Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

and significant minorities in

Konkan division The Konkan division is one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. It comprises the northern and central portions of the greater Konkani region, which were absorbed into Maharashtra owing to the States Reorganisat ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back to the Protestant reformation of the 16th century.

History

Colonial India

As the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

was the established church of England, "it had an impact on India with the arrival of the British". Citing the

Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain ...

, Joseph White, a

Laudian Professor of Arabic The position of Laudian Professor of Arabic, now known as the Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor, at the University of Oxford was established in 1636 by William Laud, who at the time was Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Archbi ...

at the University of Oxford, "preached before the university in 1784 on the duty of promoting the universal and progressive message of Christianity 'among our Mahometan and Gentoo Subjects in India'." In 1889, the Prime Minister of Great Britain,

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a ...

expressed similar sentiments, stating that "It is not only our duty but is in our interest to promote the diffusion of Christianity as far as possible throughout the length and breadth of India." The growth of the British Indian Army led to the arrival of many Anglican chaplains in India. Following the arrival of the Church of England's Church Mission Society in 1814, the Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC) was erected, with its St. Paul's Cathedral being built in 1847. By 1930, the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon had fourteen

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s across the Indian Empire. Missionaries from other Christian denominations came to British India as well;

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

missionaries, for example, arrived in Calcutta in 1836 and by "the year 1880 there were over 31,200 Lutheran Christians spread out in 1,052 villages". Methodists began arriving in India in 1783 and established missions with a focus on "education, health ministry, and evangelism". In the 1790s, Christians from the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

and Baptist Missionary Society, began doing missionary work in the Indian Empire. In Neyoor, the London Missionary Society Hospital "pioneered improvements in the public health system for the treatment of diseases even before organized attempts were made by the colonial Madras Presidency, reducing the death rate substantially". After 1857, the establishment of schools and hospitals by British Christian missionaries became the "a pivotal feature of missionary work and the principal vehicles for conversion". Christ Church College (1866) and St. Stephen's College (1881) are two examples of prominent church-affiliated educational institutions founded during the colonial period India. Within educational institutions established during the British Raj in India, Christian texts, especially the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, were a part of the curricula. During the colonial era in India, Christian missionaries developed writing systems for Indian languages that previously did not have one. Christian missionaries in India also worked to increase literacy and also engaged in social activism, such as fighting against prostitution, championing the right of widowed women to remarry, and trying to stop early marriages for women. Among British women,

zenana missions The zenana missions were outreach programmes established in British India with the aim of converting women to Christianity. From the mid 19th century, they sent female missionaries into the homes of Indian women, including the private areas of ...

became a popular method to win

converts to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of believe ...

. In colonial India, the

All India Conference of Indian Christians The All India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC) is an ecumenical organisation founded in 1914 to represent the interests of Christians in India. It was founded to advocate for the moral, economic, and intellectual development of the Indian Ch ...

(AICIC) played an important role in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

, advocating for swaraj and opposing the partition of India. The AICIC also was opposed to separate electorates for Christians, believing that the faithful "should participate as common citizens in one common, national political system". The All India Conference of Indian Christians and the All India Catholic Union formed a working committee with M. Rahnasamy of

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest d ...

serving as President and B.L. Rallia Ram of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

serving as General Secretary; in its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee prepared a 13 point memorandum that was sent to the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

, which asked for

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

Independent India

Many Protestant denominations are represented in India, the result of missionary activities throughout the country especially under

British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. The largest Protestant denomination in the country is the Church of South India, since 1947 a union of

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, Reformed,

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and Anglican

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

s with approximately 4 million members as of 2014. The broadly similar Church of North India had 1 million members. (Both churches are in full communion with the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

.) There were about 1.3 million Lutherans, 473,000 Methodists, and 425,000 Baptists as of 1995. Pentecostalism, one of the largest Protestant denominations worldwide, is also a rapidly growing denomination in India. It is spreading greatly in

northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

and the southwestern areas, such as

. The largest indigenous Pentecostal denominations in India are The Pentecostal Mission (TPM) and the India Pentecostal Church of God (IPC). As for the smaller denominations, another prominent group is the Brethren. They include Plymouth Brethren, Indian Brethren, Kerala Brethren etc. The

Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India is a Mennonite denomination in India. Its membership exceeds 100,000 persons, in 840 congregations. The Presiding officer for the conference is Dr P B Arnold. The headquarters is in Jadcher ...

has more than 100,000 members. One of the oldest denominations meanwhile is the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Notable missionaries

Protestant missionaries began to work throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, leading to the growth of different Christian communities. In 1793, William Carey, an English Baptist Minister, came to India as a missionary. He worked in

Serampore Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampore ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and other cities founding churches. On the educational front, in addition to starting the

Serampore College , founders = William Ward, William Carey, & Joshua Marshman , religious_affiliation = Baptist , rector = , location = 8, William Carey RoadSerampore – 712201West Bengal, India , established = , principal = Vansanglura V ...

, he also translated the Bible into

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, continuing with these labours until his death in 1834. According to the chronicler

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...

, Arnold had studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

under the tutelage of the reformer and philosopher

Pierre Abélard Peter Abelard (; french: link=no, Pierre Abélard; la, Petrus Abaelardus or ''Abailardus''; 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, poet, composer and musician. This source has a detailed de ...

. He took to Abélard's philosophy of

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

ways.

Anthony Norris Groves Anthony Norris Groves (1 February 1795 – 20 May 1853) was an English Protestant missionary, who has been called the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, and la ...

, Plymouth Brethren missionary came to India in 1833. He worked in the Godavari delta area of then Madras Presidency, until his death in 1852.

Protestant Churches in India

* Assemblies of God in India * Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (Ao Baptist Churches Convention) * Apatani Christian Fellowship *

Assam Baptist Convention Assam Baptist Convention (ABC) is a Baptist Christian denomination based in Assam, India, with more than 37,000 members and 300 congregations. History The Assam Baptist Convention traces its origins back to the work of 19th Century Baptists miss ...

* Baptist Christian Association * Baptist Church of Mizoram * Baptist Union of North India *

Basel Mission The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...

* Bengal Baptist Fellowship *

Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention is a Baptist Christian denomination in India. It operates in Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is si ...

. * Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India * Congregational Church in India * Church of North India * Church of South India * Evangelical Baptist Convention of India * Evangelical Church of Maraland. *

Garo Baptist Convention Garo Baptist Convention is a Baptist Christian denomination of India and Bangladesh. It is named after the ethnic group of the name Garo. Most members of this church are in Meghalaya. In Bangladesh the central office of the GBC is located in Bi ...

* Gospel Association of India *

India Association of General Baptists India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

* India Evangelical Lutheran Church IELC * Evangelical Church of India * Karbi Anglong Baptist Convention * Karnataka Baptist Convention *Lower Assam Baptist Union * Maharashtra Baptist Society * Manipur Baptist Convention * Mao Baptist Church *

Nagaland Baptist Church Council The Nagaland Baptist Church Council is a Baptist Christian organization based in Nagaland, India. It is affiliated with the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India and the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is located in Kohima, t ...

North Bank Baptist Christian Association North Bank Baptist Christian Association is a Baptist Christian denomination in India. It is headquartered in Shakomato Christian Center, Biswanath Chariali, Sonitpur District of Assam. History It was established in the year 1950. As of 2015, It h ...

* Orissa Baptist Evangelical Crusade * Poumai Baptist Church * Presbyterian Church in India * Presbyterian Church in India (Reformed) * Presbyterian Free Church of Central India * Rabha Baptist Church Union *

Reformed Presbyterian Church of India The Reformed Presbyterian Church of India is a historic confessional Presbyterian denomination in India, established in the 19th century by Scottish and Irish missionaries. Origin The Reformed Presbyterian Church of India was a joint effort of t ...

Reformed Presbyterian Church North East India The Reformed Presbyterian Church in North East India (RPCNEI) is a Christian church based in Manipur. It was established in 1835 by American missionaries including Rev. James R. Campbell who started the work in Saharanpur. The denomination was of ...

* Presbyterian Church of South India *

Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches (STBC), (Nellore) presently Headquarters A.B.M Compound, Markapur, Prakasham District, Andhra Pradesh( by its Add General Secretary Shri. Chilka David Prakash Rao ) by its Baptist Christian denomination in t ...

Separate Baptists in Christ The Separate Baptists in Christ are a denomination of Separate Baptists found mostly in United States. History The Separate Baptists had no formal statement of faith before 1776. They only followed the Bible. In 1776 there was split in the Sepa ...

* Sumi Baptist Church * Southern Asia Division of Seventh-day Adventists * Seventh Day Baptist Church * The Pentecostal Mission (formerly

Ceylon Pentecostal Mission The Pentecostal Mission (TPM) or New Testament Church (NTC) in the United States or Universal Pentecostal Church (UPC) in the United Kingdom is a Pentecostal denomination which was founded in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1923. The intern ...

) *

Mar Thoma Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

* Tamil Baptist Churches *Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church *Tirunelveli C.M.S. Evangelical Church *

Tripura Baptist Christian Union The Tripura Baptist Christian Union (TBCU) is a Baptist Christian denomination in Tripura, India. It has its head office in Agartala, the state capital. The TBCU is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF) and the Baptist World ...

United Church of Northern India – Presbyterian Synod The United Church of Northern India (UCNI) is a mainline Presbyterian Church society in India belonging to the Protestant Christian denomination. The UCNI was constituted by the union of the Presbyterian Church and Congregational churches in 1924. ...

Indian Pentecostal Church of God The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the largest Pentecostal Christian Denomination in India. It has over ten thousand congregations around the world. Its organisational headquarters is at Hebronpuram, Kumbanad, Kerala, India. IPC chu ...

Source of the list: World Christian Encyclopedia.

References