Comment by vattoli_porinju

Syrian christians of kerala is another name for st thomas christians related to st thomas visit who founded the community. The acts of thomas, which is an apocryphal writing mentions about st thomas visit. Many 3rd and 4th-century roman writers like the ambrose of milan, gregory of nazianzus, jerome and ephrem the syrian also mention thomas trip to india. Eusebius of caesarea records that st clement of alexandria's teacher pantaenus from alexandria visited a christian community in india using the gospel of matthew in hebrew in the 2nd century. There are way too many written proofs. Even long before the 1st, there were already many jews called cochin jews existing in malabar region, which itself shows the deep connections the region had with the middle east.

The ramban pattu of st thomas christians mention about his arrival in malabar and the conversion of natives and jews. Martyrdom of st thomas in mylapore is not debated since no other place on earth claims that event, and it's usually attributed to his remains being later transported to edessa. None of these things originated from 16th century portuguese missionaries, and it has all existed long before that.