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52 According to tradition, the Apostle Thomas arrives in India and establishes seven congregations.

c. 189 Pantaenus, a missionary from Alexandria, arrives in India.

c. 200 The Syriac Chronicle of Edessa describes a "church of the Christians" in India.

345 During the Great Persecution in Persia, Thomas a Kana leads 400 Christian refugees to the Malabar coast.

883 Anglo-Saxons bishops sent by King Alfred visit the tomb of St. Thomas (Mylapore).

c. 1293 Marco Polo stays on the Coromandel Coast, describes the tomb of St. Thomas as a place of pilgrimage, and visits Christians and Jews in Quilon.

1502 Thomas Christian leaders ask Vasco da Gama for an alliance against Muslim predators.

1542 Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier and two Tamil assistants teach the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments to Paravars (fisherfolk on Coromandel Coast), baptizing 10,000 in a single month.

1606 Roberto de Nobili begins a 50-year career in the Jesuit Madurai Mission, adopting Brahman culture and becoming a renowned scholar and poet.

1622 Congregatio de Propaganda Fide is created to send missionaries into areas of India outside of Portuguese Padroado authority.

1653 At Koonen Cross, some Thomas Christians declare independence from Roman Catholic authority.

1706 German Pietists Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau reach Tranquebar and establish a printing press and charity school.

1710 Jesuit missionary Constanzo Giuseppe Beschi begins a spectacular career as the greatest Tamil scholar of the age.

1733 Aaron becomes the first Tamil evangelical pastor in Thanjavur.

1750 C. F. Schwartz begins career as a renowned evangelical missionary-statesman-scholar, diplomat, and mentor to leaders of later mass conversion movements in Tirunelveli.

1773 Indian Empire (Raj) established.

1792 William Carey's Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of Heathens evokes waves of evangelical missionary voluntarism.

1799 Serampore Mission established by William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and David Ward.

1813 American Congregationalists (A.B.C.F.M.) found the Maratha Mission. Other missions soon follow.

1833 Charter Renewal Act allows for full entry of missionaries into India.

1833 American Presbyterians begin work in Punjab and build a strong educational system.

1838 Jesuit order, restored by Gregory XVI, returns to its Madurai Mission after an absence of 64 years.

1841 Welsh Presbyterian missionaries in the Khasi Hills build educational infrastructures; local Christians later lead conversion movements until over 95% percent of all Khasis become Christians.

1844 First Synod of Pondicherry launches Catholic reforms.

1848 Nehemiah (Nilakantha) Goreh is ordained as an Anglican priest.

1855 Abolition of slavery in Travancore (Kerala) opens the way for mass conversions among untouchables, lower castes, and former slave castes.

1857 The Great Mutiny begins, followed the next year by the replacement of the East India Company by the British crown.

1866 Maulvi Imad id-din, ordained scholar-missionary, wins renown for apologetic writings reconciling Christian faith and Muslim culture.

1876 Naga Christians establish a "village of refuge" where American missionaries translate Scripture, set up schools, and lay the foundation for movements by which over 95% of Nagas eventually become Christians.

1886 Pandita Ramabai makes a triumphant tour of the United States.

1886 Catholic hierarchy of India established.

1888 Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association founded, with missionaries reaching out to low-caste peoples, forming ashram-like settlements.

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