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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
''{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}''
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]s
| name = Sabor and Proth
| honorific_suffix= Qandisangal
| image = Mar Sabor and Mar Proth East Syriac Persian Saints of the Malabar Church.jpg
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| venerated_in = [[Syriac Orthodox Church]]
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{{Christianity in India sidebar}}
'''Mar Sabor and Mar Proth,''' according to [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Malabar Christian]] tradition, were two Chaldean Assyrian bishops who landed in the port of [[Kollam]] (in present-day [[Kerala]]) by the help of a Nestorian merchant, Sabr Iso in 823 AD.<ref name="Malekandathil2010">{{cite book|author=Pius Malekandathil|author-link= Pius Malekandathil|title=Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rN69iFj1PJoC|year=2010|publisher=Primus Books|page=43|isbn=978-93-80607-01-6}}</ref> The mission is said to have received permission from the then king of Kerala to build a church in Kollam.<ref>Land, 'Brief History of the Syrians of Malabar'. ''Anedocta Syriaca'', I, pp. 27.</ref><ref>Menon, K. P. P. ''Kerala''. I. pp. 273.</ref><ref>Joseph, T. K., 'Mar Sapir and Mar Prodh', ''I. A.,'' 1928, III, p. 311.</ref>

That the historicity of this mission cannot be verified does not dispute the epigraphical evidence that Christians were on the Malabar Coast in 9th century AD. [[Quilon Syrian copper plates|Kollam Syrian copper plates]], a 9th-century royal grant from Kerala, mentions that certain Maruvan Sapir Iso built a church at Kollam with the blessing of the then [[Chera/Perumals of Makotai|Emperor of Kerala]]. It is likely that Mar Sapir had a companion named Mar Prot.<ref name=":0">Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 343-45.</ref> A stone cross, one of the five Persian Crosses, with [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid]] Pahlavi inscription recovered also mentions certain "Afras the Syrian" as "the son of Chaharabukht".<ref>C. P . T. Winckworth, 'A New Interpretation of the Pahlavi Cross Inscriptions', ''Kerala Society Papers,'' no. 3. p. 159-163.</ref>

The two bishops are said to have died in Kerala and have been considered as saints by the [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church|Jacobite Syrian Church]] and [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]].<ref name=":1">Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 358.</ref><ref name="Malekandathil2010"/>

==Veneration==
Sabor and Aproth were highly venerated in [[India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)|India]] among the Saint Thomas Christian community. A number of churches including Kottakkavu, Udayamperur, Kayamkulam, Kollam and Kothanallur, were dedicated to these saints.

MS Vatican Syriac N. iv., which is dated to 1556 and written in the [[Kottakkavu Mar Thoma Syro-Malabar Church, North Paravur|Kottakkavu Kandīshā Church]], has the following colophon in folio 278:
<blockquote> "By the help of our Lord we have finished this book of the Prophets; it was written on a Monday, the 18th of February, in the year 1556 of the birth of our Lord. I, priest Jacob, the disciple of Mar Jacob, and from the village of Puraur, have written this book in the holy Church of Mar Shapur and Mar Iapot [Aprot]. May the holy name of God be praised for ever. Amen!"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mingana|first=Alphonse|author-link1=Alphonse Mingana|title=The Early Spread of Christianity in India|journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library|year=1926|volume=10|number=2|pages=|doi=10.7227/BJRL.10.2.7|url=https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:1m1200&datastreamId=POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS-DOCUMENT.PDF|page=502}}</ref></blockquote>

== Variations of the names ==
''Mar'' is a Syriac term meaning 'Saint'

*Mar Sapir (T. K. Joseph)<ref name=":1" /> - Sabor
* Mar Prot (Land) - Prodh (T. K. Joseph and Gouva)/Proth - Firous (La Croz) - Aphrottu (Burnell)/Aphroth - Ambrose (Swanston)<ref name=":1" />

==Major studies==
[[File:Nasrani cross.jpg|thumb|The Persian cross founded by Sabor and Proth at [[Kadamattom Church]]]]
[[File:Mar Sabor Grab.JPG|thumb|right|Tomb of Mar Abo (often identified as Mar Sabor among some [[Puthenkoor]] denominations) at Marthamariam church, [[Thevalakkara]]]]

=== Recent ===

* ''The Kollam Plates in the World of the Ninth Century Indian Ocean''. Delhi: Primus Books (upcoming).
* M. R. Raghava Varier and K. Veluthat, 2013. ''Tarissāppaḷḷippaṭṭayam'', Trivandrum: National Book Stall
* C. G. Cereti, 'The Pahlavi Signatures on the Quilon Copper Plates', in ''Exegisti Monument'' (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 2009).
* C. G. Cereti, L. M. Olivieri, and J. Vazhuthanapally, 'The Problem of the Saint Thomas Crosses and Related Questions', East and West 52:1/ 4 (2002).
* M. G. S. Narayanan, ''Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala'' (Trivandrum: Kerala Historical Society, 1972).
*W. Baum and R. Senoner (eds. and trans.), Indien und Europa im Mittelalter: Die Eingliederung des Kontinents in das europäische Bewußtsein bis ins 15. Jahrhundert (Klagenfurt: Kitab, 2000).

=== Others ===

* ''Travancore Archaeological Series,'' Volume II, no. 9 (I and II).
* C. P . T. Winckworth, 'A New Interpretation of the Pahlavi Cross Inscriptions', ''Kerala Society Papers,'' no. 3.
* Land, 'Brief History of the Syrians of Malabar'. ''Anedocta Syriaca'', I.
* Joseph, T. K., 'Mar Sapir and Mar Prodh', ''Indian Antiquary,'' 1928, III.
*A. Mingana, “The Early Spread of Christianity in India”, Bulletin of John Ryland's Library 10:2 (1926).
* W. Logan, ''Malabar Manual,'' (ed. P. Cherian (2000).
* A. C. Burnell, ''Indian Antiquary,'' III.
*Gundert, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science,'' XIII, I.
* Rev. J. Monteiro D'Aguir, 'The Magna Carta of St. Thomas Christians', ''Kerala Society Papers,'' no. 4.

== Synod of Diamper ==
When they arrived on the Malabar Coast, the Portuguese noted at least 78 extant church communities closely interwoven with the local community in different parts of Kerala. [[Quilon]], [[Angamaly]], [[Kaduthuruthy]] and Cranganore (now known as [[Kodungallur]]) had the largest population of [[Saint Thomas Christians]] in Kerala. Giovanni Empoli, who came to [[Quilon]] in 1503, estimated that there were more than three thousand St. Thomas Christians in [[Quilon]] alone.<ref name="MathewSouza2001">{{cite book|author1=K. S. Mathew|author2=Teotónio R. de Souza|author3=Pius Malekandathil|title=The Portuguese And The Socio-Cultural Changes In India, 1500-1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCVuAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, MESHAR|isbn=978-81-900166-6-7|page=128|chapter=The Portuguese and the St.Thomas Christians : 1500-1570}}</ref>

After 1561, Thomas Christians were branded heretics by the [[Goa Inquisition]]. The infamous [[Synod of Diamper]] (1599) anathematized all Christians of India who did not submit to Rome. The synod even branded Mar Sabor and Mar Prot as "Nestorian heretics" at the instance of the Portuguese.<ref name=":1" />

== Notes ==
{{Cnote2 Begin}}
{{Cnote2|A|"Mar" ([[Syriac language|Syriac]]: "lord") is an espiscopal title used in the [[Malabar region|Malabar]] churches and in West Asia, while "Sapor" (Syriac: Shapur) and "Prodh" (Syriac: Firuz) are alternative names used in the [[Sasanian Empire]] in the 4-5th centuries AD. A Christian grant made by the [[Kollam]] ruler dating to about 824 AD bears the name "Maruvan Sapir Iso", which is believed to be an amalgamation of "Mar Sapor" and "Mar Prodh".<ref name="Bayly2004">{{cite book|author=Susan Bayly|title=Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89103-5|page=264}}</ref>}}
{{Cnote2 End}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}<br />{{Kollam}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:History of Kollam]]
[[Category:9th-century bishops of the Church of the East]]
[[Category:Saints duos]]

Mar Sabor and Mar Proth - Revision history

UpdateBot at 11:00, 4 June 2022