The Armenian Churches of Mughal Bengal

Across South Asia today, Christianity is usually imagined as a colonial import.

Under British rule, Anglican and Catholic churches began sprouting across the subcontinent. American missionaries working in the Northeast ensured that today, India has three Christian majority states - Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram.

Yet Christianity has existed in the subcontinent since at least 1800 years ago and probably earlier. Thomasian Christians in South India continue one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world.

Thomasian Christianity also once existed in modern-day Pakistan, as evidenced by the Sirkap cross (now in Lahore Cathedral).

By the time of the Mughal Empire, Christian Persians (often of Armenian or Georgian extraction) were settled across North India.

Then, in the 17th century, Armenians began to settle in Bengal. The most famous - Gurgin Khan - would play a major role in the Battle of Plassey.

Dhaka - the capital of Bangladesh - still has an area called Armenitola in commemoration of the Armenian presence.

The Church there, built in the 18th century, preserves its original Mughal-style interiors. The oldest tombstone there is from 1714.

Most of the graves refer to the Armenian area of New Julfa in Isfahan, the Saffavid capital, as their place of origin!

Other Mughal-era churches, such as those in Dhaka (1677), Calcutta (1688), Chinsura (1697) and Saidabad (1757), survive but have been renovated beyond recognition.