How the various sects of Syrian Christians evolved

All Syrian Christians of Kerala trace their origins to St.Thomas,,the Apostle of Jesus Christ who according to tradition converted many in Kerala to the Christian faith during  the 1st century. By the 7th century these Christians  were part of the Church of the East, based in Persia. The entire Syrian Christian community continued to be united until the 17th century.

The Portuguese missionaries in India made deliberate attempts to merge the Syrian Christian community with the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the year 1665 they succeeded in their attempt through their infamous The Synod of Diamper, held at Udayamperoor - council that formally united the ancient Syrian Christians of, Kerala with the Roman Catholic Church.

The majority of  Syrian Christians  resented these forceful measures and under the leadership  of Arkadyaqon Thomas. The community made an oath known as the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653 never to submit to the Portuguese, This action made the Portuguese to name the Syrian Christians consolidated under the Arkadyaqon as ‘Puthenkootukar’ (new traditionalists) and the Roman Catholic  supporters as ‘Pazhyakootukar’ (old traditionalists) in order to mask the new Latin hierarchy introduced in Malabar, Kerala. The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church was thus formed.

The Knanaya Christians are believed to be decedents of Jewish Christians in Kerala. In the year 345, a merchant by name Thoma from Cana, brought 72 families consisting a group of 400 Syrian Christians from the Patriarch of Antioch, Mor Yusthedius, to the Malabar coast of India. The group included also included priests and deacons. The also had a bishop Mor Joseph of Urfa with them

The Chaldean Syrian Church is the result of a later split within the Syro-Malabar church that later aligned with the Assyrian Church of the East in 1814

The Dutch East India Company defeated Portuguese in their supremacy over spice trade in Malabar in the year 1663. Syrian Christians with the help of Dutch East India Company used this opportunity to escape from Latin persecution. The Dutch brought Bishop Gregorios Abdul Jaleel of Jerusalem of West Syrian Antiochean Church in their trading vessel in  1665. Thomas Arkadyaqon  was consecrated as Mar Thoma I and he established  a relationship with the West Syriac Orthodox Church and slowly adopted West Syrian liturgy and practices. During the course of time, relations soured between the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs and the local hierarchy, particularly after Patriarch Ignatius Peter III (1872—1894) demanded legal transfer of its properties.

The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (also known as Thozhiyur Sabha) happens to be the first to break away from the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The independent church was formed as a result of dispute of H.G. Aboon Hasyo Mor Gregorios (a hierarchal representative of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch who visited Kerala in 1772 ) with Mor Dionysius I of Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church. Hasyo Mor gregorios gave ordination to Kattumangattu Kurian ramban as bishop with the title Mor Koorilos Cyril I who became the first bishop of the church. He moved to Thozhiyur near kunnamkulam and established the independent church.

In the year 1912 Patriarch Ignatius Abdul Masih II, was controversially deposed by the Ottoman government and replaced by new Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho II. Patriarch Ignatius Abdul Masih II gave ordination to Mar Ivanios as Catholicos of the East, as a successor of the throne of St. Thomas under the name Baselios Paulose I. Those who supported this catholicose came to known as the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.Those who opposed thist consecration  and supported the new Patriarch, Ignatius Abded Aloho II, came to be known as the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church. Although the two groups had a brief reunion during the period 1958 and 1975, attempts by church leaders and two Supreme Court verdicts, they could not come to a settlement. As a result the two churches now function independently.

The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, also known as the Mar Thoma Church. The church was the result of a reformation movement, inspired through  their contacts with British Anglican missionaries. A mix of eastern traditions and western reformation begin in 1836 when A Malankara Church clergyman Abraham Malpan initiated changes independently in his parish at Maramon Another group namely the St. Thomas Evangelical Church broke away from the Marthoma Church in the year 1961