Indian Christianity

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA : M. M. NINAN
AD 380
St. Gregory the Theologian writes about St. Thomas as the Apostle of India.
AD 390
St. Ambrose of Milan writes about St. Thomas as the Apostle of India.
AD 400
St. Jerome writes about St. Thomas as the Apostle of India.
AD 409
Permission was formally given by the Zoroastrian King Yezdegerd to Christians to worship openly and
rebuild destroyed churches, though they were not allowed to proselytize (some historians call this decree
the Edict of Milan for the Assyrian Christian church).
AD 410
The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called the Council of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 in Seleucia-
Ctesiphon, capitol of the Sassanid Empire of Persia, extending official recognition to the Empire's
Christian community, (known as the Church of the East after 431 AD), and established the Bishop of
Seleucia-Ctesiphon as its Catholicos, or leader, declaring him to be supreme among the Bishops of the
East; this established a hierarchical Christian Church in Iran, with a patriarchate at Ctesiphon and
metropolitans in the capitals of five Persian provinces; it also declared its adherence to the decisions of
the Council of Nicea and subscribed to the Nicene Creed.
AD 434
Schism begun: Formal separation of the Assyrian Church of the East ("East Syrian Church", "Persian
Church", "Chaldean Syrian Church", or "Nestorian Church"), from the See of Antioch: the Synod of
Dadyeshu met in Markabata of the Arabs, under the presidency of Mar Dadyeshu, proclaiming the
independence of the Iranian Church from Byzantium, deciding that the Catholicos should be the sole
head of the Church of the East and that no ecclesiastical authority should be acknowledged above him,
referring to him for the first time as Patriarch, answerable to God alone (thus also reassuring the
Sassandid monarchy that Persian Christians were not influenced by the Roman enemy).
A.D 510 – 1439 The Christian Dynasty of Villarvattom
By this period, the great Empire of the Chera Kingdom came to ruins and an immense number of small
independent Kingdoms came into existence. Thus those areas where Christians were in prominence
established themselves into Kingdoms. Christians were traditionally good statesmen and warriors. One
such Kingdom was the Villarvattom Pana. This Kingdom Villarvattom Pana extended from the coastal
islands of Chennamangalam, Maliankara and others to the north of and south of Udayamperoor. The
capital of this kingdom was at Mahadevarpattanam (Maha Thevar = Great God = El Elyon) in the island
of Chennamangalam and later it was shifted to Udayamperoor when the Arab invaders attacked the
island. The Udayamperror Church - which stands even today - was built by Raja of Villarvottam in A.D
65