Thomas the Apostle

==== Edessa ====
According to tradition, in AD 232, the greater portion of relics of the Apostle Thomas are said to have been sent by an Indian king and brought from Mylapore to the city of [[Edessa, Mesopotamia]], on which occasion his Syriac ''Acts'' were written.

The Indian king is named as "Mazdai" in Syriac sources, "Misdeos" and "Misdeus" in Greek and Latin sources respectively, which has been connected to the "Bazdeo" on the Kushan coinage of [[Vasudeva I]], the transition between "M" and "B" being a current one in Classical sources for Indian names.{{sfn|Bussagli|1965|p=255}} The martyrologist [[Martyrology of Rabban Sliba|Rabban Sliba]] dedicated a special day to both the Indian king, his family, and Saint Thomas:

{{blockquote|''Coronatio Thomae apostoli et Misdeus rex Indiae, Johannes eus filius huisque mater Tertia'' (Coronation of Thomas the Apostle, and Misdeus king of India, together with his son Johannes (thought to be a latinization of ''Vizan'') and his mother Tertia) Rabban Sliba|source={{harvnb|Bussagli|1965|p=255}} }}

In the 4th century, the martyrium erected over his burial place brought pilgrims to Edessa. In the 380s, [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] described her visit in a letter she sent to her community of nuns at home (''Itineraria Egeriae''):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/egeria/pilgrimage/pilgrimage.html|title=The Pilgrimage of S. Silvia of Aquitania to the Holy Places|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-date=15 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115010548/http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/egeria/pilgrimage/pilgrimage.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>We arrived at Edessa in the Name of Christ our God, and, on our arrival, we straightway repaired to the church and memorial of saint Thomas. There, according to custom, prayers were made and the other things that were customary in the holy places were done; we read also some things concerning saint Thomas himself. The church there is very great, very beautiful and of new construction, well worthy to be the house of God, and as there was much that I desired to see, it was necessary for me to make a three days' stay there.</blockquote>

According to [[Theodoret|Theodoret of Cyrrhus]], the bones of Saint Thomas were transferred by [[Cyrus I of Edessa|Cyrus I]], Bishop of Edessa, from the martyrium outside of Edessa to a church in the south-west corner of the city on 22 August 394.{{sfn|Harvey |2005|p= 124}}

In 441, the ''[[Magister militum per Orientem]]'' [[Anatolius (consul 440)|Anatolius]] donated a silver coffin to hold the relics.{{sfn|Segal|2005|pp= 174–176, 250}}

In AD 522, [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] (called the Alexandrian) visited the Malabar Coast. He is the first traveller who mentions Syrian Christians in Malabar, in his book ''Christian Topography.'' He mentions that in the town of "Kalliana" (Quilon or Kollam) there was a bishop who had been consecrated in Persia.{{sfn|Sadasivan|2000|p=410}}

In 1144, the city was conquered by the [[Zengid dynasty|Zengids]] and the shrine destroyed.{{sfn|Segal|2005|pp= 174–176, 250}}