PARADIGM SHIFTS IN INDIAN CHRISTIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

(yaphase.j@gmail.com, yaphase@yahoo.com)

Introduction

Historiography is a special area of studying history which traces change of ideas and approaches
that happened in writing history through the centuries. History is not only the events narrated as
it is but also the narrator‟s ideas upon the events. Historiography helps us to unravel this mystery
through its different approaches. This was evident in writing histories from various quarters
which represents different communities in India. Formerly it was by the dominant and for the
dominant in the society of that time. But situations changed gradually and changing as histories
came up from below. This probably happened after independence period in India. This approach
was very much visible in Indian Christian historiography. This paper is to learn about the
paradigm shift in the Indian Christian Historiography in areas such as Post-colonial, Post-
Modern, Post- Patriarchy, Subaltern, Dalit, Tribal and Adivasi perspectives.

History

The word „history‟ means inquiry, research, exploration or information. History is the living
memory of human beings.1 History is the study of life in society in the past, in all its aspects, in
relation to present developments and future hope.2 According to E. H. Carr, “History is a
continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts. It is an unending dialogue
between the present and the past.”3 Here, Carr suggests the continuing relation of history from
past and present. Sheik Ali points out that history is related to something changing in the nature,
humanity etc. either growth or decline and it repeats itself.4 R. G. Collingwood explains history
as: i) an inquiry; ii) a record of human actions; iii) based on the interpretation of the evidence and

1
E. Sreedharan, A Textbook of Historiography-500 BC to AD 2000, (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private
Limited, 2009), 1.
2
M. Thongkhosei Haokip, A Guide Book to History of Christianity from the First to the Eighteenth
Centuries, (Secunderabad: G S Media, 2017), 15.
3
E. H. Carr, What is History? (New York: Penquin Books, 1982), 30.
4
B. Sheik Ali, History: Its Theory and Method, (Delhi: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, 2010), 8.

1
iv) its purpose is human self-knowledge.5From Collingwood‟s understanding, the third
classification is understood as historiography.

Historiography

Historiography literally means the art of writing history. It is a development of ideas and
techniques associated with the writing of history and the changing attitudes towards the nature of
history.6 Historiography is the history of history; it is the history of historical thought. It is the
history of ideas which prompted a historian to adopt a particular line of thought.7 Historiography
also refers to the methodology of historical research while analyzing historical writings. In
simple words, historiography is a study of perspectives. Historiography helps us to understand
and evaluate the historical consciousness of the historians as well as their techniques of writing
history.8 Ancient, medieval and modern historiographies focused on economically, socially and
politically powerful men and those who were authoritative but excluded the roles of women,
children, minorities and less authoritative persons.9 This notion has been changed by the
evolution of new theologies and historiographies from below that is from the so-called less-
known, less-privileged, less-acknowledged and so on.

Indian Christian Historiography before Indian Independence

Till fifteenth century, there was only one Christian community in India, that of the St. Thomas
Christians. Their historical consciousness can be accessed from their oral traditions, customs and
practices.10 In this context, Nazarani historiography11 presented by Dr. Jose John receives
momentum in Indian Christian historiography for the St. Thomas Christians. Previously, Indian
Christian history was the history of popes, bishops and other high ranking church workers but
history neglected the role of women, children and congregational members. During the modern
missionary movement, missionaries wrote reports and details about their work for the churches
5
Haokip, A Guide Book to History… 16.
6
Sreedharan, A Textbook of Historiography… 2.
7
Ali, History: Its Theory… 179.
8
Jose John, “Methodological Issues of History of Christianity in India with Special Reference to the
Historiography of the St. Thomas Christians in the Malabar Coast,” The Journal of Malankara Orthodox
Theological Studies, Vol II, No. 1 (August, 2014): 33-53.
9
Haokip, A Guide Book to History… 19.
10
Mundadan, “Rewriting History…162.
11
Jose John, “Methodological Issues… 33.

2
which send them so as to satisfy the sponsor for the need of more financial and other supports.
Those histories written in India were mostly denominational and patriarchal which never
reflected native involvement. This attitude was due to the euro-centric cultured Christianity
which termed nothing good outside Europe and America and rest of the people and their culture
were termed as dark, heathen, satanic, evil, lost, sinners in need of salvation that can only offered
by a white, male evangelical Christian.12 In other words, traditional historiography was
concerned with politics and history from above, but the new or modern approaches to history is
that deals with every human activity which is culturally or socially constituted, that is from
below. According to Bruke, de-colonization and feminism are two movements which had a great
impact on recent historical writing. Mundadan suggests that future historiography should include
the ecological movements as in theology and ideology.13 Colonialism influenced in almost all
aspects of life in India, even in the writing of church history. Portuguese, Dutch and British were
the colonizers who devalued the social, religious and cultural virtues of India and wrote history
from the colonial power influence perspectives.14 The colonial authors wrote for the western
readers with western mission perspectives. These were histories of mission and missionaries
from the west and not of the Indian church but western attempts to create one but failed to reflect
the native Christian communities and their participation.15 So, the need of the hour was realized
by Indian Christian historians and thus resulted with a shift in approach to Indian Christian
history and historiography.

Paradigm shift in Indian Christian Historiography

Unlike the medieval India, the modern thinkers show great interest in history. This interest might
have arisen as a result of a political and social need, with the independence movement in India.16
The other reason for this change was the Indian Christian historians identified the inadequacies
of earlier resources and cultural biases of the European intellectual tradition and religious norms.

12
Haokip, A Guide Book to History…28-29.
13
A. Mathias Mundadan, “Rewriting History: Orientations,” Journal of Dharma, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2
(April-June, 2003): 154.
14
Woba James, Major Issues in the History of Christianity in India: A Post- Colonial Reading, (Nagaland:
TDCC Publications, 2013), 2.
15
A. M. Mundadan, Indian Christians: Search for Identity and Struggle for Autonomy, (Bangalore:
Dharmaram Publications, 2003), 208.
16
Mundadan, “Rewriting History…158.

3
Thus Indian Christian historians urged that the indigenous church must built its own
historiography.17 With the independent nation, Indian Christians also began to search for its own
selfhood of writing, selfhood of the nation and to re-discover its methodological writings of
Indian Christian historiography.18 Kaj Baago insisted that the History of Christianity in India
should be studied from a new perspective which means an Indian perspective.19 The Church
History Association of India (CHAI) came forward to face the challenge and started a project to
write a history of Christianity from an Indian perspective. 20 But the question still continues was
whether CHAI successful in its endeavors. Thus the focus shifted from western mission
achievements in India to the Indian church achievements on its people with several
historiographies like post-colonial, post-modern, post-patriarchy, subaltern, dalit, tribal and
adivasi perspectives.

Post-colonial Historiography

Postcolonial studies are the outcome of a meaningful engagement of textual, historical and
cultural expressions of the societies that are disturbed and transformed by the various historic
realities of colonial presence. In the words of Sugirtharajah, it is an active confrontation with the
dominant system of through, its irregularities and inadequacies, and underlines its unsuitability
for us. It is a process of cultural and discursive emancipation from all dominant structures
whether they are political, linguistic, or ideological.21 The colonial powers were fully convinced
that they were specially chosen by God to dominate the world. Indigenous cultures were
22
underestimated. Through colonial power, the colonizers subordinated the people and their
minds. Under the name of civilizing and modernizing, the colonial powers expanded their
territories around the world, especially in India.23 Colonialism and missionary propaganda went
hand in hand. Mission was understood as the expansion of Christianity sponsored and controlled

17
Woba James, Major Issues… 6-7.
18
T. V. Philip, “Christianity in India During Western Colonialism: Conflict, Reconciliation or Adjustment”
Indian Church History Review, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (June, 1987): 22.
19
V.V. Thomas, Dalit and Tribal Christians of India Issues and Challenges, (Kerala: Focus India Trust,
2014), 61.
20
Thomas, Dalit and Tribal.., 65.
21
R.S.Sugirtharajah, Postcolonial Reconfigurations, An Alternative Way of Reading the Bible and doing
Theology, London: SCM Press, 2003) 15.
22
Joseph Pathrapankal, “Understanding History: Emerging Christian Perspectives.” Journal of Dharma,
Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (April-June, 2003): 191.
23
Woba James, Major Issues in the History …10.

4
from the West.24 This situation was changed by the ground breaking study of Edward Said‟s,
Orientalism, in 1976, which inaugurated the emergence of post-colonial theories in historical
writings. The present post-colonial studies to a great extent decolonizes the categories created by
the colonial West and even involved in liberating their imagination to create a vital autonomous
space.25 The post-colonial historiography refers to the development of a new historiography that
emerged as a protest against the colonial historiography which taking serious about people‟s own
way of telling and writing history especially as they experienced it in the past and as they
experience that connection reality in the present.26 The outcome of post-colonial historiography
is deconstructing what has been produced by the west. It urges the historians to deconstruct and
decolonize the structure of colonial minds to get autonomous space to the colonized minds.27
Post-colonial approach to history is different in its perspectives and it is the “history from
below”. This approach attempts to rewrite the history from the perspective of the neglected
people and communities. The secular historians, anthropologists and sociologists already made
attempts to re-read the colonial history. Christian historians also followed their track. Therefore
the post-colonial approach to Indian church history is history of neglected Indian “people‟s
church, people‟s theology, people‟s worship and people‟s institutions.28In other words, from
bishop-centered to church members, from denominational to inter-denominational, from Rome-
centered to the other church traditions centered and theologically from conservative and
fundamentalist to a more ecumenical and liberal discourse.29 But, a question to ponder that how
far the present Indian Christian history and Indian church liberated and progressed in exercising
post-colonialism in practice.

Post-patriarchy/Feminist Historiography

Indian society is very much unequal, stratified and hierarchical, where women were considered
as less human than the men folk and always dependence to men and suppressed under the

24
Joseph Pathrapankal, “Understanding History…191.
25
George Oommen, “Historiography of Indian Christianity and Challenges of Subaltern Methodology,”
Journal of Dharma, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (April-June, 2003): 218.
26
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…10-11.
27
Jose John, “Methodological Issues of History … 43.
28
Potana Venkateswara Rao, “Christian Historiography: Changing Perspectives and Approaches in the
Study of Christianity in India,” Global Journal For Research Analysis 3/7 (July, 2014): 146.
29
Haokip, A Guide Book to History… 29-30.

5
pressures of socio-economic, political and religious restrictions.30 The attention of feminist
critique and analysis evolved from the background of exclusion, experience and invisibility of
women in history.31 Feminist historiography has two main tasks. It criticizes and deconstructs the
male cultural paradigms on the one hand and the other hand it formulates new perspectives in an
attempt to transform traditional androcentric values. Feminist scholarship criticizes patriarchy for
privileging, prioritizing men at the cost of dehumanizing women. It is also a critical of the
economic, racial, educational, social, cultural and ethnic discrimination. Feminist methodology
takes women‟s experience very seriously and these experiences became starting point of
Feminist historiography.32 Many of the Feminist writers have shown the need to reappraise the
Christian past, giving honor and recognition to an army of faithful women, whose practice,
defense, and proclamation of their faith had hitherto passed unnoticed by much of the Christian
church and its historians.33 Feminist methodology still suffers without unanimity. But however,
there is an agreed point on the basis for their critique and analysis on exclusion, experience and
invisibility of women in the writing of history. This alienation became the starting point of their
reconstruction of history.34

Post-Modern Historiography

Post modernism is not anti-modern or after modern because of the fact that modern trends and
modes of reasoning are neither completely overturned, nor do they have lost their grips from
contemporary human consciousness and life styles. Post modernism enables us to recognize the
significance of context, social power relations and shifting criteria. Post-modern historiography
helps us to dissolve the centre-periphery discourse in order to assume multiple centers in human
cognition and praxis and made available of peripheries or margins as strong methodological
posture.35

30
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…21.
31
George Oommen, “Historiography of Indian Christianity… 216-217.
32
Wati Longchar, ed., Issues in Theological Research: A Methodological Exploration (Bangalore:
SATHRI, 2010), 131.
33
Aliester Mcgrath, Christian Theology an Introduction (USA: Black Well Publishing, 2001),110-111
34
Woba James, Major Issues in the History … 21-24.
35
R. Sahayadhas, “Christian Theology: Trajectories, Trends and Methods,” Journal, Vol. X, No. 1, (April,
2016): 100.

6
Subaltern Historiography

The word subaltern refers to the people of inferior rank and expressed subordination in terms of
class, caste, age, gender office and so on. Subalterns are marginalized ones who are deprived of
basic human rights, livelihood rights, social, religious, cultural, economic, and political rights of
individuals and communities.36 Subaltern history is the history of suffering people. It is the
history of the sons and daughters of the soil; the working class; the less fortunate ones. It is the
history to hear the people and their voices which have been silenced in the dominant discourses;
it is an effort to make the subaltern people speak in their own language, a language of the protest,
resistance and negation.37 Dominant groups within Christianity who were mainly following a
Christian version of the Sanskritic strand got the most attention in historical discourses since
Indian freedom movement in early 20th century.38 Subaltern studies criticized the historiography
of Indian nationalism, which has been dominated by colonialist elitism. It strongly opposed the
defining of nationalism as the response of the Indian elite to colonial context. Subaltern
historiography rejected this view because only dominant/elite were projected as agents of
nationalism. According to Ranajit Guha, such elitistic histories cannot explain Indian nationalism
for us because it fails to acknowledge the contribution made by people on their own,
independently of the elite, to the making and development of Indian nationalism. So, subaltern
historiography searches for the real autonomous agencies and real locatedness of the agencies of
change and transformation in Indian society and to identify the policies of the people that are
neglected in the un-historic historiography. The important aspect in subaltern historiography is
the re-categorization of ideas, concepts, people etc., and the deconstruction of history. Thus,
subaltern methodology includes various themes and issues like indigenism, re-categorization, de-
construction, re-reading and re-definition of text, which are considered necessary tools for
writing history.39 Due to the oppositional reading to the nationalistic, elitistic approach of history
of Christianity in India, a shift of writing history from the Christian elite and the dominant
people to the masses and people from Dalit and Tribal background emerged.

36
Jose John, “Methodological Issues of History… 43.
37
V.V. Thomas, Subaltern…, xiv.
38
George Oommen, “Historiography of Indian Christianity…213-215.
39
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…12-13.

7
Dalit Historiography

The term „Dalit‟ is used for those people who on the basis of caste distinction, have been
considered outcaste.40 According to James Massey, these groups of people are outcaste because
they were not according to the architect of the system, fit to be included in the four-fold graded
caste structure of our society. Their struggles, pain and pathos were neglected by the high caste
41
society of India. Ambedkar analyzed the cause for the pathetic situation of Dalits as caste
system. He believes that any effort to improvise the lot of the Dalits should be directed towards
uprooting the caste system itself. So, as long as caste system exists, outcaste will exist. This
could be understood as human-made but not god-given and this should be eradicated and hence
their history needs to be re-written.42 While analyzing history, these people were ignored or
considered as no people. These are the people who need to know their past, which alone will
reveal them that once they were also fully human beings, enjoying all benefits of a normal
human being which includes land, property, human dignity, natural resources, human freedom
etc.43 Thorough analysis on the population of India shows that a majority of Christians in India
are from subaltern, i.e., Dalit and tribal background. It is estimated that about 65 percent of all
Christians in India are of subaltern origin.44 So, now the need of the hour of Dalit people could
be understood and their history should be recorded. Also, the problem arise here is who will
write history for them? This could be unraveled using Dalit historiography that produced by the
Dalits, based on their own experiences, their sufferings, their own aspirations and their own
hope. In this way Dalit historians are on the process of reconstructing the history of Dalits. This
could be possible only through unity of Dalits with Dalit consciousness and addressing issues
which will pave way for their holistic wellbeing.45 Webster‟s contributions towards Dalit
historiography was remarkable with the agenda of bringing forward the Dalit communities which
were in the peripheries of history into the focal point or the centre stage like any other
communities in India. This helped in crafting historical narratives with the developing

40
Woba James, Major Issues in the History …14.
41
Samuel Jeyakumar, Dalit Consciousness and Christian Conversion: Historical Resources for
Contemporory Debate (Delhi: ISPCK, 1999). 4-8.
42
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…15.
43
James Massey, Indigenous People: Dalits, (Delhi: ISPCK, 1994), 4-5.
44
Godwin Shiri, Dalit Christians: A Saga of Faith and Pathos (Nagpur: NCCI, 2012), xv.
45
Woba James, Major issues in the History…16-17.

8
historiography meaningful and liberation for the Indian Christian communities.46 Being a
foreigner, Webster has his own limitations and preoccupations towards Dalit community. So, this
could be analyzed and flaws must be rectified.

Tribal Historiography

Tribal context differs from one place to another because of their diverse cultures, languages and
traditions. In independent India today, tribal are the people who are culturally alienated and
uprooted, socially oppressed and dehumanized, economically exploited and dominated,
politically powerless and divided. Some important leaders and scholars who met in a
Consultation in Shillong, in 1962 define a tribe as, “Tribe is an indigenous, homogenous unit,
speaking a common language, claiming a common ancestry, living in a particular geographical
area, backward in technology, illiterate, loyally observing in social and political and political
customs based on kingship.”47 K. Thanzauva, a Tribal theologian affirms that the term „Tribe‟ is
a name given by non-tribal anthropologists to describe the nature, lifestyle and living condition
of certain backward people. Nirmal Minz, the pioneer of the Tribal Theology says “a Tribal is a
homogeneous community occupying a contiguous geographical area, with a language of its
own.”48 The majority of the tribals are found in Central India, which has 80% of the Indian
Tribals. North East India(NEI) has 12% of the Tribals and the Southern part of India 8%.49
Regarding history, for many centuries tribal history, their life affirming socio-cultural values
have been ignored, neglected, exploited, discriminated in every set of their lives.50 B.G.
Verghese says, “Read Indian history as it is taught and you will scarcely know the NEI exists,”
or it “remains in the periphery of the periphery,” “It remains somewhere there.” 51 For centuries,
tribals have been told repeatedly by the high caste society of India that they are no people with
any history and culture of their own. The tribal history was written from colonial and mainline

46
Vanlalpeka, “Interacting with the Historiography of John C. B. Webster,” Indian Church History Review,
Vol. 51, No. 1 (January, 2017): 70.
47
K. Thanzauva, ed, Towards a Tribal Theology. The Mizo Perspective (Aizawl: Theological Conference,
1989), 1-4.
48
Nirmal Minz, “A Theological Interpretation of the Tribal Reality in India,” in Readings in Indian
Christian Theology, vol.1, edited by R.S. Sugirtharajah and Cecil Hargreaves (Delhi: ISPCK, 2002), 47.
49
Dominic Jala, “Mission among the Tribals: An Assessment,” Mission Today vol. 4 (2002), 301.
50
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…19.
51
B.G. Verghese, Indias North East Resurgent: Etinicity, Insurgency, Governance Development(Delhi:
Konard Publisher, 1996), 280.

9
society of Indian perspectives. So, tribals need to have their own historiography based on their
own life experiences and it should be produced by tribals of India from their native perspectives.
Tribal‟s experiences of oppressions, their traditional stories, myths, symbols, dances, songs, their
deep-seated spirituality, their oneness with the land and environment etc., which are all very
essential assets in the process of making tribal historiography.52

Adivasi Historiography

Etymologically the term „Adivasi‟ is a combination of „adi‟ means beginning and „vasi‟ means
inhabitant or resident of. The general meaning is that Adivasis were the original inhabitants. The
term Adivasi is an umbrella term for all tribes and at the same time it is a root term for all
indigenous tribes.53 The first and foremost thing for doing Adivasi theology and Adivasi
historiography is the question of Adivasi identity. Kerketta unraveled the experience of Adivasi
Christian community in central India as having a heavy impact of dominant theology on their
psyche. This is because of the irrelevant western theologies which brought in are meaningless in
the life situations of the people and in their collective struggle for justice, peace, identity and
survival. In this context, reclaiming the right to theologize and historicize is vital in the struggle
of the Adivasis to have a space of their own and dignified life.54 Nirmal Minz‟s prophetic call
towards Adivasi communities is notable here, he observes, “All tribals are going to be Scheduled
Castes (SC) and then merged into dominant group. This process of assimilation is rapidly going
on and it is a matter of few years or a decade or two, when the Adivasis will be completely
assimilated and their separate identity will be forgotten.” This threatening situation could be
addressed by Adivasi historiography which will take Adivasi identity as starting point. Also the
historical consciousness of Adivasi identity, culture based on human and spiritual values, land
and forest are life affirming entities, experiences of suffering, and alienation etc. could
strengthen the writing process of history.55 This could be carried out through new theologies and
historiography of separate communities.

52
Woba James, Major Issues in the History…19-21.
53
Christ Sumit Abhay Kerketta, Adivasi Theology: Towards a Releavant Theology for the Jharkhandi
Adivasis, (ATCR/GTC, Ranchi, 2009), 3.
54
Eappen Varghese, “Historical Perceptions and Methodology of Michel Fouchoult: A Critical Appraisal,”
Sathri Journal, Vol. X, No. 1, (April, 2016): 83-84.
55
Christ Sumit Abhay Kerketta, Adivasi Theology… 80-90.

10
Impact of recent Historiographies in Indian Christian historiography

The quest for common people‟s history strengthened with the shift in emerging different
historiographical approaches. In the present India, attention towards ordinary people as subjects
led contemporary historians to seriously engage in writing history. The post-colonial
methodological developments helped to produce subaltern as the subjects by tracing their
historicity to revisit the historiography of India. The paradigm shift from mission history to
academic history was the recent development which produced several historiographies as
explained above. The credit for this methodological shift goes to the influence of post-colonial
and subaltern studies. Some of the important impacts are, the awareness created among the
people from „no people‟ to equal humans. All are recognized as full humans with history of their
rich spiritual, cultural and economic differences. Different historiographies helped people from
marginal sections to identify their own cultural heritage, unique identity, sufferings, and
historicity and so on. These historiographies helped how people were exploited by vested
elements for a long time and also this could be compared with the present situation in
independent India. The success of these historiographies is based on the experiences of the
people that became the powerful tool in new historiographies which explain their sufferings,
oppression, pain and pathos.

Conclusion

Due to the emergence of new historiographies values of human lives are preserved, appreciated
and recognized. The paradigm shift in the Indian Christian Historiography motivated Christian
historians to recognize Indian Christianity from Indian socio, religious and cultural point of
view. But still we are mostly dependent on the colonial mission history documents for our own
history. This could be used with critical analysis and identify colonial elements and read in
between lines and understand the forgotten histories and untold stories of humanity. At present,
counter histories to colonial histories are more evident but Christian historians should cautiously
approach this because hindutva elements were added in several histories which diminish or
eliminate missionary activities and Christian involvement in nation building.

11
Bibliography

A. M. Mundadan, Indian Christians: Search for Identity and Struggle for Autonomy, (Bangalore:
Dharmaram Publications, 2003), 208.

A. Mathias Mundadan, “Rewriting History: Orientations,” Journal of Dharma, Vol. XXVIII, No.
2 (April-June, 2003): 154.

Aliester Mcgrath, Christian Theology an Introduction (USA: Black Well Publishing, 2001),110-
111

B. Sheik Ali, History: Its Theory and Method, (Delhi: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, 2010), 8.

B.G. Verghese, Indias North East Resurgent: Etinicity, Insurgency, Governance

Development(Delhi: Konard Publisher, 1996), 280.

Christ Sumit Abhay Kerketta, Adivasi Theology: Towards a Releavant Theology for the
Jharkhandi Adivasis, (ATCR/GTC, Ranchi, 2009), 3.

Dominic Jala, “Mission among the Tribals: An Assessment,” Mission Today vol. 4 (2002), 301.

E. H. Carr, What is History? (New York: Penquin Books, 1982), 30.

E. Sreedharan, A Textbook of Historiography-500 BC to AD 2000, (New Delhi: Orient

Blackswan Private Limited, 2009), 1.

Eappen Varghese, “Historical Perceptions and Methodology of Michel Fouchoult: A Critical

Appraisal,” Sathri Journal, Vol. X, No. 1, (April, 2016): 83-84.

George Oommen, “Historiography of Indian Christianity and Challenges of Subaltern

Methodology,” Journal of Dharma, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (April-June, 2003): 218.

James Massey, Indigenous People: Dalits, (Delhi: ISPCK, 1994), 4-5.

12
Jose John, “Methodological Issues of History of Christianity in India with Special Reference to
the Historiography of the St. Thomas Christians in the Malabar Coast,” The Journal of
Malankara Orthodox Theological Studies, Vol II, No. 1 (August, 2014): 33.

Joseph Pathrapankal, “Understanding History: Emerging Christian Perspectives.” Journal of

Dharma, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (April-June, 2003): 191.

K. Thanzauva, ed, Towards a Tribal Theology. The Mizo Perspective (Aizawl: Theological
Conference, 1989), 1-4.

M. Thongkhosei Haokip, A Guide Book to History of Christianity from the First to the
Eighteenth Centuries, (Secunderabad: GS Media, 2017), 15.

Nirmal Minz, “A Theological Interpretation of the Tribal Reality in India,” in Readings in Indian
Christian Theology, vol.1, edited by R.S. Sugirtharajah and Cecil Hargreaves (Delhi:
ISPCK, 2002), 47.

R. Sahayadhas, “Christian Theology: Trajectories, Trends and Methods,” Journal, Vol. X, No. 1,
(April, 2016): 100.

R.S.Sugirtharajah, Postcolonial Reconfigurations, An Alternative Way of Reading the Bible and

doing Theology, London: SCM Press, 2003) 15.

T. V. Philip, “Christianity in India During Western Colonialism: Conflict, Reconciliation or

Adjustment” Indian Church History Review, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (June, 1987): 22.

Vanlalpeka, “Interacting with the Historiography of John C. B. Webster,” Indian Church History
Review, Vol. 51, No. 1 (January, 2017): 70.

Wati Longchar, ed., Issues in Theological Research: A Methodological Exploration (Bangalore:

SATHRI, 2010), 131.

Woba James, Major Issues in the History of Christianity in India: A Post- Colonial Reading,
(Nagaland: TDCC Publications, 2013), 2.

13
Godwin Shiri, Dalit Christians: A Saga of Faith and Pathos (Nagpur: NCCI, 2012), xv.

Potana Venkateswara Rao, “Christian Historiography: Changing Perspectives and Approaches

in the Study of Christianity in India,” Global Journal For Research Analysis 3/7 (July,
2014): 146.

Samuel Jeyakumar, Dalit Consciousness and Christian Conversion: Historical Resources for
Contemporory Debate (Delhi: ISPCK, 1999). 4-8.

V.V. Thomas, Dalit and Tribal Christians of India Issues and Challenges, (Kerala: Focus India
Trust, 2014), 61.

14