Indian Christianity

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA : M. M. NINAN
CHAPTER TEN
FORMATION OF THE C.M.S CHURCH
AD 1836
English East India Company established a factory at Anjengo in Travancore in 1685by obtaining land
from the Attingal Rani. In the 18th century. the fear of invasion from Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, forced
the government of Travancore to get military protection from the English East India Company. In
November 1795, a treaty of perpetual friendship and alliance was signed between the Rajah of
Travancore and the East India Company. The treaty was again modified in 1805, which established
British paramountcy over Travancore. The treaty made it possible for a permanent presence of a British
Resident in the Court of Travancore. The first Resident was Col. Colin Macaulay (1800-1810). He was
followed by Col. John Munro (1810-1819).
Col Monroe was a strong Anglican Christian and was interested in the CMS and its activity and also in
the Malankara Church. The first wave of Missionary thrust to India was by the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) in 1816.
"From its beginnings in the crucible of the campaign to abolish slavery, a small group of pioneers
became a worldwide network of people in mission/.The Society was founded in Aldersgate Street in the
City of London on 12 April 1799. Most of the founders were members of the Clapham Sect, a group of
activist evangelical Christians. The founders of CMS were committed to three great enterprises: abolition
of the slave trade, social reform at home and world evangelisation.
The overseas mission work of CMS began in Sierra Leone in 1804 but spread rapidly to India, Canada,
New Zealand and the area around the Mediterranean. Its main areas of work in Africa have been in
Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Sudan; in Asia, CMS's
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