ABSTRACT
Christianity forms the faith of over two millions of the Indian population. Christianity, while a very old religion in India, is also one of the most active at the present day. The origin of Christianity in India is obscure. Christian merchants from that coast, both of Jewish and other race, would in the natural course of trade have reached Malabar within the second century A.D. Christians were returned in 1871 at about one-third of a million ; but the Census officers omitted to distinguish between Catholic Syrian and Jacobites. Christian missions in Northern India had scarcely anything to fear from the native powers. The Census of 1881 disclosed that the Christians in British and Feudatory India had increased by more than one-fifth since 1872; and this increase, while partly the result of more perfect enumeration, represents to a large extent a real growth.
