Around BC 3000, a small kingdom was founded by a dynasty called Cherans. And the land of Cherans was called Chera Elam,
which later came to be known as Cheralam and later Keralam. Slowly but in a steady way, the Cherans controlled the entire
region west of the Sahya Mountains. A calendar system was introduced which was based on Lord Shiva and was called Kali (Shiva)
Varsha. Cherans claim to be the descendants of the Fire God. They were among the oldest three crowned monarchs of the Tamilaham,
commonly known as ‘Chera, Chola, Pandya’.
The First
Cheran Dynasty lasted until A.D 820, and the popular king Cheraman Perumal (who was also considered as Maha Bali) was overthrown
in a palace rebellion. The founders and rulers of Chera Elam were no more there. Everywhere it was Chaos. Around A.D 825,
the Second Cheran dynasty came into existence. The Second Cheran Dynasty ruled Kerala until the independence of India in 1947,
but was completely a Vishnavaites (followers of Vishnu) dynasty. Kali Varsha was abolished under their rule and a new calendar
system, Kolla Varsham, was established. Tamil was outlawed and Malayalam becomes popular. The Second Cheran Dynasty was considered
as the Servants of Lord Vishnu, an Aryan God, meanwhile, The First Cheran Dynasty was considered as the Servants of Lord Shiva,
a Dravidian God.
The descendants
of First Cheran Dynasty went underground and began to live among the common people in fear of ethnic wipe out and some went
into exile to Tamil speaking states. But eventually, a big portion of the descendants of First Cheran Dynasty was captured
as slaves and slave system was established. Only a few were spared and that too because of their armed might.
For more than
500 years, the Kshathriya (ruling caste) Cherans were slaves in their own country and they all believed that Maha Bali will
come again. They believed that a Messiah would come to liberate them. And soon, the words about a Messiah were spread among
them by a group of British Missionaries who worked under the Church Missionary Society, London.
A.D 1830,
Dec 25th, a slave named Kali, was converted into Christianity by Rev. Ridsdale, at her age of 18 and become Lucy.
She is considered as the first convert from Kshathriya Cherans. But a family in Kaipetta made the first mass conversion. In
A.D 1854, Sep 6, Daivathan (also known as Adityan) and eight members from his family got converted into Christianity. And
this is now considered as the first official conversion from the Kshathriya Cherans. And a chain of mass conversions from
the Kshathriya community of Kerala followed that. People belonging to the Kshathriya community- Cherans, Sidhanars and Sambavas,
were among the most to convert. This was strongly opposed by the other Christian communities that was already there in Kerala
and by Hindus. They feared an uprising of the First Cheran Dynasty. And they even burned down the first school built for these
Kshathriya Converts. But the military might of the British Empire and the influence of the Missionaries among the ruling class
protected these new converts.
In 1947, India
got independence and the English left the new converts under the leadership of Syrian Christians. And problems began to arise
between Kshathriya Christians and Syrian Christians. And that prompted the renovation of the Diocese of Travancore and Cochin
in 1966,May 5th, under the leadership of Rev. V J Stephen, who was anointed as the first bishop of the renovated
diocese.
Now after 38 years of its existence, the small diocese is now the fastest
growing church in India. In 1990, different Anglican believers in India formed Anglican Church of India, and Diocese of T
& C was the main constituent member. The Diocese is now elevated to the status of archdiocese and Bp. Stephen Vattappara
is serving as the archbishop of the archdiocese and he is also the Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of India. ACI has now dioceses in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi,
Gujarat and Uttaranchal and an overseas Diocese in USA.
