Hey dimwit, you should learn to use google. But since you find it so difficult to do a little research, let me walk you through this one: For starters:
Kerala[edit]
Christians in
Kerala are divided into several communities, including
Syrian Christians and
Latin Christians. Syrian Christians in Kerala consist of the members of
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (also known as Romo-Syrians),
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church,
Jacobite Syrian Church (a non-Catholic group),
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,
Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and a few members of the
Church of South India in Kerala. Syrian Christians maintain their traditional Syrian rites and practices. They derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they are converted from high caste Hindus who were
evangelized by
St. Thomas.
[9] In the pre-independence period,
Untouchability was prevalent in the Kerala society and the Syrian Christians also practiced it in order to keep their upper-caste status. They used to go for a ritual bath to purify themselves on physical contact with the so-called inferior castes.
[10][11][12] The Syrian Christians did not cooperate with the evangelical activities of foreign missionaries and they did not allow new converts to join their community since they were afraid that their noble position in the society could have been endangered.
[13]
Writers
Arundhati Roy and
Anand Kurian have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community.
[14][15] Syrian Christians tend to be endogamous, and tend not to
intermarry with other Christian castes.
[16]
Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of
jatis. Also, the caste status is kept even if the
sect allegiance is switched (i.e. from
Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox).
[2]
or even this:
History of conversions to Christianity in Kerala – an overview
This article takes a brief look into the history of conversions to Christianity in Kerala. The Christians of the State can be broadly categorized into three: Syrian Christians who are believed to have been converted from the upper castes (whether such distinction existed at that time is not clear) by Apostle St. Thomas in 1c, Latin Christians who were converted mostly from lower classes by St. Francis Xavier in the 16c and Dalit Christians who were converted in the 19c by the Anglicans and in the 20c by the Catholic denomination of the Syrians. The labels Syrian and Latin came about because of the respective languages that were used in liturgy. (See: Jewish names among Syrian Christians.)
The Syrian Christian community is referred to by historians as Malabar Church and St. Thomas Christians. This congregation was, till the intrusion by the Western Christianity with the arrival of the Portuguese, a distinctive Eastern Church with the Pope of Rome as a hazy father figure at the far end of a thin long line.
Being a Syrian Christian is a matter of birth and inherited religious convictions. Therefore, conversion to that community is an anomaly. In all its known history till the 20c, the Malabar Church never undertook any missionary work. The theology of the community was that every human being achieved salvation through his own religion; a conclusion that modern Christian theology is increasingly accepting. Spreading the Word of Christ and induced or forced conversions to Christianity are two totally different things. As a result, the Syrian Christians remained an exclusive community to which outsiders had no entry.
Two questions arise here: why then did St. Thomas carry out conversions and, why did he convert only the so called upper classes? The Apostle would have, if one accepts oral tradition, received into the Christian fold only those who came forward willingly and out of conviction. On the question of the claimed class distinction in the conversions by the Apostle, it is necessary to understand the background of his mission. His arrival in Kerala (52A.D.) was before the gentiles were accepted into Christianity. Even the word ‘Christian’ did not exist at that time; it was coined in Antioch around 65 A.D. Till then the followers of Christ were known as Nazranis, a name that continues to be used in Kerala.
For further information, read up on the links provided.
......Classic gurukul were the kalari where everybody was taught. Including ezahavas and Christians. Now where is your proof ?
