Who came, and when
-
52
The Thomas Christian tradition
By long tradition, the St Thomas Christians trace their church to the apostle Thomas, said to have reached the Malabar coast and died a martyr in the south.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.46
-
1542
Francis Xavier on the Fishery Coast
The Jesuit Francis Xavier arrived in 1542 and gave shape to the faith of the Parava fishing communities along the southern coast.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.55
-
1606
Roberto de Nobili at Madurai
The Italian Jesuit Roberto de Nobili learned Sanskrit and adopted a Brahmin manner of life at Madurai in an effort to reach high-caste society.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.76
-
1706
First Protestant missionaries land
On 9 July 1706 Ziegenbalg and Plütschau stepped ashore at Tranquebar — the first Protestant missionaries to reach India.
Sources: neill-history-1707-1858 p.50 · frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.59
-
1719
Death of Ziegenbalg
Ziegenbalg died in 1719, still a young man, after years of language work and a bruising clash with the local Danish authorities.
Sources: neill-history-1707-1858 p.52
-
1750
Schwartz begins his long service
Around 1750 Christian Friedrich Schwartz began a mission career in South India that would run nearly half a century without a break.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.62
-
1792
The Baptist Missionary Society is founded
In October 1792 a small group of Baptists at Kettering formed the society that would send William Carey to India.
Sources: carey-myers-life p.31
-
1793
Carey reaches Bengal
Carey sailed in 1793 and reached Calcutta in November, the first missionary of the new Baptist society.
Sources: carey-myers-life p.39
-
1795
The London Missionary Society is founded
The London Missionary Society was formed in 1795, part of a wave of new voluntary societies inspired by Carey's example.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.68
-
1798
Death of Schwartz
Schwartz died in 1798, ending a celebrated career that closed with him trusted as guardian and tutor at the Thanjavur court.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.62
-
1799
The Church Missionary Society is founded
The Church Missionary Society was established in 1799, the evangelical Anglican agency that would later open the Telugu mission.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.68
-
1800
The first Hindu baptism at Serampore
At the end of 1800 Carey baptized Krishna Pal, a carpenter, in the Ganges — the mission's first Hindu convert, later a Bengali hymn-writer.
Sources: neill-history-1707-1858 p.220
-
1806
Henry Martyn arrives
Henry Martyn reached Calcutta in May 1806 as a Company chaplain, beginning six years of intense translation work.
Sources: neill-history-1707-1858 p.279
-
1813
The Charter Act opens India to missions
When the East India Company's charter was renewed in 1813, it granted foreign missionaries legal entry into British-held India for the first time.
Sources: frykenberg-christians-missionaries p.69
-
1818
Serampore College is founded
In 1818 the Serampore trio founded Serampore College, joining higher learning to the mission's printing and translation work.
Sources: carey-faithful-witness p.18
-
1829
Widow-burning is banned
A long campaign that Carey and others had pressed for years helped bring the 1829 government ban on the burning of widows.
Sources: carey-legacy-mangalwadi p.33
-
1830
Duff opens his Calcutta school
Alexander Duff opened his English-medium school in Calcutta in July 1830, helped past local suspicion by the reformer Rammohun Roy.
Sources: neill-history-1707-1858 p.331
-
1895
Amy Carmichael reaches India
Amy Carmichael arrived in India late in 1895 under the CEZMS, beginning the work that would settle in the Tamil south.
Sources: carmichael-chance-to-die p.116
-
1901
The first temple child is rescued
In March 1901 a small girl named Preena escaped temple dedication and reached Amy Carmichael, beginning the rescue work at the heart of Dohnavur.
Sources: carmichael-chance-to-die p.171
-
1927
The Dohnavur Fellowship is registered
Having parted from the older societies in 1925, the work was registered in its own right as the Dohnavur Fellowship in 1927.
Sources: carmichael-chance-to-die p.280
-
1931
Carmichael's fall
A fall in October 1931 left Amy Carmichael badly injured and largely confined for the rest of her life, though she kept writing from her room.
Sources: carmichael-chance-to-die p.318