In Kerala history there is
absolutely no evidence of Nambudhiris or Jews becoming converted by St. Thomas
or at a later stage by missionaries coming from Persia. Instead of
scientifically proving (not manipulated ) genetic link between Jews or
Nambudhiris with Syrian Christians,
people like George Menachery are making ridiculous references to colour of dress, building model,
customs, rituals and social habits to claim Brahmin and Jewish ancestry. Along
with these preposterous comparisons, manipulated DNA tests are being conducted
to nullify authentic records of conversion of untouchables by saintly and
trustworthy CMS missionaries such as Norton, Fenn, Baker, Bailey, Peet, Dawson
and others Hawksworth says that he converted slaves, and how can DNA test show
that the descendant of that slave has Jewish blood? The descendants of slaves in Alappuzha, Mallappally, Pallom,
Mavelikara, Chengannur are now a apart of mainstream Syrian Christian community.
Missionaries from Persia who came to
Kerala in pre-colonial days were not Jews or Assyrians, but Persians. It
is not sufficiently realized by racist writers that the immense majority of the
members of the Nestorian Church living east of the Tigris were of Persian, and
not Semitic or Aramean birth and extraction. Many were born of Christian
parents who originally belonged to the Zoroastrian faith, and many others were
only themselves converts from Zoroastrianism.
So it is sheer absurdity to claim Jewish or Assyrian genealogy through
Persians who periodically visited Kerala.
Another
argument of these racists is that tying of thali is a proof that Syrian
Christians are descendants of Nambudhiris. But this claim is also not sustainable because untouchables such as
Parayas, Pulayas, Mukkuvas, vannans and many others tie thali. Paul Roche gives this
account of Paraya Catholic marriage: “The priest, though of higher caste, does
not treat the Paraiya couple as untouchables. He blesses the couple and says
Mass for them. The symbol of the wedding union is the thali. The thali is a
gold medal on a yellow thin string. It is yellow because it is dyed with
turmeric (Manjal). During Mass the priest blesses the thali and hands it over
to the bridegroom who ties it around the neck of the bride. The priest also
blesses two flower garlands and hands one each to the bridegroom and the bride
who garland each other.” The fact that
Syrian Christians follow Hindu rituals is a clear proof that they were
converted from backward Hindu communities. Ezhava, Pulaya and Paraya Christians
are having Hindu relatives of their own castes even after conversion and therefore
they still retain more Hindu rituals and customs than Syrians who were also
lower caste converts. Menachery, instead of pointing out Hindu rituals and manipulated DNA, should give
clear evidence about the conversion of
Nambudhiris or Jews --- the locality of these Nambudhiris or Jews, the number
of people converted, the year of conversion and , above all, the person or
missionary who converted them. CMS missionaries’ diaries give a detailed
account of the caste of the converted people and the date, place and year of
conversion. Can Menachery produce such a record of Nambudhiri or Jewish
conversion, instead of showing fake DNA
or the white dress that even Paraya Pentecost people wear everywhere.
Quite surprisingly, these racial
writers also claim that Church built on the model of a Hindu temple is another
proof for their Nambudhiri ancestry. But Paraya and Pulaya temples are also
like Nair temples.Lamp, especially oil lamp, Kuthvilakku, is lighted on all important
occasions of Parayas, and this practice is also prevalent in some Syrian
houses. Church architecture was modeled on temple architecture because that was
the prevalent pattern of buildings in Kerala at that time. Aishwarya has recently constructed a house in
Mumbai in American style. Is it not
foolish to claim American ancestry for her because of her American model house?
What separates Syrian Christians from Nambudhiri Brahmin and links them to
lower castes is their lifestyle and food habits. Syrian Christian settlements
were seen on the coastal areas and thick jungles. But Nambudhiri settlements
were inside villages, near temples and tanks. Syrian Christians like Parayas
eat beef and pork. But Nambudhiris are vegetarians. Jews do not eat pork.
Christian Jews in Israel and Europe do not eat pork. But for Syrians, pork is a
favorite dish. In convents, sisters rear pigs to supply pork to Christians on
important occasions such as Christmas, Easter and Anniversaries. Another
important factor that separates Syrians from Brahmins is, Nambudhiris wear a
sacred thread (poonool) which is conspicuously absent in Syrian Christians.
Nairs followed matrinelial system but Syrian Christians like Parayas follow
patrilineal system and their surnames are generally inherited from the father
and property passes to the sons. To camouflage this, people like George
Menacchery claim Nambudhiri and Jewish descent without realizing the cardinal
fact that Syrian Christian population is greater than Nambudhiris and Jews. Some
Syrians live in a fantasy world thinking St.Thomas converted Nambudhiris to
claim ‘nobility status’ without realizing the historical fact that there were
no Nambudhiris when St Thomas came in the Ist century A.D. There is also no
reference to the conversion of Chera kings. Nairs were also not converted, for
Kerala history has recorded that Nairs used Syrian Christians to do free labour
(oozhiyam) in their farmlands. In Jewish records kept by Koder there is no
reference to Christian Jews. Menachery has even quoted Kesavan Veluthat and
M.G.S.Narayanan confirming the coming of Nambudiris to Kerala several centuries
after the coming of St. Thomas. .And yet, a racist claim is propagated that
five Brahmin families in Kodungalloor were converted to Christianity by St.
Thomas in the first century, when there were no Brahmins at that time. .Another
phony claim is that Nambudhiri Christians migrated to Kuravilangad, Angamaly,
Pallipuram, Niranam etc.and founded Christian settlements. Probably at the time
of persecution of Christians by one Manickavachagar some backward Christian
converts would have fled from Kodungalloor to jungle areas. But how could
Nambudhiri caste could be attached to those fugitives, when there is no record
in Kerala history about Nambudhiri conversion or about the flight of some
Nambudhiri families to jungle areas? Another laughable claim of Menachery is
that Christianity is older than Hinduism in Kerala ignoring the fact that
Hinduism in Kerala can be traced to the Indus Valley religion. Research
studies suggest the possible relationship with Indus Valley Civilization during
the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Rock engravings in
the Edakkal Caves (in Wayanad) are thought to date from the
early to late Neolithic eras around 5000 B.C.
M.R. Raghava Varier of the Kerala state archaeology department
identified a sign of “a man with jar cup” in the engravings, which is the most
distinct motif of the Indus valley civilization. It is rank foolishness to
claim that there was no religion in Kerala before the Nambudhiris came and
introduced their religion. Nambudhiris did not destroy any god or goddess of
Keralites. All the gods and goddesses of pre-Nambudhiri Kerala were declared
various incarnations of Nambudhiri gods. Another racial and offensive argument of Menachery is to claim phony superiority status for
untouchable Syrian converts along with Nambudhiris and Jews by referring to the
similarities in (to quote his words)“
the customs and traditions of the Namboothiri Brahman, Jews and Syrian
Christians in the matter of their attitude to pollution, untouchability, or the
idea of “Clean and Unclean”.. It is only after the coming of the colonial
powers that Christians were instructed to lead a clean and hygienic life. According
to early Portuguese and British writers Syrian Christians were in a very
pathetic condition when they first met them. Abbe J.A. Dubois, a missionary in
Mysore, in his letter dated August 7, 1815, writes: “The Jesuits, on their
first arrival in India, hearing of them, in one way or other converted the
greatest part to the Catholic faith. Their liturgy is to this day in the Syrian
language, and in the performance of their religious ceremonies they use this
ancient dead tongue. There remains still among them large congregations,
consisting of 70 or 80,000 Christians, of whom two-thirds are Catholics, and a
third Nestorians. They are all designated under the contemptuous name of
Nazarany, and held by the pagans in still greater contempt than the Christians
of this part of the country. The Nairs chiefly keep them at a greatest
distance, and they form a separate body in society.” (Dubois, Abbe J.A.,
Letters On The State of Christianity in India, New Delhi:Associated Publishing
House, (1977),p.12).European missionaries trained Christians to live in
cleanliness and to dress properly.
Some decisions of the Synod of Diamper refer to the untidy lifestyle, superstition, and unhygienic
environment of Christians.. .An eye witness account by Samuel Mateer when he
visited Syrian Christian (not Protestant CMS Christians) settlements as
narrated in his book, ‘Native Life in Travancore,’ is given below:
The Syrians appear to be in the lowest
condition in the
northern and mountainous districts in
Muvdttupulay direction….
Between Cottayam and Trichoor, a
distance of about 70 miles,
a great field for Christian labour lies
open, for which the
Alwaye Itineracy has been established.
At Mdvdttupulay
and Todupulay there are large numbers of
Syrians, poor, hard-
working, and kind people, renting lands
from the Nambiiri
landlords, for which they pay four or
five times the seed sown,
and cultivating areca palms and the
fruits, roots, and grains on
which they live. They have no Scriptures
or other books, and
few schools. Nor is there a Sirkar
District school at either of
the two district towns just mentioned.
The priests conduct
service and go off to their houses ;
sometimes indeed there is
no one to hold worship in the churches.
The surrounding
population have very little idea as to
what God the Syrians
worship, or how
The ignorance and spiritual darkness of
these poor nominal
Christians is very great. On a tour in
that quarter not long
ago to see the country, I very carefully
and cautiously examined
those whom I met, or stayed with, as to
their knowledge of
Christian truth. It was heart-rending to
learn of the criminal
indifference and negligence of the
priests, and to find old men
and young quite ignorant, not only of
the Scriptures, which they
never read nor hear read, but even as to
who Jesus Christ
was. " I know nothing of it "
said an old man with whom I
conversed. A youth with handsome open
countenance could
not tell what kind of person or
character Jesus Christ was —
whether a Brahman, a government officer,
a carpenter, or what !
He "could not say." One could
hardly credit that such
Ignorance was possible ; but a native
friend, who accompanied
me, also repeated the queries in various
forms to make sure
that they were understood, and both of
us used their Syriac
terms. The old man could mumble over the
creed, but did not
know the meaning. “What then do you go
to church for? "
"To do the appointed things, and
worship the cross. The
priest shows us God." But he could
not tell why the cross was
worshipped. Another said he went to
worship the Apostle
Paul, but did not know who he was, or
what he did. " Why
are you baptized ? " " For the
religion and for the soul ; to
make me a Mapillay," were the
answers. " Why do you attend
the holy communion ? " ** Because
it is the custom. We are
told to do it, but do not know the
reason why." " Is it the
same as eating your rice } " "
Oh no, something quite different,
but I do not know what." Scarcely
any knew who the first
man was, and such like things. I found
that the Syrians were beneath the Roman Catholics of the neighbourhood, both in
knowledge and in morals” (Native Life in Travancore, 1883 Book digitized by
Google from the library of New York Public Library)
It
is quite evident from Samuel Mateer’s account that the Syrian Christians of the
pre-British period in Travancore were not Nambudiri converts but lower castes
working as farm labourers of Nambudiri jenmis. Churches were managed by local,
uneducated priests having Nestorian belief. There were also wealthy and elite
groups of Syrian Christians living in urban areas. They were elevated to that status by the
Portuguese by employing them as soldiers, police officers, brokers, planters,
traders, accountants, cooks and messengers. They were not Nambudiris but from
various sub castes.
Despite an avalanche of irrefutable evidences that Syrian
Christians cannot claim Nambudhiri or Jewish ancestry, why these racists are
inventing lies to usurp the identity of others by referring to temple
architecture, colour of dress, tying of thali and cleanliness?
