Christianity in Central Asia, China, and India in the First Millennium CE

I've been reading Robert Louis Wilken, The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity (Yale, 2012), and today I read ch. 25, on the topic mentioned in the title of this post. 

Wilken's book is really good and helpful, and I'm learning a lot. One of the aspects of the book that makes it a quick read is that he documents nothing: there are no footnotes or endnotes, or citations at all. He quotes people, and sometimes he tells you the name of the person he's quoting, and sometimes he even tells you the work he's quoting from (e.g., the Church History of Eusebius), but he never provides precise citations, and sometimes he doesn't even tell you the name of the author (e.g., "an Arab writer"). All this is fine, because Wilken wanted his book to appeal to a broad audience. But sometimes I am compelled to find more specifics about what Wilken is talking about. 

So here are some notes on the chapter I read today, with links to various online sources, especially Wikipedia. I will say that I knew almost nothing about the subject treated in Wilken's chapter, so every aspect was a learning experience for me. And tracking down these links was a further learning experience. But doing this made reading the chapter take much longer, so I'm not sure I'll do it again. We'll see. 

The chapter has three main sections (not marked): Sogdiana, China, Inda. 

Sogdiana (Wilken 239–41)

"Already in the fifth century there was a bishop at Merv [wikipedia], an oasis on the Silk Road near the city of Mary in present-day Uzbekistan. Located twelve hundred miles east of Syria, Merv became the base for the mission to the Turkish tribes east of the Oxus River and eventually to China" (Wilken p. 239). 

Actually, Merv and Mary are in Turkmenistan, not Uzbekistan. (Google Maps) On the church in Merv, see Wikipedia: "Merv (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)." The most famous Christian bishop associated with Merv (at least, most famous to me) is Ishodad of Merv (wikipedia), but he was not a bishop of Merv, though he may have been born there. (Wikipedia is not sure why he is given the epithet "of Merv.") 

Timothy I (d. 823), catholicos of the Church of the East (wikipedia). Thomas of Marga (wikipedia) attests to Timothy's missionary zeal. 

Panjikent ostracon, VIII century, with portions of Psalm 1 and 2 in Syriac. Panjikent is in the far west of Tajikistan (Google Maps; wikipedia), about 60km east of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. I have not been able to locate a picture of the ostracon, but there is more information about it at this helpful online article on religion among the Sogdians, written by Judith A. Lerner. She provides a reference to what seems to be the major scholarly presentation of the ostracon, to which I do not currently have access: Aza Vladimirovna Paykova [Pajkova], “The Syrian Ostracon from Panjikant.” Le Muséon 92, nos. 1–2 (1979): 159–69.

At the time of the ostracon, "Christianity was well established there, and Samarkand was the seat of a metropolitan, an archbishop in communion with the catholicos in Baghdad" (Wilken p. 241). 

Wilken also mentions a silver dish with scenes from the book of Joshua, likewise mentioned by Lerner. Wikipedia calls it the Anikova Dish (here). 

Wilken (p. 241) mentions another "silver dish, now in the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, [which] includes three medallions depicting scenes from the gospels of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, Peter's denials, soldiers guarding the grave, the robber Jesus forgave, Mary and Mary Magdalene, and angels." 

I'm not sure that I've been able to locate online this object, but my best guess is that it's the object called here "Censer with Christ, Mary, Angels and Apostles." 

China (Wilken 241–43)

Wikipedia: "Christianity in China"; "Church of the East in China"

This blog post at The Collector, written by Neven Rogic (Nov 9, 2024), is also helpful. 

Xi'an Stele (wikipedia), described by Wilken (p. 242) as the "most impressive evidence of the presence of Christianity in ancient China." 

Jingjiao Documents (wikipedia), described by Wilken (p. 243) as "a cache of Christian documents ... found in a walled-up chapel in Tunhuang early in the nineteenth century. These include writings in Chinese by Christian monks, some translated from the Syriac, others original contributions." The date Wilken gives for their discovery must be wrong; I think he should have said "early in the twentieth century." These Christian documents seem to be part of the Dunhuang manuscripts (wikipedia). 

In 845, a decree prohibited Christianity (see here). Wilken also mentions "an Arab writer in Baghdad" who reported a conversation in 987 documenting the near-extinction of Christianity in China. This Arab writer, as Wikipedia tells us, is Ibn al-Nadim.

India (Wilken 243–45)

Wikipedia: "Christianity in India"

Thomas the Apostle, in the Acts of Thomas (Syriac, III/IV century). Traditional place of martyrdom: St. Thomas Mount in India (wikipedia)

Wikipedia "Saint Thomas Christians"; "Church of the East in India"

Eusebius, Church History 5.10, says that Pantaenus preached in India, found Christian already there. 

Cosmas Indicopleustes ("the Indian Navigator"), wikipedia. Wilken tells a little of his story at the very beginning of this chapter. 

"Though the Church in India was founded by Greek-speaking Christians sailing from Roman Egypt, in the third and fourth centuries, as trade between Egypt and India declined, it came under the influence, and eventually the jurisdiction, of the Syriac-speaking Church in Persia" (Wilken p. 245). 

"Though bishops in India and China were not required to attend the general synod of the Church, they were expected to prepare a report every six years informing the catholicos of the situation in their dioceses" (Willen p. 245).