While this is a beautiful tale, most secular and Christian historians believe that Christianity came to India around the 3rd century. At the time there were extensively traveled trade routes passing through India, so it is easy to see how Middle-Eastern religions, especially those with a strong evangelical bend, could arrive in major cities and trading posts. This is also the notable case of Thomas of Cana, a merchant and missionary, reputed to have brought several dozen Christian families from the Middle East to Kodungallur around 345 AD. Many historians believe that confusion between the names of the Apostle Thomas and Thomas of Cana might explain the Christian Indian origin story. Scholars believe the Acts of Thomas was probably written around the same time as Thomas of Cana’s arrival, giving some credence to this theory.
Regardless of how exactly Christianity came to India, it is clear that a thriving Christian movement existed in the land when European missionaries began arriving in the late Middle Ages. French and Portuguese Catholics created many new converts and strengthened the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic religious hierarchy. The most famous of these missionaries is undoubtedly St. Francis Xavier, recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as having converted by people to Christianity than anyone since St. Paul. He drastically expanded the Christian base in India, and his body is interred at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa.
