Editing Saint Thomas Christians (section)

== Terminology ==
The Saint Thomas Christians have also been nicknamed such due to their reverence for Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]], who is said to have brought Christianity to India. The name dates back to the period of [[Portuguese India|Portuguese colonisation]]. They are also known, especially locally, as ''Nasrani'' or ''Nasrani Mappila''. The former means ''Christian''; it appears to have been derived from the Hebrew word Netzer or the Aramaic Nasraya from Isaiah 11:1. ''[[Nasrani (Arabic term for Christian)|Nasrani]]'' is evolved from the Syriac term for "Christian" that emerges from the Greek word ''Nazōraioi'', [[Nazarene (sect)|Nazarene]] in English. ''Mappila'' is an [[honorific]] applied to members of non-Indian faiths and descendants of immigrants from the middle east who had intermarried with the local population, including Muslims (''[[Jonaka Mappila]]'') and Jews (''[[Yuda Mappila]]'').<ref name=Zupanov>{{cite book|last=Županov|first=Ines G.|author-link=Ines G. Županov|year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nix4M4dy7nQC|title=Missionary Tropics: The Catholic Frontier in India (16th–17th centuries)|page=99 and note|publisher=University of Michigan|isbn=0-472-11490-5}}</ref><ref name="BMalieckal">{{cite journal |first=Bindu |last=Malieckal  |year=2005 |title=Muslims, Matriliny, and A Midsummer Night's Dream: European Encounters with the Mappilas of Malabar, India |journal=The Muslim World |volume=95 |issue=2 |page=300|doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.2005.00092.x }}</ref> Some Syrian Christians of [[Travancore]] continue to attach this honorific title to their names.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Mappila fisherfolk of Kerala: a study in inter-relationship between habitat, technology, economy, society, and culture |year=1977 |first=P. R. G. |last=Mathur |publisher=Kerala Historical Society |page=1}}</ref> The [[Government of India]] designates members of the community as ''Syrian Christians'', a term originating with the [[Dutch India|Dutch colonial authority]] that distinguishes the Saint Thomas Christians, who used Syriac (within [[East Syriac Rite]] or [[West Syriac Rite]]) as their liturgical language, from newly evangelised Christians who followed the [[Roman Rite]].{{sfnp|Vadakkekara|2007|p=52}} The terms ''Syrian'' or ''Syriac'' relate not to their ethnicity but to their historical, religious and liturgical connection to the [[Church of the East]], or East Syriac Church.<ref name=Zupanov />