{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 29,
  "chapterName": "c.1504. A Syriac Document",
  "pageFrom": 21,
  "pageTo": 24,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 21,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n21\n29. A SYRIAC DOCUMENT (c. 1504 A.D.)\nThis document is dated by Mingana as coming from the late\nfifteenth or early sixteenth centuries. He describes it as the swan song\nof the Nestorian Church. It contains an account of the arrival of\nthe Portuguese and their struggle to maintain their position. Cited\nin A. Mingana, The Early Spread of Christianity in India, pp. 36-41.\nIn the year one thousand and eight hundred and one of Ale-\nxander (1490 A.D.), three believing Christian men came from\nthe remote countries of India to the Catholicos Mar Simeon,\nPatriarch of the East, in order to bring bishops to the countries.\nBy the will of God, one of them died on the way, and two of them\nreached the Catholicos alive. The Catholicos, who was then\nin the town of Gazarta of Baith Zabdai, was greatly pleased with\nthem. One of them was called George, and the other Joseph.\nThe Catholicos ordained both of them priests in the Holy Church\nof St. George at Gazarta, because they were well instructed, and\nsent them to the holy monastery of St. Eugenius. They took\nfrom there two monks, the name of both was Joseph, and the\nCatholicos ordained both of them bishops in the Church of\nSt. George. He named one Thomas and the other John, and he\nwrote to them admirable letters patent sealed with his own seal.\nAfter having prayed for them, and blessed them, he despatched\nthem to India in the company of the Indians. By the assistance\nof Christ, our Lord, the four of them reached there alive.\nThe faithful were greatly pleased with them, went to meet them\njoyfully with Gospel, Cross, thurible and candles and ushered them\nin with great pomp, with psalms and canticles. They consecrated\naltars and ordained many priests, because the Indians were for a\nlong time without bishops. Bishop John remained in India,\nand Bishop Thomas, his companion, returned after a short time\nto the Catholicos. He brought to him gifts, presents and a\nservant. It happened, however, that before Bishop Thomas had\nreturned to India, the the Catholicos Simon had died, and left his\nworldly and perishable life for an immortal and imperishable\none, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirteen of the\nGreeks (1502 A.D.), and was buried in the monastery of St. Euge-\nnius. May our Lord grant rest to his soul in the heavenl heavenly mansions!\nAmen.\nHe was succeeded by Mar Elijah, the Catholicos and Patriarch,\nwho also took from the monastery of St. Eugenius three pious\nmonks, one of whom, brother David Arrikha, he ordained Metro-\npolitan and re-named Mar Yahb Alaha; the next one, called\nbrother George, he ordained bishop, and renamed Mar Jacob.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 22,
      "ocrText": "22\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nHe ordained all of them in the monastery of St. John the Egyp-\ntian, the carnal brother of St. Ahha, which is situated in the vici-\nnity of Gazarta of Baith Zabdai, in the year one thousand eight\nhundred and fourteen of the Greeks (1503 A.D.), and he sent\nthem to the country of India, to the islands of the sea which are\ninside Java, and to China. The four of them reached there in\npeace and safety, by the assistance of Christ, their Lord, and they\nsaw Mar John, bishop of India, alive. The latter, and all the\nblessed believers who were there, were greatly pleased by the arrival\nof the Fathers. A year after they sent a letter to Mar Elijah, the\nCatholicos, but before its arrival the Catholicos Mar Elijah died,\nand was buried in the Church of St. Miskanta of Mosul.\nwas succeeded by Mar Simon, the Catholicos and Patriarch. The\nletter which the above-mentioned Fathers sent from India was\nin the following terms:\nHe\nTo the second Simon, to the Papa of our days, to the Timothy\nof our generation, to the Joshua the son of Nun of our time, and\nto the Isho'-Yahb of our day, to whom power has been given in\nheaven and earth to tend the flocks of Christ with the rod of Peter,\nwhich he has inherited by succession-Blessed is the people to\nwhom this prerogative is due, and who has such a head and\ndirector!-Mar Elijah, the Catholicos the Patriarch of the East,\nthe mother of the other parts of the world. May the Lord who\nraised him and helped him, strengthen him, exalt him, and render\nhim victorious to the glory of Christendom and the uplifting of\nchurches! Amen!\nThy humble servants and weak disciples, the contemptible\nand the lowly, Mar Yahb Alaha, Mar Thomas and Mar Jacob\nand Dinha the stranger, fall down before thy pure and holy\nfeet, and crave thy answered and accepted prayers for the assis-\ntance of their wretchedness, and humbly cry aloud: Bless O Lord!\nbless O Lord! bless O Lord! May also Mar John, the Metropolitan\nof Atail, the temple temple of God and the treasurer of his service, the\nsaint and head of the saints, and all the other holy Fathers, pious\nmonks, pure priests, elect believers, and all Christians of your side,\nreceive your greetings in the Lord!\n'Now we would inform thy love that by the assistance of God,\nand through thy accepted prayers, we arrived in the blessed country\nof India in good health. Thanks be to God, the Lord of all who\ndoes not confound those who trust in him! All the Christians\nof this side were greatly pleased with us, and our Father Mar\nJohn is still alive and hale and sends thee his greetings. There\nare here about thirty thousand families of Christians, our co-\nreligionists, and they implore the Lord to grant thee a long life.\nThey have begun to build new churches, are prosperous in every",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 23,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n23\nrespect, and living in peace and security: May God be praised !\nAs to the monastery of St. Thomas the Apostle, some Christian\nmen have gone into it, have inhabited it, and are now busy restoring\nit; it is distant about twenty-five days from the above-mentioned\nChristians; it is on the shores of the sea in a town called Maila-\npore, in the country of Silan, one of the Indian countries. The\ncountries of India are very numerous and powerful, and their dis-\ntance is about six months journey. Each country has a special\nname by which it is known, and our country in which the Chris-\ntians are found is called Malabar. It has about twenty towns,\nout of which three are renowned and powerful: Karangol, Pallur\nand Kullam, with others that are near them. They contain Chris-\ntians and churches, and are in the vicinity of the large and powerful\ncity of Calicut, the inhabitants of which are idol-worshipping\npagans.\n'Let it be also known to you, O Fathers, that the king of the\nChristians of the West, who are the Franks our brethren, sent to\nthis country powerful ships, and they were a whole year on the\nsea before they reached us. They came in a southerly direction\non the other side of the country of Ethiopia, that is to say, Habash\n(Negroes), and they arrived at this country of India, where they\nbought pepper and other similar spices, and they returned to their\ncountry. Then they studied the way and learned it well. There-\nupon the above-mentioned king, may God preserve his life, sent\nsix large ships which reached the town of Calicut in six months\nbecause they had studied and learned the sea route. Now in the\ntown of Calicut there are many Mohammedans, whom envy has\nenraged and maddened against Christians. They accused them\nbefore the pagan king, uttered lies concerning them, and said:\nThese men have come from the West, and seen thy country and\nthy beautiful towns; they will return to their king and they will\nbring numerous armies on ships against thee; they will besiege\nthee, and take thy country from thee.'\n*The pagan king listened to the words of the Mohammedans,\nand yielded to their wish. Like a mad man he rose and killed\nall the above-mentioned Franks who were in his town to the number\nof seventy men, with five pious priests who were with them, because\nthey do not travel anywhere without priests. The remainder of\nthe men who were on the ships went by sea with great grief and\nbitter weeping to the neighbourhood of our Christians, to a town\ncalled Cochin, which had also a pagan king. When he noticed\nthat they were in great trouble and sorrowful pain, he summoned\nthem to him, comforted them, and nd swore to them that he would\nnot betray them even in order to save his own life. But when the\nimpious king who had massacred their companions heard this, he\nwas incensed and he mustered a great army, and went forth against",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 24,
      "ocrText": "24\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nthem. The Franks and the king with whom they were, escaped\nto a fort on the shores of the sea, where they remained a few\ndays.\n'Then Christ had pity on them, and many ships arrived from\nthe country of the Franks, who waged a severe war against the\nking of Calicut. They threw at him hard stones with ballistas,\nand killed many people from the camp of that wicked king; king; they\nmade him run, and drove him away and his armies from the shores\nof the sea. Then the Franks came to the town of Koshi, and they\nbuilt in it a great fortress, in which were placed three hundred\nwarriors from them; some of them were stone throwers with\nmachines, and some other archers. They put also in it about\nfifty large ballistas, and about a hundred others of a smaller size,\nand iron bows from which arrows are thrown.\nThen that king, their enemy whose memory deserves to perish,\ncame back against them, and engaged them in battle, but they\ndefeated him by the power of Christ, and killed about three thou-\nsand men from his army by stones from ballistas. He fled again\nand went back to his town of Calicut: but the Franks pursued\nhim on the sea which is near his town, and overtook him; they\nseized his ships and broke them, and killed in them about one\nhundred Mohammedans who were piloting them; they also des-\ntroyed the town with stones thrown at it from their ballistas. The\nGeneral of these Franks came then to another town called Canna-\nnore, situated in the country of Malabar, to another pagan king,\nand said to him: Give us a place in thy town, in which we can\nbuy and sell when we come here year by year to do business.'\nHe gave them a place and a large house, and was greatly pleased\nwith them. The Christian General made him then gifts of cloth\nwoven with gold, and garments of brocade, and bought pepper\nto the extent of fourteen thousand tagars (one tagar equals about\ntwo hundred kilograms), which he took with him to his country.\n'There were about twenty men from them in the town of\nCannanore, when we arrived from the town of Omruz to the\nIndian town of Cannanore; we went to them and told them that\nwe were Christians, and narrated to them our story. They were\npleased with us, and gave us beautiful garments, with twenty\ndrachmas of gold; for the sake of Christ they honoured in an\nextraodinary way our state of being strangers. We remained\nwith them two and a half months, and they ordered us one day\nto say mass. They have prepared for themselves a beautiful place,\nlike a chapel, and their priests say their mass in it every day, as is\ntheir custom. On the Sunday, therefore, of Nusardail (the sixth\nSunday after Trinity in the East Syrian Calendar), after their\npriest had finished his mass, we also went and said mass, at which",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}