Indian Christianity

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA : M. M. NINAN
David Evan Jones ‘Zosaphluia’
D. E. Jones ‘Zosaphluia’ and his wife with a group of Mizo evangelists in 1916.
Catholic Presence in North East Frontier Provinces of India
The Archdiocese of Imphal covers the entire State of Manipur which is bounded by Nagaland in the
North, Mizoram in the South, Upper Myanmar in the East and Cachar district of Assam in the West.
The American Baptists began a successful mission in Manipur in 1908 among the hill tribes of Manipur
and the missionaries had no permission from the Maharajah of Manipur to work among the Meiteis. One
of the outstanding pioneer missionary was William Pettigrew. The first Catholic priest, Rev. Fr Angsgar
Koenigsbaver, sds, a German Salvatorian missionary looking after Assam Mission, came to Manipur in
the year 1912. He found 19 Catholics, 17 of whom belong to the band of the regiment which was
stationed here. The Maharajah of Manipur told Fr. Angsgar that he had no objection to the opening of a
Catholic Mission in Imphal, the capital of the princely State. Due to the limited resources and personnel
the opportunity to evangelize Manipur could not be realized.
Thirty six years later, two Salesian missionaries, Fr O. Marengo, sdb, and Fr. Attilio Colussi, sdb, who
were working in Guwahati, Assam, visited Imphal. On meeting the Maharajah they were told: "You
(missionaries) are welcome to Manipur. I am a former pupil of St. Edmund’s School, Shillong.” He gave
them permission to enter Manipur and operate their mission in the hills of Manipur. This implied that they
were not to work in the Valley, which had been dominated by the Hindu Vaishnavites and some pockets
of Muslims. The Missionaries visited Ukhrul, a hill station in the east, on that occasion.
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