Saint Thomas Christians

The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala (Malabar region) who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have brought Christianity to India in 1st century. The Saint Thomas Christians had been historically a part of the hierarchy of the Church of the East, but are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions. Historically, this community was organized in the 8th century as the Province of India of the Church of the East by Patriarch Timothy I. In the 14th century, the Church of the East declined due to persecutions by Tamerlane and colonial Portuguese efforts to incorporate St. Thomas Christians into the Latin Catholic Church. Portuguese oppression led to a permanent schism among the Thomasites. The Pazhayakūr (Pazhayakoottukar) comprise the present day Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the original East Syriac Rite (Babylonian/Persian) liturgy. The Puthenkūr group under the leadership of archdeacon Thoma I organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church and entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. They inherited the West Syriac Rite from the Syriac Orthodox Church which employs the Liturgy of Saint James, replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. The Eastern Catholic faction is in full communion with the Holy See in Rome. Churches which chose not to enter into communion with Rome are the Malankara Orthodox Church, a self-governing Oriental Orthodox Church independent of the Patriarch of Antioch, and the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church and under the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. Oriental Protestant denominations include the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church was a part of the Malankara Church that experienced a reformation movement due to the influence of British Anglican missionaries in the 1800s. The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India is an evangelical faction that split off from the Mar Thoma Church in 1961. The Saint Thomas Anglicans  are a minority faction of Malankara Syrian Christians, who joined the Anglican Church in 1836, eventually becoming part of the Church of South India after Indian independence in 1947. The CSI is in full communion with the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. By the 20th century, various Syrian Christians joined Pentecostal and other evangelical denominations, including the Kerala Brethren, Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Assemblies of God. Collectively, these groups are referred to as Pentecostal Saint Thomas Christians. At present, Saint Thomas Christianity incorporates a variety of cultural influences largely derived from East Syriac, West Syriac, Hindu, Jewish, and Latin liturgies blended with local customs, as well as elements later derived from indigenous Indian and European colonial contacts. The  language spoken by the majority of Saint Thomas Christians is Malayalam, the language of Kerala. The Syriac language is used for liturgical purposes.