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Encounters with Christ in India

Two Thousand Years — a Timeline

Two thousand years of the Christian story in India, era by era — each entry links to its fuller account.

Apostolic & Early

  1. c. AD 52 (traditional) The Apostle Thomas & the Brahmins of Palayur
  2. 1st century King Gundaphar & the Palace in Heaven
  3. traditional c. AD 345 Thomas of Cana (Knai Thoma)
  4. c. AD 180 Pantaenus of Alexandria
  5. c. AD 849 The Kollam Copper Plates
  6. c. AD 883 King Alfred's Alms to the Shrine of Thomas

Medieval

  1. c. AD 550 Cosmas Indicopleustes
  2. 1329 Jordanus of Séverac
  3. c. 1292 Marco Polo at the Shrine of Thomas
  4. c. 1291 John of Montecorvino on the Coromandel Coast
  5. 1321 The Martyrs of Thana

Catholic & Portuguese

  1. arrived Goa, 1542 Francis Xavier
  2. Madurai, from 1606 Robert de Nobili
  3. martyred 1693 John de Britto
  4. in India 1710–1747 Constanzo Beschi (Viramamunivar)
  5. martyred 1752 · canonised 2022 Devasahayam Pillai
  6. 1535–1537 The Paravas of the Fishery Coast
  7. 1653 The Coonan Cross Oath

Protestant Dawn

  1. Tranquebar, 1706 Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg
  2. in India from 1750 Christian Friedrich Schwartz
  3. ordained 1733 Aaron — the First Indian Protestant Pastor
  4. baptised 1832 Krishna Mohan Banerjee
  5. baptised 1854 Baba Padmanji
  6. baptised 1848 Nehemiah (Nilakantha) Goreh
  7. baptised 1843 Narayan Sheshadri
  8. baptised 1866 Imad-ud-din Lahiz
  9. baptised 1858 H. A. Krishna Pillai
  10. baptised 1800 Krishna Pal — the First Serampore Convert

The Indian Awakening

  1. baptised 1883 · revival 1905 Pandita Ramabai
  2. baptised 1895 Narayan Vaman Tilak
  3. baptised 1891 Brahmabandhab Upadhyay
  4. vision 1904 · baptised 1905 Sadhu Sundar Singh
  5. first Indian Anglican bishop, 1912 V. S. Azariah
  6. 1866–1878 The Telugu Mass Movement — Ongole and the Great Famine
  7. from 1845 The Kols of Chotanagpur
  8. founded 1905 The National Missionary Society

The Northeast

  1. 1841 Thomas Jones & the Khasi Hills
  2. 1894–1899 The First Mizo Believers
  3. 1872 The Naga Awakening (E. W. Clark)
  4. from 1836 Nathan Brown, Miles Bronson & the Assam Mission

The Twentieth Century

  1. from 1907 E. Stanley Jones & the Round Table
  2. Dohnavur, from 1901 Amy Carmichael
  3. baptised 1932 Bakht Singh
  4. in India 1936–1974 Lesslie Newbigin
  5. 1946 Mother Teresa — the “call within a call”
  6. 1999 Graham Staines
  7. Vellore, from 1900 Ida Scudder & the Night of Three Deaths
  8. 27 September 1947 The Church of South India
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