Robert de Nobili

Arriving in Madurai in 1606, the Italian Jesuit Robert de Nobili chose to live as a Tamil scholar-ascetic — adopting local dress, language and custom — to reach high-caste Hindus who had recoiled from the foreign-looking faith. His “accommodation” method was fiercely debated in his own day and has been studied ever since.

Facts from standard histories; Vincent Cronin, A Pearl to India (1959) is copyrighted and cited only.