Advent of and Early Christianity in Andhra

Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Nellore and the four interior districts - Cuddapah, Kurnool, Anantapur and Chittoor - called the Rayalaseema region. As a culmination of a long struggle of the Telugu speaking people to have a separate administrative unit of their own, Andhra State was created on September 14, 1953 with the Eleven Telugu Speaking Districts of Madras State. Later in November 1, 1956 the Nine Telugu Districts of the Nizam’s Dominion were merged into Andhra State which was then known as the State of Andhra Pradesh.16 ADVENT OF AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ANDHRA: As stated in the earlier Chapters, it was in A.D. 52 that St. Thomas introduced Christianity in Kerala in South India. However, Christianity was limited to the South West Coast of India, i.e., within the boundaries of Kerala State only until the arrival of the Portuguese in India in 1498 and later by East India Company from England in Seventeenth Century. The dynamic spirit of missionary activity began in different parts of India including Andhra and other parts of the State during these periods. Although the first contacts of the Telugus with Christianity were established at the beginning of the 16th century, the seeds of