Precise Account of the Genesis Of Christianity in Tripura
Short Account of Christianity in Tripura
The
religious history of Tripura all through the ages has been dominated by
Hinduism, although different communities inhabiting the state had their own
belief system. It is one of the eight states of North East India with only
10,491.69 sq. km. of area. It shared international bounders with Bangladesh on
the north, west, south and southeast, and adjoins the Indian states of Assam
and Mizoram to the north and east. It existed as a princely state ruled from
approximately 1400 to 1948 by the Manikyas
dynasty and was later merged to Indian Union on 15th October 1949 as
a group C-Category state. It eventually became a union territory on July 1, 1963
and a full-fledged state on 21st January 1972. Hence, history alone
has been a witness to the spread of different religious faith throughout the
state. In one sense, the reason behind the sudden outcome of many new religious
faith can be well attributed to the social upheaval as Hinduism became a costly
religion for poorer section of the society who could no longer afford to meet
the expenses required for the rites and rituals while the lucrative offers and
flexibilities brought about by other religions than Hinduism may also be
considered on the other. Thus, the entrance of religion like Christianity,
Buddhism and Islamism in Tripura had already been deep-rooted in itself. Out of
the many religious faith mentioned, the research specifically draws attention
to the works, role played and the impact made by the Christian particularly
among the ethnic Darlong tribe.
Historically speaking, the result of
Battle of Plassey in 1760 paved the
way for an early contact between Tripura and the Christian religion as the then
British’s East India Company was
given the right of revenue over Chittagong District by the then ruler Nawab Mir Kasim. However, the relation
between the British and the state of Tripura was entirely confined to political
activity and nothing beyond. In the beginning of 18th century, Tripura
witnessed the activities of Christian missionaries. The British Missionary Society commenced its work in India in
the year 1792 stationing itself at Dhaka, the capital of East Bengal (now Bangladesh)
from which attempt after attempt were made to enter the princely state of Tripura.
It took nearly couple of centuries for the Christian missionaries to establish
a mission in the state of Tripura. At present, the works of the Christian
missionaries in the state of Tripura is being administered by two groups for
faith;
Others
The advent of
Christian religion upon the Darlong tribe was an unpremeditated phenomenon on
the part of the tribesmen and women. Prior to 1917, several attempts had been
made by the Christian missionaries to spread the gospel in the North Eastern
part of India yet little could they succeed with their objective due to the
unbending resistance put forth by the residence of the territory. As a matter
of fact, the journey of Christian missions in the North Eastern part of India
and its adjacent territories had to be considered with utmost delicacy and
lucidity since it played a significant role in bring about the Christianity
into the state of Tripura.
In the early 19th
century, the British Imperialism entered the state of Assam and established its
rule followed by the gradual establishment of outpost by different Christian
denominations in the region. In so doing, missionaries began to render services
of free medical treatment, education and alike. In 1819, the American Baptist Mission, set up at Serampore translated couple or more
books of the Bible from English to Assamese language. By 1837, the New Testament and Old Testament of the Holy
Bible were published in Assamese vernacular. Gradually, there
was an emergence of local leaders of which Nidhi
Levi, the first covert of the Assamese
tribe in 1841 followed by personnel like Bairam,
Ramsingh and Kolibar who became preachers and teacher may be mention.
Stepping further, the Christian
missionaries attempted to penetrate into Arunachal Pradesh, popularly known as
the Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains. The
Christian had the information of the state back in 1626, when Roman Catholic’s father Cacella S.J. and
father Cabral S.J passed through Assam and Sadiya on
their way to Tibet. However, an attempt to establish a mission in the territory
was only made possible under the initiative of Robert Morrison, a missionary of
American Baptist Mission who
stationed himself at the locality and “dreamed of winning the Shan tribe of
North Burma as a possible base of operation” (Transform North East India 14).
In spite of the effort, the dreamt of Robert Morrison couldn’t be materialised
hence Sadiya Mission was established.
American missionaries namely Nathan Brown and Oliver Cutter were appointed at
the Sadiya Mission on 23rd
March 1836. The American duo approached the local ethnic tribes such as Nocte, Khamti and Singpho but
failed to convince them. In the year 1839, the Sandya Mission was attacked by combined forces of Khamti and Singpho tribes. As such, the British army had to interfere and
suppressed the combined forces for the Mission. Under the initiatives of Miles
Bronson and Jacob Thomas (working under American
Baptist Mission), a school was soon set up at Sadiya where few students from
both Assam and Sadiya attended it. However, the mission couldn’t stand against
time and thus came to an end in 1841. In the late 1878, Miles Bronson went to
Tura, located in the present Meghalaya and established a new centre and sent a
“letter to Home Mission Board in America for extending permanent Mission work
at north Lakhimpur. In response to his letter, the Home Mission Board sent Late
Rev. John Forth to North Lakhimpur for the said purpose. Late Rev. John Forth
along with his wife Mrs. Eva Webster left the United States for Assam and after
spending few days at Sibnagar, they arrived at the present site of Army Camp,
North Lakhimpur, Assam” (Transform North East India 14). Rev. John Forth and
his wife learned Hindi and Assamese languages. The knowledge gave them an
opportunity to establish primary school in the area and Eva Webster became the
first principal of the primary school. After
the missionaries were forced to leave the North Eastern part of India, North Bank Baptist Christian Association
(NBBCA) in 1947-48 and Council of Baptist
Churches in North East India (CBCNEI) in 1950 was formed to continue the
work in Assam and Sadiya. The association and council survive till date.
Few years after the Christian
missions failed to penetrate into Arunachal Pradesh, they came to know about
the possibility of establishing their respective missions at the present Mizoram.
In the year 1890, Rev. William Williams who worked as missionary at Khasi Hill
(Meghalaya) under the Welsh Calvinistic
Church visited Mizoram and sowed the seed of gospel. However, Rev. William
Williams did not stay for long and returned to Khasi Hill after a month. In the
year 1894, Rev. J.H. Lorrain and Rev. F.W. Salvidge went to Mizoram under the
banner of Arthington Aborigines Mission, a London based Baptist Missionary Society to initiate and lay the foundation of the
mission in the mentioned state. Having stayed for three years, Lorrain and
Salvidge left the state of Mizoram. In the absence of Lorrain and Salvidge,
another missionary namely, D.E. Jones under the banner of Welsh Presbyterian Church went to Mizoram in 1897 and occupied the
foundation laid down by the former missionaries i.e. Lorrain and Salvidge. The
mission of D.E. Jones settled at Aizawl, the heart of Mizoram and established
the Presbyterian Church. On 26th
September 1907, Lorrain and Salvidge returned to Mizoram but were deprived of
their previous occupant hence diverted their attention towards the southern
part of Mizoram where they started a mission at Saiha for the Mara tribe. The mission at presently
survives in two churches namely Evangelical
Church of Maraland (ECM) and Congregational
Church of India, Maraland.
During the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century ‒ the decades that marked the advent of Christian in the North
Eastern part of India, Tripura was a princely state hence remained untouched.
The Christian missions in the adjacent territory begin to strengthen their
respective home ministry resulting in a stealthy progress of education (western
and vernacular), medical service and livelihood of the early converts. As such,
the medical service extended by the Baptist
Church of Mizoram from 1919, a hospital ran by the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram since 1928, Francis Memorial Primary School established at Assam in 1926, the Nowgong Missions Girl’s School
established at Assam in 1845, the Jorhat
Christian Medical Centre established in 1919, Satribari Christian Hospital of Guwahati founded in 1923 and many
others may be mention. The first missionary from Mizoram was sent to Tripura in
the year 1911. Despite of the attempt ending in a failure, the missionaries did
not seize from doing it for second the time and so forth. Eventually, the
missionaries succeeded in penetrating through the princely state of Tripura in
1917.
Unlike the neighbouring states,
Christianity initially reached the state of Tripura without any organised
mission. “Christians first entered Tripura back in 1683 when the then maharaja
of Tripura employed Portuguese Catholics mercenary artillerymen, to fight back
the Mughals. They settled in Udaipur (presently located at the southern part of
Tripura), the then capital of the state. The artillerymen later moved to
Agartala (the present Mariamnagar) given a rent-free lodging provided unto
them. Sambhu C. Mukherjee, a minister of the Tripura king, who visited the
Catholics mercenary artillerymen in 1887 described them as proud, introverted,
uneducated and physically and morally degraded” (Samuel 6). Nonetheless, the
present churches of Tripura do not considered the Portuguese Catholics Mercenary
as the pioneer in bringing about the Christianity to Tripura. This gives rise
to varied interpretations, views and opinions in regard to the subject.
The beginning of Christianity in
Tripura can be traced back between 1676 and 1685. It was during the reign of
the then Maharaja Ram Manikya who
invited the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic missionaries to visit his palace and
preach the gospel. However, the invitee declined to listen to the call of the
Maharaja because they “found his hidden but primary intention was to get help
from them against the Mughals officials. Again with the invitation of a later
maharaja, Felix Carey, the son of William Carey visited Tripura but still no
missionaries” (Samuel 7). In the year 1879, a Bengali missionary and his wife
from Comilla District (presently located in Bangladesh) of British Missionary Society were invited to teach the art of
tailoring to the women in the state of Tripura. The Bengali missionary found a
possible way of spreading the gospel and hence reported the possibility to Rev.
Duffafar, the then in-charge of the mission in Dhaka. However, the information
failed to pay any result. In 1883, the Maharaja once again asked for a
missionary to pay a visit to his kingdom in the guise of Father Ignitius Gomes
who indeed paid a visit to the present Mariamnagar, Agartala where few
Christian converts (Christianised by the Portuguese Catholics Mercenary
artillerymen during their stay in the seventeenth century) resided. The visit
did not play any significant role in the birth of Christianity in Tripura. In
1890, the New Zealand Baptist Missionary
Society (NZBMS) who were then working at Brahmanbaria, located in the
present Chittagong District of Bangladesh attempted to enter the state of
Tripura. The attempt ended in a failure and had to persist on its work at
Brahmanbaria.
In the year 1891, the Arthington Aborigines Mission, London based Baptist Missionary Society sent missionaries to India in the guise
of J. H. Lorrain and E.W Salvidge. The missionaries were informed about Tripura
and the struggle of Christian missions to attained permit to preach the gospel
in the state from the Maharaja. The story acted as a source of inspiration and
challenge for J. H. Lorrain and E.W Salvidge. The Arthington Aborigines Mission came to Tripura and stationed at the
same ground as the New Zealand Baptist
Mission Society i.e. Brahmanbaria. Lorrain and Salvidge with all their
effort performed the assignment and waited for the outcome for about fifteen
days. But all was in vain. In spite of the fact, the London based Baptist Missionary Society expectation
grew all the more and hence utilized its option by pushing itself towards the
present Lunglei District of Mizoram. The London based Baptist Missionary Society arrived at Lunglei. The mission
could not succeed with their task due the political unrest in the territory.
Having lost their footrest, the London based Baptist Missionary Society were escorted back to Chittagong
by militants. In the month of December, 1897, the London based Baptist Missionary Society
decided to penetrate the independent state of Tripura with their crusade from
the east. The mission reached Aizawl, the present capital of Mizoram. In the
year 1898, Rev, George Hughes of the New
Zealand Baptist Missionary Society met the then Prime Minister of Tripura
and the then Maharaja, Radha Kishore
Manikya Bahadur received him as well. However, Rev. George Hughes was
denied from preaching the gospel in the kingdom. In spite of the failing, the
mission entrusted yet another missionary with the task of getting the permit
from the Maharaja of Tripura. Thus, in the following year 1899 Rev. John Tackle
of New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society
forwarded a petition with the same subject to the then Maharaja of Tripura
only to end up in another failure. In the year 1909, John Tackle succeeded
partially when he was allowed to sent couple of workers to Agartala, “allowed
to talk about their faith and sell books but restricted from preaching beyond
Agartala” (Samuel 2). The work of New
Zealand Baptist Missionary Society continued for several years until Dr.
Charles North made another attempt but failed for another time.
In the year 1905, there was an emigration from
Mizoram to the neighbouring states including Tripura who happened to settle in
the present Jampui Hill Range and Hmunṭha Hill Range. The immigrants mainly comprised of Christian families. The then Maharaja
of Tripura accommodated the migrants taking into account the service and
relationship of their brethren in
Tripura. In between the second half of 1911 and the early 1912, a second wave
of emigration took place in which eighty Lushais families stepped down into
Tripura including “the families of their chief Raja Hrangvunga Sailo” (Samuel 8). As a result, the genesis of Christianity in
Tripura was marked. The immigrants who settled at Jampuii Hill slowly and
stealthily progressed economically and politically while also keeping intact
their belief in Christianity. Unfortunately, the migrants that settled at the
Hmunṭha Hill Range couldn’t hold on to the climate condition and the lack of
proper passage to the village and were compelled to return to their kinsmen
living at Jampui Hill occupying the Phuldungsei region. Churches were built, fellowships were conducted and fund was raised to
support missionaries. In the later years, the Lushais residing at Jampui Hill
asked the Welsh Presbyterian Mission of
Mizoram for a missionary who would act as guide and a counsellor. However, the
answer to the request was prolonged as the Welsh
Presbyterian Mission when receiving the information had no employee for the
task. In addition, Tripura was a princely state and the mission had no work
permit. Thus, the Welsh Presbyterian
Mission of Mizoram failed to meet the demand of their fellow tribesmen
residing at Jampui Hill. However, the Welsh
Presbyterain Mission of Mizoram
came to Jampui Hill and managed to convince the Mizo Christians at Jampui Hill
to join the mission.
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