Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - September, 2005

Oriental Consanguinity: A Retrospection of India in Fourth Dimension

By Bibu Philip Matthew

"History is past politics and politics, present history" says John Robert Sealey. Every nation has its dreams: the French dreamed being universally loved by all civilized people. Italians dreamed of making a mark on history like a lion with its claws. Germans loved having a place in sun. Americans invincibility: always right, and in the long run always victorious. The Soviets stood for international proletarian emancipation. The Portuguese and British, apart from colonizing India, dreamed of spiritually enslaving Indians to keep their hegemony forever intact.

An English journalist attended Sunday service in a local church in Kerala. The altar was free from idols, being built in Persian architecture of the East. The priestly robes resembled the dress code of the Jewish high priests. He was shocked when he realized that the liturgy was written and recited in high tone, not in Malayalam but in 'Syriac' a derivative (Edessene dialect) of Aramaic which Jesus Christ Himself used. He was filled with awe to see a pure Eastern Church in the India of Hindus.

When the first colonial power under the navigation of Vasco Da Gamma landed in Kerala via the Atlantic Ocean in 1498 in search of spices of Kerala, De Gamma was shocked to see Churches throughout the coast of Kerala. He inquired whether they are followers of the Pope (that is to say, the Bishop of Rome). They replied they have nothing to do with the Pope; they are Eastern Christians, the first Christians of the world and many of them came from Middle East. De Gamma reported this to their king and shortly thereafter followed a great conspiracy between king and Pope to enslave Eastern Christians of India by draconian measures. Eastern Christians were specially invited by rulers of Kerala to develop trade and they controlled, maintained all markets and all business, including exports in association with Jewish and Syrian merchants who owned windjammers.

The Portuguese Catholic bishop of Goa Alexio Menzes wanted all Christians in India to come under his jurisdiction and adopt Roman Christianity. Menezes started a visit of parishes advocating name of Pope instead of Patriarch as spiritual head (council of Trent 1562). The Portuguese influenced local rulers and the Archdeacon, local head of eastern Christians was made to sever ties with East under duress. They burned all books and scriptures of Eastern Christians (Udayamperur synod .20/6/1599 AD).The Hindu local Cochin king supported the Portuguese and issued a proclamation that any Syrian priest or Church which abstained from the synod of the Catholic Portuguese bishop for establishing Catholic Church in Kerala , will have their assets confiscated. Yet, no Syrian priests of Angamali, erstwhile head quarters of Syrian Church, attended synod. The local king was helpless. Meanwhile, the local population found Portuguese practices morally disgusting, as renowned historian Prof.Guptan Nair says, "The Portuguese introduced beef for first time in India and not the Eastern Christians.”

Eastern Christians, to whom loyalty is paramount, started their secret resistive movement; the Archdeacon of Eastern Christians sent secret appeals to Patriarch of the East to send any prophet to ordain a bishop for Eastern Christians in India and to liberate them from Portuguese control through Eastern merchants. It took at least a decade for a letter to reach Patriarch of Antioch/East by sea route. Bishop Mor Ahatalla from Syria reached Surat in 1652. Mor Ahatalla was arrested by Jesuits on Aug. 3rd 1652. The Portuguese took Mor Ahatalla to Goa, imprisoned him, and gave him a choice of renouncing his Syrian Church and accepting the Roman Pope or die. Mor Ahatalla was condemned a heretic by INQUISITION OF GOA and died at the stake in 1654. The Eastern Christians assembled in thousands at Cochin (Leaning cross event / KOONANKURISH SATHYAM , 16-1-1653 AD) and took an oath to no longer to submit to the authority of Rome and always be loyal to the Patriarch of the East only as their spiritual head. This broke the yoke of Roman supremacy that the Portuguese tried their best to install by arresting and killing as many Syrian prophets as possible.

The Patriarch of Antioch and All the East again sent Abdel Galeel Mor Gregorios, bishop of Jerusalem and the Maphryono Eldo Mor Basilios, bishop of Mosul (Iraq) to India. The former reached India in 1665 disguised as Arabic teacher and latter at age of ninety two through secret forest paths in 1685. Both gradually revived and reconstructed the completely shattered eastern Syrian Church in India (Kerala). Tipu Sultan of Mysore attacked Travencore in 1789AD during the time of Darmaraja, where Tipu was defeated. Still, Tipu destroyed many Syrian Orthodox churches as a result many ancient Syrian Orthodox families fled from North Kerala to Ankamaly side, mercing diocese with Kottayam for the first time, with construction of a seminary there for all later troubles.

The essence of the speech of PATRIARCH PETER-III OF ANTIOCH during his apostolic entourage to India in 1876 to stem British subversion against Syrians in India: "The extent of your calamity and tragedy you know much better than we can ever know. We went through your history and we know the IRREPARABLE damage done to you by Portuguese. For they pillaged your churches, plundered your antiques, burnt your records and priceless books, leaving you orphans and destitute. Thus the Papists had taken more than half of your people." The Portuguese supplied gold petals hidden in edible church offerings to the masses. The Portuguese thus separated many Eastern (Jacobite) Syrian Orthodox Christians to form the new separate Eastern Syrian Catholic church loyal to the Roman Pope in India. Hence many Catholic and Syrian Orthodox families still have same Patronymic (family name) lineage, especially in the Ankamally region. When the Dutch took control of the seas they helped genuine Syrian Christians loyal to the East consolidate among new emerging Syrian Catholics loyal to Pope, letting free their ships to bring Syrian prophets from the East (Turkey, Syria, Israel and Iraq ) to India as stated by Danish historian ADRIAN V. MOINES.

Soon British missionaries started subversion against Syrian Christians in India by sowing seeds of reformation. Protestant practices were advocated. The Fifth Anglican Metropolitan bishop Daniel Wilson came to Kerala and presented a scheme intended to bring Syrian Christians gradually under the Anglican Church (precursor of mavellikara padiyola - 1836). Relations grew worse when Rev. Joseph Peet broke into the Syrian Seminary and removed all books, documents, and materials--including historic copper plates—giving them to the British Residency. (This act was later condemned by CMS of England). The Syrians affirmed supremacy of the Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Patriarch of Antioch and declared not to deviate. Some English missionaries spread propaganda that St.Thomas did not come to India. At this stage Patriarch Peter-III of Antioch met Queen Victoria and asked to stop meddling with Syrian Church in India, Queen did so but by the time seeds of reformation grew and a new British modeled independent Eastern Syrian Protestant church (Syrian Marthomite) was founded separating some Syrians from original (Jacobite) Syrian Orthodox Christians in India. (Jacobite- named after Jacob Baradeus, adventurous bishop of Edessa who rejuvenated the Church during Roman arrogance)

Sent by St.Peter, St.Thomas (Didymus) the apostle was a sculptor came to India in 52A.D, along with Adanes, a merchant of Gondophornes (king of India ) who was in Jerusalem in search of a skillful architect. Gondophornes remained a mythical figure until Archeological excavations at Taxila enabled scholars to trace the line of Gondophornes to Indo-Parthian dynasty which ruled area comprising of Afghan, Seistan, Punjab, Sind, N. W. Frontier Province from 95B.C. to 50A.D . St. Thomas preached gospel first to Jews in India (reached because of Diaspora) and first converts to Christianity in India are Jews. St.Thomas was followed by Syrian bishop of Basra (Iraq) David Episcopa, which no Western historians have recorded, according to the historian the Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem-I of Antioch (1946, Homs-Syria) (bishop Vayaliparambil Mor Gregorios " My Jerusalem Journey").

Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler came to Mylapore in 1292A.D. His views are "Christians who thither on pilgrimages gather some soil from place were the saint was killed and this they take to their countries".

That which strengthened Christianity in Kerala (India) was immigration of Syrians from Mesopotamia to port of Muziris 345A.D.In 823 another batch from Syria arrived (Mor Sabrisho), at the beginning of new Malayalam Era known as ' KOLLA VARSHAM' with a grant of royal patronage by King Ayyan to Mor Sabrisho. The high caste Hindu predominance can be seen in Syrian Orthodox ceremonial weddings in India with the introduction of ‘mangalsuthra' (thalikettu) which is absent in Syrian Churches in Middle East, apart from exchange of rings. This custom was copied by all new Syrian Churches later founded by colonial interference.

Early Syrian Bishops were scholars in Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Sanskrit, Malayalam and Indian occult sciences like astrology, palmistry and indigenous medicine. Manifesting this FIRST genuine Eastern Christian Church in India was the result of a "golden handshake" between Patriarchs of East and sages of India in bonafides as SIBLINGS of the Great Oriental Civilization. Syrian bishops as well as Namboodird Bhramins priest are addressed as 'Thirumeni’ (keeping body clean along soul); the best example that early local Indian population considered both religions as siblings. Right from St .Thomas all Syrian prophets reached India from Basra port (Iraq) via Persian Gulf sea route. They were solitaries who came empty handed, not with colonial armies, yet created greater impact than West because the Spirit of God guided them. Colonial western spiritual policies were the quintessence of dishonesty. During the 'Crusades,' Italian sailors stole relics of Mor Zokhe, Syrian bishop of Myra, Lycia (4th century A.D. born-Turkey). Italians built a new church in Bari (Italy) with relics and refer to him him by the name St.Nicholas who later became famous by Western marketing as "SANTA CLAUSE". But he was a man of the East.

WILLIAM SOMERSET MAUGHAM accepts" Bible is purely a book of East beyond creativity and imagery of West, and there is nothing West can take pride of in this wonderful book." In 1900 in Los Angeles, Swami VIVEKANANDA said "You all often forget a vital fact that man from Nazareth belonged to ORIENT, in spite of your efforts to portray him in blue eyes and golden hair."

Internationally most Syrians are those Jews who accepted the Jewish carpenter Yeshu’ Meshiha as " the root and offspring of David". One observation can be seen tombs of Syrian prophets throughout Jacobite or Syrian Orthodox Churches in Kerala, as well as names of Keralite Syrian Christians in epitaph of the Syrian Cemetery in Jerusalem (Israel).This Oriental Consanguinity has been acknowledged by Hon. Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court also recognizes H.H. Patriarch of Antioch and All the East in SYRIA as Supreme Head of Syrian Orthodox Christians in India. The Holy Throne Of Antioch was established by our Patriarch St. Peter, the chief Apostle, in 37AD in Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) as there was political unrest in Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Christ in 33AD. (The Disciples of Christ were first called 'Christians ' at Antioch, ACTS 11:26) The same St. Peter then found another Church in Rome in 67AD, later coming to be known as Roman Catholic Church. Today as independent free-thinking has gained momentum there are tens of thousands of independent new testament church assemblies in the West with groups operating in India who often consider a Syrian Christian as a non -Christian and will speak the Syrian’s own Gospel also to them in airports, railway stations, hostels, hospitals and streets around the world. These groups believe in their own denominations more than in God--that may be the reason. This article has been written to eradicate misconceptions about the origin of Christianity in India and its misunderstood Western connection as our historians have failed to bring true facts to the Indian public under the shadow of Western drafted Indian History.

But the TRUTH is as DANIEL DEFOE says:

"Whenever God erects a house of prayer
Devil always builds a chapel there
And it will be found on examination
That latter has a greater congregation".

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