Religion in Kerala: Difference between revisions

|color3 = SkyBlueblue

Islam arrived in [[Kerala]], a part of the larger [[Indian Ocean]] rim, via spice and silk traders from the [[Middle East]]. Historians do not rule out the possibility of [[Islam]] being introduced to Kerala as early as the seventh century CE.<ref name="indiatimes3">{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Trade-not-invasion-brought-Islam-to-India/articleshow/2144414.cms |title=Trade, not invasion brought Islam to India |last=Sethi |first=Atul |date=24 June 2007 |work=Times of India |access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated20002">Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977.</ref> Notable has been the occurrence of [[Legend of Cheraman Perumals|Cheraman Perumal Tajuddin]], the Hindu King that moved to [[Arabia]] to meet the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] and converted to Islam.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Varghese |first1=Theresa |title=Stark World Kerala |date=2006 |publisher=Stark World Pub. |isbn=9788190250511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDhuAAAAMAAJ&q=cheraman+perumal+tajuddin |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Satish |title=India's National Security: Annual Review 2009 |date=27 February 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-esAgAAQBAJ&q=cheraman+perumal+tajuddin&pg=PA346 |publisher=Routledge |language=en|isbn=9781136704918 }}</ref><ref>Minu Ittyipe; [[Solomon]] to Cheraman; Outlook Indian Magazine; 2012</ref> Kerala Muslims are generally referred to as the [[Mappila]]s. Mappilas are but one among the many communities that forms the Muslim population of Kerala.<ref name="KunhaliV"/><ref name="Divakaruni20112">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0wLgfQyvFAC |title=The Palace of Illusions |author=Chitra Divakaruni |date=16 February 2011 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-0-330-47865-6 |access-date=18 November 2012}}</ref> According to the [[Legend of Cheraman Perumals]], theThe first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at [[Kodungallur]] with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of [[Chera dynasty]], who converted to Islam during the lifetime of Muhammad (c. 570–632).<ref>{{cite book |author=Jonathan Goldstein |title=The Jews of China |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |year=1999|isbn=9780765601049 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z6DlzyT2vwC |page=123}}</ref><ref name="SimpsonKresse2008">{{cite book |author1=Edward Simpson|author2=Kai Kresse|title=Struggling with History: Islam and Cosmopolitanism in the Western Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0qHKA7zEaEC&pg=PA333|access-date=24 July 2012 |year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-70024-5|pages=333}}</ref><ref name="Kupferschmidt1987">{{cite book|author=Uri M. Kupferschmidt|title=The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA458|access-date=25 July 2012|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-07929-8|pages=458–459}}</ref><ref name="Raṇṭattāṇi2007">{{cite book|author=Husain Raṇṭattāṇi|title=Mappila Muslims: A Study on Society and Anti Colonial Struggles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlb5BrabQd8C&pg=PA179|access-date=25 July 2012|year=2007|publisher=Other Books|isbn=978-81-903887-8-8|pages=179–}}</ref> According to ''[[Qissat Shakarwati Farmad]]'', the [[Mosque|''Masjids'']] at [[Kodungallur]], [[Kollam]], [[Madayi]], [[Barkur]], [[Mangalore]], [[Kasaragod]], [[Kannur]], [[Dharmadam]], [[Koyilandy|Panthalayini]], and [[Chaliyam]], were built during the era of [[Malik Dinar]], and they are among the oldest ''Masjid''s in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>Prange, Sebastian R. ''Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast.'' Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98.</ref> It is believed that [[Malik Dinar]] died at [[Thalangara]] in [[Kasaragod]] town.<ref name="ch">Pg 58, Cultural heritage of [[Kerala]]: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978</ref> According to popular tradition, [[Islam]] was brought to [[Lakshadweep]] islands, situated just to the west of [[Malabar Coast]], by [[Sheikh Ubaidullah|Ubaidullah]] in 661 CE. His grave is believed to be located on the island of [[Andrott]].<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://lakshadweep.nic.in/KL_History.html|publisher=lakshadweep.nic.in|access-date=1 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514235511/http://lakshadweep.nic.in/KL_History.html|archive-date=14 May 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> A few [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] (661–750 AD) coins were discovered from [[Kothamangalam]] in the eastern part of [[Ernakulam district]].<ref name="TheEncyclopediaofIslam2">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |author-link=Roland E. Miller |article=Mappila |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Islam |volume=VI |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1988 |pages=458–66}}</ref>

The known earliest mention about [[Muslim]]s of Kerala is in the [[Quilon Syrian copper plates]] of the 9th century CE, granted by the ruler of [[Kollam]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cereti|first=C. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3gOdaiXNKkC&q=Exegisti+Monumenta:+Festschrift+in+Honour+of+Nicholas+Sims-+Williams|title=Exegisti Monumenta: Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2009|isbn=9783447059374|editor-last=Sundermann|editor-first=W.|location=Wiesbaden|pages=|chapter=The Pahlavi Signatures on the Quilon Copper Plates|editor-last2=Hintze|editor-first2=A.|editor-last3=de Blois|editor-first3=F.}}</ref> A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable [[Muslim]] population in the [[Malabar Coast]]. Arab writers such as [[Al-Masudi]] of [[Baghdad]] (896–956 AD), [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] (1100-1165 AD), [[Abulfeda]] (1273-1331 AD), and [[Al-Dimashqi (geographer)|Al-Dimashqi]] (1256-1327 AD) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Colonialism and community formation in Malabar: a study of Muslims of Malabar|last=Razak|first=Abdul|publisher=|year=2013}}</ref> Some historians assume that the [[Mappila]]s can be considered as the first native, settled Muslim community in [[South Asia]].<ref name="Kupferschmidt1987"/><ref name="Kulakarṇī1996">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_WNqSH4ByQC&pg=PA54|title=Mediaeval Deccan History: Commemoration Volume in Honour of Purshottam Mahadeo Joshi|author=A. Rā Kulakarṇī|publisher=Popular Prakashan|year=1996|isbn=978-81-7154-579-7|pages=54–55|access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> [[Al-Biruni]] (973–1048 CE) appears to be the first writer to call [[Malabar Coast]] as ''Malabar''.<ref name="askh"/> Authors such as [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] and [[Al-Baladhuri]] mention Malabar ports in their works.<ref name="K.M."/> The Arab writers had called this place ''Malibar'', ''Manibar'', ''Mulibar'', and ''Munibar''. ''Malabar'' is reminiscent of the word ''Malanad'' which means ''the land of hills''.<ref name="Logan">{{cite book |author=William Logan |url=https://archive.org/details/malabarmanual0000loga/mode/2up |title=Malabar Manual (Volume-I) |publisher=Madras Government Press |year=1887 |pages=1}}</ref> According to [[William Logan (author)|William Logan]], the word ''Malabar'' comes from a combination of the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] word ''Mala'' (hill) and the [[Persian Language|Persian]]/[[Arabic]] word ''Barr'' (country/continent).<ref name="Logan"/> The [[Cheraman Juma Mosque|Kodungallur Mosque]], has a granite foundation exhibiting 11th-12th century architectural style.<ref name="K.M.">{{Cite book|title=Arab Relations with Mlabar Coast from 9th to 16th centuries|last=Muhammad|first=K. M.|publisher=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|year=1999|pages=226–234}}</ref> The [[Arabic]] inscription on a copper slab within the [[Madayi Palli|Madayi Mosque]] in [[Kannur]] records its foundation year as 1124 CE.<ref name="Madayi">{{cite book

Christianity is followed by 18.38% of the population of Kerala.<ref>{{cite web |title=2011 Census of India. C-1 Population By Religious Community |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India}}</ref> The Christianity in Kerala has long traditions from first century AD many of which is similar to the Malabari [[Cochin Jews|Jews]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Frykenberg|year=2008|pages=99}}</ref> the latter has settled in Kerala since the [[Solomon|King Solomon]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhKGPprbQaYC|title=The Jews of India: A story of Three Communities|publisher=UPNE|year=1995|isbn=978-965-278-179-6|location=Israel Museum|pages=27}}</ref> According to traditional accounts,<ref name="catholic.cafe">{{Cite web|url=https://catholic.cafe/2020/02/12/what-historical-proof-is-there-that-st-thomas-did-come-to-india-any-documentation-or-indications-that-he-really-did-come-to-kerala/|title=What historical proof is there that St Thomas did come to India? Any documentation or indications that he really did come to Kerala? {{!}} Edin Michael|website=www.catholic.cafe/|date=12 February 2020 |access-date=2022-01-08}}</ref> Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]] visited [[Muziris]] in Kerala in the first century around 52 AD and proselytized some of the then settled [[Cochin Jews|Cochin Jewish families]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mundadan & Thekkedath|year=1982|pages=30–32}}</ref><ref name="payyappilly.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.payyappilly.org/history/|title=History {{!}} PAYYAPPILLY PALAKKAPPILLY NASRANI|website=www.payyappilly.org|access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref> and some Upper castes, they became the present "''Mar Thoma Suriyani Nasrani''" or [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Syrian Christians]].<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch">[https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUBZlth2qgC&q=Muziris ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5''] by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing - 2008. p. 285. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2417-2}}.</ref><ref name="GPress">Medlycott, A E. 1905 "India and the Apostle Thomas"; Gorgias Press LLC; ISBN</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: 1707–1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC&pg=PA237|access-date=31 August 2012|date=2 May 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89332-9|page=237}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Why Christo-Racist Nationalism and Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Are Gaining Ground in Kerala|url=https://thewire.in/religion/kerala-syrian-christians-caste-anti-muslim-rhetoric|access-date=2021-06-22|website=The Wire}}</ref> According to traditional accounts, on the onset of an invasion Thomas is believed to have left northwest India traveled by vessel to the [[Malabar Coast]], possibly visiting southeast [[Arabia]] and Socotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port of [[Muziris]] (modern-day [[North Paravur]] and [[Kodungalloor]]).<ref name="payyappilly.org"/> Evidence such as the [[Acts of Thomas]], one of the first accounts of the life of Thomas, say he died in Northwest [[India]] in the [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]], at the hands of the monarch Misdaeus, thought to be [[Abdagases I]], a viceroy of the [[Gondopharnes]] in [[Sistan]], modern day southern Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |title=VIII.— On Two Medieval Bronze Bowls in the British Museum. By O. M. Dalton, Esq., M.A, F.S.A |url=https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1017%252Fs0068246200001380.zip&file=10.1017%252Fs026134090000967x.pdf |quote=Gondopharnes, the first of the ‘Indian kings' to whom he is said to have come, is an historical ruler who represented the Parthian power in Seistan and Kandahar, the Kabul Valley and North Western India; his reign began in A.D. 19, and had not ended in A.D. 45. The identity of Misdaeus' (Mazdai), the second king visited, under whom St. Thomas suffered martyrdom, is less certain; he may possibly have been Abdagases, viceroy of Gondopharnes in Seistan. See E. J. Rapson, The Cambridge History of India, vol. i, 1922, pp. 576-80}}</ref> This conclusion is supported by [[Ephrem the Syrian]] and his contemporaries, [[Eusebius]] and [[Origen]], who testify that Thomas evangelized the Parthians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cordier |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00corduoft/page/116/mode/2up?q=edessa&view=theater |title=Marco Polo; notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery |year=1920 |quote=St. Ephraem the Syrian (born about A.D. 300, died about 378), who spent most of his life at Edessa, in Mesopotamia, states that the Apostle was martyred in ' India,' and that his relics were taken thence to Edessa. That St. Thomas evangelized the Parthians, is stated by Origen (born A.D. 185 or 186, died about 251-254). Eusebius (bishop of Caesarea Palaestinae from A.D. 315 to about 340) says the same}}</ref> Modern scholars also support this point of view, and there is no evidence suggesting Thomas was ever in Kerala, or [[South India]] in general.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cordier |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00corduoft/page/116/mode/2up?q=edessa&view=theater |title=Marco Polo; notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery |year=1920 |language=en |quote=There is no evidence at all that the place where St. Thomas was martyred was in Southern India; and all the indications point to another direction}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Medlycott |year=1905 |pages=18–71}}</ref> According to [[Knanaya]] Christians, an [[Endogamy|endogamous]] [[ethnic group]] found among the [[Saint Thomas Christian]] community of Kerala, their existence in Kerala is traced back to the arrival of the [[Syriac Christianity|Syrian]] merchant [[Thomas of Cana]] (Knāi Thoma) who led a migration of [[Syriac Christians (Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans)|Syriac Christians]] (Jewish-Christians) from [[Mesopotamia]] to India in the 4th or 9th century.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Baum|first1=Wilhelm|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203423097|title=The Church of the East|last2=Winkler|first2=Dietmar W.|date=2003-12-08|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9780203423097|isbn=978-0-203-42309-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2005|title=Author Index Vol. 60, 2005|journal=Human Heredity|volume=60|issue=4|pages=242|doi=10.1159/000091316|s2cid=202648744|issn=0001-5652|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wallich|first=Paul|date=June 1990|title=Peary Redux|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0690-25|journal=Scientific American|volume=262|issue=6|pages=25–26|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0690-25|bibcode=1990SciAm.262f..25W|issn=0036-8733}}</ref> The Knanaya claim descent from Thomas of Cana and those who came with him. The communities arrival was recorded on the [[Thomas of Cana copper plates]] which existed in Kerala until the 17th century after which point they were taken to Portugal by the Franciscan Order.<ref>{{Citation|title=Socialist Politics Post-Mitterrand 1988-2002|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137318688.0012|work=Exceptional Socialists|year=2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|doi=10.1057/9781137318688.0012|isbn=978-1-137-31868-8|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=July 2005|title=Obesitasrichtlijnen|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf03084328|journal=Huisarts en Wetenschap|volume=48|issue=7|pages=497|doi=10.1007/bf03084328|issn=0018-7070 }}</ref><ref name="Mundadan_19842">{{cite book|author=Mundadan AM|title=Volume I: From the Beginning up to the Sixteenth Century (up to 1542)|publisher=Theological Publications|others=Church History Association of India|year=1984|series=History of Christianity in India|location=Bangalore}}</ref> Before the arrival of Europeans in Kerala there were only Marthoma Nasranis also called as Malankara Syrian Christians due to its historical, religious, and liturgical connection to [[Syriac Christianity]]. Marthoma Nasranis remained as an independent group, and they got their bishops from [[Church of the East]] until the advent of Portuguese and British colonialists. The first Roman Catholic Diocese in India was founded at [[Quilon]] in the year 1329 with the Catalan Dominican friar [[Jordanus Catalani]] as first Bishop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quilondiocese.com/index.php|title=Index - Quilon DIocese|website=www.quilondiocese.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-14}}</ref> The caste system became prevalent in Kerala later than any other parts of India after fourth and fifth century AD. The Nasranis were given special status outside the [[Caste system in Kerala|Varna system]]. Like Brahmins they were allowed to sit in front of Kings, ride on horse or elephants, to collect taxes. The Marthoma Nasranis back then also has the role of pollution neutralizers i.e., if a lower caste person hand over a substance to a Nasrani and if he in turn gives it to an upper caste, say for example Brahmin, then there would be no pollution for that Brahmin.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Varghese|first=Philip|title=Introduction to Caste in Christianity: A Case of Kerala|year=2010|pages=12|ssrn=2694487}}</ref>

|+Religious Demographics of Kerala (1901-2011)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/160316/kerala-muslims-will-be-double-the-number-of-christians-by-2051.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319141038/http://deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/160316/kerala-muslims-will-be-double-the-number-of-christians-by-2051.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=19 March 2016 | title=Kerala: Muslims will be double the number of Christians by 2051 | date=16 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/87/WP468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>https://i.imgur.com/imH5BdY.png {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref>