The Pakistani-Christian: How a Community was Born
Pakistan is home to 2,100,000 Christians, of which three quarters live in the state of Punjab. The community has a history that goes back centuries and has made numerous contributions to the country’s military, education and healthcare system. However, little is known about the community itself. This series seeks to explore the Christians of Pakistan through three articles that focus on their history. Part 1 focusses on the origins of the Pakistani Christians, Part 2 on their post-independence history and Part 3 on the late Bishop John Joseph, arguably the most important figure in the community’s history.
Note: This is the first in a three part series on Christianity in Pakistan. Read part two here and part three here.
The Conversion of the Churhas
In the 1870s foreign missionaries working in Punjab, a historically prosperous agricultural province, deep in the South Asian interior reported on the existence of a marginalized community whose religious worship bore a striking resemblance to Christianity. These people were Balmikis, a sub-group of the broader Churha community, who considered by the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of the region as unclean people who worked menial jobs at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
The Balmiki Churha’s engaged in weekly congregational style worship that was led by a priest in dome shaped temple and “consisted of sacrifices, offerings, and chants of Psalm-like hymns in praise of God and a high priest-mediator known as Bala Shah. Their beliefs including monotheism, the resurrection of the body and the day of judgement.
The Churhas are Dalits who either worked as landless farm hands or performed jobs that Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims alike viewed as beneath them (ex. cleaning latrines, removing dead animals, executing criminals etc.). This stigma and the rigidity of the caste based social hierarchy meant they faced ostracism from the greater community with many believing even their shadows were ‘polluting’. It was these people who would become the first Christians in West Punjab (now in Pakistan) and who now comprise the majority of the Christian community in the state.
The first convert was a man named Ditt and his adoption of Christianity was not done by foreign missionaries but by a local Punjabi Christian belonging to the jat (landowner) community, in 1873. The Presbyterian Mission however was hesitant. They strongly believed that Christian conversion must be preceded by instruction in Christianity and found it hard to ascertain his sincerity. This attitude was not unusual, foreign missionaries in Asia at the time were extremely hostile to individuals whose conversion may be done for material or status rewards. The missionaries also dislike mass conversions which they felt made it difficult to determine who was genuine and who was following the crowd.
However the Churhas were receptive to Christianity. One such origin myth among the Churhas was that they shared a common ancestor. The youngest of four brahmins (the highest caste in Hinduism) who had been tricked into burying a dead cow on the promise that he would not be stigmatized for performing an unclean act. However when he returned his brothers told them they would postpone his return to the fourth day. Then the fourth week, month, year and ‘age’. The Churhas believed that the fourth age had arrived. This would be a time of restoration that has now come.
The conversion of the Churhas to Christianity was met with displeasure by many. In her ethnography “The Christians of Pakistan: The Passion of Bishop John Joseph”, Linda Walbridge writes…
“This does not mean that the new converts were free from harassment. Hindus and Muslims expressed their displeasure at the new conversions. The missionaries believed that caste Indians feared the disruption of the caste system, since Chuhras began to take advantage of missionary schools. An educated Chuhra would probably not wish to work as a servant.”
The Canal Colonies
Punjab means the ‘land of five rivers’ and it’s these rivers that have made it one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world. The agricultural fertility gave rise to South Asia’s oldest civilization, the Indus River Culture of 3300 BC to 1300 BC. Even today Pakistani and Indian Punjab have an oversized agricultural output.
However Punjab is also arid and had it not been for those rivers it would’ve been a desert due to the low rainfall in the region. This meant regions between the rivers were often arid zones, unfit for agriculture and inhabited by nomads. This all changed though with the creation of an extended canal system during the colonial era that brought the water’s of Punajab’s rivers to these arid hinterlands. The new agricultural villages established in these newly arigated regions were called ‘canal colonies’. And in 1898 Catholic and Protestant missionaries were able to persuade the government to allot some of these acres to Pakistani Christians.
This was a major step in the social history of Pakistani Christians. As the descendants of some of Punjab’s most marginalized communities they worked as landless sharecroppers and menial laborers (ex. street sweepers). The opportunity to own land and form their own communities was a major step to the socio-economic upliftment of the community. Though to clarify the canal colonies were not settled exclusively by Christians. They were a minority in the religiously diverse mix that entered these new lands.
The establishment of these colonies was no small tasks. On January 8,1893, a Capuchin friar set out with a group of Pakistani Christians who were made up of “the most destitute Christians of the Mission” set out to establish Maryamabad, on a 126 acre plot in the Chenab canal. The trip was arduous with the migrants sleeping out in the open. It rained several times on the journey which prevented the migrants from cooking the food they brought. Upon arrival they constructed huts from tree branches and mud in the thorny scrub land that had never been cultivated. Many became ill from dysentery and malaria and nomadic raiders often abducted the few valuable possessions (some cattle) that they did have. Despite this, the Christians led by two priests named Father Jacob and Father Felix were determined. By 1900 the colony had prospered. It had real homes, a church, mission center and had purchased 500 acres of additional land. It’s population had grown so large that a new colony had to be established. This one became known as Khushpur. The establishment of a new community was arduous however since the migrants had the experience of establishing Maryamabad this time around things were easier. Khushpur saw the arrival of the Belgian Sisters of Charity who established a school and a clinic.
In addition to the settlers, dozens of orphaned boys brought to the community. The boys performed agricultural work and also worked in a carpet factory established by the community. When they reached adulthood the church arranged for the orphans to be married by bringing in females from a women’s orphanage. They were permitted to meet in a church event and choose their own spouse, once a match had been made, the women lived in the convent until the marriage happened.
Maryamabad and Khushpur were just a few of the Christian canal colonies established by Catholic and Protestant churches. I chose to focus on these colonies because they would go on to be the hometown of Bishop John Joseph, who would go on to become one of the most important figures in Pakistani Christianity (more on him in part 3).
Identity Shift
Though caste is often thought of as static and unchanging, shifts in socioeconomic status have commonly caused communities to re-label themselves. Today when one visits the still existent Christian canal colonies and ask who their descendants were, few respond churhas. Instead jat and rajput are the most commonly provided response. Historical logs to not back these claims though, rajput and jat converts did exist however they were in the minority. What is likely to have happened was the new land owning Christian churhas now decided to begin identifying as higher caste, owning to their new land owning status. Furthermore, the arrival of serfs from surrounding areas to work on the Christian land signified a total reversal in caste norms. Individuals who just a generation ago were marginalized day laborers whose shadows were considered ‘polluting’ were now land owning farmers who provided employment to others. As this shift preceded the rise of modern Dalit movements, Dalit identity pride had not developed so the churhas would have been eager to upgrade their identity.
Other Communities
The Pakistani Christian community is also comprised of two smaller Christian cohorts; the Goans and the Anglo-Indians. The Goans are Konkani speaking Roman Catholics from India’s Goan state. During the colonial era many Goans migrated to Pakistan, especially Karachi, working for the British colonials. They were popular as cooks as unlike Hindus and Muslims they had no restrictions on handling meat (beef and pork) or alcohol. The Anglo-Indians were the descendants of European men and the Indian wives and mistresses. They have since formed their own endogamous community and are notable for their preservation of many British customs now forgotten by the British themselves (ex. ballroom dancing). These communities, though small, made significant contributions to nation building in Pakistan. Two notables include the Manuel Misquita, former mayor of Karachi, and Alvin Robert Cornelius, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan. Both communities have gone into decline as they migrated to the West and saw their identity and culture fade in subsequent generations.
