JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

ART. XVI.-A Memoir of the Primitive Church of Malayála, or of the Syrian Christians of the Apostle THOMAS, from its first rise to the present time, by Captain CHARLES SWANSTON, of the Honourable East India Company's Military Service on the Madras Establishment. - Communicated by the Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary Royal Asiatic Society.

Read 5th of January, 1833, &c.

CHAPTER THE FIRST.

FROM THE ARRIVAL OF THE APOSTLE THOMAS TO THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA, A.D. 1502.

THE Syrian or primitive church of Malayala Christians acknowledges Saint THOMAS for its founder; and from the earliest dawn of Christianity in India, the tomb of that apostle has been as much venerated in the East as the tomb of Saint PETER was at Rome. This is not asserted on the authority of any obscure tradition, but unites in its favour all the proofs which can warrant its correctness: the accumulated testimonies of the first ages of the church; of Saint JEROME; of Saint JOHN, surnamed CHRYSOSTOM; ATHANASIUS, and EUSEBIUS.* Cosmos, surnamed the Indian navigator (Indicopleustes), one of the first travellers who has given any account of the Christians of India, states, that in A.D. 522, Christianity was successfully preached in India. "The pepper coast of Malabar, and the isles of the ocean, Socotora, and Ceylon, were peopled with an increasing multitude of Christians; and the bishops and clergy of those sequestered regions derived their ordination from the Catholic of Babylon." At the end of the ninth century, the shrine of St. THOMAS was devoutly visited

* St. JEROME of Palestine, A. D. 379; JOHN, surnamed CHRYSOSTOM, patriarch of Constantinople, A. D. 403; ATHANASIUs, patriarch of Alexandria, A.D. 325; EUSEBIUS, bishop of Cæsarea, A.D. 338.

VOL. I.

by the ambassadors of ALFRED,* and MARCO POLO, in the thirteenth century, was shewn the spot where the apostle suffered martyrdom on the Mount, in the neighbourhood of Mailápúr, “which was then,” he says, "much frequented by Christian and Saracen pilgrims from all parts, but particularly from the pepper coast of Malabar, in which country there are both Christians and Jews who have a speech by themselves. The Saracens hold him a great prophet, and call him ANNANIAS, that is, holy man. The Christians take of the earth where he was slain, which is red, and carry it with them with great reverence, and give it, mixed with water, to the sick."

The Portuguese, on their first arrival in Malabar, found there nearly two hundred thousand Christians, the wreck of an unfortunate people. They called themselves Christians of St. THOMAS; and, after the example of their ancestors, it was their custom to go every year on pilgrimage to the place where, according to certain legends of their church, their apostle had consummated his martyrdom. His history and miracles, extracted from their annals, had been composed into a species of canticle, translated into the language of the country, and were sung by the inhabitants of the fishery, and of the coast of Malabar.

In addition to the authority of these witnesses may be adduced the usages and monuments still existing (A.D. 1826); and which ascend even to that epoch (A.D. 51), when the Christian name was first known in India.+

To this day, and from time immemorial, the town of Mailapúr, to which the Christians of India have given the name of St. Thomè, is crowded every year with pilgrims; and the neighbouring mount is covered with a multitude of Christians, assembled from all parts of India, and even from the interior of Armenia and Syria, to kiss the

*This circumstance is related in the following extract from Sir F. PALGRAVE'S History of the Anglo Saxons, p. 185, 12mo, Lond. 1831.

"From the many travellers who visited the court of ALFRED, he had heard of the existence of the Syrian Christians, and he determined to send the bishop of Sherburn, whose name was SWITHELM, to give them help. SwITHELM not only bore king ALFRED's gifts to India, but returned in safety with the presents which the Hindo-Syrians had sent as tokens of their gratitude, gems and precious spices of sweet odour. And ALFRED's fame was greatly increased by this enterprise."-ED.

The name of Christians of St. THOMAS, transmitted from age to age by the followers of this church; the custom of celebrating in the Syrian tongue public worship; the name of a bishop JOHANNES, found amongst the signatures of the first general council of Nice, A.D. 325, and who there bears the title of Bishop of Persia and of India,-are also important facts, and tend to confirm the general opinion that St. THOMAS was the first apostle of India.

spot where St. THOMAS suffered martyrdom, to deposit their offerings, and to pray on the sepulchre of the apostle.

The traditions of a primitive and ignorant people are almost always confused, and often blended with fable. Through the mists which envelop the traditions of the Christians of St. THOMAS, the following is what appears to be the most probable account, and that which approaches nearest to the truth. After having established Christianity in Arabia Felix, and in the island of Socotora, the apostle came into India and landed at Cranganór (A.D. 51), where the most powerful sovereign of the Malabar coast then resided. History, both sacred and profane, mentions, that before the birth of CHRIST, numbers of the inhabitants of Judea had quitted their country and had spread themselves over Egypt, Greece, and many of the kingdoms of Asia. St. THOMAS having learnt that one of these small colonies was settled in the neighbourhood of Cranganór, immediately repaired to the spot which the Jews had chosen for an asylum. He preached to them the Gospel and baptized many of their number. This was the cradle of Christianity in India.*

* The descendants of this colony are now divided into two classes—the Jerusalem or white Jews, and the ancient or black Jews. The white Jews, in number now not exceeding 200, live in the town of Mattancherry, about one mile distant from Cochin, which is also inhabited by black Jews. They have two respectable synagogues in the town, one for each class; but the great body of the black tribe inhabit towns in the interior of the country, and have many other synagogues.

The tradition handed down to them by their fathers is, that they are part of the tribe of MANASSEH, which was carried into captivity by NEBUCHADREZZAR, and sent to the easternmost part of his mighty empire; that they came to Cranganór, where their forefathers continued a thousand years. They enjoyed a patriarchal jurisdiction within the district, with certain privileges of nobility, which were engraven on a plate of brass. The grant, to this effect, by the sovereign of the country, is signed by seven kings as witnesses. This record is still in their possession. It bears no date, but it proves the estimation in which the colony was held at the time the grant was made. ' The destruction of Cranganór, which contained 80,000 people, the Jews describe as being like the desolation of Jerusalem, and arose from discord among themselves. One of their chiefs called to his assistance a native prince, who razed their city to the ground. Such of the people as escaped captivity or slaughter fled to Cochin, and built the town of Mattancherry, A.D. 16891700. When the Dutch made themselves masters of Cochin, the white Jews reckoned their numbers not to exceed 4,000.

1 In the Asiatic Journal, N. S. vol. vi. p. 6, will be found an article on the Jews of Malabar, containing a fac-simile, with a transcript in modern Tamil letters, and a translation by the late C. M. WHISH, Esq. of the Madras Civil Service, of the inscription above mentioned, from which it is clearly proved that the date of the document is the year 231 of the Christian era. The original documents from which this article was drawn up are in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society, having been presented to it by THOMAS HERVEY BABER, Esq. of the Bombay Civil Service.-ED.