- The inception of Christianity in North East India had a denominational structure and is deeply connected to administrative activities.
- The field of Christianity had many missions like Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican etc. and the origin of these missions were from Australia, New Zealand, Wales, USA and England.
- The activities of tribal presented a major challenge to Christian missionaries as the former were illiterate with dubious hygiene standards and barbaric traditions. Missionaries began work in different parts of NE India to educate and introduce the tribal to the Christian faith.
- The oldest entry of Christian missionaries in NE India was even before the entry of British Raj i.e. in 1626 by Fr Cacella and Fr Gabial who were on their way to China and Tibet. Visits to Rang Amati, Tripura, Myla pore soon followed and the influence of Augustinian and Holy Cross Priests from East Bengal widened to some extent.
- Since 1819 the administrators of the British rule began encouraging the work of Christian missionaries as they wanted religious unity and peace in the region. Following government support and intervention missionaries from various corners of the western world began entering NE India and they set up their respective churches as detailed below.
Different Christianity Missions in North East
- Baptist Church Manipura: The Baptist mission was headed by William Pettigrew who arrived in Bengal in 1890 and he was a member of England Church. By 1892 he was deeply embedded in missionary work amongst Cachar Manipuris. The distinguishing feature of Baptist Manipuri Church is their deep commitment towards education and enlightenment.
- Baptist Church Naga: Mr and Mrs Cyrus Barker were the first formal missionaries to Nagas in 1839 and their work was continued by Edward Clark and Mary Clark in 1870. Right now the NBC (Naga Baptist Church) has more than 450 churches with 20 associations
- Baptist mission churches are also present in Karbi Hills and Assam Plains
- Srerampore Mission: Krishna Pal was sent by Srerampore mission to preach the Gospel in 1833 and he laid the foundations of Sreerampore Mission church in Khasi Hills. They published new testament into asamese, Bengali and Khasi
- Roman Catholic Mission: they were the first to contact NE India in the 17th century and significant progress in the mission only began after the year 1889 when they established educational institutes in all corners of NE. the Don Bosco group of educational institutes were the work of Roman Catholic mission.
- Lutheran Mission: The original Lutheran Christians migrated from Chotanagpur to Assam Tea Gardens. Slowly they established a smallish Lutheran mission church in Tezpur and right now the members of the church are mostly from tea gardens and immigrants
- Anglican Church: Anglican mission originated from Rev A Grastin who visited Assam Valley in 1841. A new Anglican church was established in Guwahati and its followers are from Dibrugarh, Jaipur, Sibsagar and Goalpara
- Welsh Mission: Welsh Calvinist Methodists began working in Cherrapunji and faced extreme opposition from Nagas. However, their good work showed result and now they enjoy good presence in the Khasi and Jaintia communities
Sense of strengthened tribal identity
- Christianity has come up as a renewed force of modernisation and has given various divergent tribes in Indian a sense of identity. Christianity has risen in all states of NE India with the exclusion of Arunachala Pradesh.
- British Raj helped the separate administrative units in NE gain a bigger sense of identity and alliances. The different tribal movements in NE India are a fight for identity.
- The identity crisis was resolved to an extent with Christianity that bound together different tribal people maintain a uniform identity and political alliance.
Strengthened Social Order
- Social and cultural life of NE India has transformed after the advent of Christianity. In olden days’ pigs, fowls, cattle’s and humans existed in the same place but Christian way of life taught them to live properly wit washrooms, modern fittings, separate pens and stables. Rice beer was replaced in many areas with soft drink and tea. Christianity also brought in a westernised system of education. Most importantly loving neighbours as dictated by Christianity eradicated processes like headhunting.
Eradication of Superstitions
- Tribal in NE were full of superstitions about ghosts, spirits, taboos and evil practices. The advent of Gospel of Christ and its spread in NE liberated the hills people from sacrifices, fears and practices of omens and divinations.
- On this date, almost all kinds of rituals and superstitious practices have disappeared as the practices of Christianity have eradicated the fear of spirits from minds of people.