page_title: Knanaya
section_title: Origins and traditions
hierarchical_section_title: Knanaya / History / Origins and traditions
caption_attribution_description: English: Thomas of Cana and the Knanaya received blessings from the Catholicos before departing for India.
context_page_description: The Knānāya, also known as the Southists or Tekkumbhagar, are an endogamous ethnic group found among the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. They are differentiated from another part of the community, known in this context as the Northists. There are about 300,000 Knanaya in India and elsewhere.
  The origins of the division of the Saint Thomas Christians into Northist and Southist groups is traced back to the arrival of the Syrian merchant Thomas of Cana who led a migration of Syriac Christians from Mesopotamia to India in the 4th or 9th century. The Knanaya claim descent from Thomas of Cana and those who came with him. The communities arrival was recorded on the Thomas of Cana copper plates which existed in Kerala until the 17th century after which point they were taken to Portugal by the Franciscan Order. The ethnic division between the Knanaya and other St. Thomas Christians was observed during the Portuguese colonization of India in the 16th century and was noted throughout the European colonial era.
  Today, the majority of Knanaya are members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
context_section_description: It is not clear how the division of the Saint Thomas Christians into Southern and Northern groups originated. The earliest extensive written evidence for the split dates to the 16th century. The St. Thomas Christian tradition defines the division as being both geographical and ethnic, expressing that the Native St. Thomas Christians initially resided on the north side of the Chera Empire's capitol city of Cranganore while the Middle Eastern migrant Knanaya arrived and settled on the south side, which subsequently led to the designations Northist and Southist.  Celebrated St. Thomas Christian scholar Dr. Placid J. Podipara wrote the following about the division:
  "The Thomas Christians hail the Apostle St. Thomas as the founder of their Church...The first converts of St. Thomas were reinforced by local conversions and by Christian colonizations (migrations) from abroad. Connected with the IV century colonization is the origin of those called the Southists"
  Directional divisions within communities are common in Kerala, including among Hindu groups. A similar north–south division is found among the Nairs, and it historically appears to have been in place in the early Brahmin settlements in the area. The Saint Thomas Christians may have taken this trait from the Brahmins.
caption: Thomas of Cana and the Knanaya Depart for India
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