Abstract
St. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, came to India by ship following the sea
routes. While some historians also believe that St. Thomas came to India by crossing Asia Minor
West Taxila, north Thatta, and afterwards, he settled in India. There is a consensus among
historians that St. Thomas first reached Taxila which was then ruled by a Buddhist king,
Gonophores. All of the historians relate the meeting of St. Thomas met with Gonophores.
According to the current historical publications, it was in the 3rd century when Christians
reached India and settled in the North West and they were called Thomai or Christians of St.
Thomas while they are named as Thomai in the present day. In 72 A.D Hindu Brahmins martyred
St. Thomas in Mylapore and now the Shrine of St. Thomas is situated in Chennai, India.
Thousands of people come to Chennai and visit his shrine. The shrine of St. Thomas is the
evidence of Christian presence in India in the 1st century. A king, Kanishka, attacked Taxila; he
plundered, devastated and robbed the people, causing ruin. This forced the early Christian settlers
to disperse and migrate towards Northern Punjab and Central India. Though Mughal Empire
governed the Subcontinent for 200 years yet in this long period they were unable to affect the
Hinduism and Christianity. Islam is considered as minority during the period of Mughal Empire.
During the period of Mughal Empire some Muslim Emperor forced the Punjabi Christians to
enter the fold of Islam and many Christians accepted Islam and those who did not, were targeted
and scattered.
Ammara Tabassum, Umbreen Javaid. (2019) Christians in Pakistan- A Developmental Approach: (Pre & Post Partition of India), South Asian Studies, Volume 34, Issue 1.
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