Colonialism, Trans-Regionalism and Vernacularization of Christianity in Late Nineteenth Century Travancore.

This paper explores how the identity dynamics of Nazranis, a pre-European caste Christian community, contributed towards the vernacularization of Christianity in the princely state of Travancore during the late nineteenth century. In 1886, Nazranis convened a 'caste assembly' at Mulanthuruthy near Kochi with the stated objective of resisting the increasing influence of British-aided Protestantism within the community. Going against the conventions, they invited the Patriarch of Antioch– from Turkey – to preside over this assembly. The Mulanthuruthy assembly, the paper observes, reoriented the Nazrani caste collective as a religious collective and restructured its organisational structure into a clearly defined administrative hierarchy. Despite restructuring against protestant influence, the community simultaneously attempted to prevent the 'Arabisation' attempts by the patriarch, and a 'nativistic' position was articulated as one of its foundational principles. The Mulanthuruthy assembly entailed a vernacularized account of Christianity gaining traction among the Nazranis as their mark of distinction from other forms of Christianity practised in the region of Travancore. The paper argues that this vernacularized Christian identity, emerging out of a trans-regional imagination, needs to be seen in the context of the community’s response to competing sovereignties of European colonisers in India and the princely state of Travancore. In doing so, the paper seeks to address (a) to what extent vernacularization is a modern process, (b) how the particular nature of colonialism in Travancore – a princely state with autonomous political structure – influenced the nature of vernacularization of Christianity in the region and (c) what were the theological considerations that guided this process if there were any. The paper concludes by arguing the need to understand the process of vernacularization as occurring in a liminal space, in this case, constituted by the complex interaction between colonialism and anti-colonialism, and as being a manifestation of secularization within that context.