Koshy Koshy also spelled as Koshi Koshi (1825–1899) was an Indian Anglican priest and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

novelist.

Early life

Koshy was born in the

Kingdom of Travancore The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vo ...

, to a Nazrani family, part of the

Malankara Syrian Church The Malankara Church, also known as ''Puthenkur'' and more popularly as Jacobite Syrians, is the historic unified body of West Syriac Saint Thomas Christian denominations which claim ultimate origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostl ...

. However, when he was 11 years old (1836), his family converted to Anglicanism, under the influence of the Church Mission Society.

Priesthood

Koshy desired to enter his Church's ministry and studied at the Pazhaya Seminary, Kottayam. By 1844, he was a scholar in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

languages. In 1856, he was received into the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

. In 1859, he was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church. In the nineteenth century, the highest office attained by Indians within the Anglican Church was that of an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of m ...

. In 1885, Rev. K. Koshy became the first Indian to be raised to the rank of an archdeacon.

Literary pursuits

Archdeacon Koshy was one of the original Malayalam litterateurs. He wrote over 10 books, including ''Pulleli Kunju'', ''Bhasmakuri'' and ''Thiruvavatharamahatmyam''. ''Pulleli Kunju'' (1882) is regarded as the first novellike original work on a local theme, in Malayalam. He also translated

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In additio ...

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of the ...

(''Paradesi Mokshayathra'', 1845) and

The Holy War ''The Holy War Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, to Regain the Metropolis of the World, Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul'' is a 1682 novel by John Bunyan. This early modern English novel, written in the form of an alle ...

(''Thirupporattam''), to Malayalam. Adn. Koshy was the editor of ''

Njananikshepam Njananikshepam (Malayalam:ജ്ഞാനനിക്ഷേപം) is the first printed magazine in the Malayalam language. The magazine is now published by the Madhya Kerala Diocese of Church of South India. History Njananikshepam is one amo ...

'' (published since 1840), the first Malayalam periodical. His most important religious contribution was with respect to the revision of the Malayalam Bible (1872–1898). The Archbishop of Canterbury

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previous ...

conferred on Koshy, a

Lambeth Doctorate A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

, for his pre-eminent role in that.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{authority control Saint Thomas Christians Indian Anglicans People from the Kingdom of Travancore 19th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Kerala

Early life

Priesthood

Literary pursuits

See also

References

Bibliography