Christianity in Nagaland

See also: Nagaland Baptist Church Council

Religion in Nagaland (2011)[1]

Religion |  | Percent
Christians |

| 87.9%
Hindus |

| 8.7%
Muslims |

| 2.5%
Buddhists |

| 0.3%
Others* |

| 0.6%
Distribution of religions

* Includes Jains, Sikhs, Animists.

Culture of the Nagas

History

* History of the Nagas
* Christianity in Nagaland
* Battle of Kikrüma
* Battle of Kohima
* Naga National Council
* Shillong Accord of 1975
* List of massacres in Nagaland

Languages

* Angami–Pochuri
* Central Naga
* Tangkhul–Maring
* Zemeic

Cuisine

* Anishi
* Bastenga
* Akhuni
* Galho
* Thuthse
* Zutho

Festivals

* Aoleang
* Gaan-Ngai
* Chavan Kumhrin
* Chiithuni
* Kaīvi
* Khautsauhsie
* Luira Phanit
* Metümnyo
* Miu
* Moatsü
* Mungmung
* Monyü
* Naknyulüm
* Ngada festival
* Sekrenyi
* Sükhrünyie
* Te–l Khukhu
* Thounii
* Tsoukum
* Tokhü Emong
* Tsükhenyie
* Tülüni
* Ahuna
* Yemshi
* Hornbill Festival
* Lui Ngai Ni

Religion

* Christianity in Nagaland
* Hinduism in Nagaland
* Heraka
* Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak

Art

* Music of Nagaland
* Li

Literature

* Naga literature in English
* Tenyidie literature
* Ao literature
* Tangkhul literature
* Lotha literature

Media

* Naga newsmedia in Nagaland
* Naga newsmedia in Manipur
* Radio
* TV
* Cinema

Sport

* Pcheda
* Pcheda
* Kene
* Aki Kiti

Monuments

* morung
* logdrum

Symbols

* Emblem of Nagaland
* Mithun
* Tragopan
* Rhododendron
* Alder
* Chocolate Masheer
* Hornbill

* v
* t
* e

The majority religion in Nagaland state of India is Christianity. According to the 2011 census, the state's population was 1,978,502, out of which 87.93% are Christians. Along with Meghalaya and Mizoram, Nagaland is one of the three Christian-majority states in the country.

## History

[edit]

Prior to Christianity, the various Naga religions had dynamic and fluid beliefs. This is critical to understand the reasons for people's conversion to Christianity. In addition, the new religion did not merely substitute older religious structures and beliefs.[2] Christianity was introduced in the erstwhile Naga Hills to expand colonialism as well driven by missionary fervour which failed to garner numbers in the Brahmaputra Valley. As the new religion started making inroads in the Naga Hills, British administrators-turned-anthropologists started criticising the missionaries for destroying distinctive Indigenous cultures. In the early 20th century, the former began to place restrictions on missionaries activities by framing rules, imposing penalties, and increasing house tax on missionaries and new converts.[3]

### British colonial era

[edit]

The earliest Christian missionaries in the erstwhile Naga Hills (part of colonial Assam province) belonged to the American Baptist Mission. They received active support of British colonial officers. In the 1830s, Francis Jenkins, then Commissioner of Assam, first invited missionaries to colonial Assam. In the 1870s, other colonial military officers such as John Butler and James Johnstone also extended the invitation to missionaries for the Naga Hills. The primary purpose of these military invitations, with assurance of state security, was to 'pacify' these Indigenous communities and subjugate them to colonial rule.[3]

While the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society were one of the first Christian missionaries to enter the northeast frontier of Colonial India, their initial projects were frustrating. Starting the proselytising mission from Assam, the society's annual report in 1858 noted their 'great failure' to convert a sizeable population to Christianity after almost 23 years. Without explaining the reasons for the poor missionary performance, the report urged to 'cast their gaze elsewhere.'[2] On the other hand, British efforts to subjugate the Nagas faced persistent and stiff resistance. Amongst these were the Battle of Kikrüma, Battle of Khonoma, and other skirmishes which resulted in death of several British officers.

Edwin W. Clark and Mary Clark

In October 1871 Supongmeren from Molungkimong village was baptised at Sibsagar and enrolled as an American Baptist Church member. He became the bridge between the American Baptist Missionary E. W. Clark, Evangelist Godhula and the then-animist Ao Nagas. Kosasanger Council of Molungkimong Village (Dekahaimong) dispatched 60 warriors to escort Dr. E. W. Clark. It took almost three days from Sibsagar to reach Molungkimong. Clark arrived on Wednesday, 18 December and baptized 15 new converts on Sunday, 22 December 1872 at a village drinking well called Chungli Tzübu which was permitted by the Village Council. Another miracle for Clark after which they had a worship service and celebrated the first Lord's supper. Thus, on this day, the first Naga Church was founded with 28 Baptized members. They were Dr. Clark, Godhula and his wife, Supongmeren, 9 converts baptized on 10 November at Sibsagar, and 15 converts baptized at Molungkimong on 22 December 1872.

Clark took residence in the Naga Hills in March 1876. In the following years, the American Baptist missionaries began their work with among other tribes with the help of the colonial state.[4] In 1880 Rev. Charles Daniel King started a mission field in Kohima after the British defeated the Angami Naga rebellions and established their headquarters in Kohima.[5] Similarly, after the British occupied Wokha in 1878, and placed a sub-divisional officer and military force there, missionary activities began in the Lotha Naga areas. In 1885, with the support of Clark and deputy commissioner of the Naga Hills, Rev. William Ellsworth Witter started the mission station in Wokha. [6]

### Postcolonial era

[edit]

Nagaland was one of several regions of Northeast India that experienced Christian revival movements in the 1950s and 1960s. The "Nagaland Christian Revival Church", formed in 1962, grew out of the initial phase of this movement.[7] It had its origin in Gariphema Village of Kohima District where, in 1962, an event known as "The Great Awakening" started.[citation needed]

The revival emphasised believers having a "personal encounter with Christ", the witnessing of "signs and wonders" (such as miraculous healings), and having a missionary outreach to non-believing or nominally-Christian Nagas.[7] The result was that Nagaland became an overwhelmingly Christian state, known as "the only predominantly Baptist state in the world."[8] Among Christians, Baptists are the predominant group, constituting more than 75% of the state's population, thus making it more Baptist (on a percentage basis) than Mississippi in the southern United States, where 55% of the population is Baptist.[9][10] Catholics, Revivalists, and Pentecostals are the other Christian denomination numbers. Catholics are found in significant numbers in parts of Wokha District and Kohima District as well as in the urban areas of Kohima, Chümoukedima and Dimapur.

The Naga National Council had a popular plebiscite in 1951, culminated to the 1956 Constitution whose preamble affirmed the sovereignty of God the Almighty in all the universe and the entrustment of the nation to Him who never ended to sustain the descendants of the forefathers.[11] Religious relationships with India have also a specific discipline in the Article 371(A) of the Indian Constitution that come into force in 1963 and reserves to the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland the right to approve by resolution any Act of the Indian Parliament in respect of "religious or social practices of the Nagas".[12]

A painting of Rani Gaidinliu.

An ancient indigenous religion known as the Heraka is followed by a few people (4,168) belonging to the Zeliangrong tribe living in Nagaland. Rani Gaidinliu was an Indian freedom fighter who struggled for the revival of Heraka, the traditional animist religion of the Naga people.

## Statistics

[edit]

The 2011 census recorded the state's Christian population at 1,745,181, making it, with Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram as the four Christian-majority states in India.[13] The state has a very high church attendance rate in both urban and rural areas. The majority of churches are found in Kohima, Chümoukedima, Dimapur and Mokokchung.

Christians in Nagaland  Year | Number | Percentage

|
|

2001[14] |

1,790,349

89.96

2011[1] |

1,739,651

87.93

Historical Christian Population in Nagaland[15]Year| Pop.| ±%

|
|

1901 | 601| —
1911 | 3,308| +450.4%
1921 | 8,734| +164.0%
1931 | 22,908| +162.3%
1941 | 9| −100.0%
1951 | 98,068| +1089544.4%
1961 | 195,588| +99.4%
1971 | 344,798| +76.3%
1981 | 621,590| +80.3%
1991 | 1,057,940| +70.2%
2001 | 1,790,349| +69.2%
2011 | 1,739,651| −2.8%
Source: census of India

### Trends

[edit]

Hinduism and Islam practiced by the non-Naga community are minority religions in the state, at 7.7% and 1.8% of the population respectively.[verification needed]

Percentage of Christians in Nagaland by decades[15]

Year | Percent | Increase

|
|

1901 | 0.59% | -
1911 | 2.22% |

+1.63%

1921 | 5.5% |

+3.28%

1931 | 12.81% |

+7.31%

1941 | 0% |

-12.81%

1951 | 46.05% |

+46.05%

1961 | 52.98% | +6.93%
1971 | 66.76% | +13.78%
1981 | 80.21% | +13.45%
1991 | 87.47% | +7.26%
2001 | 89.97% | +2.5%
2011 | 87.93% | -2.04%

### Tribes

[edit]

Percentage of Christians in the Scheduled Tribes[16]

Tribe  | Christians  | Percent

|
|

Konyak  | 2,32,619  | 97.92%
Sümi  | 2,34,762  | 99.34%
Ao  | 2,24,525  | 99.07%
Lotha  | 1,71,771  | 99.23%
Chakhesang  | 1,53,740  | 99.27%
Angami  | 1,39,781  | 98.62%
Sangtam  | 74,439  | 99.26%
Zeliang  | 71,305  | 95.23%
Yimkhiung  | 66,514  | 99.32%
Chang  | 63,603  | 99.03%
Rengma  | 62,285  | 98.94%
Khiamniungan  | 61,246  | 99.35%
Phom  | 52,255  | 99.19%
Pochury  | 21,704  | 98.89%
Kuki  | 18,514  | 98.65%
Tikhir  | 7,468  | 99.08%
Kachari  | 3,938  | 30.21%
Viswerna  | 3,536  | 96.51%

## See also

[edit]

* Christianity in India
* List of Christian denominations in North East India

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
2. ^ a b Eaton, Richard M. (1984). "Conversion to Christianity among the Nagas, 1876-1971". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 21 (1): 1–44\. doi:10.1177/001946468402100101. ISSN 0019-4646.
3. ^ a b Thejalhoukho (17 May 2024). "Contested customs in the Naga hills: Baptist reformers, colonial ethnography and the construction of a modern Naga identity". Asian Ethnicity. 26: 27–44\. doi:10.1080/14631369.2024.2355643. ISSN 1463-1369.
4. ^ Thomas 2016, p. 21.
5. ^ Thomas 2016, p. 22.
6. ^ Thomas 2016, p. 23.
7. ^ a b Allan Anderson, ed., "Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia", p237-238.
8. ^ Olson, C. Gordon. What in the World Is God Doing. Global Gospel Publishers: Cedar Knolls, NJ. 2003.
9. ^ American Religious Identification Survey Archived 14 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine www.gc.cuny.edu.
10. ^ Mississippi Denominational Groups, 2000 Archived 29 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine Thearda.com. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
11. ^ Sakha, Thüpukhoto (17 November 2015). "History from Naga Nationalism from the religious perspective". Eastern Mirror. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
12. ^ "How do Naga peace and Article 371A belong together?". Economic Times. 11 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019.
13. ^ Wijunamai, Roderick (9 October 2020). "The early story of Christianity in Northeast India". Himal SouthAsian.
14. ^ "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
15. ^ a b http://www.cpsindia.org Archived 18 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine › BlogsPDF Web results The Christianisation of the Northeast – Centre for Policy Studies
16. ^ blog.cpsindia.org/2016/10/religion-data-of-census-2011-xxxi.html

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Thomas, John (2016). Evangelising the Nation: Religion and the formation of Naga political identity. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138639928.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christianity in Nagaland.

* Quotations related to Christianity in Nagaland at Wikiquote

* v
* t
* e

Christianity in India by state and union territory

States|

* Andhra Pradesh
* Arunachal Pradesh
* Assam
* Bihar
* Chhattisgarh
* Goa
* Gujarat
* Haryana
* Himachal Pradesh
* Jharkhand
* Karnataka
* Kerala
* Madhya Pradesh
* Maharashtra
* Manipur
* Meghalaya
* Mizoram
* Nagaland
* Odisha
* Punjab
* Rajasthan
* Sikkim
* Tamil Nadu
* Telangana
* Tripura
* Uttar Pradesh
* Uttarakhand
* West Bengal

Union territories|

* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Chandigarh
* Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
* Delhi
* Jammu and Kashmir
* Ladakh
* Lakshadweep
* Puducherry

* v
* t
* e

Christian denominations in India

Catholic|

* Catholic Church in India
* Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
* Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

Eastern Christianity|

| Oriental Orthodox|

* Jacobite Syrian Christian Church
* Malabar Independent Syrian Church
* Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
* Brahmavar Orthodox Church

|

Nestorian|

* Chaldean Syrian Church

Oriental Protestant|

* Believers Eastern Church
* Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church
* St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India

Western Christianity|

| Protestant|

| Lutheran|

* Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Arcot Lutheran Church
* Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States
* Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam
* India Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church
* Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
* South Andhra Lutheran Church
* Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church
* United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India

|

Reformed|

* Christian Reformed Fellowship of India
* Congregational Church in India
* Evangelical Churches Association (India)
* Evangelical Church of Maraland
* Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sikkim
* Evangelical Reformed Church of India
* Free Presbyterian Church, Kalimpong
* Presbyterian Church of India
* Presbyterian Church in India (Reformed)
* Presbyterian Church in South India
* Presbyterian Free Church of Central India
* Presbyterian Reformed Church in India
* Reformed Presbyterian Church North East India
* Reformed Presbyterian Church of India
* South India Reformed Churches
* United Church of Northern India – Presbyterian Synod

Anglican/United|

* Church of North India
* Church of South India

Baptist|

* Baptist Church of Mizoram
* Baptist Union of North India
* Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention
* Boro Baptist Church Association
* Boro Baptist Convention
* Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars
* Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India
* (Arunachal Baptist Church Council
* Assam Baptist Convention
* Garo Baptist Convention
* Karbi-Anglong Baptist Convention
* Manipur Baptist Convention
* Nagaland Baptist Church Council)
* Evangelical Baptist Convention
* Mising Baptist Kebang
* North Bank Baptist Christian Association
* Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade
* Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches
* Telugu Baptist Church Council
* Tripura Baptist Christian Union

Pentecostal|

* Assemblies of God in India
* Christian Congregation in India
* Christian Revival Church
* Manna Full Gospel Churches
* The Pentecostal Mission
* Indian Pentecostal Church of God
* Pentecostal Maranatha Gospel Church

Adventist|

* Southern Asia Division of Seventh-day Adventists

Restorationism|

* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Interdenominational
organisations|

* Church's Auxiliary for Social Action
* National Council of Churches in India

See also|

* Christianity in India
* Assam
* Jharkhand
* Karnataka
* Maharashtra
* Manipur
* Meghalaya
* Mizoram
* Nagaland
* Odisha
* Tamil Nadu
* List of Christian denominations in Northeast India
* Malankara Church
* Saint Thomas Christians

* Category

*[v]: View this template
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*[Pop.]: Population
*[±%]: Percent change