An Assignment On

Robert De Nobili and Madura Mission

In the Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the course of Master of

Theology in History of Christianity

Submitted To: Rev. Dr. Ipe Abraham

Submitted By: Jeba Justin L

Submitted on:

Subject: Issues in the History of Indian Church

Ebenezer Theological Seminary

Ayoor Kerala
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ROBERT DE NOBILI

1.1. Life of Nobili Before coming to India

1.1.1. Birth of Robert De Nobili

1.1.2. Education of Robert De Nobili

1.1.3. Influence on De Nobili

1.1.4. Nobili Joins in Jesuit Mission

1.1.5. Nobili as a Jesuit Missionary to India

1.2. Life of De Nobili after coming to India

1.2.1. Robert De Nobili and Indian Languages

1.2.2. Missionary work in Madurai

1.2.3. Death of Robert De Nobili

2. THE MADURA MISSION

2.1. Political Background of Madurai

2.2. Religious Background of Madurai

2.3. Condition of Missionary work in Madurai at the Arrival of Nobili

2.4. Beginning of the Madura Mission

2.5. Nobili’s Madura Mission with a Difference

2.6. Oppositions to the Madura Mission

2.6.1. Indian opposition

2.6.2. Oppositions from his fellow Missionaries

3. MISSIONARY METHODS OF DE NOBILI IN MADURA MISSION

3.1. Adaptation of Nobili

3.2. Indian Life Style of Nobili

3.3. Caste Adoption

3.4. Sannyasi life of Nobili

3.5. Christianization of Religious Customs

4.6. Religious Dialogues of De Nobili

4.7. Contextualization

4.8. Accommodation Theory of De Nobili

4.9. Indigenous Work of Nobili

4.10. Mission Strategy of De Nobili

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JOURNALS
INTRODUCTION

Robert De Nobili was known as an apostle to the Brahmins of Tamil Nadu, India.
Nobili was a 17th century Italian Jesuit missionary who came to India and had remarkable
ministry. Nobili was known for his remarkable intellectual ability and for his theological
acumen. His ministry methods and strategies made great impacts in the lives of people as
well as in the lives of his fellow missionaries. Nobili was a greatest missionary to India in his
century and lived a role model life. He brooked the barriers and left his life as a great
example to follow.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ROBERT DE NOBILI

1.1. LIFE OF NOBILI BEFORE COMING TO INDIA

1.1.1. Birth of Robert De Nobili

Nobili was born in Rome, Italy in September 1577. He was the first son of Pier
Francisco and Clarice. Nobili was a dedicated child for the service of God along with his
siblings. His family claimed descent from Otto III. Nobile’s first eight years coincided with
the last years of Gregory XIII’s Pontificate and it was a period of revival in the church.1

1.1.2. Education of Robert De Nobili

In 1599 Nobili started his studies in Philosophy course. He then, studied logic,
science, astronomy, metaphysics and ethics. He studied for priesthood both in Neaples
(Novitiate and Philosophy) and later theology in Rome and learnt Theology with a mission
orientation. Then he left Italy and went to Portugal to learn Portuguese, which was the
language of the Padarado in the mission land, India.2

1.1.3. Influence on De Nobili

In order to understand the missionary methods and practices that are used in overseas,
De Nobili would read letters that missionaries had sent to Europe from India. He also took
time to familiarize himself with the work of Matteo Ricci. Ricci (1552 – 1610) was the
1
P. Peter Raj, “Robert De Nobili: An Indigenous Foreigner”, Christianity is Indian: The Emergence of
an Indigenous Community, Ed by Roger E. Hedlund (Delhi: ISPCK, 2004), 101.
2
M. M. Thomas and P. T. Thomas, Towards an Indian Christian Theology: Life and Thought of some
Pioneers (Tiruvalla: CSS, 1998), 13.
founder of modern mission work in China and adapted the Gospel to Chinese traditions and
thought forms.3

1.1.4. Nobili Joins in Jesuit Mission

The military career with its pomp and glory, which his father was holding did not
appeal to Nobili. But having been emancipated he set his mind towards a religious vocation
to become a member of the Society of Jesus. Being born in a noble family, Nobili had
difficulties to join the Society of Jesus. His parents were against his will. So, Nobili ran away
to Naples. In, 1596, at the age of 19, he entered the noviciate in Naples. Anna Carafia
respected the will of Nobili’s to become a religious person and took care of him well. Finally,
in the same year 1596 Nobili joined the Society of Jesus at Naples.4

1.1.5. Nobili as a Jesuit Missionary to India

On April 28, 1604 Nobili, with fourteen other members of the Society of Jesus, took
his historic missionary journey from Lisbon, the imperial city of Portugal and reached
Mozambique on October 4, 1604. Bad weather blocked his sail for some time. On May 20,
1605, he touched the city of Goa. From there he moved to Cochin in January 1606. The
Christian community in the fishery coast attracted him; in April 1606 he went and spent
about eight months with the Parava Christians. By this time Fr. Laerzio, the provincial, asked
him to move from the coast to the interior mission spot, Madurai. In November 1606, Nobili
joined Fr. Goncalo Fernandez, a Portuguese Jesuit who had been in charge of the Madurai
Mission since 1595.5

1.2. LIFE OF DE NOBILI AFTER COMING TO INDIA

1.2.1. Robert De Nobili and Indian Languages

Nobili was a scholar and a missionary. As a scholar he wrote in several languages. He

was well mastered in Latin, Tamil, Sanskrit, Italian and Telugu. His writing works in Tamil
are well famous and preserved. His works in Sanskrit and Telugu are not extant. De Nobili
was certainly the first European to master the Sanskrit language to be able to speak and write.

3
John P. Donnelly, “The Jesuits”, Eerdmans Handbook to the History of Christianity, Ed. By Tim
Dowley (England: Lion Publishers, 1977), 414.
4
A. Amaladass, “Fr. Roberto De Nobili: An Indigenous Foreigner,” (Delhi: ISPCK Publishers, 2004),
101.
5
A. Amaladass, “Fr. Roberto De Nobili: His Life, Mission and Spirituality,” Ed. By Ignatius
Puthiadam (Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2007), 8-9.
Nobili wrote chiefly in Tamil. His works may be divided in to prosaic and poetic. In the prose
the writings are divided into Apologetic and Doctrinal treatises.6

1.2.2. Missionary work in Madurai

Madurai at the time of De Nobili was the cultural centre of south India. A Jesuit
missionary, Goncalo Fernandez by name, was working in Madurai for eleven years. He was
serving mainly the Parava from the fishery coast. On arrival in India, De Nobili observed the
abhorrence in which the higher castes held the Portuguese. By becoming a Christian, one
appeared to join the cast of the Portuguese. Portuguese and Christians were indiscriminately
called ‘parangi’, which designated a man of low origin, vile and devoid of all culture and
religion. De Nobili decided to insert himself in to the Hindu society of Madura in 1606. For
De Nobili, Madurai became the centre of activity for the rest of his life.7

1.2.3. Death of Robert De Nobili

After serving the Lord for decades as a foreign missionary in Indian soli, Nobili was
growing old and had become almost blind. By the order from the authority Nobili left the
mission in 1645 and went to Jaffna in Ceylon and he spent two years over there as an superior
of the Jesuit mission there. Then he was sent to Mylapore, where he lived in a small hut and
died in 1656 as a sannyasi at his seventy ninth year.8

2. THE MADURA MISSION

2.1. Political Background of Madurai

The Tamil language sect was brought under the control of the Vijayanagar Rajas
shortly after the middle of the fourteenth century. The Moghul rule of India began in 1526
when Babar defeated Sultan Ibrahim of Delhi, at the battle of Panipat. Babar was succeeded
by his son Humayan. His son Akbar the Great (1556- 1605) was an enlightened ruler, and he
tolerated all religions. He even showed his interest in Christianity. He maintained a good
relationship with the Portuguese Christian missionaries during his ruling period. The Jesuits,
the most numerous and most active missionaries at the time in India, remembered their
experience in Europe. They were successful there mainly because they first won the

6
P. Peter Raj, “Robert De Nobili: An Indigenous Foreigner,” 108.
7
Julian Saldanha, Patterns of Evangelization in Mission History (Mumbai: Published by St. Pauls,
2009), 14.
8
C. B. Firth, an Introduction to Indian Church History (Serampore: The Indian Theological Library,
1992), 118.
aristocracy and the nobility. But in India, they were able to win only two or three converts
from among the Rajahs. An opportunity came their way when Akbar invited the Jesuits at the
suggestion of Fr. Julian Pereira from Satgoan, to send missionaries to his court.9

2.2. Religious Background of Madurai

Madura was the capital of the Nayak Kings, and a centre of learning’s where Hindu
philosophy and science were extensively studied. It was also a centre of Hindu religion in the
south, full of Hindu temples. Among the religions, Hinduism whether Saivite or Vaishnavite
dominated Brahmins were high in numbers. It was inside the Portuguese Patroado area. There
was already a Christian church there, composed of Portuguese traders and Parava Community
under Fr. Concalo Fernandez, an elderly Jesuit. But he was not successful in his contact and
relationship with the Hindus.10

2.3. Condition of Missionary work in Madurai at the Arrival of Nobili

When Nobili came to Madurai, he saw that, Christian presence in that city for eleven
years the Christian community over there had not made any progress in terms of getting new
recruits to Christianity. De Nobili realized the reasons for this lack of response from the
people, or betters the aloofness of people away from Fr. Goncalo Fernandez. There were two
main obstacles to winning members to Christianity. The first one was cultural – the western
character marking the religion and the personality of the missionary. The second was social
the dominant caste people identified the missionary with those whom they considered low in
the social hierarchy. Both these factors are important to understand the missionary’s strategy
and mode of actions. The tag Paranghi was attached to the missionaries, with the implications
that contact with them would pollute them too. One of the reasons for looking down on
foreigners as polluting was their interactions with the so called low caste people.11

2.4. Beginning of the Madura Mission

Madurai was the ancient capital of the Pandyanes, and the centre of the Tamil culture.
In spite of its incorporation in the Vijayanagar Empire, it had not lost any of its former fame
and influence. It was still the capital of a powerful Nayak of the empire. Among the religious,
Hinduism, whether Saivite or Vaishnavite, dominated. But there were still followers of

9
F. Hrangkhuma, History of Christianity in India: An Introduction (Bangalore: Theological Book
Trust, 2018), 83
10
F. Hrangkhuma, History of Christianity in India: An Introduction .., 83- 84.
11
Leonard Fernando, “A Divisive Social System Tolerated Robert De Nobili and Caste System,” Indian
Church History Review XXXXIX/1 (June, 2005): 6.
Jainism. Lively discussions among the sects were a regular feature of the intellectual and
religious life of Madurai. Since 1595 a certain Fr. Goncalo Fernandez, has been staying in
Madurai and looking after the spiritual needs about 100 Parava and Portuguese Christians
who were either living there or used to go there for reasons of trade. It was in November
1606 that Fr. Robert De Nobili reached Madurai.12

2.5. Nobili’s Madura Mission with a Difference

In order to have the mission successful and meaningful Nobili prepared a master plan
for the Madura mission. This plan was not only different from that of the majority of the
Jesuits but also in a way opposing to their method of ministry. He felt the need of a paradigm
shift from the traditional manner of preaching the gospel to a new outlook and perspective of
Christianity to be given to the people of the land. The first point was to detach Christianity
from Parangimargam. Second, he should disown Portuguese identity. The third point was to
adept his life style according to the challenges of the land. Fourth, his preaching the gospel
was not in the usual form of getting in to the streets or public spots or market places. He
would remain in his abode and instruct the people who were brought by his disciples.13

2.6. Oppositions to the Madura Mission

The Madura mission did not sail a smooth sea as already clear from the persecutions
of Christians. Not only that, since it was a new method of missionary work, there arose
oppositions both from the Indians and fellow missionaries.

2.6.1. Indian opposition

Non-Christians Indians accused of Nobili to be truly a Parangi

His teachings were called publicly called into question

One Parava Christian told that their baptism made Nobili’s convert lost
caste and become Parangi.

2.6.2. Oppositions from his fellow Missionaries

Nobili was considered guilty of dissimulation in repudiating the name

Parangi

12
Varghese Perayil, the Oath of Coonan Cross (Adoor: Kerala Study Center, 2007), 121, 154.
13
P. Peter Raj..., 78.
 Nobili was told that he had corrupted Christianity by admitting Hindu
practices into Christianity

They reported that, Nobili caused schism in the Roman catholic church
by keeping his converts separated from the church.

3. MISSIONARY METHODS OF DE NOBILI IN MADURA MISSION

After, seeing the mission field and knowing the condition of the situations, De Nobili
decided to break down the barriers that were stooping the missionaries to reach out the local
people. In order to have an effective and successful ministry De Nobili adopted certain
Methods and strategies.

3.1. Adaptation of Nobili

Adaptation to one’s environment is something so acceptable in itself. Adaption

becomes indispensable when the Gospel is preached in places where the social customs are
entirely different. Nobili underlined the fact that the apostles, when they preached in different
places, did not condemn and change the customs of the people. They became all for all.
Having these pioneer missionaries of Christianity as the modal, Nobili laid down the norm on
adaption which is valid even today. Backed by his personal experience and his wide
knowledge of the missionary apostolate in India, Nobili convinced that adoption of the social
customs of the place was necessity for converting the people, especially in the context of
India Nobili advocated the policy that missionaries should conform to the social customs of
the people.14

3.2. Indian Life Style of Nobili

As a member of the Italian nobility, he claimed to be the equivalent of a Kshatriya. It

seemed however that the state of life best corresponding to his position as a priest and a
religious would be that of sannyasi Guru. Therefore, Nobili asked permission of his superiors
to adopt this mode of life, and, while Laerzio consulted that Archbishop of Cranganore
(Francis Roz), in whose jurisdiction Madura laid, he engaged a Brahmin cook and began
living in Indian style.15

14
S. Raja manickam, “Robert De Nobili and Adaptation”, Indian Church History Review 1/
2(December, 1967): 83.
15
C. B. Firth, an Introduction to Indian Church History..., 112.
 3.3. Caste Adoption

Whenever people talked to Nobili on intimate personal terms, they came to know of
his noble origin as well as his noble manners. They came to the conclusion that De Nobili
might belong to the Kshatriya caste. Nobili considered the peoples view whenever they came
and shared with him. De Nobili came to the conclusion that if he should have a caste, it
should be caste of a Raja, because he had royal ancestry. In 1607 CE he declared to the
people of Madurai that they were mistaken in taking him as a Paranghi and as a matter of fact
he belonged to the Raja Caste. He also employed a Brahmin cook and Brahmin boy to serve
him meals on plantain leaves. He sat on the ground while eating.16

3.4. Sannyasi life of Nobili

Nobile’s attitude and approach were totally different in the words of Laerzio. Nobili
decided, the better to deal with the people, to confirm himself to their nations, and since he
had lately come from Rome, he gave himself out, not as one of the Portuguese, who are held
by them as vile people, but as a man of the Raja caste which with the Badagas is the noblest.
He said also that he was a sannyasi, which means a man leading a life of a penance and
chastity, and that he was a teacher of a new spiritual law. In order to persuade them easily, he
asked permission to abstain from meat, fish, eggs and wine, and to eat only rice and
vegetables, using no other drink than milk and water, because such is the dietary of those who
profess the life of a sannyasi.17

3.5. Christianization of Religious Customs

Nobili’s adoption did not end with food and dress. The marriage ceremonies were
Christianized. When a Brahmin gets married a large crowd gathers to sing a number of
hymns, he composed many hymns and prayers on the same metre so that they might be sung
on this or other occasions. The adoption was more pronounced in the languages. Nobili
coined the terms for Christian theology and prepared a proper vehicle for conveying Christian
ideas. He Christianized certain words and infused into them a new meaning. Prasadam
instance signified a gift from the temple. Thus, he uses for grace, the gift from God. Kovil
was rejected by Henriques because according to him Kovil signified a Hindu temple and so
he used the Portuguese word Igreja. Nobili uses Kovil and even Pooja for mass. He translated
the names of saints and made them sound Tamil. Pongal the great harvest feast that the Hindu
16
M. M. Thomas and P. T. Thomas, Towards an Indian Christian Theology, 17.
17
John Correia Afonso, the Jesuits in India: 1542 – 1773 (Gujarat: Published by Sahitya Prakash,
1997), 12.
Tamilians used to celebrate was also celebrated by the Christians. By doing all these things,
Nobili had Christianized the all-Indian customs.18

4.6. Religious Dialogues of De Nobili

People in Madura began to talk with De Nobili about religion. His dialogue with a
schoolmaster went on for some weeks and finally the schoolmaster became convinced of the
truth of Christianity and decided to become a Christian. He was followed by some others.
With these conversions, especially that of the schoolmaster alarmed their spiritual leader
“Pandaram Sannidhi” who was related to the teacher. Pandaram Sannidhi decided to meet De
Nobili personally. His agreements with De Nobili went on and gradually their friendship
grew. Scripta means, “What it written remains.” It is this conviction that led Nobili – hailed
as “Tattauva Podagar”, or teacher of truth- to set down the methods and arguments that he
used in his discussions with non- Christians, as well as the principal instructions he gave to
his catechumens and neophytes.19

4.7. Contextualization

For Nobili to evangelize India was to evangelize the Brahmins first, because they
exercised the highest religious and social authority in the land. He understood that the
“Brahmins alone in India represent the intelligentsia and the teaching profession”, which is
another reason for focusing his attention to them. As a Rajah sannyasi, De Nobili wore five-
stranded thread, instead of the three- stranded thread one that the Brahmins priests wore. The
three golden stranded represented the Trinity and the two white strands symbolized the Body
and Soul of Christ, and from the thread was hung a crucifix, which stood for redemption.
Likewise, De Nobili contextualized Brahmin custom.20

4.8. Accommodation Theory of De Nobili

There was a famous saying “Be a Roman in Rome” is the saying. In the New
Testament apostle Paul was able to adopt himself to the environment of the locality and
preach the Gospel to the people. Fr. Matteo Ricchi had followed the accommodation method
18
S. Rajamanickam, Robert de Nobili and Adaptation, 85 – 86.
19
M. M. Thomas and P. T. Thomas, Towards an Indian Christian Theology, 16.
20
Joe M. Thomas, Christ, Culture and Salvation: Some Missiological Reflections on the Method of
Robert de Nobili, 213.
and took Confucian philosophy and adapted in his preaching in China. This challenge meant
to have an absolute abstinence from meat, fish, eggs, wine and other associated comforts
besides the usual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The people of the soil who felt at
home with the methods welcomed the move of Nobili. But the Jesuit authorities got the
impression that Nobili by his accommodation was alienating himself from the main stream of
the mission life of the Jesuits.21

4.9. Indigenous Work of Nobili

Nobili was a pioneer in indigenizing efforts. He tried to Christianize the marriage and
burial ceremonies and the Pongal festival. He composed hymns for the marriage ceremony in
the same form of Brahminic marriage system. He called God “Sarveswar”. Nobili’s writings
were really representing an experiment in “indigenous theology”, using Hindu terminology
for the exposition of Christian doctrine. De Nobili’s Sanskrit and Tamil works. Interesting as
they are as experiments in coming new words and phrases to replace the Latin theological
vocabulary.22 Hence Nobili adopted the life style of an Indian. He had changed the black
cassock into a kavi robe. He threw away his Italian identity and assumed an Indian identity.
This assumption of the new identity was not merely for the sake of giving a good impression,
but he took this transfiguration very seriously and lived uprightly.23

4.10. Mission Strategy of De Nobili

In 1606 De Nobili made a six-point programme as his mission strategy. In this

programme, four points deal with the caste issues. Such as;

1. The missionary should openly declare that he is not born of the

Paranghi caste, and that his disciples and converts do not of necessity
lose their caste and degenerate into Paranghis.
2. He should profess to be first a noble of the highest rank
3. He should abandon the Portuguese mode of life and adopt the manner
of life of the high castes such as Brahmins and Rajas.
4. He should have a house and church at a distance from those frequented
by the Paranghi and Parava Christians in this city, and not allows his
neophytes a too ready and indiscriminate social intercourse with the

21
Peter Raj..., 105.
22
M. Stephen, A Christian Theology in the Indian Context (Delhi: ISPCK Publishers, 2001), 8.
23
Robin Boyd, An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology (Delhi: ISPCK Publishers, 1998), 13
 few Paranghis and Paravas that are here, nor any sharing of the church
in common.
5. De Nobili made use of his noble birth so as to become acceptable to
Brahmins and dominant groups.24

CONCLUSION

Robert De Nobili, a Jesuit Missionary from an aristocratic Italian family had come to
India. Nobili was a scholar and a missionary. Madurai at the time of De Nobili was the
cultural centre of south India. On arrival in India, De Nobili observed the abhorrence in
which the higher castes held with the Portuguese. In order to have a successful mission and
ministry De Nobili prepared a master plan for the Madura Mission. His plan was not only
different from the majority of other Jesuits but also in a way opposing to their method of
ministry. Nobili felt the need of a paradigm shift from the traditional manner of preaching the
Gospel to a new outlook and perspective of Christianity to be given to the people of the land.
By adopting and executing the new methods De Nobili gained a massive success and result in
his Madura mission. Nobili lived as a Indian, preached and worked as a Indian, and above all
he suffered and died as a Indian. The contribution of Robert De Nobili and the Madura
Mission in terms of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in India placed an irreplaceable role
and made huge impact in the history of Christianity in India.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amaladass. A. “Fr. Roberto De Nobili: An Indigenous Foreigner”. Delhi: ISPCK

Publishers, 2004.
Amaladass. A. “Fr. Roberto De Nobili: His Life, Mission and Spirituality,” Ed. By
Ignatius Puthiadam. Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2007.
24
Leonard Fernando, a Divisive Social System Tolerated Robert De Nobili and Caste System,” 13-14.
 Boyd, Robin. An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology. Delhi: ISPCK
Publishers, 1998.

Correia, John Afonso. The Jesuits in India: 1542 – 1773. Gujarat: Published by
Sahitya Prakash, 1997.

Firth C. B. An Introduction to Indian Church History. Serampore: The Indian

Theological Library, 1992.
Hrangkhuma F. History of Christianity in India: An Introduction. Bangalore:
Theological Book Trust, 2018.
John P, Donnelly.“The Jesuits”, Eerdmans Handbook to the History of Christianity,
Ed. By Tim Dowley. England: Lion Publishers, 1977.

Perayil, Varghese. the Oath of Coonan Cross Adoor: Kerala Study Center, 2007.
P. T. Thomas and M. M. Thomas. Towards an Indian Christian Theology: Life and
Thought of some Pioneers. Tiruvalla: CSS, 1998.

Raj, Peter. Robert De Nobili: An Indigenous Foreigner Christianity is Indian: The

Emergence of an Indigenous Community. Delhi: ISPCK, 2004.
Saldanha, Julian. Patterns of Evangelization in Mission History. Mumbai: Published
by St. Pauls, 2009.
Stephen M. A Christian Theology in the Indian Context. Delhi: ISPCK Publishers,
2001.

JOURNALS
Leonard Fernando, “A Divisive Social System Tolerated Robert De Nobili and Caste
System,” Indian Church History Review XXXXIX/1 June, 2005.
S. Raja Manickam, “Robert De Nobili and Adaptation”, Indian Church History
Review 1/ 2 December, 196.