Indian Christianity

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA : M. M. NINAN
CHAPTER THREE
THE STORY OF KERALA.
As mentioned earlier Malabar Churches developed independent of the rest of the Indian Churches.
Kerala remained unconquered by any outside forces because of its geographical position. Recent
Archeological and documentary studies by Prof. George Menacheril, indicates that Aryans came to
prominence in Kerala, only by 6 th century or later and Hinduism only by 8 th century. (46)
“It may even be that the Syriac script and liturgy - surely the Pahlavi script - were in Kerala much before
the Devanagari and the Vedas found their foothold here.
In spite of the many statements in Keralolpathy (47) most historians today believe that the Parasurama
story is only a legend and Brahmins arrived in Kerala for all practical purposes only in the 4th century or
later, and the Brahmins or Namboodiris established dominance only around the end of the first
millennium C.E”
After the conversion of the Brahmins to Christianity there were no Brahminic presence in Kerala until the
6 th century. None of the Namboodiri families according to the Namboodiri website can trace their origin in
Kerala beyond 6 th century AD.
Parasurama legend says that the seventh incarnation of Vishnu rose up the land of Kerala from
Gokarnam to Kanya Kumari and gave them to Sixty-four Brahmin families. This must have been around
the 4 th century or even later, if the Namboodiri traditions can be trusted. This legend therefore speaks
only of the historical situation of the later centuries how the Aryan Brahmins came to dominate Kerala
probably as advisers to the Kings of Chera, from the Tulunad. Who were the Kings of Chera is difficult to
ascertain. Until the first century till the coming of Thomas, it is certain that Buddhist Kings ruled Chera.
But Buddhism disappeared from the Kerala scene altogether. Vaishanavites or Aryan Brahmins came
into power only by the 6 th century. Islam came into existence only by the 6 th century and was never a
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