Bengali Christians

Bengali Christians
বাঙালি খ্রিস্টান; Bangali Khrishtan
	North façade of the St. Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta
Total population
	1,370,000
Regions with significant populations
India	730,000 (West Bengal)
Bangladesh	640,000
Languages
	Bengali
Religion
	Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, Indian Orthodox)
Related ethnic groups
	Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Buddhists

Bengali Christians (Bengali: বাঙালি খ্রিস্টান) are adherents of Christianity among the Bengali people. Christianity took root in Bengal after the arrival of Portuguese voyagers in the 16th century. It witnessed further conversions among the Bengali upper-caste elite during the 19th century Bengali Renaissance.

Bengali Christians played significant role in Bengali culture, education, commerce and society. Some of the most influential thinkers and advocates during the Indian independence struggle from British Raj where Bengali Christians. The region is home to venerable missionary institutions, including the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa.

History

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong

Christianity was established in Bengal by the Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. Basilica of the Holy Rosary, Bandel is the first church known to have been constructed in 1599 at Hugli-Chuchura in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. Another is known to have been established from the historical records was in Ishwaripore, Jessore (erstwhile Chandecan) in 1600 under patronage of Pratapaditya which later was ransacked.^[3] Chittagong (erstwhile also referred to as Diang) with significant Portuguese and trading settlements had first hermitage and churches erected around this time. The Portuguese settlement in Chittagong hosted the first Vicar Apostolic in Bengal.^[4] The Portuguese from there moved to Arakan, where they would transport Hindu and Muslim slaves, about 42,000 in number from 1621 to 1624, and converted 28,000 of those enslaved peoples to Christianity.^[5] Jesuit missionaries also established churches in Bandel and Dhaka. In 1682, there were 14,120 Roman Catholics in Bengal.^[2]

Denominations

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is based in the Archdiocese of Dhaka, with dioceses in Dinajpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rajshahi and Archdiocese of Chittagong, with dioceses in Barisal and Khulna.^[6]

Province of Dhaka: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dhaka
Province of Chittagong: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chittagong
- Diocese of Barisal
- Diocese of Khulna

The Roman Catholic Church in West Bengal is based in the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

Province of Calcutta: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta

United Protestantism

In the Indian subcontinent, various Protestant denominations merged to form United Protestant Churches, such as the Church of North India and the Church of Bangladesh.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Bangladesh:

St. Thomas Cathedral is the seat of the Metropolitan Diocese of Dhaka of Archbishop of Church of Bangladesh. There are three dioceses of the United Protestant Church of Bangladesh:

India (West Bengal):

St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta (1813) of the United Protestant Church of North India (CNI).

Diocese of Barrackpore
Diocese of Durgapur
Diocese of Calcutta

Other denominations

Other denominations include:^[6]

Demographics

Bengali Christians are considered a model minority in South Asia and usually enjoy a high literacy rate, low male-female sex ratio and a better socio-economic status.^[10] Christian missionaries operate many schools, hospitals and shelters for the poor. They receive support from the Indian and Bangladeshi governments.

Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Northern District Side have significant Christian populations.

Culture

Lusophone heritage

Some Catholic Bengali Christians have Portuguese surnames. In a tradition similar to Bengali Muslims (who have Arabic and Persian names), Bengali Christians adopted Portuguese surnames due to the early influence of Portuguese missionaries in spreading Christianity. Common Catholic Bengali Christian surnames include Gomes, Rozario, D'Costa, Gonsalvez, Cruze, Dias, D'Silva and D'Souza among others.^[11]

Christmas is known as "Boro Din" (Big Day) and is a public holiday in both Bangladesh and Indian West Bengal.

Notable Bengali Christians

Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee
Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Educationist, linguist and Bengali Christian missionary, First President of the Bengal Christian Association.
Lal Behari Dey, Bengali Christian Missionary, writer and journalist
Ram Chandra Bose, Educator, evangelist, and writer.
Kali Charan Chatterjee, Bengali christian Missionary and first moderator of the Presbyterian Church in India.
Kali Charan Banerjee, Lawyer, Indian independence movement activist and founding member of the Indian National Congress.
Brahmabandhav Upadhyay, Bengali theologian, journalist and freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement
Lolita Roy, social reformer and suffragist in the British suffragist movement

Religious Leaders

Rev. Nirod Biswas, first Indian Anglican Bishop of Assam
Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario
Poulinous Costa, Archbishop
Michael Rosario, Archbishop
Moses Montu Costa, the late Archbishop of Chittagong
Rt. Rev Shourabh Pholia, Bishop of Barishal Diocese
Theotonius Amal Ganguly, former Bishop of Dhaka
Rt. Rev Hemen Halder, Bishop of Kushtia Diocese
Alvin P Bhakta, Reverend
Nathaniel Shetu Munshi Reverend
Nibaron Das Bishop

Rt. Rev. Paritosh Canning 21st Bishop, Diocese of Calcutta, Kolkata

Freedom Fighters

Kali Charan Banerjee

Arts

Michael Madhusudan Dutt, 19th century poet and playwright
Toru Dutt, poet
Badal Sircar, noted Bengali playwright and dramatist.
Samar Das, musician
Debabrata Biswas, musician
Andrew Kishore, Bangladeshi playback singer
Robin Ghosh, Bangladeshi playback singer and film music composer
Tony Dias, Bangladeshi television actor and director
George Lincoln D'Costa, Bangladeshi Metal Singer

Industry

Samson Chowdhury, founder of Square Pharmaceuticals, Bangladesh
Tapan Chowdhury (businessman), Bangladesh
Anjan Chowdhury, Bangladesh

Scholars

Chandramukhi Basu, first female graduate of British India
Radhanath Sikdar, Indian mathematician
Ashis Nandy, Indian sociologist
Sukumari Bhattacharji, Indologist
Jay Bhattacharya, American physician and economist

Educators

Mona Hensman, née Mitter, former Principal, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai
Surendra Kumar Datta, former Principal, Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan.
S. K. Rudra, first Indian Principal of St. Stephen's College, Delhi

Politicians

Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, First Governor of West Bengal and member of constituent assembly.
Hubert Costa, Bangladeshi-Polish Member of Parliament
Promode Mankin, First Catholic and first member of the country's among Christian community to become a government minister in Bangladesh (as a member of the Bangladesh Awami League) and formerly representing Mymensingh-1 (constituency) (whom his son became his successor).
Jewel Areng, son of Promode Mankin. He is the youngest member of parliament (as a member of the Bangladesh Awami League) and the only Catholic, currently representing Mymensingh-1 (constituency) (whom his father was also his predecessor).
Gloria Jharna Sarker, Bangladesh's first Christian Woman MP (2019)[1]

Bangladesh Army

Brigadier John Gomes

Indian Defence Services

Lionel Protip Sen, General in the Indian Army

Sports

Sudhir Kumar Chatterjee, Indian footballer
Paresh Lal Roy, Indian boxer
Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Bangladesh national team footballer

References

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2015-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ ^a ^b Luchesi, Brigitte (1999), "Bangladesh", in Fahlbusch, Erwin, Encyclopedia of Christianity 1, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, pp. 182–183, ISBN 0802824137
^ Ray, Aniruddha (1976). "Case Study of a Revolt in Medieval Bengal: Raja Pratapaditya Guha Roy". In De, Barun (ed.). Essays in Honour of Prof. S.C. Sarkar. Delhi: People's Pub. House
^ "Chronicle/Snippets". Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
^ Ahmed, S.M. Tanveer Ahmed. Christian Missions in East Bengal.
^ ^a ^b World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 368-371
^ "Church of North India". World Methodist Council. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020. The Church of North India is a united church which came into being as the result of a union of six churches on 29th November 1970. The six churches were: The Council of the Baptist Churches in Northern India, The Church of the Brethren in India; The Disciples of Christ; The Church of India (formerly known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon); The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences); The United Church of Northern India. ... The Church of North India is a full member of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the Council for World Mission, the Anglican Consultative Council, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
^ "Church of North India". World Council of Churches. n.d. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
^ Ross, Kenneth R. (14 March 2019). Christianity in South and Central Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4744-3984-8. The Church of Bangladesh incorporates Anglican and Presbyterian traditions and plays an important role in enhancing the spiritual and socioeconomic life of Christian and non-Christian Bangladeshis.
^ "Indian Christians Treat Their Women Better, Sex Ratio Highest". 25 December 2007. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
^ "Você fala Bangla?". Dhaka Tribune. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Bangladesh’s-first-Catholic-woman-MP-dedicates-her-victory-to-all-Christians-46249.html

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2015-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[autogenerated182-2] Luchesi, Brigitte (1999), "Bangladesh", in Fahlbusch, Erwin, Encyclopedia of Christianity 1, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, pp. 182–183, ISBN 0802824137

[3] Ray, Aniruddha (1976). "Case Study of a Revolt in Medieval Bengal: Raja Pratapaditya Guha Roy". In De, Barun (ed.). Essays in Honour of Prof. S.C. Sarkar. Delhi: People's Pub. House

[4] "Chronicle/Snippets". Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2015-08-01.

[5] Ahmed, S.M. Tanveer Ahmed. Christian Missions in East Bengal.

[autogenerated368-6] World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 368-371

[WMC2020-7] "Church of North India". World Methodist Council. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020. The Church of North India is a united church which came into being as the result of a union of six churches on 29th November 1970. The six churches were: The Council of the Baptist Churches in Northern India, The Church of the Brethren in India; The Disciples of Christ; The Church of India (formerly known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon); The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences); The United Church of Northern India. ... The Church of North India is a full member of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the Council for World Mission, the Anglican Consultative Council, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

[WCC-CNI-8] "Church of North India". World Council of Churches. n.d. Retrieved 4 July 2019.

[Ross2019-9] Ross, Kenneth R. (14 March 2019). Christianity in South and Central Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4744-3984-8. The Church of Bangladesh incorporates Anglican and Presbyterian traditions and plays an important role in enhancing the spiritual and socioeconomic life of Christian and non-Christian Bangladeshis.

[10] "Indian Christians Treat Their Women Better, Sex Ratio Highest". 25 December 2007. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2015.

[11] "Você fala Bangla?". Dhaka Tribune. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

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