Bishop Thomas of Cana, Nasrani History, Southist- Northist, Thekkumbhagar

Joseph: I wasn’t aware that the Church of Mulanthuruthy …

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Comment posted Arrival of Thomas of Cana ( Bishop Thomas of Cana ?), History and references about Southist Community (Thekkumbhagar – Knanaya ) by John Mathew.

Joseph:

I wasn’t aware that the Church of Mulanthuruthy was a Southist Church.

But no matter — I strongly doubt that we possess *any* names of any of our people from the 12th century. So I would ask you to reconfirm whether the individual you mentioned as the founder of Mulanthuruthy was indeed from the 12th century or the 15/16th century.

Perhaps I’m wrong here, but I would be willing to bet cold hard cash that he was not from the 12th century.

Any information on how Mulanthuruthy became a Northist Church?

I can believe that Mulanthuruthy is a 12th century Church. That seems consistent with the apparent revival of the Nasranis due to the immigrant of the Persians to Kollam under Mar Sabor — many Churches stem from that era like Kayamkulam and Mavelikara. But I have a hard time believing that Kunnassery Kunchakko Tharakan is from the 12th century: we have barely decent records from the 15th century. Before that all we have are the copper plate grants to various Northist communities and to the Jews, and the Pahlavi Crosses.

But I’m open to new ideas. Jackson’s last post seems to refute my theory on genetic grounds: Black Jews and Southists seem to have some crucial differences. So perhaps the Southist’s ancestors weren’t “Black Jews”. But I do believe they were some form of Jew, given the marriage songs, etc — they certainly don’t seem to have a Syriac Christians (Nestorian or Jacobite) origin. And I believe that they arose closer to the 15/16th century, coincident with the emigration of Jews from Kodungalloor.

So if you can confirm the era of the character you mentioned, please do.