Shabahat Hussain Vijeta, Lucknow, Amrit Vichar. Christianity came to Lucknow from Italy via Tibet and Nepal. Chevalier Still Malcolm Lobo has described the beginning of Christianity in detail in his book Growth and Development of the Catholic Diocese of Lucknow.
To understand how Christianity reached Lucknow, we first have to understand how Christians came to India. Lobo’s book tells that in 1703, Father Francis Orzio came to Tibet from Italy to spread Christianity. Propagation of Christianity started by establishing mission stations in Tibet. Tibetans were converted to Christianity. When the news of this reached the Lamas, they opened such a strong front against this mission station that the Catholic missionaries had to leave Tibet in 1745. After leaving Tibet, this mission reached Nepal and then their headquarters was established in Kathmandu. When there was a wave of religious conversion in Nepal, they were driven out of Nepal in 1769. The mission produced 78 Christians in Tibet and 150 in Nepal.
First mission station established in Bihar
After being expelled from Nepal, Catholic missionaries reached Bihar and established a mission station in Bettiah city. When the propagation of Christianity started here, it became very successful. From there he reached Patna and then Allahabad (Prayagraj). After Allahabad headed towards Faizabad. This mission had faced difficulties in Tibet and Nepal, but everything was very easy for them in India.
Padri Tola was settled on the land given from Nawab
If we talk about the history of Christian missionaries reaching Lucknow, then Begum Ummad-ul-Zohra of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh was very ill. She was known as Bahu Begum. He suffered from a disease called Karavankal. No doctor, hakim or vaidya could cure him. Someone suggested the name of Father Joseph to the Nawab. The king was worried and immediately called Father Joseph. Bahu Begum completely recovered from his treatment. The Nawab announced a reward for Father Joseph. Joseph asked for 20 bighas of land in Lucknow as a reward. He got 20 bighas of land in Golaganj. Father Joseph established a priest group here and invited other people of his religion. In this way he established his mission station in Lucknow. The work which was going on in Tibet, Kathmandu, Bettiah, Patna, Allahabad and Faizabad, its foundation was laid in Lucknow also. Dr. Naresh Singh has also done detailed research on the paths chosen by Christian missionaries to establish themselves in India.
The roots of Christianity were established before the British rule came.
By the time the British rule came to take over India, these mission stations had spread Christianity a lot in India. He had also established some churches. There were big churches in Madiyav Cantonment and Residency in Lucknow. These churches were destroyed in the revolution of 1857, but after the formation of British rule, the entire network of churches was ready. There are many such churches in Lucknow for whose operation money continued to come from Britain even after 50 years of independence. Now the money has stopped coming from there, but how the money should come was also told from there and the guidelines are still decided from Britain only.
Also read: MLAs of ruling party attack ministers over corruption
