76 
V. A. Smith— On the Civilization of Ancient India. [No. 1, 
Concerning the early existence of Christian congregations in India, 
supposed to have been established by the Apostle Thomas, no doubt can 
be entertained. According to the testimony of Nilos Doxopatrios, who 
lived in the twelfth century, the Patriarch of Antioch, even at that late 
date, sent a KaOoXiKos, or deacon, to 'Pcopnyrpi, or Ramagiri, in India. 
In the sixteenth century the Portuguese found the Christians of the 
Church of St. Thomas in Malabar using Syrian books and Arian forms 
of worship. They gave themselves a great deal of trouble to convert 
these heretics. A certain image of Devaki, nursing the infant Krishna, 
which recalls the representations of the Madonna Lactans, may be ex¬ 
plained as a result of the delicate diplomatic skill of the Jesuit Mis¬ 
sionaries at the court of Akbar the Great, but it is possible that its 
origin should rather be traced back to an ancient Byzantine motive. 
In conclusion, an early reference to Christian missions, in connec¬ 
tion, not with the worship of Krishna, but with that of Rama, whose 
mild form is much more appropriate for the purpose, must be brought 
forward. I allude to the legend of S'ambuka, the pious S'udra, which 
is used by Kalidasa in the Raghuvansa (XY, 50), and by Bhavabhuti in 
the Uttara Ramacharita. ( Act II, Wilson, Hindu Theatre, Yol. I, 
p. 319). 
In the Raghuvansa version S'ambuka simply meets his death at the 
hands of Rama as a penalty for having applied himself to ascetic 
practices in order to attain the rank of a god (surapadam) , although as 
a S'udra, he was not entitled to do so. He was therefore regarded as a 
disturber of the public peace, and is stated to have failed in attaining 
his object {gatim na prdpa). 
In Bhavabhuti’s work, on the contrary, the victim actually appears 
on the scene as the man-god, in divine form, and gives thanks to Rama 
for having been aided by his coming to attain death, and there! 7 y divine 
rank and blessedness. 
K. M. Banerjea, in the preface to his edition of the Narada- 
Pancha-ratra, has recognized, and probably with justice, in this legend 
an allusion to the settlement of Christian missionaries on the coasts of 
Coromandel and Malabar. It is possible that in the form of the legend 
as given by Bhavabhuti a faint reference to Simeon of St. Luke’s Gospel 
(II, 25, 29) may dimly be discerned, but, if this be so, Simeon has been 
terribly disfigured by his Indian disguise. 
Last of all, it should be observed that when a modern text, the 
S'ukraniti, in enumerating the 32 Indian sciences, gives the last place 
to the Ydvanam matam , which is explained as meaning ‘ the doctrine of 
the unity of God,’ the reference is more probably to the Koran than to 
the New Testament. G. Oppert, however, the editor of this work, 
considers it to be very old. 
