Introduction

Christianity in India can be identified by its geographical and ethnographical distinctions and

disparities. Geographically, Indian Christianity has various pockets of concentration—the

north-eastern region, the Central Plains, and the coastal and some inland areas of southern

and western India. Ethnographically Indian Christianity comprises both caste and tribal

communities, and among the castes, they range between the highest to the lowest.

Throughout the History of Christianity in India the practice of Caste System hampered the

advancement of the Gospel and weakened the life and witness of the Church. Missionaries

and Individuals took painstaking effort to eradicate this evil practice but their efforts were

fruitless and in vain.

1. Definition of Caste

According to L. Stanislaus, the word ‘caste’ is derived from Latin, which means pure or

chaste. It is understood as “rooted in distant times of the past and dictates to every orthodox

person of the do’s and don’ts of all social relationships and possessions1. The word caste

refers to a lineage or race. Caste system is a social pattern; a kind of colour – bar between the

Aryan and the subjugated Dravidians, imposed by the Aryans. There are four main castes and

each with many subdivisions;

1. Brahmins – The priestly class

2. Kshatriyas – Warriors and Noble man

3. Vaisyas – Merchants, Peasants, Craft men

4. Sudras – Serfs doing Manual works

1
L. Stanislaus, The Liberative Mission of the Church among Dalit Christians (Delhi: ISPCK, 1999), 1-2

1
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas were considered as upper castes while Sudras were the

low castes. Beyond these are the outcastes or untouchables, held to be impure, whose very

shadow caused pollution to others. They were subject to many kinds of prejudices and lived

in subhuman conditions. They only allowed performing the very lowliest of tasks such as

scavenging and emptying the latrines. They were prohibited from entering temples and public

institutions. They lived in much ignorance, without any scope for freedom2.

2. The Entry of Caste into the Indian Church

2.1. Caste Distinction among the Syrian Christians

It is believed that the practice of caste system among the India Christians has its heritage

from the time of Apostle Thomas. According to history the Malabar Christians were the first

to allow the practice of caste distinctions in the church. The early church workers appointed

by Apostle Thomas were also said to be from high – castes. The two Syrian groups –

migrations which came to Malabar under the leadership of Thomas of Cana and Marwan

Sabrisho during the 4th and 9th centuries A.D. respectively were instructed by the local rulers

who gave them special privileges written on copper plates to maintain their status as high –

caste or class groups. On that basis they were given special treatment by the rulers. The

existence to this day of one group of Malabar Syrian Christians called “Northists”

(Vadakumbagar) and the other called “Southists” (Thekkumbagar) shows the cast/class

maintained by them. They do not intermarry. Because of the special privileges granted to the

Syrian migrant groups, they did not convert the low – caste people as Christians3. The Syrian

Christians did not encourage conversion from the lower castes thinking that the admission of

lower caste people would lower the social status obtained from the Hindu Kings.

2
Binu John, A Study on Christian Contribution to the Nation Building (Delhi: I.S.P.C.K, 2001), 2-3
3
Arthur Jeyakumar, History of Christianity: Selected Themes, Revised and enlarged edition (Madurai: Tamil
Nadu Theological Seminary, 2007), 56

2
2.2. Caste Distinctions among Catholic Christians

St. Francis Xavier found difficult to convert the high caste and worked among the low caste

people. Robert De Nobili the 17th century Italian invented the method of Indigenization and

Indianized himself. His new method attracted local youths and resulted conversions. Such

converts came from several castes including Brahmins. The method of de nobili divided the

Christians on caste basis and it lasted long. Though initially there were no separate places of

worship, ‘the buildings were so arranged as to keep caste and out caste in separate portions.

But later separate worship services were conducted for different caste groups; there were

separate burial grounds. In a few church buildings dividing walls were put up inside to

segregate the congregations on the basis of caste. The Holy Communion elements were

distributed first to the high caste Christians and then to the others. This kind of practice

continued almost till the middle of 20th century4.

2.3. Caste Distinctions among the Protestants

Large numbers of Christians in the southern districts of Madras Presidency boast of their

firmer and true adherents of the caste system than the Hindus. In Kerala the Scheduled

converts from Pulaya catste are called as Pulaya Christians because they are of the Pulaya

caste5 Andhra Christians are generally caste bound both at the social and political level; the

churches in Andhra Pradesh composed on the basis of caste. Groups and individuals use caste

to acquire power and dominance6. Caste consciousness among the Christians in Maharashtra

continued to hamper the spread of the Gospel as the converted Christians form a particular

sub – caste, took the missionaries to their own people. Another factor related to the caste

consciousness of the Mahar Christians was clearly seen when people from the Mang

4
Arthur Jeyakumar, History of Christianity: 58-60
5
Y. Antony Raj, 4
6
Y. Antony Raj, 4

3
community were targeted by the missionaries. The Mahar found it very hard to welcome the

Mang, an outcaste like himself, for whom he had a hereditary hatred7. The Malas and

Madigas in Telugu Christendom avoided each others in marriage ties and other social

intercourse. The Christian assembly in the coastal town of Nasrapur established in 1850 was

split cleanly into two halves on the basis of caste8.

2.3.1. The Tranquebar Mission

A few of first protestant missionaries’ converts were from the Roman Church they brought

their caste distinctions with them. Ziegenbalg did not take any firm decision to root out caste

distinction from among his converts. This may be because of the many problems he faced in

his pioneering missionary enterprise. The church he built in Tranquebar was in a cruciform.

In this church, the Sudra believers sat on one side of the nave and the others on the other side.

At Holy Communion all the Sudras men and women, communicated first and the others

afterwards. A similar distinction was made in the schools.9.

2.3.2. The Anglican Missions

The S. P. G. Missionaries took efforts to abolish the caste observance from their Indian

converts. But such a policy was not received well by Indian Christians. A congregation in

Chennai got agitated when their missionary made the Adi – Dravida children to sit along with

the Sudra children in their church. The strict attitude of Bishop Daniel Wilson against caste

distinctions had its repercussions too. Some of the higher – caste Indian Christians in Chennai

7
Atul Y. Aghamkar, “Christianity Among the Mahars of Maharashtra” in F. Hrangkhuma, (ed) Christianity in
India: Search for Liberation and Identity (Delhi: ISPCK, 1998) ,59
8
Job Sudarshan, “Christianity Among the Mala and Madiga in Andhra Pradesh: Trends and Issues” in F.
Hrangkhuma, (ed) Christianity in India: Search for Liberation and Identity (Delhi: ISPCK, 1998) ,88
9
Arthur Jeyakuma, 61

4
did not wish to submit to Bishop Daniel Wilson’s stand and decided to join the congregation

of the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission (L.E.L.M) in Chennai10.

3. Missionaries’ Attitude towards Caste System

Schultze who headed the Tranquebar mission in 1720 did not like the policy of caste

distinction in the mission11. The Serampore Trios did not permit caste distinctions among

their converts. From the very beginning they were very particular about caste distinction

because they realised that the caste distinction in the Hindu society was not social, but out

and out religious. The Serampore missionaries encouraged inter- caste marriage. The S.P.G.

Missionaries took efforts to abolish caste distinction from among its Indian converts. Bishop

Daniel instructed the missionaries working in the Diocese of Calcutta to take a concerted

effort to abolish caste distinctions among Indian converts. In 1825 C.T.E. Rhenius missionary

of Church Missionary Society at Palayamkottai, Tirunelvelly did not permit his seminary

students to practice caste distinction. He closed the seminary for a while and reopened it only

after the students came forward to abide his stand on the matter12. The first South India

Regional Missionary Conference held at Ootacamund in 1858 encouraged missionaries to

show the great injuriousness of caste to all classes of its rotaries, and its great obstructiveness

to all efforts for the improvement of their temporal condition, as well as its soul destroying

influence13. In their fight against the caste system the London Missionary Society Christians

established schools to educate the Dalits. By imparting education, the LMS Christians wanted

to socially elevate the Dalits. The LMS Christians attacked the caste system not only because

it distorted the true humanity of the outcastes, but also it disturbed “koinonia” within the

10
Arthur Jeyakuma, 64
11
Arthur Jeyakumar, History of Christianity in India 61
12
Arthur Jeyakumar, History of Christianity in India 65
13
Arthur Jeyakumar, History of Christianity in India 66

5
Christian community14. LMS Christians made Dalit children sit along with the caste children.

Thus, LMS Christians waged a definite war on caste prejudices, and attempted to establish

the fact that Dalit people were also equal, as people, to any other class or caste15.

Bishop V.S. Azariah said that the Christian community should not be considered just another

static communal group, but something dynamic and different that included ‘all races, all

tongues, and all castes. The moment a person is baptized, he or she no longer belongs to any

caste, but all are one in Christ Jesus16. Azariah frequently enjoined his diocese to pray against

‘the spirit of faction’ caste, land and pride. He encouraged converts to take new names either

form the Bible or from the Telugu and Sanskrit word to abandon caste appellation17.

Diocesan literature contains substantial evidence that conversion to Christianity was

accompanied by the abandonment of many attitudes and practices regulated by the caste

system – particularly those related to the customary subordination of untouchables by the

higher caste18.

4. Indian Christian Attitude towards Caste in the 19th Century

During 19th century the missionaries have faced severe opposition from the Indian Christians

for their policy for the suppression of caste. Opposition to the missionaries’ caste policy

tended to come from Christians of Sudra origin rather than from untouchable or high – caste

converts. The Rev. D. Savarimuoothoo of Vepery reported that “No measures have been

adopted to further the abandonment of caste distinctions in eating and drinking and in general

14
Franklyn J. Balasundaram, “The Dalits and the Christian Mission in the Tamil Country” in F. Hrangkhuma,
(ed) Christianity in India: Search for Liberation and Identity (Delhi: ISPCK, 1998), 118
15
Franklyn J. Balasundaram, “The Dalits and the Christian Mission in the Tamil Country” in F. Hrangkhuma,
(ed) Christianity in India: Search for Liberation and Identity (Delhi: ISPCK, 1998), 119
16
Susan Billington Harper, In the Shadow of the Mahatma: Bishop V.S. Azariah and the Travails of Christianity
in British India (Grand Rapid, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 250
17
Susan Billington Harper, In the Shadow of the Mahatma, 251
18
Susan Billington Harper, In the Shadow of the Mahatma, 255

6
social intercourse amongst my communicants. W.T. Sathiyanathan of Madras protested that

‘Any harsh measures tend not only to wound the feelings and give umbrage, but it may also

defeat the object of evangelism. The other Indian clergy saw the strict caste discipline as

strongly discouraging conversions except from the low caste ranks of Hindu society, and as

leading many Christians to move into the more tolerant Lutherans and Roman Churches19.

When Bishop Heber invited Rev. Christian David from Tanjore to explain the intricacies of

caste controversies and its past history, and suggest how the Bishop might deal with the

matter. Christian David came down on the side of the dissidents rather than the

missionaries20.

A substantial part of the Tanjore Church had resisted the missionaries’ attack on caste. The

Tanjore Christians decided to leave the church if only the missionaries have failed to listen to

them. Seventeen hundred Sudras already had left the church because of the missionaries’

attitudes against caste21. The Tanjore Christians were emphatic on the importance of

maintaining the caste as the only basis on which they could maintain social contact with their

Hindu neighbours22. The trend has been changed when Bishop Daniel Wilson visited Tanjore

after ten years the tone and tendency on discussion about caste was radically different from

the Tanjore debate. This time Indian Christians wholeheartedly supported the strong line

against caste. The six converts of John Anderson who were from high – caste Hindu society

felt that it is profitless to attempt to disentangle caste as religious and caste as evil, for ‘as the

soul is connected with the body, so caste is connected with Hinduism. If any Christian admits

caste as true then the whole fabric of Christianity must come down; for the nature of caste

19
Duncan B. Forrester, Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Polices on Anglo – Saxon Protestant Mission in
India (London: Curzon Press, 1980), 119
20
Duncan B. Forrester,120
21
Duncan B. Forrester,123
22
Duncan B. Forrester,124

7
and its associations destroy the first principles of Christianity23. Nehemiah Goreh, a Konkani

Brahmin convert accepted the missionary line on caste without question; ‘Christianity with

caste would be no Christianity at all’ he said24.

5. Indian Christians Attitude towards caste in 20th Century

S.K. Dutta the father of Indian Christian Nationalism wrote that caste presents the greatest of

all obstacles to evangelization. The church must be utterly opposed to caste both within itself

and in society at large. The Christian contribution to the new India of a broader and more

flexible idea of fellowship and a truer and more liberated motion of individuality depends

utterly upon the maintenance of an uncompromising stand on caste25. Asirvatham who was

one of the Members of Rethinking Christianity group wrote “only Christianity is capable of

freeing man in any real sense from thraldom to caste and communalism. He believed that

caste is integral to Hinduism it has its virtue and he urged Christians to reject it26.

P.D. Devanandan pointed out that the main lines of missionary criticism of caste had now

been widely accepted and these criticisms were a major continuing element in the

construction of new India27.

6. Caste System in the Church Today

In some communities then, the church became the centre for the manifestation and

maintenance of status difference centred on caste. Church celebrations and processions began

to express and articulate relations of rank and status, hierarchy and honour in particular local

contexts. On a par with Hindu temple celebration, most Christian feasts find the distribution

23
Duncan B. Forrester,127
24
Duncan B. Forrester,130
25
Duncan B. Forrester,181
26
Duncan B. Forrester,184
27
Duncan B. Forrester,187

8
of rights and honours on a caste basis. In the south Goan village of Cuncolim during the

church dedication of “Our Lady of Good Health” only the high – caste land owning Chardo

gauncars (male descendants of the original settlers of the village) were allowed to organise

the religious festivals and lead the processions. The non – gauncars of the village including

members of all castes, particularly the lower caste – sutras, are distinguished by their blue

capes. They have no right to administer the feast – day celebrations and have to walk behind

the high – gauncars at feast processions. They are also not allowed to touch any processional

regalia or distribute candles at the celebrations28.

Caste related conflict among the Catholics re-enacted in Catholic terms a similar conflict

occurring within Indian society at large. Many caste Catholic Christians wanted to

ameliorate the conditions of Adi – Catholics without unsettling the basic structure of the

church. Adi – Catholics had become impatient with this strategy and regarded it as an

endorsement of the status quo29. Prominent Catholics at Trichinopoly went so far as to

suggest that caste exclusiveness among Catholics had been part of their strategy for winning

the potential Hindu converts. Growing numbers of converts from Dalit backgrounds exposed

the limitations of Catholic resources to alleviate their condition. Such realities prompted

members of the Catholic Indian Association and Catholic Members of the Madras Legislative

Council to seek Government assistance on behalf of Catholic Dalits30.

At Chetpat, a Tamil – speaking village in the North Arcot district of the Madras presidency,

Catholics had celebrates their annual festival of “Our Lady of Lourdes.” During the last four

days of festival, a car of “Our Lady” had typically been dragged in procession only by caste

Catholics. During the 1936 celebration, the local priest had proposed Adi – Catholics to drag
28
Rowena Robinson, Christians of India ( New Delhi: Sage Publication, 2003) 73
29
Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863-1937 ( London and New
York: Routledge Curson, 2004) 172
30
Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India 173

9
the car. This proposal had triggered a volatile reaction by the caste Catholics. The caste

Catholics staged protest against it and argued that the inclusion of Adi – Catholics “infringed

upon their immemorial rights.31”

In 1936 at Kumbakonam Adi – Catholics demanded the right to be seated with caste –

Catholics during prayer at the newly consecrated St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral at

Kumbakonam. During one Sunday mass a group of Adi – Catholics went and sat in the wing

assigned to caste – Catholics. Their move not only aroused the resentment of caste –

Catholics, but also of the parish and the bishop of the diocese. Similar passions had been

stirred when several Adi – Catholic women had seated themselves alongside caste women

and were forcibly ejected from their seats. In an interview with the Hindu, two prominent

caste Catholics defended the policy of separate seating within the church in terms of

privileges their fore-fathers had long enjoyed at Kumbakonam. Samikannu Pillai and Michael

Pillai regarded the actions of Adi – Catholics as an affront to their “Immemorial right” as

caste Catholics to separate themselves from the polluted castes32. In Alapuram caste conflicts

arose over the question of funeral biers. Until the 1970s, two biers had been in use. One was

used exclusively by the high caste and was kept inside the church, the other was for the use of

low – caste Pallars and it was kept outside the church33.

Church feasts in South India also manifest the similar pattern. In Alapuram the rights to carry

the saints and chariots in the procession associated with the annual feast of Saint James and

the patron of the village church, restricted to the high castes. The participation of the low –

caste Pallars in the festival was limited to contributing to the festival fund and receiving the

sacraments. Up until the early 20th century, communion was brought to the Pallars at the back

31
Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India 180
32
Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India 181
33
Rowena Robinson, 75

10
of the church at a separate rail, after it had been received by the high castes. Pulaya and

Paraya Christians in Kerala worshiped in separate churches from the Syrians34. In the village

of Vadakkankulam in Tamil Nadu Vellalars and the more lowly Shanars were in constant

dispute over rights and honours in the celebration of the main feasts of the Holy Family

Catholic Church35. Converts to Catholicism from among them had hoped for the status of

equality, but the structured inequalities practiced in Hinduism continued to be reflected and

imposed in the new faith36.

7. The Present Situation of the Low Caste Christians in India

The scale of discrimination against Dalit Christians is unprecedented not only in life but even

after death. In churches and places of worship the Christians of ‘upper’ castes humiliate their

fellow Dalit Christians by occupying the central part of the church. Dalits are assigned to the

wings. They are allowed to take communion only after the higher caste people have done so.

In some Protestant churches, there are separate cups for the Dalits at the Eucharistic

celebration. Some Catholic churches in Madras dioceses like Trichy and Pondicherry even

have separate communion rails and separate cemeteries, and Christians are endogamous,

families only accepting matrimonial proposals of their own caste. As a result, even after

hundreds of years of their existence in the Church, Dalits remain on the periphery of the

community. The Church has not offered opportunities to Dalits to improve educationally or

socially. Few Dalits become priests and leaders in the Church. A recent article from the

Deccan Chronicle dated 31 October 2007 highlights growing discontent among Christian

converts and a deep fissure dividing the church on the basis of caste. Christians continue to

maintain their caste identities and there are no inter-caste marriages. It is sufficiently clear

34
Rowena Robinson, 75
35
Rowena Robinson, 76
36
John Desrochers csc, Theological Teachings of Indian Church (Bangalore: NBCLC, 2006),44

11
that churches in India are still under the influence of caste system which originally belongs to

Hinduism. The low caste and Dalit Christians from the vast majority of the Christian

population have been dominated, subjugated and ruled by the minority upper caste Christians.

Conclusion

The sound teachings and effective church disciplines are the possible ways to eliminate caste

system from the Indian Churches. May a powerful Holy Spirit revival will mitigate the

discrimination to a large extent.

12
Bibliography

Jeyakumar Arthur D., History of Christianity in India: Selected Themes, Madurai: Tamil Nadu

Theological Seminary, 2007

Mallampalli Chandra, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863-1937 London and

New York: Routledge Curson, 2004

Forrester Duncan B., Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Polices on Anglo – Saxon Protestant

Mission in India, London: Curzon Press, 1980

Stanislaus L., The Liberative Mission of the Church among Dalit Christians, Delhi: ISPCK,

1999

Robinson Rowena, Christians of India, New Delhi: Sage Publication, 2003

Desrochers John csc, Theological Teachings of Indian Church, Bangalore: NBCLC, 2006

John Binu, A Study on Christian Contribution to the Nation Building, Delhi: I.S.P.C.K, 2001

Antony Raj, Y. Social Impact of Conversion, Delhi: ISPCK, 2001

Hrangkhuma F., (ed) Christianity in India: Search for Liberation and Identity, Delhi: ISPCK, 1998

(V. Good materials collection.)

Grade: A- 18.2

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