The Syrian Christians of Kerala from the 1st to the 15th Century: A Historical Reconstruction
> Abstract The present study traces the formation, consolidation and ecclesial-cultural evolution of the Syrian Christians of Kerala—the so-called St Thomas Christians or Nasrani—from their legendary 1st-century origins to the eve of the Portuguese incursions in 1498. By collating epigraphic, literary and foreign-travel evidence, the paper argues that the community’s early identity was forged through repeated waves of West-Asian immigration, sustained maritime commerce with the Persian Gulf, and strategic integration into the socio-political fabric of medieval Kerala. --- 1. Introduction: Geography, Sources and Terminology The label “Syrian Christian” is not ethnic but liturgical; it signals the community’s historic use of Syriac/Aramaic in worship and its jurisdictional allegiance to the Church of the East centred in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Geographically, the community was concentrated between Cranganore (Kodungallūr) and Quilon (Kollam), the twin emporia of the...