This chapter is named ‘Dark Ages’
because we have only a few historical proofs of the Malankara church from the
12th to the end of the 15th centuries. In this chapter we
shall mention the arrival of the Nestorian bishops and the Portuguese invasion
under the leadership of Vasco de Gama as the main events between the 12th
and the 16th centuries. Together with this, we mention the Buchanan
Bible kept in the Cambridge University Archives, the arrival of Nestorian
Bishops, birth of the Roman Catholic Church, the separation of the church which
was undivided for centuries and the Hierarchical Jurisdiction of the
4.1. Hierarchical
Relationship before Nestorian Period
Here we narrate the history of the
4.1.1. Indian bishop at the Jacobite Syrian Synod
After the death of Mor Yuhanon of
Sroog,[1]
Mor Gabriel son of Yoohanon, an Indian bishop participated in a synod. We
understand this from the Church history of Bar Hebraeus. When he talks about
the ordination of the 57th Catholicose, he mentions the following:
After the death of Mor Yuhanon of Sroog, some ascetics and leaders from Mor
Mathai monastery and the important people of the Ninevites and the Tigrits of
Mosul and some bishops assembled together. The bishops were the following:
Ignatius from the city of Urmia in Azerbaijan, once Gabriel the son of Yuhanon
from India; Yuhanon the bishop of the Arabs, once Ravad Markia and Saliba,
bishop of the monastery, and Basil of Bagdad, once Mathew son of Schujak from
lower Beth-Daniel;[2]
The presence of the Indian bishop,
Mor Gabriel in this synod is a solid evidence of the relation of
4.1.2. Manuscript Evidences of Buchanan Bible
In the
4.1.2.1 Content of the Manuscript
Let us try to understand, with whose
faith the Bible was similar to.
(a) Latin is the official language of
the Roman Catholic Church.[6]
If the
(b)With the only reference that the
Buchanan bible was written in the period of Michael, Jacobite Patriarch of
Antioch,[8]
we can comprehend that the
The New Testament of the Buchanan
Bible is divided into further sections of rubrics. In every rubric there is the
mention of how it is to be read. Without any exception these rubrics agree with
that of the Church of the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. Some of the references
are given below.
(a) In the Buchanan Bible, there are
more than a dozen rubrics for divine services on days specially set apart for
the commemoration of St. Mary. These rubrics make mention of her not as St.
Mary or Mother of Christ as a Nestorian would do, but as ‘Mother of God’- a
title never given to her by the Nestorians. The rubrics heading the lessons
beginning with ‘St. Mathew’ Chapter XII. Verse 38, ‘St. Mark’ Chapter III verse
31, ‘St. Luke’ Chapter VIII. Verse 16, are instances in point.[9]
(b) According to the practice in
vogue among the Nestorians, the celebration of the Eucharist is forbidden on
Saturdays in Lent. But to the Jacobites the celebration of the Eucharist on
Saturdays in Lent is compulsory. This manuscript Bible conforms to the Jacobite
Practice.[10]
(c) Among the Nestorians, Friday is a
sacred day. They view it in the light of a second Sunday. Friday ‘throughout
the year, has as regularly its own name and office as Sunday; and the festivals
of greatest saints are fixed in regular course on Fridays. They prefer Friday
to any other day (excepting Sunday) for the celebration of the Eucharist. In
their calendar, Fridays have an important place. Many of the movable festivals
are so adjusted that they fall on Fridays. Hence it is natural that the
Nestorian Bible should have special rubrics for Fridays. But the Bible given to
Dr. Buchanan contains no rubric whatever for the Nestorian Friday festivals.[11]
(d) An instance may be pointed out in
the 28th verse of the 20th Chapter of the ‘Acts of the
Apostles’, where the Nestorian Bible has the words “to feed the Church of
Christ”, instead of “the Church of God” which the manuscript contains. And the
rubric heading the lesson beginning with the 10th verse of the 3rd
Chapter of the 2nd Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy runs thus: - For
the Eucharist on the day of the commemoration of Mor Severius, Patriarch of
Antioch- that Patriarch who was Jacobite in the full sense and who consolidated
the Jacobite community and regulated their rituals and worship.[12]
Archbishop Mor Ivanious says about
this Buchanan Bible:
These evidences conclusively prove that the manuscript is Jacobite, and
not Nestorian. If it is Jacobite, then, we may very well infer from it that the
From the above we can understand that
the Buchanan bible was not in accordance to the Nestorian faith but according
to the faith of the church of the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch.
4.1.2.2. Age of Manuscript
About the antiquity of the Buchanan
Bible almost all the Historians have a unanimous opinion. It is believed that
it has been brought to Malankara before the 16th century. But some
historians do not agree with it. They argue that it might be in the 17th
century.[14] Let
us check the age of the manuscript.
(a) When the Buchanan Bible was
gifted to Buchanan by the Syrian Bishop, he mentioned, “This has been with us
for the last thousand years.”[15]
But the Bishop could not say the exact century. Moreover he may not have known
the exact century or year. He might have guessed it. When Buchanan was
presented the Buchanan Bible, the Bishop was 78 years old.[16]
Had the Buchanan Bible been brought by somebody in the 17th century,
the Bishop could have known the exact date, because he was born in the
beginning of the 18th century. But he only referred to the thousand
years.[17]
E.M. Philip clarifies about this topic. He says:
The Syrian Bishop who presented it to Dr. Buchanan was seventy- eight
years old at the time he parted with it. Hence his birth must have been in
1729, i.e., just sixty-four years after the arrival of the first of the
aforesaid Jacobite bishops. And yet this Grand Old Metropolitan was not only
quite ignorant of the exact date of its importation, but even claimed that it
was preserved in the mountains of Malabar for nearly a thousand years. The
library of the present Syrian (Jacobite) Metropolitan of Malabar contains a
manuscript copy of the New Testament brought by the Patriarch’s Delegate in
1665. The sacerdotal vestments and sacramental cups used by some of the early
Delegates of the Patriarch of Antioch are still preserved. If the ‘Buchanan
Bible’ was brought to Malabar by any of the delegates of the Jacobite Patriarch
in or after 1665, the fact could not have been a secret. If this manuscript Bible
is a purely Jacobite Bible, as we hope to prove, and if it could not have been
brought into the country after 1665, it must have been in the possession of the
In the book of Hugh Pearson there is
a reference that the Malabar Christians were under the Patriarch of Antioch and
it throws light into the antiquity of the Bible too. This reference is given
below. He narrates:
‘But how’, said the old priest, ' shall we know that your standard copy
is a true translation of our bible? We cannot depart from our own bible. It is
the true book of God, without corruption; that book which was first used by the
Christians at
So we can understand that the
Buchanan bible had been brought before the 17th century.
We have seen whose Bible was given to
Buchanan. This was not of Nestorians but according to the Jacobite Syrian
Faith. Since there was Nestorian dominion over the
It is worth while to mention that the Vatican Library contains a New
Testament said to have been translated into Syriac at Cranganore by the
Nestorian Bishop Mor Jacob on Wednesday the 6th of March 1510. Both
the
Gregory a famous theologian as well
as historian gives a clear narration about the researches of Buchanan about the
study regarding the manuscript among the Syrian Christians of Malankara and the
religious identity of the Syrian Christians of Malankara. He says:
Dr. Buchanan especially, who in 1806 visited the Syrian churches,
amounting to 119, in Malayala, was informed by the inhabitants that no European
had, to their knowledge, visited the place before. Their liturgy is derived
from that of the early
According to above made discussions
and narrations we can conclude that the Buchanan Bible had been brought to
Malankara between the 13th and 16th centuries. If the
4.2. Nestorian
Period
We have already seen in the previous
chapters that there was no Nestorian faith in
The palmy days of the Jacobites ended in the thirteenth century. Weak
and powerless persons began to occupy the Patriarchal throne of
After having established the
Nestorian faith in Malabar the Nestorian bishops tried to impose their faith
over there. But let us try to see whether there was Nestorian faith in
4.2.1. Did the Malankara Christians accept
Nestorian Faith?
Did the
A man named Joseph went over to
Europe in one of the ships of Capt. Cabral in 1501 and he has given an account
of the Syrian Christians to some people in Venice and they have published a
book called ‘Voyages of Joseph the Indian’. That book describes a conversation
with Pope Alexander and Joseph. Let us see that dialogue:
Pope Alexander asked Joseph from where this Catholica had the authority
for making Bishops in the countries of the East. The latter answered him that
St. Peter too had been Bishop in
Daniel says that about this topic, “..‘Voyages
of Joseph the Indian’, wherein it is stated to Antiochean Patriarch….Malankara
people who were Orthodox Syrians could not understand the difference between
Nestorian bishops and Orthodox bishops. So they received the Nestorian bishops
who came in 1490, as their own bishops.”[24]
Syrian Catholic says that, “from the
information obtained by persons who spoke to Joseph, a book was published,
which gives a description of the Malabar Christians, but no mention is made of
any heresy.”[25]
Mackenzie, in his article on
Christianity in Travancore, in the official State Manual, after discussing the
contention that the St. Thomas Christians before the arrival of the Portuguese
were not Nestorian heretics. [26]
So here we can clearly understand
that the Malankara church, at that time, before the arrival of the Nestorians
had a strong Hierarchical relationship with the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch.[27]Even
though the Malankara church was under the control of Nestorian bishops,
Nestorian faith was not accepted by the
4.3. Arrival of
Roman Catholic Missionaries
The origin and expansion of the
mission of the Roman Catholic Church in Malankara happened with the advent of
the Portuguese. Some sporadic visits of some western missionaries can be traced
back to the 14th century or late 13th century, the origin
and growth of the Roman Catholic church in
According to the historian, Joohanon
Marthoma who was the head of the
Conder says:
The Syrian
Christians formerly enjoyed political ascendancy in Malabar. When
Vasco de Gama reached
Seeley says: “The Syrian
churches of Malabar, who until the arrival of the Portuguese on their coasts,
had never even heard of the Pope, but derived their orders from
4.4. Portuguese
Invasion
The first Portuguese encounter with
Alexander
Marthoma says that “At this time the Portuguese were powerful in the eastern
areas and had control of the sea routes. The Pope wanted to use this
opportunity to bring the Church in Malabar under the supremacy of
Buchanan
and others narrate about the advent of the Portuguese under the leadership of
Vasco de Gama in the
"These Churches,'' said the Portuguese, "belong” to the
Pope." “Who is the Pope," said the natives,” we have never heard of
him." The European priests were yet more alarmed, when they found that
these Hindoo Christians maintained the order and discipline of a regular Church
under Episcopal Jurisdiction: and that, for 1300 years past, they had enjoyed a
succession of Bishops appointed by the Patriarch of Antioch. “We,'' said they,
are of the true faith, whatever” you from the West may be; for we come from the
place where the followers of Christ were first called Christians.”[37]
It is clear from this conversation
that the Syrian Christians of the
The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in
It is difficult to decide, from the imperfect
and prejudiced accounts of the early Portuguese, to what rite these Christians
belonged at this period, or whether they belonged to more rites than one. Varthema’s
notice of them is very brief, and what he does say would apply equally either
to the Syrian Jacobite or to the Nestorian community,[39]
I. Daniel clarifies about this topic:
“Ludovico says that the priests use leavened bread for Eucharist, thereby showing
that they were not Roman Catholics.”[40]
L.W. Stone says:
After another thousand years, these Christians in
Peschier
says:
The earliest maritime people of Europe, the Portuguese, founded there,
in the 16th century,
a powerful dominion: they discovered, in the mountains of the
Ghauts, and on the coast of Malabar,
a double race of Jews, and the ancient and which has been traced
to the preaching of the Apostle Thomas, and which, without doubt, at least
originated from that at Antioch,
the language of which it has preserved in its sacred books and
worship. These docile Christians were constrained to submit to the laws imposed
upon them from
Webb says:
The truth is, that on the arrival of the Portuguese on the Malabar
coast, they found, near to
Swanston says:
These deputies presented to Vasco De Gama, on his first visit to
White says:
There is here supposed to be evidence of the following facts: that when
the Portuguese, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, sailed
round the Cape of Good Hope to the coast of Malabar, they found
on it the body of Christians in question; that they were in entire ignorance of
there being in Rome an ecclesiastic, who claimed jurisdiction over the
Christian world; and that they professed to have derived their faith from Persia, wherein
the disciples of Christ were first called Christians, and to have retained
their faith for the space of thirteen hundred years.[45]
According to the proofs and statements of historians
we can explicitly assert that the
4.5. Diamper Synod
The Synod solemnly began on the third
Sunday after Pentecost, 20 June, 1599.[46]
The Roman Catholic historian Mundadan gives us a narration about the Diamper
Synod and the topics discussed in it.
The first day was taken up with the Pontifical
Mass and initial ceremonies. On the second day was the profession of faith. On
the third day the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation were taken up and the
following day, the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the correction of the
Missal and the sacraments of penance and Extreme Unction. On the feast of
With the Diamper Synod the
Roman Catholics could establish dominance over Malankara Syrian Christians.
Philipose gives an account of the atrocities that the Portuguese committed
against the Malabar Christians,
When
the Syrian Church was in this state, the Portuguese not only persecuted and
killed all the bishops as they came from Antioch, but their Metran Dom Pre
Aleskes de Menesis, residing at Goa, came to the Malayalim country in 1598,
and, having visited all the Syrian Churches, he bribed the petty princes then
ruling the country, and some Syrians, in order to gain them over to his
interest. And those Syrians who opposed his designs were persecuted and put to
death. So, by main force he assembled all the Syrians in the church at Odyamperoor
(Diamper), and persuaded them to embrace Popery, besides burning all Syriac
bibles and many other Syriac books. Then all the married priests were separated
from their wives.[48]
Frykenberg says:
The Portuguese, initially welcomed
as allies, had aroused resentment when their Estado do
From
the opinion of the above mentioned historians we can conclude that Roman
Catholic Church was imposing its faith on the
Chapin says:
The Syrian Christians enjoyed a succession of bishops,
appointed by the patriarch of
4.5.1. Diamper Synod Canons
Before Diamper Synod it was the
Nestorians who ruled over the
4.5.1.1. Action III (Decree IX, XIV)
In this section we see the rejection
of those whom the Syrian Christians considered to be saints and making them
heretics by the Diampor Synod.[51]
Among the saints repudiated by Archbishop Menezis as Nestorian heretics were
Zaca, (Bishop Nicholas, commemorated by the Jacobite Syrians on 6th
December[52])
Raban Sapor (or Mor Abhai, commemorated by the Jacobite Syrians on 1st
October.[53]),
Asaya (Commemorated by the Jacobite Syrians on 15th October[54]),
Abda (Commemorated by the Jacobite Syrians on 3rd June), Aaron
Buchatixo (commemorated by Jacobite Syrians on the first Monday after
Whitsunday[55]),
Raban Theodorus, Abraham, Daniel, Abbot Zinai and Bishop Isaha who are all
commemorated in every Eucharist.[56]
John Sarighto, who had to suffer persecutions for his adherence to Jacobite
tenets, is also mentioned as one of the saints venerated in the
Archbishop Mor Ivanious clarifies
about this topic:
None of these Fathers (Above mentioned) are commemorated by the
Nestorians; the Nestorian calendar does not mention their names. If the
4.5.1.2. Action VII (Decree XVI)
The Decree XVI of Action VII
describes the practice of priests of Syrian Christians. Though there was a
practice of remarriage among the priests after the death of the first wife,
some where reluctant to continue their priestly ministry after their
remarriage.[59]
According to the Nestorian principles the priests were permitted to remarry.[60]
But the regulations of the Antiochean Patriarchate did not permit remarriage.[61]
The Roman Catholic writer Osorius says that among St.Thomas Christians, “The
priests marry; yet the first wife being dead they cannot marry again”.[62]
4.5.1.3. Action V (Decree III)
The decree III of Action V describes
about the celebration of Holy Mass in the
(a) With the fraction kept in the right hand
the Nestorian Priest makes the sign of the cross over the blood. On the
contrary the Malankara Syrian Christians do so with the fraction of right hand
over the fraction of the pattern.[64]
(b) In the case of the Nestorian priest, the
third fraction of the bread is dipped in the wine whereas for the Malankara
Syrian Christians the second fraction is used to make the sign of the cross.[65]
(c)The Nestorians first cross the wine and
then dip the bread into it, whereas the Syrians first dip a piece of the bread
into the wine and then cross the other half of the bread.[66]
About this practice Archbishop Mor
Ivanious says:
These differences between the practices of the two Churches are easily
noticed. They indicate that the practice of the
Before the Diampor Synod the Syrian
Christians of Malankara were using a Thaksa (liturgical book) under the name of
Diodorus but the Nestorians never had such a one. Let us analyse the testimony
of two historians in this respect.
E.M. Philip says:
The so-called Liturgy of Diodorus which existed in Malabar was,
therefore, non-Nestorian. The Jacobites have a very large number of liturgies
in use among them, ascribed to various saints of their Church. Some say the
number of recognised liturgies is ninety-six. They are all offshoots of the
Liturgy of St. James and are drawn up on the same model. Among the saints
venerated in the
Archbishop Mor Ivanious says:
The Nestorians have no liturgy bearing this name. Their only liturgies
are those of Nestorians. Theodore the Interpreter, the Apostles (Adaens and
Mares), Narses the Leper and Barsumas. The fact that this non-Nestorian liturgy
was used in Malabar proves that, before the establishment of Nestorianism and
the consequent introduction of Nestorian liturgies into Malabar in the
fifteenth century, the
Neal states that before the 16th
century the Syrian Christians sung the non Nestorian Trisagion, the one
accepted by the
4.5.2. Letter of Itty Thomman Cattanar
A document which proves that the
Syrian Christians of Kerala where under the Patriarch of Antioch before the 16th
Century can be seen in an old Manuscript Chronicle of Edavazhikal Philipose
Cattanar. This was written by Anjilimoottil Itty Thommen Cattanar to Kadavil
Chandy Cattanar who entered the Roman Catholic Church later. That letter is
outlined below:
To my
dear brother Kadavil Chandy Cattanar, Malankarai (the See of Malabar). Our
Sacraments having been from early times conducted by prelates coming there
from, the Padres of Sampalur (the Jesuit Missionaries) resolved that we should
no longer have them. As soon as we took the oath at Mattanchery (the Coonan
Cross), some laymen said that differences and dissensions might arise among us.
Then I broke a (walking) stick (into two) and said that the Portuguese and
ourselves would never unite, unless and until the two pieces of the broken
stick be united. You, my brother, then remarked ‘What Itty Thommen Achen
(Cattanar) has uttered is a prophecy that cannot fail. ‘My little finger now
desires to touch that tongue of my brother which uttered these words. Remember
that the agreement all of us made to the Metran (Bishop) is not yet cancelled.
To the effect, written by Itty Thommen Cattanar. From the Church at Chungam
(Signed)[71]
From this letter we can understand
that, Itty Thomman Cattanar writes to a former colleague that the Church was
under the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch and Bishops were sent from that
quarter.
Another document which proves that
the Syrian Christians of Kerala where under the Patriarch of Antioch before the
16th Century can be seen in an old Manuscript Chronicle of
Edavazhikal Philipose Cattanar. A General Epistle dated February 5, 1668 and
sent by Mar Gregorius, Jacobite Bishop of
4.6. Opinion of
Different Famous Historians
Many historians between the 18th
century and first half of the 19th century very strongly and
explicitly affirm that there was a very strong relationship between the
Conner says: “
Trevor says:
The only churches which survived to the period of European observation
were found on the coast of
Yeats says:
Panteneus and certain others, citizens of
Former Calcutta Bishop Middleton
says:
The disciples were called Christians first at
In 1827, Missionary Herald wrote:
Previous to the arrival of the Portuguese on the Malabar Coast, about
the middle of the 16th century, this ancient church had been
governed, during 1300 years, according to their own history, by bishops from
Le Bas says:
The Christians of St. Thomas, though evidently Indian themselves in
origin, as in complexion and language, (which is the Malayalim,) have received
their orders, with their liturgies and ecclesiastical traditions, from the more
ancient parent church in
Sinclair quotes:
As the believers in Malabar have been indebted to
Wallace Says:
At what precise period the Syrian Christians came to Malabar is uncertain,
but when Vasco de Gama arrived in 1503, they had above one hundred churches and
a Christian king; and for thirteen hundred years preceding they enjoyed a
succession of bishops appointed by the Patriarch of Antioch.[80]
Swartz says:
The correctness of this tradition, notwithstanding some remarkable
corroborations of its truth, has been generally-doubted. Certain, however, it
is, from authentic ecclesiastical records, that a Christian church, Episcopal
in its constitution, and deriving a succession of bishops from the
patriarchs of Babylon[81]
and Antioch,
has existed on the coast, from Cape Comorin to Crangainore, and
in the interior of Malabar, more than fifteen hundred years.[82]
Hack says:
When the Portuguese arrived in
Faber says:
The ancient
Heber says:
You are aware that the intercourse of these Churches with the Patriarchs
of Antioch, had, for many years back, been interrupted, partly by the violent
measures pursued by the Portuguese, and the intrigues of the Missionaries sent
out by the Propagandists, and still more by the poverty of the Christians of
Travancore, which disabled them from sending messengers so far.[85]
Brun says:
They trace their origin to the apostle of this name, who, according to
them, visited their country; but it is more probable that the founder of their
church was another Thomas, who landed on this coast in the fifth century. They
acknowledge the Patriarch of Antioch as their early head. They are called
sometimes the Syrian Christians.[86]
Buchanan
says:
Christians maintained the order and discipline
of a regular church under Episcopal jurisdiction; and that for thirteen hundred
year pad, they had enjoyed a succession of bishops appointed by the
patriarchate of
Robinson says:
The Jacobites of the
Shoberi says:
On the Malabar coast, especially in the
Cornwallis says:
The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama first arrived at
Danish Missionaries says:
The Syrian Christians enjoyed a succession of bishops appointed by the
Patriarch of Antioch, from the third century till they were invaded by the
Portuguese.[92]
Morse says:
The Syrian Christians, who inhabit the interior of Travancore and
Malabar, in the south of Hindoostan. They were established in that country at
no distant period after the ascension of the Redeemer; and, for many centuries,
knew no worshippers of the true God but themselves, and the Christians of
Antioch. When the Portuguese established their power on the
Allen says:
And on the coast of Malabar, which when visited by European adventures
in the sixteenth century had been cut off from the rest of Christendom for
thousand years, Christian churches were discovered, and still subsist,
dependent on the mother churches of Alexandria and Antioch, which retain
episcopacy, a liturgy, and general outline of government, resembling our own.[94]
In 1821, the Head of Syrian Orthodox Church Punnathara Mar Dionysius
says:
We, who are called Syrian-Jacobites, and reside in the land of Malabar,
even from the times of Mar Thomas, the holy apostle, until the wall of Cochin
was taken in the reign of king Purgis, kept the true faith according to the
manner of the Syrian Jacobites, of real glory, without division or confusion.
But, by the power of the Franks, our Jacobite- Syrian fathers and leaders were
prohibited from coming from
Conclusion
We have seen in this chapter a
manuscript that a Syrian Bishop gifted to Buchanan. It was prevalent among the
Syrian Christians. At present this MS is kept in Cambridge University Library.
We have also seen that when the representative of the Pope of Rome visited for
the first time he could not see Roman Catholic faith here. It was with the
advent of the Portuguese that the Roman Catholic faith started flourishing. The
Nestorian Episcopal dominance was established over the Syrian Christians in the
begining of the16th century, their dominance did not get fully accepted but on
the contrary the people remained in the ancient Jacobite faith. The same thing
was seen when the decree of the Diamper Synod was analysed. This chapter can be
summarised in the following points.
(a)
The faith of the
(b)
Though the Nestorian faith came to
Malankara in 1490 A.D. the Malankara church was not Nestorian in faith. The
Malabar Christians had no knowledge about the Nestorian heresy.
(c)
The roots of the Pope of Rome had
been extended to the Malankara church with the advent of the Portuguese.
