Knanaya

The K'nānāya (Malayalam: [knaːnaːjɐ] , from Syriac: K'nā'nāya "Canaanite") also known as the Southists or Tekkumbhagar, are an endogamous ethnic group found among the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. They are differentiated from another part of the community, known in this context as the Northists (Vaddakkumbhagar). There are about 300,000 Knanaya in India and elsewhere. The origin of the Knanaya community is traced back to the arrival of the Syriac merchant Thomas of Cana (Knāi Thoma) who led a migration of Jewish-Christians (early Syriac Christians) from the Mesopotamian province of Sassanian Persia to the city of Kodungallur, India in the year AD 345. The community's arrival was recorded on the Thomas of Cana copper plates which were extant in Kerala until the 17th century. The ethnic division between the Knanaya and other St. Thomas Christians was observed during the Portuguese colonization of India in the 16th century and was noted throughout the European colonial era. Today, the majority of Knanaya are members of the Syro-Malabar Church (Kottayam Archeparchy) and the Syrian Orthodox Church (Knanaya Archdiocese). Many Knanaya migrated away during the 20th and 21st centuries, largely westward, forming communities in non-Malayalam speaking areas, with a large expatriate community currently living in Houston and Chicago in the United States.