moved into the area. The protection was granted on the condition that the leaders were immediately baptised as Christians and that they would encourage their people also to convert to Christianity. The Portuguese in turn wanted to gain a strategic foothold and control of the pearl fisheries. The deal was agreed and some months later 20,000 Paravars were baptised en masse, and by 1537 the entire community had declared itself to be Christian. The Portuguese navy destroyed the Arab fleet at [[Vedalai]] on 27 June 1538.{{sfn|Frykenberg|2008|pp=137–138}}{{sfn|Hastings|2000|pp=166–168}}

[[St Francis Xavier|Francis Xavier]], a Jesuit, began a mission to the lower classes of Tamil society in 1542.{{sfn|Frykenberg|2008|p=139}} A further 30,000 Paravars were baptised. Xavier appointed catechists in the Paravar villages up and down the {{convert|100|miles|km}} coastline to spread and reinforce his teachings.<ref>Georg Schurhammer, and M. Joseph Costelloe, ''Francis Xavier: His Life, His Times. Vol. 3: Indonesia & India, 1545–1549'' (1980).</ref> Paravar Christianity, with its own identity based on a mixture of Christian religious belief and Hindu caste culture, remains a defining part of the Paravar life today.{{sfn|Hastings|2000|pp=166–168}}<ref name="Bayly326">[[#Bayly|Bayly]] p. 326</ref>
[[File:Luso Tamil Catechism Lisbon 1554.JPG|230px|thumb|right|Portuguese-Tamil Primer (1554). One of the earliest known Christian books in an Indian language]]

In the 16th century, the proselytisation of Asia was linked to the [[Portugal#Religion|Portuguese colonial policy]].<ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''A history of expansion of Christianity. vol 3. Three centuries of advance: AD 1500-AD 1800'' (1939) pp 247–84.</ref> Missionaries of the different orders including [[Franciscan]]s, [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Jesuit]]s, [[Augustinians|Augustinian]]s arrived with the Portuguese colonisers. The history of Portuguese missionaries in India starts with the Portuguese clergy who reached [[Kappad]] near Kozhikode on 20 May 1498, along with the Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] who was seeking to form anti-Islamic alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.<ref>Britannica CD 97, S.V "Gama, Vasco da "</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Factfile: Roman Catholics around the world |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4243727.stm |work=BBC News |date=29 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129161033/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4243727.stm |archive-date=29 January 2012 }} </ref> The lucrative spice trade was further temptation for the Portuguese crown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.umich.edu/area/sasia/dagama.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016043044/http://www.lib.umich.edu/area/sasia/dagama.htm|url-status=dead|title=Vasco da Gama collection |website=University of Michigan Library |archive-date=16 October 2007}}</ref> When he and the Portuguese missionaries arrived, they found Christians in the country in Malabar known as St. Thomas Christians who belonged to the then-largest Christian church within India.<ref name="BBC" /> The Christians were friendly to Portuguese missionaries at first; there was an exchange of gifts between them, and these groups were delighted at their common faith.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mundadan |first1=A. Mathias |title=The arrival of the Portuguese in India and the Thomas Christians under Mar Jacob, 1498-1552 |date=1967 |publisher=Dharmaram College |location=Bangalore |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/arrival-of-the-portuguese-in-india-and-the-thomas-christians-under-mar-jacob-1498-1552/oclc/554054 |language=en |series=Dharmārām studies, No. 2 |oclc=554054}}</ref>

[[File:Jesuits at Akbar's court.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperor [[Akbar the Great]] holds a religious assembly in the Ibadat Khana; the two men dressed in black are [[Jesuit]] missionaries, ca. 1605]]

During the second expedition, the Portuguese fleet comprising 13 ships and 18 priests, under Captain [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]], anchored at Cochin on 26 November 1500. Cabral soon won the goodwill of the [[Kingdom of Cochin|Raja of Cochin]]. He allowed four priests to do apostolic work among the early Christian communities scattered in and around Cochin. Thus Portuguese missionaries established Portuguese Mission in 1500. Dom [[Francisco de Almeida]], the first Portuguese Viceroy got permission from the Kochi Raja to build two churches&nbsp;– namely [[Santa Cruz Basilica]] (1505) and [[St. Francis Church, Kochi|St. Francis Church]] (1506) using stones and mortar, which was unheard of at that time, as the local prejudices were against such a structure for any purpose other than a royal palace or a temple.<ref name="Paul">{{cite journal|title=Flight of the Deities: Hindu Resistance in Portuguese Goa |last1=Axelrod |first1=Paul |last2=Fuerch |first2=Michelle A. | journal=Modern Asian Studies |date=1996 |pages=387–421|volume=30|issue=2|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00016516 |jstor=313013 |s2cid=145210059 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/313013 |url-access=subscription}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820230125/https://www.jstor.org/stable/313013 |date=20 August 2019 }}</ref>

In the beginning of the 16th century, the whole of the east was under the jurisdiction of the [[Archdiocese of Lisbon]]. On 12 June 1514, Cochin and Goa became two prominent mission stations under the newly created [[Diocese of Funchal]] in [[Madeira]]. In 1534, [[Pope Paul III]] by the Bull Quequem Reputamus, raised Funchal as an [[archdiocese]] and [[Archdiocese of Goa|Goa]] as its [[suffragan]], deputing the whole of India under the [[diocese of Goa]]. This created an [[episcopal see]]&nbsp;– [[suffragan]] to [[Diocese of Funchal|Funchal]], with a jurisdiction extending potentially over all past and future conquests from the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to China.

The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived with [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] during the [[Portuguese conquest of Goa]] in 1510.<ref>{{cite book
|first=Roger
|last=Crowley
|year=2015
|title=Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
|publisher=Faber & Faber
|location=London}}</ref> Due to the [[Christianisation of Goa]], over 90% of the [[Goans]] in the [[Velhas Conquistas]] became Catholic by the 1700s.<ref name="Souza56">{{cite book|author=Teotonio R. De Souza|title=Goa Through the Ages: An economic history|year=1990|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-259-0|pages=56}}</ref>
[[File:Codice Casanatense Portuguese Nobleman and Christian Indian.jpg|thumb|Christian maidens of Goa meeting a Portuguese nobleman seeking a wife, from the [[Códice Casanatense]] (c. 1540)]]

The Portuguese government supported the missionaries. At the same time many [[New Christian]]s from Portugal emigrated to India as a result of the [[Portuguese Inquisition]]. Many of them were suspected of being [[Crypto-Jew]]s and [[Crypto-Islam|Crypto-Muslim]]s, converted Jews and Muslims who were secretly practising their old religions. Both were considered a threat to the solidarity of Christian belief.<ref name="Paul"/> According to [[Maria Aurora Couto]], [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary [[Francis Xavier]] requested the installation of the [[Goa Inquisition]] in a letter dated 16 May 1546 to [[King John III of Portugal]], but the tribunal commenced only in 1560.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Couto|first=Maria Aurora|title=Goa|publisher=Penguin Books|pages=109–121, 128–131}}</ref> The Inquisition office persecuted [[Hindu]]s, [[Muslim]]s, [[Bene Israel]]s, [[New Christian]]s and the [[Judaizing]] [[Nasranis]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Glen|first=Ames|title=Portugal and its empire, 1250–1800|publisher=Trent University Press|pages=12–15}}</ref> [[Crypto-Hinduism|Crypto-Hindus]] were the primary target of the 250 years of persecution and punishment for their faith by the Catholic prosecutors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saraiva|first=Antony Jose|title=The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536–1765|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/marranofactorypo00sari|url-access=limited|publisher=BRILL Academic.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/marranofactorypo00sari/page/n408 352]–357|isbn=9789004120808}}</ref> Most affected were the [[Shudras]] (12.5%) and farmers (35.5%).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saraiva|first=Antonio Jose|title=The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536–1765|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/marranofactorypo00sari|url-access=limited|publisher=BRILL|pages=[https://archive.org/details/marranofactorypo00sari/page/n460 409]|isbn=9789004120808}}</ref>

In 1557, [[Diocese of Goa|Goa]] was made an independent archbishopric, and its first suffragan sees were erected at [[Diocese of Cochin|Cochin]] and [[Diocese of Malacca|Malacca]]. The whole of the East came under the jurisdiction of [[Archdiocese of Goa|Goa]] and its boundaries extended to almost half of the world: from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to Burma, China and Japan in East Asia. In 1576, the suffragan See of Macao (China) was added; and in 1588, that of Funai in Japan. 

The [[Diocese of Angamaly]] was transferred to Diocese of Craganore in 1605, while, in 1606 a sixth suffragan see to Goa was established at San Thome, Mylapore, near the modern Madras, and the site of the National Shrine of [[Thomas the Apostle|St. Thomas]] Basilica. The suffragan sees added later to Goa. were the prelacy of Mozambique (1612), Peking (1609) and Nanking (1609) in China.
A significant portion of the crew on Portuguese ships were Indian Christians.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Interracial Intimacy in Japan|first=Gary P.|last=Leupp|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8264-6074-5|page=35}}</ref>

The [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] were however unable to establish their presence in Mangalore as a result of the conquests of the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara]] ruler [[Krishnadevaraya]] and [[Abbakka Rani]] of [[Ullal]], the Bednore Queen of Mangalore. Most of [[Mangalorean Catholics]] were not originally from [[Mangalore]] but from [[Goa]], which they fled during the [[Sackings of Goa and Bombay-Bassein]] and to escape the persecution of the [[Goan Inquisition]].

The [[Franciscans]] spearheaded the [[evangelisation]] of the "Province of the North" ({{Lang|pt|Província do Norte}})<ref name="Machado1">{{harvnb|Machado|1999|p=104}}</ref> headquartered at [[Fort San Sebastian of Bassein]] (close to present day [[Mumbai]]), but the fort's officials were subordinate to the viceroy in the capital of [[Velha Goa]]. From 1534 to 1552, a priest by the name António do Porto converted over 10,000 people, built a dozen churches, convents, and a number of orphanages hospitals and seminaries. Prominent among the converts were two yogis from the [[Kanheri Caves]] who became known as Paulo Raposo and Francisco de Santa Maria. They introduced Christianity to their fellow yogis, converting many in the process.<ref name="Machado1" /> The descendants of these Christians are today known as the [[Bombay East Indian]] Christians who are predominantly Roman Catholics and inhabitants of the north Konkan region.

In [[Portuguese Bombay and Bassein]] missionary work progressed on a large scale and with great success along the western coasts, chiefly at Chaul, Bombay, Salsette, Bassein, Damao, and Diu; and on the eastern coasts at San Thome of Mylapore, and as far as Bengal etc. In the southern districts the Jesuit mission in Madura was the most famous. It extended to the Krishna river, with a number of outlying stations beyond it. The mission of Cochin, on the Malabar Coast, was also one of the most fruitful. Several missions were also established in the interior northwards that of Agra and Lahore in 1570 and that of Tibet in 1624. Still, even with these efforts, and many vast tracts of the interior northwards were practically unreached.

With the decline of the Portuguese power, other colonial powers namely the Dutch and British gained influence, paving the way for the arrival of Protestantism.

=== Arrival of Protestant missions ===
[[File:Danish Church, Tranquebar.jpg|thumb|230px|[[New Jerusalem Church, Tranquebar]], built in 1718, is one of the oldest Protestant churches in India]]
Beginning about 1700 Protestant missionaries began working throughout India, leading to the establishment of different Christian communities across the Indian Subcontinent.

====German Lutherans and Basel mission====
The first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two [[Lutherans]] from Germany, [[Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg|Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg]] and [[Heinrich Plütschau]], who began work in 1705 in the Danish settlement of Tranquebar.<ref name="auto1">The Legacy that Ziegenbalg Left (by). S. Muthiah (The Hindu http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2006/07/02/stories/2006070200200500.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407202513/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2006/07/02/stories/2006070200200500.htm |date=7 April 2008 }})</ref> They translated the Bible into the local [[Tamil language]], and afterwards into [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]. They made little progress at first, but gradually the mission spread to [[Madras]], [[Cuddalore]] and [[Tanjore]].<ref name="auto1"/> The ''Bishop of Tranquebar'' is still the official title of the bishop of the [[Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church]] in Tamil Nadu which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and [[Church of Sweden]] Mission, the successors of [[Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg|Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg]] and [[Heinrich Plütschau]]. The seat of the bishop, the cathedral and its church house, ''the Tranquebar House'' are in [[Tiruchirappalli]].

German missionary [[Johann Phillip Fabricius]], who arrived in South India in 1740, published the first Tamil to English dictionary and refined the Tamil Bible translation.<ref name="third">Frykenberg, Robert Eric.</ref>

[[Christian Friedrich Schwarz]] was a prominent German Lutheran missionary who arrived in India in 1750. His mission was instrumental in the conversion of many people from [[Tamil Nadu]] to Lutheranism. He died in Tamil Nadu and was buried in St.Peter's Church at Thanjavur, [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The life of Christian F. Swartz : Missionary at Travancore. A.D. 1750-1798|year=1855| publisher=Seeley, Jackon, Halliday and B. Seeley|place=London|author=Pearson, H.N.}}</ref><ref name=fryk>{{cite journal|title=The Legacy of Christian Friedrich Schwartz|author=Frykenberg, R.E.|journal=International Bulletin of Missionary Research|pages=130–135|year=1999|volume=23|issue=3|doi=10.1177/239693939902300307|s2cid=149285695|url=http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/1999-03/1999-03-130-frykenberg.pdf|access-date=26 May 2022|archive-date=23 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223074422/http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/1999-03/1999-03-130-frykenberg.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Schwarz, Christian Friedrich|volume=24|page=389}}</ref>

[[Hermann Gundert]] a German missionary, scholar, and linguist, as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureate [[Hermann Hesse]] was a missionary in the [[South India]]n state of [[Kerala]] and was instrumental in compiling a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam (1859), in which he developed and constructed the grammar currently spoken by the [[Malayalis]], published a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872), and contributed to work on [[Bible translations into Malayalam]].<ref>[http://www.pressacademy.org/content/herman-gundert Herman Gundert | Kerala Press Academy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514003031/http://pressacademy.org/content/herman-gundert |date=14 May 2013 }}. Pressacademy.org. Retrieved 28 July 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TDCKdPpbFPAC |title=Land and people of Indian states and union territories |page=289 |quote=This Bungalow in Tellicherry ... was the residence of Dr. Herman Gundert .He lived here for 20 years |author=S. C. Bhatt and Gopal K. Bhargava |isbn=978-81-7835-370-8 |year=2005 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527102140/https://books.google.com/books?id=TDCKdPpbFPAC |archive-date=27 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Eugen Liebendörfer]] was the first German missionary doctor in India as part of the [[Basel Mission]]. He built hospitals in [[Kerala]] and [[Karnataka]].<ref name="shodhganga_2012">{{Cite thesis|last=Veena|first=Maben|date=31 December 2012|title=Missionary Narratives – Chapter 6: Healing Bodies and Saving Souls: The Medical Mission|chapter=6|pages=188–240|hdl=10603/132374|chapter-url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/132374|access-date=26 May 2022|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423141047/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/132374|url-status=live}}</ref>

Another Basel Missionary [[Ferdinand Kittel]] worked in [[South India]]n state of [[Karnataka]] in places such as Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka. He is renowned for his studies of the Kannada language and for producing a Kannada-English dictionary of about 70,000 words in 1894. He also composed numerous Kannada poems.<ref name="Manjulakshi">{{cite journal| last =Manjulakshi| first =L.| author2 =Shripad Bhat| title =Kannada Dialect Dictionaries and Dictionaries in Subregional Languages of Karnataka| journal =Language in India| volume =5| date =2005-09-09| url =http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2005/kannadadictionary1.html| access-date =2007-09-27| archive-date =17 February 2012| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120217132327/http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2005/kannadadictionary1.html| url-status =live}}</ref><ref name="Aliyeh2">{{cite news|last1=Rizvi|first1=Aliyeh|title=Resident Rendezvoyeur: Against all odds|url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/columns/others/Resident-Rendezvoyeur-Against-all-odds/articleshow/48414461.cms|access-date=12 August 2015|agency=Bangalore Mirror Bureau|issue=Bangalore|publisher=Bangalore Mirror|date=9 August 2015|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706115817/http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/columns/others/Resident-Rendezvoyeur-Against-all-odds/articleshow/48414461.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Karnatak University 1876">Journal of the Karnatak University: Humanities: Volume 19 Karnatak University - 1975 "He was also involved in the work of the revision of the Kannada Bible. But his magnum opus was the school dictionary English- Kannada Shala Nighantu, which saw the light of the day in 1876. Though [[William Reeve (missionary)]] compiled and published ..."</ref>

[[Hermann Mögling]] was a German missionary to Karnataka, he is credited as the publisher of the first ever newspaper in the Kannada language called as [[Mangalooru Samachara]] in 1843.<ref>{{cite news|title=Miscellany - Early years of Kannada journalism|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/491818/miscellany-early-years-kannada-journalism.html|access-date=22 November 2016|publisher=[[Deccan Herald]]|date=28 July 2015|archive-date=8 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508163047/http://www.deccanherald.com/content/491818/miscellany-early-years-kannada-journalism.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was awarded a doctorate for his literary work in Kannada called as Bibliotheca Carnataca. He also translated Kannada literature into German.

Another Lutheran German missionary to [[South India]]n state of [[Kerala]] was [[Volbrecht Nagel]], he was a missionary to the Malabar coast of India. Initially associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church, he later joined the [[Open Brethren]], and is remembered now as a pioneer of the [[Kerala Brethren]] movement.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://revisitingthepast.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/the-story-of-volbrecht-nagel/|title = The Story of Volbrecht Nagel|date = July 24, 2010|access-date = May 22, 2021|archive-date = 29 September 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220929200346/https://revisitingthepast.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/the-story-of-volbrecht-nagel/|url-status = live}}</ref>

====William Carey and the Baptists====
[[File:William Carey.jpg|200px|thumb|right|William Carey, 1761–1834.]]
In 1793, [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]], an English [[Baptist]] Minister, came to India as a missionary but also as a man of learning in economics, medicine and [[botany]].<ref>Vishal Mangalwadi and Ruth Mangalwadi, ''The Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture'' (1999) [https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-William-Carey-Transformation-Culture/dp/1581341121/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123084644/https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-William-Carey-Transformation-Culture/dp/1581341121 |date=23 January 2017 }}</ref> He worked in [[Serampore]], Calcutta, and other places. He translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages and dialects. He worked in India despite the hostility of the British East India Company until his death in 1834. Carey and his colleagues, Joshua Marshman and William Ward, blended science, Christianity, and constructive Orientalism in their work at the Danish settlement of Serampore, near Calcutta. Carey saw the dissemination of European science and Christianity as mutually supportive and equally important civilizing missions. He also supported a revival of Sanskrit science. Carey played a key role in the establishment of the Agricultural Society of India. Ward, beginning in 1806, published important commentaries on ancient Hindu medical and astronomy texts. In 1818 Carey and his fellow missionaries founded [[Serampore College]] to nurture a uniquely Indian variety of European science.<ref>[[Sujit Sivasundaram]], "'A Christian Benares' Orientalism, science and the Serampore Mission of Bengal." ''Indian Economic & Social History Review'' 44.2 (2007): 111–145. [http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/electronic-books/sivasundarum/christian-benares.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122233110/http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/electronic-books/sivasundarum/christian-benares.pdf |date=22 January 2017 }}</ref>
[[File:Serampore College - Hooghly 2017-07-06 0840-0860.tif|250px|thumb|right|Established in 1818, [[Serampore College]] is one of the oldest continuously operating educational institutions in India]]

====Other missions====
The [[London Missionary Society]] was the first Protestant mission in [[Andhra Pradesh]] which established its station at [[Visakhapatnam]] in 1805.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Canadian+Baptist+mission+work+among+women+in+Andhra,+India,...-a0146344617|title=Canadian Baptist mission work among women in Andhra, India, 1874–1924: Baptist women evolved a role for themselves in an otherwise male-dominated mission enterprise and a patriarchal Telugu society.|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154405/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Canadian+Baptist+mission+work+among+women+in+Andhra,+India,...-a0146344617|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Anthony Norris Groves]], a [[Plymouth Brethren]] missionary arrived in 1833. He worked in the [[Godavari River|Godavari]] delta area until his death in 1852. [[John Christian Frederick Heyer]] was the first Lutheran missionary in the region of [[Andhra Pradesh]]. He founded the Guntur Mission in 1842. Supported initially by the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and later by the Foreign Mission Board of the General Synod, Heyer was also encouraged and assisted by British government officials. He established a number of hospitals and a network of schools throughout the Guntur region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/14.html|title=John C F Heyer, Missionary|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004152036/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/14.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Church Mission Society|Church Missionary Society]] (''CMS''), a mission society working with the [[Anglican Communion]],<ref name="CMS-RK">{{cite web| last =Keen| first =Rosemary| work =Adam Matthew Publications| title =Church Missionary Society Archive| url =http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/church_missionary_society_archive_general/editorial%20introduction%20by%20rosemary%20keen.aspx| access-date =29 January 2017| archive-date =20 January 2022| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220120160137/http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/church_missionary_society_archive_general/editorial%20introduction%20by%20rosemary%20keen.aspx| url-status =live}}</ref> began sending missionaries to India and established mission stations at [[Chennai]] (Madras) and [[Bengal]], then in 1816 at [[Travancore]].<ref name="CMSatlasHind">{{cite web|title= The Church Missionary Atlas (India)|pages= 95–156|year= 1896|url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CMS_OX_Atlas_01|access-date= 19 October 2015|publisher= [[Adam Matthew Digital]]|url-access= subscription|archive-date= 18 October 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201018082206/https://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CMS_OX_Atlas_01|url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Church Missionary Society in India|CMS Mission to India]] expanded in the following years. The successors of the Protestant church missions are the [[Church of South India]] and the [[Church of North India]].<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

[[Marathi Christians]] can be found in the areas of [[Ahmednagar]], [[Solapur]], [[Pune|Poona]], and [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]]. They were converted through the efforts of the [[American Missionary Association|American Marathi Mission]], [[United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel|The SPG Mission]], and the [[Church Mission Society]] of [[Church of England]] in the early 18th century. British missionary [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]] was instrumental in translating the Bible into the [[Marathi language]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.languageinindia.com/april2001/carey.html|title=William Carey|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207034641/http://languageinindia.com/april2001/carey.html|archive-date=7 December 2010}}</ref>

During the [[Bettiah Raj]] of Bihar, the ethnoreligious community of [[Bettiah Christians]] was established in India in the 17th century by Christian missionaries belonging to the [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin]], a Roman Catholic [[religious order]].<ref name="John2000">{{cite book |last1=John |first1=Jose Kalapura |title=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 61 |date=2000 |publisher=Indian History Congress |pages=1011–1022 |language=en}}</ref> The Capuchins were personally invited to establish the Bettiah Christian Mission by Maharaja Dhurup Singh after the Italian Capuchin priest Joseph Mary Bernini treated his ill wife. [[Pope Benedict XIV]], on 1 May 1742, approved the appointment of the Capuchins at the Bettiah Fort in a letter to Maharaja Dhurup Singh.<ref name="UCA2020">{{cite web |title=Diocese of Bettiah |url=https://www.ucanews.com/directory/dioceses/india-bettiah/50 |publisher=[[Union of Catholic Asian News]] |access-date=15 November 2020 |language=en |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116143141/https://www.ucanews.com/directory/dioceses/india-bettiah/50 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many upper-class Bengalis converted to Christianity during the [[Bengali Renaissance]] under [[British Rule of India|British Rule]], including [[Krishna Mohan Banerjee]], [[Michael Madhusudan Dutt]], [[Anil Kumar Gain]], and Gnanendramohan Tagore, [[Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee]].<ref>Marina Ngursangzeli Behera, "William Carey and the British East India Company" ''American Baptist Quarterly'' (Winter 2010) 29.1–2 (2010): 6–18.</ref>

During the 19th century, several American Baptist missionaries evangelised in the northeastern parts of India. In 1876, Dr. E. W. Clark first went to live in a [[Naga people|Naga]] village, four years after his Assamese helper, Godhula, baptised the first [[Naga people|Naga]] converts. Rev. and Mrs. A.F. Merrill arrived in India in 1928 and worked in the southeast section of the [[Garo Hills]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski |url=https://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201931%20Grayscale/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201931%20Grayscale%20-%200127.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=fultonhistory.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229135408/http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201931%20Grayscale/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201931%20Grayscale%20-%200127.pdf |archive-date=29 February 2012 }}</ref> Rev. and Mrs. M.J. Chance spent most of the years between 1950 and 1956 at Golaghat working with the Naga and Garo tribes.<ref>American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, ''Tour of Assam'', 1960</ref> Even today the heaviest concentrations of Christians in India continue to be in the Northeast among the [[Naga people|Nagas]], [[Khasi people|Khasis]], [[Kuki people|Kukis]], and [[Mizo people|Mizos]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Census of India: Religion|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx|work=2001 Census of India|publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of india|access-date=4 November 2013|archive-date=15 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315004939/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Role in the Indian independence movement===
Indian Christians were involved even at early stages of the nationalist movement in colonial India, both in the [[Indian National Congress]] and the wider [[Indian independence movement]]:<ref name="Oddie2001"/>

Indian Christian involvement in the early stages of the nationalist movement is also reflected in the high levels of participation in the activities of the Indian National Congress. During the period from its inception up until about 1892 all the evidence suggests that Indian Christians enthusiastically supported the National Congress and attended its annual meetings. For example, according to the official Congress report, there were 607 registered delegates at the Madras meeting of 1887; thirty-five were Christians and, of these, seven were Eurasians and fifteen were Indian Christians. Indian Christians alone made up 2.5 per cent of the total attendance, in spite of the fact that Christians accounted for less than 0.79 per cent of the population. The Indian Christian community was also well represented at the next four sessions of the Congress. The proportion of Indian Christian delegates remained very much higher than their proportion in the population, in spite of the fact that meetings were sometimes held in cities such as Allahabad and Nagpur, far removed from the main centres of Christian population.<ref name="Oddie2001">{{cite journal |last1=Oddie |first1=Geoffrey A. |title=Indian Christians and National Identity 1870–1947 |journal=The Journal of Religious History |year=2001 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=357, 361–363, 365|doi=10.1111/1467-9809.00138 }}</ref>

The [[All India Conference of Indian Christians]] (AICIC) played an important role in the Indian independence movement, advocating for [[swaraj]] and [[opposition to the partition of India|opposing the partition of India]].<ref name="Thomas1974"/> The AICIC also was opposed to separate electorates for Christians, believing that the faithful "should participate as common citizens in one common, national political system".<ref name="Thomas1974"/><ref name="Oddie2001"/> The All India Conference of Indian Christians and the [[All India Catholic Union]] formed a working committee with M. Rahnasamy of [[Andhra University]] serving as President and B.L. Rallia Ram of [[Lahore]] serving as General Secretary; in its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee prepared a 13-point memorandum that was sent to the [[Constituent Assembly of India]], which asked for [[religious freedom]] for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in the [[Constitution of India]].<ref name="Thomas1974"/>

== Art and architecture ==
[[File:Thomasreliquiar Kondungallur.jpg|230px|thumb|right|Reliquiary of St. Thomas kept at Kodungallur church, Kerala]]
{{Main|List of cathedrals in India}}
There are a large number of items of artistic and architectural significance in the religious and domestic life of Indian Christians.<ref name="scribd.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/7697242/Art-Architecture-India-Christian-Kerala-Syrian-Christianity|title=Art Architecture India Christian Kerala Syrian Christianity|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402233842/https://www.scribd.com/doc/7697242/Art-Architecture-India-Christian-Kerala-Syrian-Christianity|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Altar]]s, [[statue]]s, [[pulpit]]s, [[Christian cross|crosses]], [[Church bell|bells]] and [[Bell tower|belfries]] of churches along with other household items are among the many things that form part of the [[sacred art]] of the Indian Christians.<ref name="scribd.com" />

The following artistic elements predate European Christianity and form an integral part of the religious art and architecture of the [[Saint Thomas Christians]]:
* The open-air granite (rock) cross called the Nasrani Sthamba
* ''Kodimaram'' (''Dwajasthamba'') or flag-staff made of [[Kerala]]'s famed teak wood and often enclosed in copper hoses or paras
* The rock ''Deepasthamba'' or lampstand.<ref name="scribd.com" />

After the arrival of [[Vasco da Gama]] and more especially after the commencement of Portuguese rule in India, distinct patterns of Christian art developed within the areas of Portuguese influence, mostly along the coasts of the peninsula. The Portuguese commissioned monumental buildings and promoted architecture more than any other form of fine art. [[St. Francis Church, Kochi]] is the first European place of worship in India and incidentally also the place where [[Vasco da Gama]] was first buried. The Christian art of Goa reached its climax in church building, laying the foundations of Indian Baroque.<ref name="scribd.com" />

Indian Christian architecture during the [[British Raj]] has expanded into several different styles as a result of extensive church building in different parts of the country. The style that was most patronised is generally referred to as the [[British Regency]] style followed by [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] and [[Gothic Revival architecture]].<ref>Singh et al. 2007, p. 69.</ref> Most Protestant cathedrals and churches in India conform to the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] and [[Gothic Revival architecture]] styles. The adaptation of European architectural elements to the tropical climate in India has resulted in the creation of the [[Indo-Saracenic architecture|Indo-Gothic]] style.<ref>Das, 98</ref> [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata]] is a typical example of this style. [[St. Mary's Church (Fort St. George)|St. Mary's church]], [[Chennai]], the first Anglican Church built east of the [[Suez]] is one of the first examples of British colonial architecture in [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chennaihub.com/monuments-in-chennai.html|title=Monuments in Chennai, Monuments of Chennai India, Monuments Tour in Chennai, Chennai Monuments Tours, Travel to Chennai Monuments, Chennai Monuments Holidays|access-date=22 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507094327/http://www.chennaihub.com/monuments-in-chennai.html|archive-date=7 May 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> French and [[Danish people|Danish]] influences on Christian art and architecture in India can be seen in their respective colonies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/gemmakonrad/gemma_travels/1146091500/p1010697.jpg/tpod.html|title=Gemmakonrad's Travel Blog: Mamallapuram, India – April 25, 2006|work=TravelPod|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410170752/http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/gemmakonrad/gemma_travels/1146091500/p1010697.jpg/tpod.html|archive-date=10 April 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Manarcad Marthamariam Cathedral DSW.jpg|[[Manarcad Church]] is one of the oldest churches as well as a popular pilgrim site in [[India]].
AloysiusChapel.jpg|Interior of the [[St. Aloysius Chapel]] in [[Mangalore]], an example of Indo-Baroque.
Cathedral Church of the Redemption.jpg|Interior of the [[Cathedral Church of the Redemption|CNI Cathedral Church of Redemption]], [[New Delhi]], a fine example of the [[Indo-Saracenic architecture]]al style.
Se’ Cathedral, Goa.jpg|Built in 1562, [[Se Cathedral]] is an example of the Portuguese-Manueline style of architecture.<ref>{{harvnb|Issar|1997|p=27}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Pereira|2000|p=190}}</ref>
St Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata.jpg|[[St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata|St. Paul's CNI Cathedral, Calcutta]] is one of the finest examples of [[Gothic Revival architecture]] in India.<ref>{{cite web |title=The story of the fifth Bishop of Calcutta |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/heritage/the-story-of-the-fifth-bishop-of-calcutta/cid/1689553 |website=The Telegraph |location=Kolkota |language=en |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925143016/https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/heritage/the-story-of-the-fifth-bishop-of-calcutta/cid/1689553 |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:Infant Jesus Cathedral Kollam, Mar 2016.jpg|[[Infant Jesus Cathedral]] in [[Kollam]] city is an example of modern church architecture in India.
File:St. Marks Cathedral, Bangalore. (Old Postcard Re-print), India Post (2014).jpg|[[St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore]] is an example of the [[English Baroque]] style in India.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indian Philately Digest : News : April 2014 |url=http://www.indianphilately.net/news0414.html |work=India Post |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604101028/http://www.indianphilately.net/news0414.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=200 years of Bangalore's oldest Christian landmark |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/web-exclusive/story/200-years-of-bangalores-oldest-christian-landmark-36864-2009-01-09 |website=India Today |language=en |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413113345/https://www.indiatoday.in/web-exclusive/story/200-years-of-bangalores-oldest-christian-landmark-36864-2009-01-09 |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:George'sCathedral.jpg|[[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai|Church of South India Cathedral of St. George, Chennai]] is an example of the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] style .<ref>{{cite web |title=200 Years of the Iconic St George's Cathedral in Chennai |url=https://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/200-years-of-the-iconic-st-georges-cathedral-in-chennai-1264204 |website=NDTV.com |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604100842/https://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/200-years-of-the-iconic-st-georges-cathedral-in-chennai-1264204 |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:Medak Cathedral (1).jpg|The [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style [[Medak Cathedral]] is one of the largest churches in Asia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medak Cathedral Church {{!}} District Medak, Government of Telangana {{!}} India |url=https://medak.telangana.gov.in/tourist-place/medak-cathedral-church/ |publisher=Govt. of Telangana|access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604101030/https://medak.telangana.gov.in/tourist-place/medak-cathedral-church/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad in the night.jpg|The [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style [[All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad]] illuminated at night.<ref>{{cite web |title=All About All Saint's Cathedral |url=http://allahabad.gov.in/en/details/all-saint%E2%80%99s-cathedral/310030003500 |website=allahabad.gov.in|publisher=Official website of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=6 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506023341/http://allahabad.gov.in/en/details/all-saint%E2%80%99s-cathedral/310030003500 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Afghan Church - Doorway.jpg|Buff-coloured [[basalt]] and [[limestone]] doorway to the [[Afghan Church|CNI Afghan Church]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Afghan church gets a glass makeover |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/afghan-church-gets-a-glass-makeover/ |website=The Indian Express |language=en |date=5 July 2004 |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423015136/https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/afghan-church-gets-a-glass-makeover/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
A traditional Malankara Church - Vadayaparambu Mar Bahanas Church.jpg|Vadayaparambu Mar Bahanans Church, built in the traditional style of the Malankara Orthodox Church.
St. James Church 9.jpg| [[St. James' Church, Delhi]], built on a [[Greek cross|Greek]] [[cruciform]] plan is an example of the [[Renaissance Revival]] style in India.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kapoor |first1=Cheena |title=St James, Delhi's oldest church set to get a facelift |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-st-james-delhi-s-oldest-church-set-to-get-a-facelift-2345902 |website=DNA India |language=en |date=8 March 2017 |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423015127/https://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-st-james-delhi-s-oldest-church-set-to-get-a-facelift-2345902 |url-status=live }}</ref>
</gallery>

Kerala Christians have a unique tradition of photographing funerals.<ref name="photo">{{Cite news |publisher=[[BBC]] |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2023-03-26 |access-date=2023-03-27 |lang=en-GB |title=The photo tradition at Christian funerals in Kerala |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65023059 |first=Meryl |last=Sebastian |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327092114/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65023059 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Culture ==
[[File:Knajewfood.jpg|thumb|right|Pesaha Appam is an unleavened Passover bread made by the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala to be served on Passover night]]
[[File:Goan Ros Ceremony.jpg|thumb|Traditional pre-wedding [[Goan Catholic]] Ros ceremony]]
While Christians in India do not share one common culture, their cultures for the most part tend to be a blend of Indian, Syrian and European cultures. It differs from one region to another depending on several factors such as the prevailing [[Ritual family|liturgical rite]] and tradition and the extent of time for which Christianity has existed in those regions. The ancient [[Saint Thomas Christians]] of [[Kerala]] have a distinctively different culture when compared to Christians in other parts of the country.<ref name="malayalamresourcecentre.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.malayalamresourcecentre.org/Mrc/culture/cultureofkerala/christians.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616000436/http://www.malayalamresourcecentre.org/Mrc/culture/cultureofkerala/christians.html |archive-date=16 June 2013 |title=The Culture of Kerala}}</ref> Historical ties with the [[Church of the East]] and assimilation of Indian culture have contributed to the development of a unique subculture among these traditional Syrian Christians or Nasranis of [[Kerala]].<ref name="malayalamresourcecentre.org" /> The use of ornamental umbrellas for Christian religious festivities illustrates an example of the indigenous character of [[Kerala]]'s Syriac Christianity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianchristianity.com/|title=Welcome to Indian Christianity |access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=6 October 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991006195756/http://www.indianchristianity.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[Malankara Nasrani]]s'' (Thomasine Christians) have a unique Syro-[[Malyali|Malabarese]] culture which includes [[Christianised]] Jewish elements, along with some Hindu customs. 

As a result of the [[Christianisation of Goa]] by the Portuguese in the 16th century AD, [[Goan Catholics]] have adopted a more Western culture.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PcD7p9y3EIcC|title=Pidgins and Creoles: Volume 2, Reference Survey|access-date=5 March 2015|isbn=978-0521359405|last1=Holm|first1=John A|date= 1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press |archive-date=24 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324124902/https://books.google.com/books?id=PcD7p9y3EIcC|url-status=live}}</ref> The dance, song and cuisine of [[Goa]] has been greatly influenced by the Portuguese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indialine.com/travel/goa/culture.html|title=Goan People, Culture and Festivals in Goa: India Line Travel|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525043243/http://www.indialine.com/travel/goa/culture.html|archive-date=25 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[culture of Goan Catholics]] is a blend of [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] and [[Konkani people|Konkani]] cultures, with the former having a more dominant role because the Portuguese ruled Goa directly from 1510 to 1961.<ref>{{cite book
|chapter=The Impact of Portuguese Culture in Goa: A Myth or Reality
|first=Fatima
|last=da Silva Gracias
|date=1997
|title=Goa and Portugal: Their Cultural Links
|editor=Charles J. Borges
|pages=41–51
|location=New Delhi
|publisher=Concept Publishing Company}}</ref> [[Mangalorean Catholic]]s mainly migrants from the [[Konkan region]] to the [[Canara]] subregion of [[Carnataca]], have developed a distinct [[Mangalorean Catholic culture]].<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://dioceseofmangalore.com/fv951305.asp?fvpg=15019&fvic=CASI&fvpc=408&fvch=A&fvdf=102&fvpr=|work=Official website of Diocese of Manglore|access-date=26 November 2013}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Christianity in other parts of India spread under the colonial regimes of the Dutch, Danish, French and most importantly the English from the early 17th century to the time of the Indian Independence in 1947. [[Christian culture]] in these colonial territories has been influenced by the religion and culture of their respective colonisers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en-danes.mforos.com/675176/4399607-tranquebar-a-danish-town-in-india/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327021021/http://en-danes.mforos.com/675176/4399607-tranquebar-a-danish-town-in-india/|url-status=dead|title=EN-DANÉS _____ foro creado por Blanca Ortiz&nbsp;– Tranquebar: a Danish town in India&nbsp;– Viajes y sitios|archive-date=27 March 2010}}</ref>

Contemporary [[Christian culture]] in India draws greatly from the [[English culture]] as a result of the influence and dominance of former [[British Raj|British India]]n rule, this is evident in the culture of [[Bombay East Indian Christian]]s, who were the first subjects of English rule, in the erstwhile [[seven islands of Bombay]] and the adjacent areas of north Konkan. The [[Book of Common Prayer]] is a widely used supplement for worship in the two major [[Anglican]] Protestant denominations: [[Church of South India]] and [[Church of North India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/world.htm|title=The Book of Common Prayer|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=17 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717042858/http://www.justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/world.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Today Christians are considered to be one of the most progressive communities in India.<ref name="medindia.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.medindia.net/news/indiaspecial/Indian-Christians-Treat-Their-Women-Better-Sex-Ratio-Highest-31076-1.htm|title=Indian Christians Treat Their Women Better, Sex Ratio Highest|date=25 December 2007|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=3 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703004029/http://www.medindia.net/news/indiaspecial/Indian-Christians-Treat-Their-Women-Better-Sex-Ratio-Highest-31076-1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Urban Christians are to a greater extent influenced by European traditions which is considered an advantage in the business environment of urban India; this is given as an explanation for the large number of Christian professionals in India's corporate sector.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/globalpers/gp091703.htm|title=Global Perspective: India's Christian identity|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053301/http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/globalpers/gp091703.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Christian church runs thousands of [[educational institution]]s which have contributed to the strengthening of Christian culture in India.

Religion plays a significant role in the daily life of Indian Christians, India ranks 15 among countries with based on [[church attendance]]. [[Religious procession]]s and [[carnival]]s are often celebrated by [[Indian Catholics]].<ref>[http://goa.mapsofindia.com/goa-carnival/origin-of-goa-carnival.html Origin of Goa Carnival] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619080554/http://goa.mapsofindia.com/goa-carnival/origin-of-goa-carnival.html |date=19 June 2010 }}</ref> Cities with significant Christian populations celebrate [[patron saint]] days. As in other parts of the world, [[Christmas]] is the most important festival for Indian Christians. [[Anglo-Indian]] Christmas [[Ball (dance)|balls]] held in most major cities form a distinctive part of Indian Christian culture.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-26/bangalore/27908605_1_anglo-indians-army-officer-charity | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811090246/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-26/bangalore/27908605_1_anglo-indians-army-officer-charity | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 August 2011 |location=India | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Anglo-Indians mark Christmas with charity | date=26 December 2008}}</ref> [[Great Friday]] is a national holiday, [[All Souls Day]] is another holiday that is observed by most Christians in India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=153159|title=Mangalorean.com – Mangalore News |access-date=5 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208140301/http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=153159|archive-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> Most Protestant churches celebrate harvest festivals, usually in late October or early November.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harvest Festival|url=http://www.stjohnschurchbangalore.com/?page_id=103|work=St. John's Church, Bangalore|access-date=26 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233909/http://www.stjohnschurchbangalore.com/?page_id=103|archive-date=2 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Easter]] and [[All Saints Day]] are also observed by many.

Christian weddings in India conform to the traditional [[white wedding]]. However it is not uncommon for Christian brides particularly in the south to wear a white [[sari]] instead of a white [[dress]] (gown).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.surfindia.com/matrimonials/christian-wedding.html|title=Christian Wedding|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=4 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704203809/http://www.surfindia.com/matrimonials/christian-wedding.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the [[1960s]], the ''[[dhoti|dhothi]]'' was worn by [[South Canarese Christian]] men to [[Church wedding]]s and other festivities and on certain occasions, it has almost completely been replaced by the black [[suit and tie]] nowadays.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177555 | jstor=1177555 | title=The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara, India | last1=Silva | first1=Severine | last2=Fuchs | first2=Stephen | journal=Asian Folklore Studies | year=1965 | volume=24 | issue=2 | pages=1–52 | doi=10.2307/1177555 | access-date=15 August 2022 | archive-date=7 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707220746/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177555 | url-status=live }}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{See also|Protestantism in India|Catholic Church in India|Orthodoxy in India (disambiguation){{!}}Orthodoxy in India}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption =Relative size of Christian traditions in India, according to [[Pew Research Center]]'s analysis of [[2011 Indian census]].<ref name="Pew1" />
|label1 = [[Protestantism|Protestant]]
|value1 = 59.22
|color1 = green
|label2 = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]
|value2 = 33.19
|color2 = yellow
|label3 = [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]]
|value3 = 7.44
|color3 = red
|label4 = Others
|value4 = 0.15
|color4 = white}}

The 2001 census of India recorded 24,080,016 Christians in the country, representing 2.34 per cent of the population.<ref name="census" /> A vast majority of Indian Christians are [[Protestants]], followed by [[Catholics]] and [[Oriental Orthodox]] etc.
[[File:A view of the Saint Francis Xavier church Old Goa during the feast of Saint Francis Xavier on December 02, 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Goan Catholics]] celebrating the feast of [[Saint Francis Xavier]]]] 
[[File:Crucession in CNI Church.jpg|thumb|[[Marathi Christians|Marathi Anglicans]] in Mumbai]]
[[File:Oriental Orthodox church in India collects palm fronds for the Palm Sunday.jpg|thumb|[[Oriental Orthodoxy in India|Oriental Orthodox Christians]] celebrating [[Palm Sunday]]]]
[[File:Devotees light candles and pray outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church on the occasion of Christmas, at Gol Dak Khana, in New Delhi on December 25, 2013.jpg|thumb|Devotees light candles and pray outside the [[Sacred Heart Cathedral, New Delhi]] on the occasion of Christmas]]

=== Population by denomination ===

In 2011, Pew reported 18,860,000 [[Protestantism|Protestants]], 10,570,000 [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], 2,370,000 [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]] and 50,000 other Christians in India.<ref name="Pew1" /> Other sources estimate the total number of [[Protestantism in India|Protestants]] throughout the country in several hundreds of denominations at 45 million (4.5 crore).<ref name="Melton1">{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bW3sXBjnokkC&q=number+protestantism+in+india+million&pg=PA284 |title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism |date=2005 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-6983-5 |pages=284–285 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Lausanne1">{{cite web |date=8 July 2011 |title=Number of Christians in China and India |url=https://www.lausanne.org/lgc-transfer/number-of-christians-in-china-and-india-2 |website=Lausanne Movement |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613031349/https://www.lausanne.org/lgc-transfer/number-of-christians-in-china-and-india-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Several sources estimate Catholic population in India at over 17 million (1.7 crore)<ref>{{cite news |title=Factfile: Roman Catholics around the world |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4243727.stm |date=1 April 2005 |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115191253/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4243727.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics by Country, by Percentage Catholic [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc3.html |website=catholic-hierarchy.org |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=1 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701013539/http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest single denomination is the [[Catholic Church in India|Roman Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bhagat |first1=Pamela |title=India |date=2004 |publisher=Oxfam |isbn=978-0-85598-495-3 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5FX2jyJ8yoC&q=India+an+oxfam+country+profile+pamela+bhagat |language=en}}</ref> [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] within the united [[Church of North India]] and [[Church of South India]], constitute the second largest group at over 5 million (50 lakh).<ref name="Cummings1">{{cite book |last1=Cummings |first1=Owen F. |title=One Body in Christ: Ecumenical Snapshots |date=2015 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-0216-9 |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AP1BgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Davies1">{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Noel |last2=Conway |first2=Martin |title=World Christianity in the 20th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd |isbn=978-0-334-04043-9 |pages=135–136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42hnPa3QsngC&q=World+Christianity+in+the+20th+Century |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Saint Thomas Christians]] ([[Syro Malabar Church]], [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]], [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]], [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church]], [[Chaldean Syrian Church]], [[CSI Syrian Christians]], [[Mar Thoma Syrian Church]], [[Pentecostal Syrian Christians]], [[St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India|St. Thomas Evangelical Church]] and [[Malabar Independent Syrian Church]]) of [[Kerala]] form 18.75% of the Christians in India with 4.5 million of them.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sudhi|first=K. s|date=25 March 2021|title=Kerala has 164 forward caste communities|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-has-164-forward-caste-communities/article34161509.ece|access-date=15 June 2021|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611132055/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-has-164-forward-caste-communities/article34161509.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kochukudy|first=Anand|date=6 April 2021|title=In Kerala, the Church is a crucial political player|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/in-kerala-the-church-is-a-crucial-political-player/article34247853.ece|access-date=15 June 2021|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420183211/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/in-kerala-the-church-is-a-crucial-political-player/article34247853.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> 310,000 were members of the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church|Syro-Malankara Church]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.malankaracatholicchurch.net/Statistics.htm |title=Recapitulation of Statistics |publisher=The Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175035/http://www.malankaracatholicchurch.net/Statistics.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>{{when|date=October 2013}} and 4,000,000 of the [[Syro-Malabar Church]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}{{when|date=October 2013}} In January 1993, the Syro-Malabar Church and in February 2005, the Syro-Malankara Church were raised to the status of [[major archbishop|major archiepiscopal churches]] by [[Pope John Paul II]]. The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest among the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches who accept the Pope as the visible head of the whole church.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJ7eCwAAQBAJ&q=The+Syro-Malabar+Church+is+the+second+largest|title=South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America|last=Selva J. Raj|publisher=Routledge, 2016|isbn=9781317052296|date=April 2016}}</ref> The Oriental Orthodox churches in India include the [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]] with 1120,000 members, the [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church]] with 800,000 members and the [[Malabar Independent Syrian Church]] with 30,000 members. The [[Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church]] is an [[Eastern Protestant Christianity|Eastern Protestant]] denomination with 1,100,000 members.{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=285}}<ref name="Mar Thoma">{{cite web|url=http://marthoma.in/overview|title=Overview – MAR THOMA SYRIAN CHURCH OF MALABAR|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=3 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203183635/http://marthoma.in/overview|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most Protestant denominations are represented in India, as a result of missionary activities throughout the country, such as the [[American Missionary Association]], [[United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel|the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Mission]], the [[Church Mission Society]] of the [[Church of England]] and many other missions from Europe, [[United States|America]] and Australia. In 1961, an evangelical wing of the Mar Thoma Church split and formed the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India which has 35,000 members.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_622.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030921081436/http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_622.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 September 2003|title=Adherents.com|access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> There are about 1,267,786 [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]],<ref name=autogenerated8>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_137.html|title=Adherents.com|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028180907/http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_137.html|archive-date=28 October 2014|url-status=usurped}}</ref> 648,000 Methodists,<ref name=autogenerated7>{{cite web|url=http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=3171|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216191021/http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=3171|url-status=dead|title=GBGM Feature|archive-date=16 February 2009}}</ref> 2,392,694 Baptists,<ref name=autogenerated9>{{cite web|url=http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=437|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418102820/http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=437|url-status=dead|title=Baptist World Alliance&nbsp;– Statistics|archive-date=18 April 2008}}</ref> and 823,456 Presbyterians in India.<ref name=autogenerated6>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianchristianity.org/presbyterian.html|title=Indian Christianity|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015113449/http://www.indianchristianity.org/presbyterian.html|archive-date=15 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Open Brethren]] movement is also significantly represented in India. The main Brethren grouping is known as the [[Indian Brethren]] (with a following estimated at somewhere between 449,550<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408">{{citation|first=Jason |last=Mandryk|title= Operation World |publisher=Biblica Publishing|year=2010|page = 408}}</ref> and 1,000,000), of which the [[Kerala Brethren]] are a significant subset. The closely related [[Assemblies Jehovah Shammah]] have around 310,000 adults and children in fellowship as of 2010.<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408"/> They are often considered part of the wider Brethren movement, although they were founded by an indigenous evangelist ([[Bakht Singh]]) and developed independently of the older Indian Brethren movement, which originated from missionary endeavours.

[[Pentecostalism]] is also a rapidly growing movement in India. The major Pentecostal churches in India are the [[Indian Pentecostal Church of God]],<ref name=autogenerated4 /> the [[Assemblies of God]], [[The Pentecostal Mission]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apts.edu/ajps/05-1/05-1-RHedlund.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408203926/http://www.apts.edu/ajps/05-1/05-1-RHedlund.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Critique Of Pentecostal Mission By A Friendly Evangelical|archive-date=8 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.missionstudies.org/archive/conference/1papers/fp/Roger_Hedlund_Full_Paper.pdf|title=The Witness of New Christian Movements in India Roger E. Hedlund 7 Aug 2004|access-date=2 November 2013|archive-date=6 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106091138/http://www.missionstudies.org/archive/conference/1papers/fp/Roger_Hedlund_Full_Paper.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> the New Apostolic Church with 1,448,209 members,<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite web|url=http://www.apts.edu/aeimages/File/AJPS_PDF/01-1-SBurgess.pdf|title=PENTECOSTALISM IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW Stanley M. Burgess 2001|access-date=2 November 2013|archive-date=4 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104030659/http://www.apts.edu/aeimages/File/AJPS_PDF/01-1-SBurgess.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[New Life Fellowship Association]] with 480,000 members, the [[Manna Full Gospel Churches]] with 275,000 members,<ref name=autogenerated4 /> and the Evangelical Church of India with 250,000 members.<ref name=adherents>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_135.html|title=Adherents.com|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402133910/http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_135.html|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

''See main article: [[List of Christian denominations in India]].''
{{Sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|+ Christian denominations in India
|-
! Church name
! data-sort-type="number" | Population
! Orientation
|-
|[[Latin Church]] ("Roman Catholic" Church)
|11,800,000
|'''Catholic, Latin Church'''
|-
|[[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]
|1,600,000{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=285}}
|'''[[Oriental Orthodox]], West Syriac Rite'''
|-
|[[Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church]]
|1,200,000{{sfn|Fahlbusch|2008|p=285}}
|'''[[Oriental Orthodox]], West Syriac Rite'''
|-
|[[Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church]]
|1,100,000<ref name="Mar Thoma"/>
|'''Independent and [[Eastern Protestant Christianity|Eastern Protestant Christian]], Protestant West Syriac Rite'''
|-
|[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]
|4,000,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nasrani.net/2007/02/13/population-statistics-demography-saint-thomas-christians-churches/#footnote_26_181|title=Population Statistics and Demography of Saint Thomas Christians, Churches with historical references|work=Nasranis|date=13 February 2007|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=6 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806070419/https://www.nasrani.net/2007/02/13/population-statistics-demography-saint-thomas-christians-churches/#footnote_26_181|url-status=live}}</ref>
|'''[[Catholic Church|Catholic]], [[East Syriac Rite]]'''
|-
|[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]]
|410,000<ref name="statistics">{{cite web|url=http://nasrani.net/2007/02/13/population-statistics-demography-saint-thomas-christians-churches/|title=Population Statistics|date=13 February 2007|access-date=23 November 2009|archive-date=6 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806070419/https://www.nasrani.net/2007/02/13/population-statistics-demography-saint-thomas-christians-churches/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|'''Catholic, [[West Syriac Rite]]'''
|-
|[[Malabar Independent Syrian Church]]
|20,000
|'''Independent, West Syriac Rite''' (follows Oriental Orthodox faith)
|-
|[[Chaldean Syrian Church]]
|35,000
|'''[[Church of the East]], East Syriac'''
|-
|[[Nagaland Baptist Church Council]]
|687,442
|'''Baptist'''
|-
|[[St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India]]
|35,000
|'''Episcopalian Protestant'''
|-
|[[Church of South India]]
|4,000,000
|'''[[Anglican]]''' ([[United and uniting churches|United and uniting]])
|-
|[[Church of North India]]
|2,100,000+
|'''[[Anglican]]''' ([[United and uniting churches|United and uniting]])
|-
|[[Methodist Church in India]]
|648,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[India Pentecostal Church of God]]
|2,600,000
|'''Protestant Evangelical Pentecostal''' <br />(''[[India Pentecostal Church of God|IPC]]'')
|-
|[[Assemblies of God in India]]
|5,000,000{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
|'''Protestant Evangelical Pentecostal''' <br />(''[[Assemblies of God in India]]'')
|-
|[[United Pentecostal Church in India]]
|105,000<ref name="Global Mission Statistics Report">{{cite web |title=United Pentecostal Church of North East India |date=December 2018 |url=http://upcnei.org/global-mission-statistics-report/|access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref>
|'''Protestant Evangelical Pentecostal''' <br />(''[[United Pentecostal Church in India]]'')
|-
|[[The Pentecostal Mission]]
|700,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[Baptist]]
|2,991,276<ref name="BWAInd">{{cite web |title=Baptist World Alliance – Statistics |url=https://www.bwanet.org/statistics |website=bwanet.org |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927141856/http://bwanet.org/statistics |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|'''Protestant''' <br />(''[[List of Baptist denominations in India]]'')
|-
|[[Assemblies Jehovah Shammah]]
|310,000<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408"/>
|'''Protestant''' (''[[Plymouth Brethren]]'')
|-
|[[Lutheran]]
|4,220,178<ref name=autogenerated8 /><ref name="LWFInd">{{cite web |title=India-The Lutheran World Federation |url=https://www.lutheranworld.org/country/india |website=lutheranworld.org |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418204605/https://www.lutheranworld.org/country/india |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|'''Protestant'''<br /> [[List of Lutheran denominations|List of Lutheran Denominations Worldwide]]
|-
|[[Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church|Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC)]]
|250,000
|'''Protestant Lutheran'''
|-
|[[Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade|Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade (OBEC)]]
|650,000
|'''Protestant Baptist'''
|-
|[[Indian Brethren]]
|449,550<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408"/> to 1,000,000
|'''Protestant''' (''[[Kerala Brethren]]'')
|-
|[[Presbyterian Church of India]]
|1,452,780<ref name="Presbyind">{{cite web |title=Member Church Feature: Presbyterian Church of India |url=https://www.cwmission.org/member-church-feature-presbyterian-church-of-india-pci/ |website=Council for World Mission |date=27 April 2018 |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001131849/https://www.cwmission.org/member-church-feature-presbyterian-church-of-india-pci/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Official Site of The Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) |url=http://www.pcishillong.org/statistics.php |website=pcishillong.org |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=14 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114202147/http://www.pcishillong.org/statistics.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Reformed Presbyterian Church North East India]]
|15,000
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Reformed Presbyterian Church of India]]
|10,000
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Evangelical Church of Maraland]]
|30,000
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Congregational Church in India]]
|5,500
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|Council of Reformed Churches of India
|200,000
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Hindustani Covenant Church]]
|16,600
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[Evangelical Church of India|Evangelical Church]]
|250,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[New Apostolic Church]]<ref name=autogenerated4 />
|1,448,209
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church]]
|12,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
| [[New Life Fellowship Association]]<ref name=autogenerated4 />
|480,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
| Sharon Fellowship Church<ref name=autogenerated4 />
|50,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[Manna Full Gospel Churches]]<ref name=autogenerated4 />
|275,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|Philadelphia Fellowship Church of India<ref name=autogenerated4 />
|200,000
|'''Protestant'''
|-
|[[Seventh-day Adventist Church]]
|1,560,000<ref name="7dai">{{cite web|url=http://www.cumorah.com/index.php?target=view_other_articles&story_id=497&cat_id=30|title=International Resources for Latter-day Saints|website=Cumorah.com|access-date=9 June 2013|archive-date=5 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605202444/http://www.cumorah.com/index.php?target=view_other_articles&story_id=497&cat_id=30|url-status=live}}</ref>
|'''Protestant/Restorationism'''
|-
|Unitarian Union of Northeast India
|10,000
|'''Unitarian'''
|-
|[[Jehovah's Witnesses]]
|42,566<ref>''2016 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses'', p.182</ref>
|'''Restorationism'''
|-
|[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in India|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
|14,528<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/india|title=Statistics and Church Facts &#124; Total Church Membership|website=newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416001151/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/india|url-status=live}}</ref>
|'''Latter Day Saints'''
|-
|[[Christian Revival Church]]
|21,447<ref>''Arunachal Pradesh Christian Revival Church Council (APCRCC)'', Annual Report as on 31 December 2015</ref>
|''' Full Gospel in faith, Charismatic in worship, Pentecostal in Movement and Holistic Evangelical in Ministry'''
|-
|Mennonite Brethren Church
|103,000<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Mennonite Brethren Church Around the World: Celebrating 150 Years|last=Dueck|first=Abe J|publisher=Pandora Press|year=2012|isbn=978-1926599113|location=Kitchener}}</ref>
|'''Protestant''' (Reformed)
|-
|[[Community of Christ]]
|15,000+
|'''Latter Day Saints'''
|}

===Population by region and group===
[[File:2001 Census India religion distribution map, percent Christian in states and union territories.svg|thumb|right|360px|Distribution of Christian population in different Indian states<ref name="census">{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|title=Population by religious communities|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106014425/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Christianity is the predominant religion in the North East states of [[Nagaland]], [[Mizoram]] [[Meghalaya]], and [[Manipur]], and has substantial populations in the states of [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Tripura]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Goa]] and [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands|Andaman Nicobar Islands]].
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01|title=Census India 2011|access-date=28 August 2015|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922204103/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2015 study estimates some 40,000 Christian believers from a Muslim background in the country, most of them belonging to Protestantism.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Johnstone|first1=Patrick|last2=Miller|first2=Duane|title=Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census|journal=International Journal of Research in Religion|year=2015|volume=11|issue=10|page=14|url=https://www.academia.edu/16338087|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-date=13 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313222442/https://www.academia.edu/16338087/Believers_in_Christ_from_a_Muslim_Background_A_Global_Census|url-status=live}}</ref>

The census of India provides us with the official numbers for Christian population in India. The Indian census has been recorded every ten years since 1871 and has always included religion (along with population, race, rural distribution, and occupation, among others).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krishnamurty|first=J.|date=June 1969|title=Census of India 1961, Paper No. 1 of 1967, pp. iii + 145, Price: Rs. 2.00, Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner for India, New Delhi, 1968|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|volume=6|issue=2|pages=197–199|doi=10.1177/001946466900600205|s2cid=141590947|issn=0019-4646}}</ref> The most recently published census is from 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Data_Products/Library/Indian_perceptive_link/History_link/censushistory.htm|title=Census of India – History of Indian Census|website=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=11 April 2020|archive-date=19 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819100814/http://censusindia.gov.in/Data_Products/Library/Indian_perceptive_link/History_link/censushistory.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequent estimates from 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 are also considered reliable.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004235571.cni-2024|title=Church of North India, Archival Collection, CNI-2024|journal=Church of North India, Archival Collection|date=2013 |doi=10.1163/9789004235571.cni-2024}}</ref>

{{Sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|+ States with Christian majority or plurality in India as per 2011 census<ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{Cite web |title=India Census 2011 |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01%20MDDS.XLS |url-status=live |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=www.censusindia.gov.in|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825155850/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01%20MDDS.XLS |archive-date=25 August 2015 }}</ref>
|-
! States
! Christian population
! Percentage (%)
! Status 
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Kerala|Kerala]]'''
| 6,141,269	
| 18.38
| "Significant"
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Meghalaya|Meghalaya]]'''
| 2,213,027
| 74.59
| "Majority" 
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Nagaland|Nagaland]]'''
| 1,739,651
| 87.93
| "Majority"
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Manipur|Manipur]]'''	
| 1,179,043
| 41.29
| "Plurality"
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Mizoram|Mizoram]]'''
| 956,331
| 87.16
| "Majority" 
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh|Arunachal Pradesh]]'''
| 418,732
| 30.26
| "Plurality"
|-
| '''[[Christianity in Goa|Goa]]'''	
| 366,130
| 25.10
| "Significant"
|}

The native majority of [[Goa]] is Christian. According to the 1909 statistics in the Catholic Encyclopedia, the total Christian population in Portuguese controlled Goa was 293,628 out of a total population of 365,291 (80.33%), partly because of centuries long persecution of Hindus and Muslims in Goa.<ref>{{cite book
|chapter=Archdiocese of Goa
|author=Ernest Hull
|title=Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 6
|date=1909
|publisher=Robert Appleton Company
|location=New York}}</ref> Due to emigration of Christianized Goans (mostly Goan Catholics) from Goa to cosmopolitan cities in India (Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.) and to foreign countries, as well as back migration of Hindus and Muslims to Goa from other states of India since the 20th century, the demographics of Goa have been returning back to the historical figures. Less than 50% of Indian residents in Goa are Goan Christians.<ref>{{cite news
|first=Vivek
|last=Menezes
|title=Who belongs to Goa? This question resurfaces as the State battles the raging pandemic
|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/who-belongs-to-goa-this-question-resurfaces-as-the-state-battles-the-raging-pandemic/article34554870.ece
|date=15 May 2021
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|access-date=3 September 2022
|archive-date=2 June 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213112/https://www.thehindu.com/society/who-belongs-to-goa-this-question-resurfaces-as-the-state-battles-the-raging-pandemic/article34554870.ece
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

[[File:India Christian.png|thumb|right|360px|Percentage Christian population, India census 2011]]
{{Sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|+ Christian population per state in India as per 2011 census<ref>{{cite web | title = Census of India – Religious Composition | publisher = Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs | url = http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html | access-date = 27 August 2015 | archive-date = 13 September 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150913045700/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
|-
! State/UT
! Total population
! Christian (%)
! Christian population
|-
| style="background:silver" | '''{{flagu|India}}''' || style="background:silver" | '''1,210,854,977''' || style="background:silver" | '''2.30''' || style="background:silver" | '''27,819,588'''
|-
| [[Christianity in Kerala|Kerala]]
| 33,406,061
| 18.38
| 6,141,269<br />
|-
| [[Christianity in Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]]
| 72,147,030
| 6.12
| 4,418,331
|-
| [[Christianity in Meghalaya|Meghalaya]]
| 2,966,889
| 74.59
| 2,213,027
|-
| [[Christianity in Nagaland|Nagaland]]
| 1,978,502
| 87.93
| 1,739,651
|-
| [[Christianity in Jharkhand|Jharkhand]]
| 32,988,134
| 4.30
| 1,418,608
|-
| [[Christianity in Manipur|Manipur]]
| 2,855,794
| 41.29
| 1,179,043
|-
| [[Christianity in Assam|Assam]]
| 31,205,576
| 3.74
| 1,165,867
|-
| [[Christianity in Odisha|Odisha]]
| 41,974,218
| 2.77
| 1,161,708
|-
| [[Christianity in Karnataka|Karnataka]]
| 61,095,297
| 1.87
| 1,142,647
|-
| [[Christianity in Andhra Pradesh|Andhra Pradesh]]
| 84,580,777
| 1.34
| 1,129,784
|-
| [[Christianity in Maharashtra|Maharashtra]]
| 112,374,333
| 0.96
| 1,080,073
|-
| [[Christianity in Mizoram|Mizoram]]
| 1,097,206
| 87.16
| 956,331
|-
| [[Christianity in West Bengal|West Bengal]]
| 91,276,115
| 0.72
| 658,618
|-
| [[Christianity in Chhattisgarh|Chhattisgarh]]
| 25,545,198
| 1.92
| 490,542
|-
| [[Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh|Arunachal Pradesh]]
| 1,383,727
| 30.26
| 418,732
|-
| [[Christianity in Goa|Goa]]
| 1,458,545
| 25.10
| 366,130
|-
| [[Christianity in Uttar Pradesh|Uttar Pradesh]]
| 199,812,341
| 0.18
| 356,448
|-
| [[Christianity in Punjab, India|Punjab]]
| 27,743,338
| 1.26
| 348,230
|-
| [[Christianity in Gujarat|Gujarat]]
| 60,439,692
| 0.52
| 316,178
|-
| [[Christianity in Madhya Pradesh|Madhya Pradesh]]
| 72,626,809
| 0.29
| 213,282
|-
| [[Christianity in Tripura|Tripura]]
| 3,673,917
| 4.35
| 159,882
|-
| [[Christianity in Delhi|Delhi]]
| 16,787,941
| 0.87
| 146,093
|-
| [[Christianity in Bihar|Bihar]]
| 104,099,452
| 0.12
| 129,247
|-
| [[Rajasthan]]
| 68,548,437
| 0.14
| 96,430
|-
| [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
| 380,581
| 21.28
| 80,984
|-
| [[Christianity in Puducherry|Puducherry]]
| 1,247,953
| 6.29
| 78,550
|-
| [[Christianity in Sikkim|Sikkim]]
| 610,577
| 9.91
| 60,522
|-
| [[Haryana]]
| 25,351,462
| 0.20
| 50,353
|-
| [[Christianity in Uttarakhand|Uttarakhand]]
| 10,086,292
| 0.37
| 37,781
|-
| [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]
| 12,541,302
| 0.28
| 35,631
|-
| [[Himachal Pradesh]]
| 6,864,602
| 0.18
| 12,646
|-
| [[Chandigarh]]
| 1,055,450
| 0.83
| 8,720
|-
| [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli]]
| 343,709
| 1.49
| 5,113
|-
| [[Daman and Diu]]
| 243,247
| 1.16
| 2,820
|-
| [[Lakshadweep]]
| 64,473
| 0.49
| 317
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caste demographic data reported by the [[Sachar Committee]] on Muslim Affairs in 2006<ref>{{cite web |title=Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India |url=https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/sachar_comm.pdf |website=minorityaffairs.gov.in |access-date=19 May 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503115359/http://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/sachar_comm.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! Religion || [[Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes|Scheduled caste]] || [[Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes|Scheduled tribe]] || [[Other Backward Class]] || [[Forward caste]]
|-
| [[Buddhism]] || 89.50% || 7.40% || 0.4% || 2.7%
|-
| [[Sikhism]] || 30.70% || 0.90% || 22.4% || 46.1%
|-
| [[Hinduism]] || 22.20% || 9.10% || 42.8% || 26%
|-
| style="background:silver" | '''Christianity''' || style="background:silver" | '''9.00%''' || style="background:silver" | '''32.80%''' || style="background:silver" | '''24.8%''' || style="background:silver" | '''33.3%'''
|-
| Islam || 0.80% || 0.50% || 39.2% || 59.5%
|}

[[File:Adoration Mangalore.jpg|thumb|200px|Adoration Monastery, [[Mangalore]], after it was vandalized by the [[Bajrang Dal]] during the [[September 2008 attacks on Christians in Mangalore]]]]

== Conflicts and controversies ==
=== Hindu–Christian conflict ===
{{Main|Violence against Christians in India|Beef bans in India|anti-conversion laws in India}}
[[File:Orissa violence destroyedbuilding.jpg|thumb|230px|right|A [[house church]] burnt during the [[2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa]]]]
The arrival of European colonialists brought about large-scale missionary activity in [[coastal India]] and [[North-East India]]. [[Cuncolim Massacre]]<ref name="CE">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Martyrs of Cuncolim|first=Anthony X.|last=D'Souza}}</ref> and the later [[sackings of Goa and Bombay-Bassein]] of those living in [[Portuguese India]] were the first known clashes.<ref>''Goa and Portugal: Their Cultural Links'', p. 35, by Charles J. Borges, Helmut Feldmann, year = 1997</ref>

During the [[1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat]], the [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that from 25 December 1988 to 3 January 1999, at least 20 prayer halls were damaged or burnt down and Christian institutions were attacked in the [[Dang district, India|Dangs district]], and its surrounding districts and at least 25 villages had reported incidents of burning and damages to prayer halls all over Gujarat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a84b4.html|title= Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India|website=Refworld|language=en|access-date=11 April 2020|archive-date=22 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322135906/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a84b4.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bearing-the-cross-recent-attacks-against-christians-worrisome/story-SKCkeGQpV0bpVfY00ruOdO.html|title=Bearing the cross: Recent attacks against Christians worrisome|date=15 March 2015|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=11 April 2020|archive-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807101739/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bearing-the-cross-of-communal-discord/article1-1326535.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 22 January 1999, an Australian missionary [[Graham Staines]] and his two sons were burnt to death by [[Dara Singh (Bajrang Dal)]] while sleeping in his station wagon at [[Manoharpur]] village in [[Keonjhar]] district in Odisha, India.,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/wheres-dara-singh/207275|title=Where's Dara Singh?|work=outlookindia.com|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165243/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/wheres-dara-singh/207275|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/remembering-graham-staines-17-years-after-his-murder|title=Remembering Graham Staines, 18 Years After His Murder|work=The Quint|access-date=11 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=4 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104060005/https://www.thequint.com/news/india/remembering-graham-staines-17-years-after-his-murder|url-status=live}}</ref> In the annual human rights reports for 1999, the [[United States Department of State]] also criticized India for "increasing societal violence against Christians."<ref name="Expressindia">{{cite news |work=Express India |title=US rights report slams India for anti-Christian violence |url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19990227/ige27064.html |date=27 February 1999 |access-date=17 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216180310/http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19990227/ige27064.html |archive-date=16 February 2008}}</ref> The report on anti-Christian violence listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christians pilgrims. The states of [[Rajasthan]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Himachal Pradesh]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] passed laws placing restrictions on forced religious conversions as a result of communal tension between Christians and Hindus.<ref name=":1">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4290843.stm | work=BBC News | first=Narayan | last=Bareth | title=State to bar religious conversion | date=23 February 2005 | access-date=23 June 2011 | archive-date=27 January 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127110158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4290843.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> The legislation passed in Tamil Nadu was later repealed.<ref name=":1" />

In 2007, 19 churches were burned by Hindu right-wingers in Odisha following conflicts between Hindus and Christians regarding Christmas celebrations in the [[Kandhamal district]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/12/27/india-stop-hindu-christian-violence-orissa |title=India: Stop Hindu-Christian Violence in Orissa |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=30 December 2007 |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=4 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104090037/http://www.hrw.org/news/2007/12/27/india-stop-hindu-christian-violence-orissa |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2008, there was again violence against Christians, particularly in the state of [[Odisha]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/09/29/anti-christian-violence-rise-india |title=Anti-Christian Violence on the Rise in India |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=1 October 1999 |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925135935/http://www.hrw.org/news/1999/09/29/anti-christian-violence-rise-india |url-status=live }}</ref> after the [[murder of Swami Lakshmanananda]] by [[Indian Maoists]] (communist insurgents), tensions flared between the two communities in 2008. Christians were blamed and attacked in Orissa with 38 killed and over 250 churches damaged while several thousands of Christians were displaced. Sitting [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) MLA [[Manoj Pradhan]] was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six years by a fast track court for a murder during the 2008 communal riots in Odisha's [[Kandhamal district]].<ref name=NYT>{{Cite news
|title = Violence in India Is Fueled by Religious and Economic Divide
|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/asia/04christians.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
|work = [[The New York Times]]
|location =Tiangia, India
|date = 3 September 2008
|access-date = 24 February 2017
|archive-date = 1 November 2016
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161101165559/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/asia/04christians.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
|url-status = live
}}</ref><ref name="hindu-odisha">{{Cite news
|title = BJP MLA convicted in Kandhamal riots case
|url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article623180.ece
|work = [[The Hindu]]
|location = Chennai, India
|date = 9 September 2010
|access-date = 5 December 2016
|archive-date = 4 November 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141104163506/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article623180.ece
|url-status = live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Akkara|first1=Anto|title=Indian Supreme Court: State Response to Anti-Christian Mob Violence 'Inadequate'|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/august/indian-supreme-court-compensation-for-worst-ever-anti-chris.html|access-date=5 December 2016|work=Gleanings {{!}} ChristianityToday.com|date=15 August 2016|archive-date=24 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924205438/http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/august/indian-supreme-court-compensation-for-worst-ever-anti-chris.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[2008 anti-Christian attacks in Orissa]] spilled over and escalated into the [[2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka]] state. The acts of violence include [[arson]] and [[vandalism]] of churches, forced conversion of Christians to [[Hinduism]] by threats of physical violence, distribution of threatening literature, burning of Bibles, raping of nuns, murder of Christian priests, and destruction of Christian schools, colleges and cemeteries.<ref name="MANAS">{{cite web|title=Anti-Christian Violence in India|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Current_Affairs/Current_affairs.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021002012916/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Current_Affairs/Current_affairs.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 October 2002|author=Vinay Lal|work=Manas: India and Its Neighbors|publisher=UCLA College of Letters and Science}}</ref><ref name="HRW">{{cite web|title=Anti-Christian Violence on the Rise in India|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/09/29/anti-christian-violence-rise-india|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|date=29 September 1999|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426010501/http://www.hrw.org/news/1999/09/29/anti-christian-violence-rise-india|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/indiachr/christians8-05.htm|title=Attacks on Christians across India|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=18 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418061235/https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/indiachr/christians8-05.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> 

A program or movement with its roots in [[Hindutva]] ideology, known as {{transl|hi|[[Ghar wapasi]]}} ('returning home'), sponsored by a number of [[Hindu nationalist]] groups, facilitates the mass conversion of Christians– and, especially, Muslims –"back" to their supposedly "inherent" or "natural" religion of Hinduism. Organisations which promote {{transl|hi|Ghar wapasi}} include the far-right [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]], and the right-wing groups [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]] and [[Dharm Jagaran Samiti]]. Its support by influential officials within the  BJP, the governing party, has led to criticism such that support threatens the secularism and freedom of religion enshrined in India's constitution.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rajeshwar |first1=Yashasvini |last2=Amore |first2=Roy C. |title=Coming Home (''Ghar Wapsi'') and Going Away: Politics and the Mass Conversion Controversy in India |journal=Religions |date=9 May 2019 |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=313 |doi=10.3390/rel10050313 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=25 December 2014 |title=''Ghar wapsi'' only way to end terror says BJP leader |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/ghar-wapsi-only-way-to-end-terror-says-bjp-leader/article1-1300421.aspx |work=Hindustan Times |archive-date=29 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229063904/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/ghar-wapsi-only-way-to-end-terror-says-bjp-leader/article1-1300421.aspx}}</ref>

India is number 10 on Open Doors' 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the fifty countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/india/?ref=wwmap | title=India is number 10 on the World Watch List | access-date=24 June 2022 | archive-date=24 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624150258/https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/india/?ref=wwmap | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Muslim–Christian conflict ===
{{Main|captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam|Indian Rebellion of 1857}}
[[File:JamalabadFortPassage.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Jamalabad]] fort route. [[Mangalorean Catholics]] travelled through this route on their way to [[Seringapatam]]]]

Despite the fact that there have been relatively fewer conflicts between Muslims and Christians in India in comparison to those between Muslims and Hindus, or Muslims and [[Sikhism|Sikhs]], the relationship between Muslims and Christians has also been occasionally turbulent. With the advent of European colonialism in India throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Christians were systematically persecuted in a few Muslim-ruled kingdoms in India.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Among the anti-Christian acts committed were those of [[Tippu Sultan]], the ruler of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] against the [[Mangalorean Catholic]] community from [[Mangalore]] ([[South Canara]]) district along the southwestern coast of India. The [[captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam]], which began on 24 February 1784 and ended on 4 May 1799, remains the most disconsolate memory in their history.<ref name="dajser">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/achievers_view.asp?a_id=28
 |title       = Deportation and The Konkani Christian Captivity at Srirangapatna (1784 Feb. 24th Ash Wednesday)
 |access-date  = 29 February 2008
|publisher   = [[Daiji World|Daijiworld Media Pvt Ltd Mangalore]]
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060510000451/http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/achievers_view.asp?a_id=28
 |archive-date = 10 May 2006}}</ref>

The Bakur Manuscript reports him as having said:<ref name="Lobo" />
{{bq|All Musalmans should unite together, considering the annihilation of infidels as a sacred duty, and labour to the utmost of their power, to accomplish that subject.}}
Soon after the [[Treaty of Mangalore]] in 1784, Tipu gained control of Canara.<ref>{{harvnb|Forrest|1887|pp=314–316}}</ref> He issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates,<ref>{{harvnb|The Gentleman's Magazine|1833|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSrSlq_ckcC M1 388]}}</ref> and deport them to Seringapatam, the capital of his empire, through the [[Jamalabad]]-fort route.<ref name="dm">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.dioceseofmangalore.org/history.asp 
 |title=Christianity in Mangalore 
 |access-date=30 July 2008 |publisher=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore|Diocese of Mangalore]] 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709104331/http://www.dioceseofmangalore.org/history.asp 
 |archive-date=9 July 2010
}}</ref> However, there were no priests among the captives. Together with Fr Miranda, all the 21 arrested priests were issued orders of expulsion to Goa, fined Rs 200,000, and threatened with death by hanging if they ever returned.<ref name="Lobo" />

Tipu ordered the destruction of twenty-seven Catholic churches{{when|date=May 2023}} all intricately carved with statues depicting various saints. Among them were Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres at [[Mangalore]], Jesu Marie Jose at [[Omzoor]], the Chapel at [[Bolar]], the Church of Merces at [[Ullal]], Imaculata Conceiciao at [[Mulki, Karnataka|Mulki]], Sao Lawrence at [[Karkal]]{{cn|date=May 2023}} and Immaculata Conceciao at Baidnur.<ref name="Lobo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20150619170641/http://www.kinnigoli.com/?app=article&mode=view&uid=11 Sarasvati's Children], Joe Lobo</ref> All were razed to the ground, with the exception of the [[Hospet Church|Church of Holy Cross]] at [[Hospet]], owing to the friendly offices of the Chauta Raja of [[Moodbidri]].<ref name="escdemo">{{cite web 
 |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=129 
 |title=Monti Fest Originated at Farangipet&nbsp;– 240 Years Ago! 
 |access-date=28 April 2009 |author=John B. Monteiro 
 |publisher=Daijiworld Media Pvt Ltd Mangalore 
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208022642/http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=129
 |archive-date=8 February 2012
}}</ref>

An instigating factor that helped spark the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] was, for Muslims sepoys, resistance to the [[East India Company]]'s introduction of the new [[Pattern 1853 Enfield|Enfield Rifle-Musket]]—abhorrent to them due to a belief that the weapon's cartridges, which they would be required to handle and even to bite open the encasing papers, were greased with pig fat, a religiously unacceptable agent for Muslim soldiers. Sepoys interpreted the rumours of grease constituents as a deliberate ploy by the Company to defile Muslim soldiers so that they would convert to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Saul |title=The Indian Mutiny: 1857 |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin |location=London; New York |isbn=978-0-14-100554-6 |pages=52–66 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/indianmutiny18570000davi/page/60/mode/2up |chapter=The greased cartridges |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> In combination with a corresponding idea that cow fat was included to defile Hindu soldiers, this was perceived as an attempt to impose [[Christian law]] in [[Hindustan]].<ref name="ghazi" /> 

Historian [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] notes the religiously-imbued rhetoric employed, in contrast to nationalistic sentiment. For instance, when [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]] met the sepoys on 11 May 1857, he was told: "We have joined hands to protect our religion and our faith." They later stood in [[Chandni Chowk]], the main square, and asked the people gathered there, "Brothers, are you with those of the faith?"<ref name="ghazi" /> Those British men and women who had previously converted to Islam such as the defectors, Sergeant-Major Gordon, and Abdullah Beg, a former Company soldier, were spared.<ref name="Jennings" /> In contrast, foreign Christians such as the Rev Midgeley John Jennings, as well as Indian converts to Christianity such as one of Zafar's personal physicians, Chaman Lal, were killed outright.<ref name="Jennings">{{harvnb|Dalrymple|2009|p=153|ref=Dalrymple}}</ref> Dalrymple recounts that as late as 6 September, when calling the inhabitants of [[Delhi]] to rally against the upcoming British assault, Zafar issued a proclamation stating that this was a religious war being prosecuted on behalf of "the faith", and that all Muslim and Hindu residents of the imperial city, or of the countryside were encouraged to stay true to their faith and creeds.<ref name="ghazi" /> He observes that the Urdu sources of the pre- and post-rebellion periods usually refer to the British not as {{transl|ur|angrez}} ('the English'), {{transl|ur|goras}} ('whites') or {{transl|ur|firangis}} ('foreigners'), but as {{transl|ar|[[kafir]]}} ('infidels') and {{transl|ar|nasrani}} ('Christians').<ref name="ghazi">{{harvnb|Dalrymple|2009|pp=22–23|ref=Dalrymple}}</ref>

In modern times, Muslims in India who convert to Christianity are often subjected to harassment, intimidation, and attacks by Muslims.<ref name=arson>{{cite news|last=Gheddo |first=Piero |url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Indian-Kashmir,-Muslims-set-fire-to-a-Catholic-church-24848.html |title=Indian Kashmir, 'unknown arsonists' set fire to a Catholic church |work=Asia News |date=25 May 2012 |access-date=4 November 2013 |archive-date=21 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221023818/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Indian-Kashmir,-Muslims-set-fire-to-a-Catholic-church-24848.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carvalho|first1=Nirmala|title=Indian Kashmir, two Christians arrested on false charges of forced conversions|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Indian-Kashmir,-two-Christians-arrested-on-false-charges-of-forced-conversions-27639.html|work=Asia News|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-date=21 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621061433/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Indian-Kashmir,-two-Christians-arrested-on-false-charges-of-forced-conversions-27639.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], (formerly) the only Indian state– now, Union territory –with a Muslim majority, a Christian convert and missionary named Bashir Tantray was killed, allegedly by militant Islamists in 2006.<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=6705 Christian convert from Islam shot dead in Kashmir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017021324/http://speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=6705 |date=17 October 2007 }},''SperoNews''</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2024}} However, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt [[crypto-Christianity]], secretly declaring his or her conversion. In effect, they are practising Christians, but are legally Muslims; thus the statistics of Indian Christians may not include all Muslim converts to Christianity.{{citation needed|date = April 2021}}

== List of Christian communities in India ==

=== Christian communities ===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Anglo-Indian people]]
* [[Bengali Christians]]
* [[Bettiah Christians]]
* [[Bombay East Indian Catholics]]
* [[Dalit Christians]]
* [[Goan Catholics]]
* [[Karwari Catholics]]
* [[Knanaya Christians]]
* [[Latin Catholics of Malabar]]
* [[Mangalorean Christians]]
* [[Marathi Christians]]
* [[Meitei Christians]]
* [[Protestants in India]]
* [[Punjabi Christians]]
* [[Reddy Catholics]]
* [[St Thomas Christians]]
* [[Tamil Christians]]
* [[Telugu Christian]]{{div col end}}

=== Christianity by state ===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh]]
* [[Christianity in Assam]]
* [[Christianity in Bihar]]
* [[Christianity in Chhattisgarh]]
* [[Christianity in Delhi]]
* [[Christianity in Goa]]
* [[Christianity in Gujarat]]
* [[Christianity in Jharkhand]]
* [[Christianity in Karnataka]]
* [[Christianity in Kerala]]
* [[Christianity in Madhya Pradesh]]
* [[Christianity in Maharashtra]]
* [[Christianity in Manipur]]
* [[Christianity in Meghalaya]]
* [[Christianity in Mizoram]]
* [[Christianity in Nagaland]]
* [[Christianity in Odisha]]
* [[Christianity in Punjab, India|Christianity in Punjab]]
* [[Christianity in Tamil Nadu]]
* [[Christianity in Tripura]]
* [[Christianity in Uttar Pradesh]]
* [[Christianity in West Bengal]]
{{div col end}}

== Notable Indian Christians ==
{{Main|List of Indian Christians}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|India|Christianity|Religion
}}

* [[Catholic Church in India]]
*[[Church of India, Burma and Ceylon]]
* [[Ancient Christianity in Indian subcontinent]]
* [[Saint Thomas Christian cross]]
* [[Anti-Christian violence in India]]
* [[Anti-Christian violence in Karnataka]]
* [[Caste system among Indian Christians]]
* [[List of notable Indian Christians]]
* [[List of cathedrals in India]]
* [[List of Saints from India]]
* [[List of basilicas in India]]
* [[List of Catholic missionaries in India]]
* [[List of Protestant missionaries in India]]
* [[Christian seminaries and theological colleges in India]]
* [[History of Pentecostalism in India]]
*[[Indian Christian Day]]
* [[Jesus in India]]
* [[History of the Jews in India]]
* [[Latin Catholics of Malabar]]
*[[Sikhism in India]]
*[[Buddhism in India]]

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
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* {{Cite book|last=Vadakkekara|first=Benedict|title=Origin of Christianity in India: A Historiographical Critique|year=2007|location=Delhi|publisher=Media House|isbn=978-8174952585|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f3YAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wilmshurst|first=David|title=The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913|year=2000|location=Louvain|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-9042908765|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jB8ir0ek8bgC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wilmshurst|first=David|title=The martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East|year=2011|location=London|publisher=East & West Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1907318047|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfxNtwAACAAJ}}
*{{cite book |year=1833 |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSrSlq_ckcC |publisher=F. Jefferies |volume=CIII |access-date=15 October 2008 |ref={{harvid|The Gentleman's Magazine|1833}} |page=610 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |author1=Anand Amaladass |author2=Gudrun Löwner |title=Christian Themes in Indian Art: From the Mogul Times Till Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI_HtwAACAAJ |year=2012 |publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-81-7304-945-3}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW0cAAAAMAAJ |title=An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology |last=Boyd |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Boyd (theologian) |publisher=Christian Literature Society |year=1975 |edition=Revised |location=Madras |language=en}}
* Goel, S.G. 2016. History of Hindu-Christian encounters, AD 304 to 1996.
* Hollister, John Norman. ''The Centenary of the Methodist Church in Southern Asia'' (Lucknow Publishing House, 1956). 
* Jain, Sandhya (2010). Evangelical intrusions: [Tripura, a case study]. New Delhi: Rupa & Co.
* Latourette, Kenneth S. ''Christianity In A Revolutionary Age A History Of Christianity In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries Volume III The Nineteenth Century Outside Europe The Americas The Pacific Asia And Africa'' (1961) pp 400–415. [https://archive.org/details/christianityinar012668mbp online]
* Latourette, Kenneth S. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age Vol. 5, The 20th Century outside Europe'' (1962) pp. 299–331.
* {{cite book |author=A. E. Medlycott |title=India and the Apostle Thomas: An Inquiry, with a Critical Analysis of the Acta Thomae |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26318934-india-and-the-apostle-thomas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908061345/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26318934-india-and-the-apostle-thomas |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 September 2023 |date=2005 |publisher=Gorgias Press LLC |isbn=978-1-59333-180-1}}
* Madhya Pradesh (India)., & Niyogi, M. B. (1956). Vindicated by time: The Niyogi Committee report on Christian missionary activities. Nagpur: Government Printing, Madhya Pradesh.
* Moffett, Samuel Hugh. ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. II, 1500–1900'' (2005) . 
* ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India'', Vol. I (India) 1982, Vol. II (Kerala) 1973, Vol. III (India) 2010 Ed. George Menachery
* ''Indian Church History Classics"Vol.I (Nazranies) 1998 Ed. George Menachery''
* "History of the Syrian Nation and the Old Evangelical-Apostolic Church of the East" By George David Malech, Publisher: Gorgias Press
* S.M. Michael SVD, ''Dalit's Encounter with Christianity. A Case Study of Mahars in Maharashtra'', ISPK&nbsp;– Ishvani Kendra: Delhi&nbsp;– Pune 2010, 230 pp., {{ISBN|978-81-8465-074-7}}.
* George Menachery, Ed., various publications incl. ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India'' in 3 vols. and The Indian Church History Classics ''The Nazranies'' for some 1500 photos and art reproductions
* Panikkar, K. M. (1959). Asia and Western dominance. London: Allen & Unwin. {{ISBN|978-1597406017}}
* Panikkar, K. M. (1997). Malabar and the Portuguese: Being a history of the relations of the Portuguese with Malabar from 1500–1663. Bombay: D B Taraporevala.
* Pickett, J. Waskom. ''The Methodist Church in India.'' (1939).
* {{cite book |author=Rowena Robinson |title=Christians of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HyFDnV9k2cYC |date= 2003 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-9822-8}}
* Shourie, Arun. (2006). Missionaries in India: Continuities, changes, dilemmas. New Delhi: Rupa.{{ISBN|978-8172232702}}
* Thoburn, James M. ''The Christian conquest of India'' (1906) [https://archive.org/details/christianconque00thob/page/n11/mode/2up online]
* ''This article includes material from the 1995 [[public domain]] [[Library of Congress Country Studies|Library of Congress Country Study]] on India.''
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}{{Wikiquote}}
* {{cite web|title=8 key findings about Christians in India|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/12/8-key-findings-about-christians-in-india/|website=[[Pew Research Centre]]}}
*{{cite web|title=History of Christianity in India|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-87/christianity-in-india.html|website=[[Christianity Today]]}}

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