23 - South Asia, 1911–2003

Summary

Christians of south Asia have always consisted of many ‘communities’, distinguished according to region, language, caste and church tradition. Some are products of relatively recent conversions, while others belong to older, more established, traditions. During the twentieth century, socio-political changes related to Indian nationalism, constitutional reforms and caste politics prompted new forms of theological reflection and new avenues for public engagement. Rather than remaining within their niches, different classes of Christians considered how best to stake their claims within an evolving public domain and inscribe a more collective Christian identity upon the canvass of nationhood. Could an ‘Indian Christian community’ be attuned to local, nationalistic and international developments at the same time, or would these different sites of engagement remain in constant tension with each other? Challenges concerning the status of Christians within the Indian nation presented themselves poignantly during the decades preceding independence (1947) and continue to this day.

The Indian church

Indian Christianity consists of three principal branches: Syrian (or Thomas) Christian, Roman Catholic and Protestant. During the colonial period, Christians belonging to the oldest church of India, the Thomas Christians, were mostly concentrated within the princely state of Travancore, or what is now Kerala. Significant numbers of Thomas Christians also resided within the Malabar district of British south India. They traced their origins to the apostle Thomas, who allegedly came to India and converted a number of Brahmins along the Coromandel coast near Mylapore.