Nothing can fully prepare you for India, but perhaps the one thing that best encapsulates this extraordinary country is its ability to inspire, frustrate, thrill and confuse all at once." Lonely Planet India, 2005

History
India is the world's largest functioning democracy. It is a secular, socialist, democratic republic consisting of 29 States and six Union Territories. It enjoys a parliamentary form of government. Its legislature is divided between two Houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People). Its executive includes the President, Vice-President and Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister.

India has had only one constitution since independence. It was introduced in January 1950, when India became a Republic within the British Commonwealth. From independence until 1950, India was a Dominion within the Commonwealth.

India gained its independence on August 15, 1947 after 90 years of direct British rule and 250 previous years of increasing British control. Agitation for independence from British rule found its most powerful leader in Mr. M. K. Gandhi. He particularly attacked the unfair exploitation of the cotton trade by English manufacturers, and in protest wore village homespun cloth and adopted the spinning wheel as the symbol of independence. Mr. Gandhi promoted a nonviolent method of opposition to the government. He was shot and killed by a Hindu fanatic on January 30, 1948.

History of Christianity
The apostle Thomas is said to have set foot in Kerala, South India, in 52 AD. Tradition claims he was speared to death in 72 AD. Orthodox Christianity was well established in the south by the year 200 AD. By 345 AD, over 500 Christian communities thrived in South India. The church was later influenced by Nestorians and became strongly ritualistic.

In 1835 a reformation took place within the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East, resulting in a new church, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, which broke away from the parent body. The Mar Thoma Church is less ritualistic and more evangelical than the parent body. Today the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East, with 10 dioceses and over 1,412,000 adherents, and the Mar Thoma Church with over 350,000 adherents, remain as the result of Thomas' work. Only the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of South India are larger.

Vasco da Gama's visit to India led to the start of Roman Catholic mission work. By 1533, the coastal diocese of Goa was established. Francis Xavier, a Spaniard, arrived in 1542, to begin Jesuit work. The Jesuits won converts from Orthodox followers as well as non-Christians. Catholicism has grown over its long history and is the largest Christian church in India with over 8,500,000 adherents. Since Vatican II, there has been an important shift away from folk religion, authoritarian clergy, and Western dependence. This movement has addressed issues such as increasing Indianization of the liturgy, participation by the laity in the structure of the church, a more liberal stance on birth control, a clearer statement on social justice, and more open training of clergy and religious personnel. Anglican clergy served under the British East India Company beginning in 1612, but few converts were made due to the company's policy of opposing mission activities.

Protestant missions began with the arrival of Danish-Halle Lutherans in South India in 1706. They located in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, and translated the New Testament into Tamil. The work gained a following of 20,000 by 1800.

The Baptist Missionary Society's first missionary, William Carey, arrived in 1793, and established work at Sarempore.

This marked the beginning of the modern era of Protestant missions in the world. Several other British groups soon followed: the London Missionary Society in 1798, the Church Missionary Society in 1813, British Methodists in 1819, and Scottish Presbyterians in 1823. American boards also arrived during this time including American Congregationalists in 1810, Presbyterians in 1834, Baptists in 1836, Lutherans in 1840, and Methodists in 1856. The German Gossner Mission sent its first missionaries in 1839, and Scandinavian Lutherans in 1867.

Over time, the early Protestant missions began to combine their respective churches. Two important churches that have resulted are the Church of South India and the Church of North India. Today the Church of South India is the result of several mergers. In 1901, two reformed groups joined to create the South India United Church. In 1905, two congregational groups merged to form the Congregational Union of South India, with 16 dioceses. In 1908, these two bodies joined to form the United Church of South India. In 1947, the church took its present name when Anglican and Methodist bodies also joined them. In North India in 1924, Presbyterian and Congregational churches combined, and by 1929, 11 denominations had united. Discussions continued over the years with other groups until in 1970, Anglican, some Baptist, some churches of the Brethren, Disciples, Methodists (Australian and British) and United churches came together to form the Church of North India, with 20 dioceses.

Many Baptist groups that did not join the Church of North India in 1970 formed their own association (the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India) in 1975. The Baptist Church of Mizo District also declined to join the Church of North India. In the south there are also several Baptist groups that have remained outside the Church of South India.

Nine Lutheran groups spread throughout the country have combined to form the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India. The Salvation Army has developed a significant work from 1882 to the present, founding over 4,000 churches with over 500,000 followers. Presbyterians who did not join the Church of North India formed the Presbyterian Church in Northeast India, and have over 325,000 followers.

Over 200 other Protestant missions used to work in India. But foreign missionaries have been decreasing rapidly due to government policy since independence. On the other hand, the number of national missionaries and independent indigenous churches has increased tremendously. Some formed by division from parent churches, and others were started as indigenous independent movements.