Christianity in Jharkhand

Outer view of St. Mary's Cathedral, mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Ranchi.

Christians are a religious community residing in the Indian state of Jharkhand. As per 2011 Census of India, 4.3% of people in Jharkhand are Christians.[1] Christians are majority in Simdega district of Jharkhand.[2]

Overview

Christianity is a minority religion in Jharkhand, a state (formerly Southern region of Bihar state, colloquially Chota Nagpur division) of India. Jharkhand is known for tribals such as Munda, Santhal, Oraon and Kharia. A Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi exists. St. Mary's Cathedral in Ranchi has been a cathedral since 1909.[3] The Church of North India has a Diocese of Chota Nagpur with a seat at Ranchi. The Church of North India has a St. Paul's Cathedral in Ranchi.[3] Gossner Theological College is in Jharkhand. Many Munda & Kharia are Christians.[4] The then pope visited Ranchi in 1986.[5] The Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam has its seat in Ranchi.[3] Dhanbad has Oriental Orthodox Churches.[6] Christian missionaries arrived in today's Jharkhand in 1845.[citation needed]

History

See also: Christianity in India

Pre-independence era

Aboriginal Christian of Chota Nagpur, c. 1868 – c. 1875
Christian Mission Stations of the Indian Empire, 1893

Christianity was introduced to Chota Nagpur in 1845 through the arrival of German Evangelical Lutheran missionaries, including Pastors Schatz, Brandt, Batsch, and Janke, following their unsuccessful efforts in Calcutta after arriving from Berlin in 1844.[7] These missionaries were initially heading for Mergui in Myanmar (formerly Burma) in view of preaching the Christian faith among the Karen people or in the areas located in the footsteps of the Himalayas. However, on meeting some people from Ranchi, they changed their plan and headed for Chota Nagpur and its main town, Ranchi. They reached Ranchi on 2 November 1845 and camped on, what is now known as, the 'Bethesda Ground' in Ranchi.[8] Anglican missionary work was established at Ranchi in 1869 under the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta, followed by the establishment of a Roman Catholic mission in 1885 after the arrival of Father Constant Lievens. The Dublin University Mission from Ireland began its work in the region in 1890.[7] By 1872, the Christian population in the region (modern Jharkhand) was 16,190, which increased to 43,535, 96,125, and 155,606 in the 1881, 1891, and 1901 censuses, respectively.[a] The growth of Christianity in the region was largely among the tribal communities, which contributed to the rise of anti-conversion movements like the Birsa Munda Movement and the Tana Bhagat Movement.

Post-independence era

After India became independent, the missionaries who remained post independence, worked for the improvement standard of living and providing education to the children of the tribals. Evidently many of the tribals emerged as sportsmen especially in the game of hockey and football.[9]

Even the first Prime Minister of India, Dr. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his The Discovery of India acknowledges the contribution of the early missionaries for development of tribals dialect stating that even laboured at the dialects of the primitive hill and forest tribes... [10]

Demographics

See also: Religion in Jharkhand, Tribes of Jharkhand, and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes § Demographics
Christianity among social group of Jharkhand, 2011 census[13]
  1. Scheduled Tribes (94.3%)
  2. General (incl. converted Scheduled Castes) population (5.67%)
Concentration of Christianity in Jharkhand, 2011

According to the 2011 census, the Christian population in the state stood at 1,418,608, reflecting an increase of 29.75% from the 2001 census, which recorded 1,093,382 Christians. Simdega district has the highest concentration of Christians, accounting for 51.14% of its population, followed by Khunti at 25.66% and Gumla at 19.75%. The Scheduled Tribes, primarily Oraon, Munda, Santal, Kharia, Mal Paharia, Sauria Paharia, Ho (Kolha) constitute 94.33% (1,338,175) of the Christian population, while remaining 5.67% (80,433) belongs to the general population (including converted Scheduled Castes) of the state.[13] The breakdown of Christianity among Scheduled Tribes is:

Statistics of Christianity among tribes, 2011 census[13]
Scheduled Tribe Community Christian Pop. Pct. of Christians in Community Pct. of Christians in ST Christians Pct. of Christians in State Christians
Asur, Agaria 2,079 9.26 0.16 0.15
Baiga 20 0.56 0 0
Banjara 5 1.03 0 0
Bathudi 4 0.12 0 0
Bedia 136 0.14 0.01 0.01
Bhumij 600 0.29 0.04 0.04
Binjhia 68 0.47 0.01 0
Birhor 684 6.38 0.05 0.05
Birjia 2,010 32.03 0.15 0.14
Chero 126 0.13 0.01 0.01
Chik Baraik 1,959 3.62 0.15 0.14
Generic Tribes 19,285 11.1 1.44 1.36
Gond 316 0.59 0.02 0.02
Gorait 43 0.86 0 0
Ho 19,891 2.14 1.49 1.4
Karmali 142 0.22 0.01 0.01
Kawar 63 0.77 0 0
Kharia, Dhelki Kharia, Dudh Kharia, Hill Kharia 133,249 67.94 9.96 9.39
Kharwar 401 0.16 0.03 0.03
Khond 33 14.93 0 0
Kisan, Nagesia 1,103 2.96 0.08 0.08
Kol 594 1.11 0.04 0.04
Kora, Mudi -Kora 455 1.39 0.03 0.03
Korwa 805 2.26 0.06 0.06
Lohra 7,408 3.43 0.55 0.52
Mahli 8,618 5.65 0.64 0.61
Mal Paharia, Kumarbhag Paharia 24,482 18.03 1.83 1.73
Munda, Patar 403,466 32.82 30.15 28.44
Oraon, Dhangar (Oraon) 449,092 26.16 33.56 31.66
Parhaiya 229 0.9 0.02 0.02
Santal 236,304 8.58 17.66 16.66
Sauria Paharia 24,357 52.7 1.82 1.72
Savar 148 1.53 0.01 0.01
Total ST Community 1,338,175 15.48 100 94.33

Churches and ministry

The major denominations and church bodies in the state are given below.

The other smaller denominations are:

Source:[14][15]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Area of consideration: Chota Nagpur Tributary States (39,940 km2, incl. northern part of present-day Chhattisgarh), the District of Chota Nagpur Division, and Santhal Parganas, with the 49,389 square miles (127,920 km2) total area, which corresponds to the present-day 79,710 square kilometres area of Jharkhand.

Sources

  1. ^ "Jharkhand Population 2022 | Sex Ratio & Literacy rate 2024". www.census2011.co.in.
  2. ^ "Simdega District Population Census 2011 - 2021 - 2024, Jharkhand literacy sex ratio and density". www.census2011.co.in.
  3. ^ a b c "Churches in Jharkhand". Archived from the original on 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  4. ^ "Suedasien.info - das Informationsportal zu Südasien". January 2005.
  5. ^ "Impact of Christianity on the Tribes of Jharkhand". Archived from the original on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  6. ^ "Churches in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India - World Orthodox Directory".
  7. ^ a b Dasgupta, Sangeeta (2016). "'Heathen aboriginals', 'Christian tribes', and 'animistic races': Missionary narratives on the Oraons of Chhotanagpur in colonial India". Modern Asian Studies. 50 (2): 437–478. doi:10.1017/S0026749X15000025. ISSN 0026-749X. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  8. ^ Devalle, Susana B.C. (1990), Lorenzen, David N. (ed.), "Tribe in India: The Fallacy of a Colonial Category", Studies on Asia and Africa from Latin America (1 ed.), El Colegio de Mexico, p. 104, doi:10.2307/j.ctv3f8qc7.8, ISBN 978-968-12-0459-4, JSTOR j.ctv3f8qc7.8, retrieved 2025-05-13{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  9. ^ "Successful tribals acknowledge jubilee dioceses help".
  10. ^ "Christian Impact on India, History of | Encyclopedia.com".
  11. ^ "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  13. ^ a b c
  14. ^ World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 369
  15. ^ "Namasté: Stories and voices from the Mennonite church in India - Mennonite Church Canada". www.mennonitechurch.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.

Bibliography

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Jharkhand