Chapter Ii a Brief History of the Church in Kerala

CHAPTER II A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN KERALA Traditionally, Kerala extended from Gokarnam to Cape Comorin, but in historical times its area was confined to the Malayalam speaking territories on the coasts. The country slopes from East to West, with uplands and hills in the East, and plains, lowlands and fields on the western section. The coastal region is almost at the sea level, while the western ghats in the East form an almost unbroken range of mountains, some of which are as high as 10,000 feet. These mountains separate or in some way isolate Kerala from the rest of India, It might, therefore, appear that the Malayalis from the beginning have lived a life of their own. But Kerala's connections across the sea with the countries bordering on the Arabian sea was continuous and of particular significance, which have affected its society and culture. The Church, in fact, traces its origin to these connections, 2 Non-Christian Communities _ Kerala is an instance of the communities of three major world religions - Hinduism, Islam and Christianity - living within one territory. The Hindu community of Kerala experienced the most elaborate system of caste found in India, With 365 divisions and subdivisions,-^ and conceptions of purity and pollution which extended beyond untouchability 42 43 to unapproachability, Kerala was described by Vivekananda as a mad house of caste, *" Yet, the system was unusual in its structure. For, of the four basic varnas, Kshatriyaa were rare and Vaisyas almost non-existent, Nairs took the place of Kshatriyas, though they were regarded as Sudras by the Namboodiri Brahmins. Muslims and Syrian Christians were, to some extent, the major trading and business communities. Neither has, however, fulfilled the role attributed to the Vaisya, In fact, Kerala has had no indigeneous community primarily concerned with either money-lending or entrepreneu rial activity. Money-lending has been mainly taken by the Konkani and Tamil Brahmins, and entrepreneurship by the Europeans and Gujaratis. At the top of the system, as elsewhere in India, are the Brahmins. There are 17 Brahmin subcastes, among which Namboodiris constitute the important indigeneous Brahmin group of Kerala. Their patrimonial and primogenital customs discouraged property fragmentation. All of them were land- -a lords and in contrast to the alien Brahmins resident in Kerala, Namboodiris, because of their insistence on ritual purity, have taken little part in public life. Among the non-Malyali Brahmins of Kerala the Tamil Brahmins are the most numerous. In contrast to the Namboodiris, they have proved highly adaptable to modern conditions and by the end of mid-nineteenth century they had established a virtual 44 monopoly in some key areas of Government services of Travan- core. Here one may recall the Malayali Memorial of 1^91, a petition to the Maharaja of Travancore by his Malayali subjects protesting against Tamil dominance in the higher 7 reaches of the Travancore Government, The Nairs who followed the matriarchal (marumakka- g thayaia) system of inheritance come next in importance, Q There are 25 subcastes among them. Together with the Namboodiris, the Nairs had formed the land-owning class. But today many of them are agriculturists. Since the commu nity as such took special interest in education, there is a higher rate of literacy in this community and a good many of them are employed in Government service. The Nair Service Society (N, S.S.), the caste organization of the Nairs with 54 Unions (taluk units), 4,000 Karayogams (village units) and Boo Vanitha samajams (women's associations) and an infrastructure of schools, colleges, hospitals and training centres is a potent factor in the social and political life of Kerala and since 1973 N.S.S, has its own political wing too, the National Democratic Party (N.D, P.). Ezhavas who stand next in the hierarchical ladder are traditionally toddy-tappers. They were defined as un touchables by the upper castes and till the beginning of the 20th century were denied both temple entry and temple approach. Today they are engaged in agriculture and commerce and some 45 of them may be found in other walks of life too. There are five subcastes among the Ezhavas,1 2 The Sree Narayan Dharraa Paripalana Yogam (S,N.D.P,) which was established as the caste association of the Ezhavas towards the beginning of this century in order to put an end to the various caste disabilities, has, like the N.S.S, of the Nairs, become a powerful interest group in Kerala, With 53 unions and 3l60 Sakhas (branches) S,N.D.P., too, runs several schools, colleges, hospitals and training centres. And in 1972, Social Revolutionary Party (3,R.P.) has been formed as the political wing of the S.N.D.P."'-^ At the bottom of the system are the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Although Government action has made a tiny elite group among them, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes still remain predominantly landless labourers who are usually employed in agriculture and other manual works. The Muslim community ortgtftated in Kerala during the Sth and 9th centuries through the settlement of Arab traders and are locally known as Mappillas,1 4 Almost all the Muslims are Sunnis. The main occupation of the Muslims is trade. But since the level of literacy is comparatively low among them, many of the Muslims are engaged in casual labour. Welfare and development activities of the community are being carried out by 11 Muslim Associations, among which Muslim Educational Society (M,E.S.) is the most important. 46 The non-Christian communities which constitute 7S,82 per cent of the total Kerala population are distributed as follows : Table 2.1 : Percentage Distribution of non-Christian Communities of Kerala {196^)1° Community % to the total population of Kerala Namboodiri Brahmins 0,14 Other Brahmins 1.32 Nairs l4.4l Ezhavas 22.19 Other Hindu Castes 12.56 Scheduled Castes 7.^5 Scheduled Tribes 1.22 Muslims 19.12 Others (Sikhs, Parsis, Jews, Budhists) 0.01 Total non-Christians 7g.g2 Note: For the distribution of Christian population in Kerala, see Table 2,2, With this general background of the non-Christian communities of Kerala, we shall now proceed to the study of the origin, growth and development of the Church in Kerala. 47 Christian Community Historical tradition ascribes the origin of Christianity in Kerala to St, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who is believed to have landed at Crangannore, Trichur District, in the year 52 A.D, and planted a cross there, signifying thereby the birth of Christianity in Kerala, 17 In view of the extensive trade relations that existed between Kerala and Mediterranean countries even before the Christian era, there is nothing improbable, as we think, in this tradition. The Christian community which through proselytiza- tion of the local people flourished in Kerala was known by the names of "St, Thomas Christians*' (after the name of St, Thomas, the founder of the Church) and "Syrian Christians" (because of the relationship that the Kerala Church had with the Church of East Syria). The main centres of the community were Crangannore, Palayur, Kottakavu, Kokkamangalam, Quilon, Niranam and Nilackal, As the early converts were from upper castes, the Syrian Christians enjoyed a status that was equivalent to the high caste Hindus, Mundadan, in his analysis oi the way of life of the Syrian Christians observes that till the advent of the Portuguese in lk^B, the Syrian Christians had been living in two worlds at the same time.1 9 The first of these was the geographical, political and social world of Kerala, In this context, it may be pointed out that the Church, after landing in India, got itself assimilated into the languages. 4i customs, rituals and ceremonies of India. Hence, J.H, Hutton, the Census Commissioner for India (1931) observes that the Catholic Church of India permitted the use of "tali instead of a ring in marriage and... the retention of other customs, such as, a tabu 'for reasons of hygiene' on contacts with 20 persons polluted by childbirth." A study conducted by Chawgliana among the Christians of Mizoram revealed that the Church got itself assimilated even to local gods. 21 For, he observes that the early Christian missionaries taught the Mizos that what the Mizos called "Pathian" was the God of whom the missionaries, too, were talking, "Thus, the term "Pathian" which was used to designate their old God... (became) 22 their new God, the Christian God," The Syrian Christian community which flourished in Kerala was one of the best examples of such cultural adaptations. Summarising their way of life, Podipara remarks that the Syrian Christians were "Hindu in culture (and) Christian in religion,..", 23 i,e,, while preserving the "sacred" dimension of Christianity intact (hence "Christian in religion"), "profane" elements were adjusted to the local situation (hence "Hindu in culture"). The ecclesiastical world of the East Syrian Church or the Chaldean Church, whose bishops governed them, whose faith, law and mode of worship they shared was the second world of the Syrian Christians. With the coming of the Portuguese, they were initiated into a third-world, viz., A-9 25 the Latin Christendom. Failing to distinguish between the 'sacred' and 'profane' dimensions of religion, the Portuguese indulged in a wholesale condemnation of this community's age-old practices as non-Christian, They further tried to introduce the customs and practices of the Latin Church, a process which culminated

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