Christianity in Punjab, India

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Armenians have been visiting the Indian subcontinent, especially the Punjab region, for trading purposes since the early part of the 2nd millennium.{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Jayanta Kumar |title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World |publisher=Pearson Education India |year=2007 |isbn=9788131708347 |pages=62–63 |chapter=Immigrant Communities}} There are sparse records existing that document Armenians settling in the region prior to the reign of Akbar. In the mid-16th century, Akbar invited the Armenian merchant Hakobjan, who was based out of Lahore to settle in Agra, and asked him to convince other Armenians based in Punjab to also move to the imperial city. By the 1570s, there was a regular presence of Armenian merchants in the city of Lahore, whom specialized in high-value and low-quantity goods with Persia and Central Asia. In the early 16th century, there was an Armenian colony established in Lahore.{{Cite book |last=Seth |first=Mesrovb Jacob |title=Armenians in India, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: A Work of Original Research |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1983 |isbn=9788120608122 |edition=reprint |pages=201–206 |chapter=Chapter XV: Armenians at Lahore}} There was an Armenian quarter of the city, enclosed by a wall of the city fort. There were interactions between the Armenians and Jesuits, as recorded in the letters left by the Jesuits. The Armenian archbishop died on his way to Lahore via a Persian land-route in 1599, with his belongings being looted. Some of the looted books of the deceased Armenian archbishop came into the possession of the Jesuit Emmanuel Pinheiro, which upset the Armenians. In a letter dating to 6 September 1604, Jerome Xavier records that the Armenians in Lahore could practice their Christian faith freely due to a royal decree (firman) issued by Akbar. Emmanuel Pinheiro, writing on 12 August 1609, states that the Mughal governor threatened to exterminate the Christian religion from the city of Lahore, spooking the Armenians, causing some of them to flee the city, as the Armenians did not have the desire to become religious martyrs. The Jesuits attempted to convince the Armenians of Lahore to convert to Catholicism. Mirza Iskandar, the father of Mirza Zulqarnain, left behind a will bequeathing a sum of 2,000 rupees to the church and Christians of Lahore. Additionally, a sum of 600 rupees was for a Christian cemetery of Lahore.

The Armenians were hesitant to get on the bad side of the Jesuits, as the Jesuits were close with the Mughal viceroy and held political sway as a result. François Valentyn recorded that on 10 December 1711 when a mission of the Dutch East India Company led by John Jeshua Kettler reached Lahore, they were greeted by an Armenian bishop and some Jesuits. The existence of an Armenian bishop in Lahore in 1711 points to the existence of an established church or chapel in the city to cater to a large congregation.

In 1735, the Jesuit Emmanuel de Figueiredo wrote that the elite Mughal military units stationed in Lahore consisted of many Christian members in its officer-classes.

After the second Durrani Afghan invasion of Punjab, Ahmad Shah Durrani is said to have taken all of the Christian gunners who were in the service of Mir Mannu, the viceroy of Lahore province, back to Kabul. In 1757, during the third Durrani invasion of Punjab, the Armenian quarter of the city of Lahore still existed, as Armenian and Georgian soldiers who were employed in the Durrani military protected it from the Afghans, sparing it and its inhabitants from being pillaged and destroyed like much of the surrounding city. An Armenian is said to have cast the famous Zamzama gun in Lahore in 1761.

Jesuits arrived in the region in the 16th century during the Mughal period but their nascent mission was temporarily shut-down during the reign of emperor Shah Jahan.{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Pakistan Mission |url=https://jcapsj.org/about-us/about-the-jesuit-conference/our-provinces-regions-and-missions/pakistan-mission/ |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific}} The Jesuit mission in the Indian subcontinent began in 1545, which was marked by the arrival of Francis Xavier in Goa.{{Cite book |last=Udías |first=Agustín |title=Jesuit Contribution to Science: A History |date=27 September 2014 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319083650 |edition=illustrated |pages=124–125 |chapter=5.5: Entering Unknown Lands}} In 1578, Akbar requested for two Jesuits to explain the Christian religion to him at his court in Fatehpur Sikri. Antoni de Montserrat, whom had arrived in the Indian subcontinent several years earlier in 1574, and Rodolfo Acquaviva, were selected for the task. The pair left Goa in November 1579 whilst being accompanied by a Persian convert named Henriquez, who would act as their translator at the Mughal court, and the group were also chaperoned by a member of Akbar's court. After three months of travel, the two Jesuits and their group arrived at Akbar's court, where they were warmly received and would spend much time in-dialogue with court officials and members of other religions. In 1581, Montserrat accompanied Akbar on a military campaign to the northwestern regions, including Punjab, reaching as far as Kabul, with Montserrat producing an early map of the northwestern region of the subcontinent. In 1595, Bento de Góis travelled to Lahore and Agra as a companion of Jerome Xavier, paying a visit to Akbar's court.

In 1606, Jerome Xavier was in Lahore during the execution of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan, with Xavier recording an eyewitness testimony of the incident.Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (British Library Add MS 9854, ff. 38-52), 1617, in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1809). Eds. Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 7. Jerome Xavier, in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjan, wrote back to Lisbon, that Guru Arjan suffered and was tormented.{{cite book |last=Barnes |first=Michael |title=Interreligious learning: dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-107-01284-4 |pages=245–246 |quote=In that way, their good Pope died, overwhelmed by the sufferings, torments and dishonours. – Jerome Xavier, Letter to Gasper Fernandes in Lisbon, On the execution of Guru Arjan}}

According to Ilay Cooper, Christian murals were painted in a Sedari pavilion located on the North Wall of Lahore Fort during the reign of Jahangir in circa 1618.{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Ilay |title=49. The Sedari – An Unbalanced Pavilion |url=https://www.ilaycooper.com/blog/travel/the-sedari-an-unbalanced-pavilion/ |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=ilaycooper.com}}

The Ludhiana Mission was established in November 1834 by John Lowrie of the American Presbyterian Mission Society.{{Cite journal |last=Kaur |first=Maninder |date=May 2018 |title=The American Presbyterian Mission in Colonial Punjab: Contribution in Social and Religious Fields (1834-1930) |url=http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/upoadreserchpapers/5/210/1807140521371st%20maninder%20kaur.pdf |journal=Remarking an Analisation |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=101–107}} In December 1835, the reverends John Newton and James Wilson established a printing press for the mission.{{Cite journal |last=Lent |first=John A. |date=1980 |title=The Missionary Press of Asia, 1550 - 1860 |url=https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0010-3497-1980-2-119.pdf?download_full_pdf=1 |journal=Communicatio Socialis |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=119–141 |doi=10.5771/0010-3497-1980-2-119}} Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler of the independent Sikh kingdom to the northwest, invited John Lowrie to establish a school in his empire for the offspring of nobles but the plans fell-through because the Maharaja opposed the missionary practice of teaching the Gospel in study of literature and science.{{Cite journal |last=Kaur |first=Maninder |date=May 2018 |title=The American Presbyterian Mission in Colonial Punjab: Contribution in Social and Religious Fields (1834-1930) |url=http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/upoadreserchpapers/5/210/1807140521371st%20maninder%20kaur.pdf |journal=Remarking an Analisation |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=101–107}}

File:Missionaries F. T. Baring and C. M. Tucker with native Christians at Batala, Punjab, 1880.jpg

The Christians of colonial India were active in the Indian National Congress and wider Indian independence movement, being collectively represented in the All India Conference of Indian Christians, which advocated for swaraj and opposed the partition of India.{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Abraham Vazhayil |title=Christians in Secular India |date=1974 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |isbn=978-0-8386-1021-3 |pages=106–110 |language=English}}{{cite journal |last1=Oddie |first1=Geoffrey A. |title=Indian Christians and National Identity 1870-1947 |journal=The Journal of Religious History |date=2001 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=357, 361|doi=10.1111/1467-9809.00138 }}{{cite journal |last1=Pinto |first1=Ambrose |title=Christian Contribution to the Freedom Struggle |journal=Mainstream |date=19 August 2017 |volume=LV |issue=35 |language=English}}

In the early 20th century, a Christian missionary named Ray Harrison Carter drafted a "Moga plan" for the betterment of destitute Christian converts in the Moga region by establishing village schools and a training school focusing on agricultural education.{{Cite journal |last=Kaur |first=Maninder |date=May 2018 |title=The American Presbyterian Mission in Colonial Punjab: Contribution in Social and Religious Fields (1834-1930) |url=http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/upoadreserchpapers/5/210/1807140521371st%20maninder%20kaur.pdf |journal=Remarking an Analisation |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=101–107}} One of these educational institutions established by the Christian missionaries was the 'Moga Training School for Village Teachers', which was established in 1912 by the American Presbyterian Mission and conceived by Ray Harrison Carter.{{Cite journal |last=Harper |first=Irene Mason |date=February 1932 |editor-last=Pierson |editor-first=Delavan Leonard |title=Modern Miracles at Moga |url=https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A170298#page/249/mode/1up |journal=The Missionary Review of the World |volume=55 |pages=83–87}}{{Cite journal |last=Harper |first=Irene Mason |date=October 1932 |title=Moga and the Better Village |url=https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A170298#page/244/mode/1up |journal=Women and Missions |volume=9–10 |pages=223–226}} The institution focused on spreading Christianity throughout the villages of Moga. Some of the missionaries who served at the institution were women, such as Arthur E. Harper and Irene Mason Harper.

File:Photograph captioned "Lady Visitors to a Zenana Mission House", published in 'Panjabi Sketches - By Two Friends' (1899) by William Muir.jpg aimed at converting women and girls to Christianity.]]

The meeting of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore in December 1922, which had a large attendance of Punjabis, resolved that the clergymen of the Church in India should be drawn from the ranks of Indians, rather than foreigners.{{cite book |last1=Webster |first1=John C. B. |title=A Social History of Christianity: North-west India since 1800 |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-909757-9 |language=English |quote=In December 1921, the Punjabi-dominated meetings of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore was more cautious in their proposals but less cautious in the rationale they offered. They passed resolutions, first indicating that the Protestant missions 'should be completely merged in the Indian Church and that in future all Foreign Missionaries should be related to it', and then urging the missions in the meantime to 'appoint Indians of ability and character on an increasing scale'. Among their supporting arguments were that 'Indian Christians are not going to put up with colour and racial distinctions', that foreign missionaries could not solve the community's problems 'because of lack of sympathy', that the missions were too divided by denominational differences to bring about a united Indian Church, and that 'In these days Indians look up to Indians and do not pay much attention to foreigners.'}} The AICIC also stated that Indian Christians would not tolerate any discrimination based on race or skin colour.

S. K. Datta of Lahore, who served as the principal of Forman Christian College, became the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians, representing the Indian Christian community at the Second Round Table Conference, where he agreed with Mahatma Gandhi's views on minorities and Depressed Classes.{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Brian |last2=Hyman |first2=Gavin |last3=Smith |first3=Graham M. |title=Confronting Secularism in Europe and India: Legitimacy and Disenchantment in Contemporary Times |date=2014 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-78093-607-9 |pages=88–91 |language=English}}

On 30 October 1945, the All India Conference of Indian Christians formed a joint committee with the Catholic Union of India that passed a resolution in which, "in the future constitution of India, the profession, practice and propagation of religion should be guaranteed and that a change of religion should not involve any civil or political disability." This joint committee enabled the Christians in colonial India to stand united, and in front of the British Parliamentary Delegation "the committee members unanimously supported the move for independence and expressed complete confidence in the future of the community in India." The office for this joint committee was opened in Delhi, in which the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University M. Rahnasamy served as president and B.L. Rallia Ram of Lahore served as General Secretary. Six members of the joint committee were elected to the Minorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly. In its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee of the All India Conference of Indian Christians and Catholic Union of India prepared a 13-point memorandum that was sent to the Constituent Assembly of India, which asked for religious freedom for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in the Constitution of India.

On 31 August 2022, the Sikh leader of the Akal Takht alleged that Christian missionaries are forcibly converting people of the state and demanded an anti-conversion law be brought up into the books.{{Cite web |last=Brar |first=Kamaldeep Singh |date=2022-08-31 |title=Forced conversion to Christianity is on, need law in Punjab: Akal Takht Jathedar |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/amritsar/akal-takht-sgpc-delhi-gurdwara-panel-deplore-religious-conversion-efforts-punjab-8121852/ |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}} On the same day, a pastor's car was lit on fire in Thakarpur village of Tarn Taran district.{{Cite web |last=Ghazali |first=Mohammed |editor-last=Kumar |editor-first=Akhil |title=Punjab Pastor's Car Set On Fire, Bhagwant Mann Assures Strict Action |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pastors-car-set-on-fire-church-vandalised-in-punjab-after-forced-conversion-charge-3302374 |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=NDTV.com}}

In April 2023, Christian organizations and leaders in the state launched the first Christian-affiliated political party, named the United Punjab Party (UPP), to represent the local Christian community's interests.{{Cite web |last=Sethi |first=Chitleen K. |date=2023-04-05 |title='Under attack, need elected representatives': Why Christians in Punjab have launched a political party |url=https://theprint.in/india/under-attack-need-elected-representatives-why-christians-in-punjab-have-launched-a-political-party/1499228/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}

• Punjabi Christians
• Christianity in Punjab, Pakistan

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Category:Religion in Punjab, India

Category:Social groups of Punjab, India