HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
PRESENTATION ON THE TOPIC
ROBERT DE NOBILI AND MADURAI
MISSION
P R E S E N T E R - J W N G M A B A S U M ATA R Y
Introduction
• Jesuits have been a continuing presence in India since the sixteenth century.
• With the help of local people, they not only spread the Christian faith but also did a lot
for the growth of the Indian nation, especially through education, scientific
advancements, and betterment of the lives of underprivileged people.
• They attempted enculturation of the Christian faith in multicultural India; learnt of,
discussed, and respected other religions; and mastered and contributed to the growth of
Indian languages.
The Beginning of Madurai Mission
• In 1595, the Jesuits began their ministry at Madurai with Fr. Goncalo Fernandez.
• He built a church, a presbytery (residence for the priest), an elementary school and a
small dispensary, by the permission of the Nayaks .
• After working for 11 years, he was not able to convert a single high caste nayaks or
Brahmins.
Robert De Nobili
• Robert de NobiIi was born in Rome in
1577.
• He was a Jesuit Missionary.
• He came to India, reached Goa on
may 20, 1605.
• In January 1606, Nobili went to Cochin
and from there to the Pearl Fishery
Coast.
• After 6 months, along with Albert Laerzio, he move to Madurai, and settled there.
Nobili's Work plan
• He had to detach Christianity from
Parangi.
• He had to disown Portuguese identity
• He had to disown Portuguese identity
• He would remain in his abode and instruct
the inquirers who were brought by the
disciple.
Nobili’s Method of indigenization
• De Nobili indianized himself, equated
with a Kshatriya. He engaged a Brahmin
cook and began living in Indian style.
• He exchanged his black cassock for
kavi robes and his leather shoes for
wooden sandals, and established
himself as a guru or Sannyasi.
• He built the Indian style Church and
coined Christian terms in Tamil and made
them capable of conveying all Christian
thought, without having recourse to Latin
or Portuguese words.
• Marriage and other ceremonies were
Christianized.
De Nobili in Hindu Dresses.
De Nobili’s Literary Works: :
Nobili had a flair for Indian languages, Tamil, Sanskrit.
He learnt 32 languages in his lifetime
He left writing in six languages: Tamil, Telegu, Sanskrit, Italian, Portuguese and Latin.
His Writings In Tamil- Gnanopadesam Kandam or Spiritual Teaching, the Attuma
Nirnayam- Discussion on the soul, the Divya Madirigai- Divine Mood, Tushana
Tikkaram-Refutation of Blasphemy, Punerjenma Chepam-Refutation of Rebirth and
Gnana Sanchivi-spiritual medicine. In prison, he composed the Attuma Nirunayam and
Akkiana Nivaranam.
In addition to these works, we have seven treatises by him and 56 letters, 9 in
Portuguese, 29 in Italian and 18 in Latin.
Madurai Mission:
De Nobili started his mission in 1606.
During 1607 to 1612, he laid the foundation
of a genuinely Indian Church. This led to
the establishment of the Madurai Mission.
He assumed the dress and lifestyle of a
Brahman sanyasi, learned Sanskrit, and
studied the Vedas.
Within a couple of years, a number of
converts had been baptized. De Nobili did
not insist that they break caste, change their
dress.
Conversion
He met with a School master, Baptized him along with 3
young men.
He got acquainted with a Telegu Brahmin Pandit, named
Sivadarma. with whom he began to learn Sankrit.
Baptized in 1609.
In this the number of convert rose to 63, belonging to
several castes, some Nayaks, some cultivators, and some
Brahmins.
Throughout his fifty years of work he was able to
convert 30, 000 thousand people.
Persecution
In 1640 saw a persecution start at Trichy and
spreading to Madurai.
Thirumalai Nayak had arrested Fr. Immanuel Martins
with four of his neophytes. They were thrown into
prison, tortured and then driven out of the town.
Fr. Nobili and Fr. Maya were also imprisoned at
Madurai on 22nd July 1640,by Venkatraya Pillai an
official of Tirumalai Nayak.
Last Days
o Due to deterioration in his health, he was
transferred from there to Mylapore in
Madras.
o De Nobili retired from the Mission in
1648 due to old age and blindness.
o He died on 16th January 1695
o After Robert de Nobili, great
personalities like St. John de Britto (1647-
1693), Constantine Joseph Beschi
continued the mission.
Conclusion
The Jesuit Madurai mission (from 1606) made Catholicism into a kind of
Brahmanic religion,
Here Catholic saints were indigenized as power divinities within a local sacred
geography, received patronage from Hindu kings, and were worshipped through
Tamil temple forms.
De Nobili had revealed himself as a Sannyasi or Guru.
With this strategy, he had
considerable success in converting
members of both the higher and the
lower castes to Christianity.
De Nobili was beyond doubt the
greatest of the Missionaries sent out
to India by the Society of Jesus.
In short, he was the real founder of
the Madura Mission.
Thank You
