With reference to the influnce of Christianity during the Mughal period, answer the following question:

(a) Explain the role played by St. Francis Xavier in spreading Christianity in India.

(b) How did the missionaries bring Europeans closer to Indians?

(c) Explain the role of Christian missionaries in promoting language, literature and art in India.

(a) St. Francis Xavier arrived in India in 1542. He spent the first five months in preaching and attending to the sick in hospitals. He would go through the streets ringing a little bell and inviting the children to hear the word of God. When he had gathered a large number of people, he would take them to a church and explain the beliefs related to Christianity to them. During the six years that St. Xavier had been working in India, other Jesuit missionaries had arrived in Goa. In 1584, he sent these missionaries to the principal centres of India, where he has established missions. He worked relentlessly for ten years in India, and preached essentials of Christianity.

(b) The missionaries in order to understand and to be understood by the Indian people brought out grammars and dictionaries of the Indian languages. The missionaries began teaching Western music, dance and instrumental music in Church schools in India. The missionaries and the Church were also teachers and patrons in India of the arts of paintings, carving and sculpture. The religious paintings of the Churches influenced the Mughals. Portuguese, English and Mughal records show the interest of Akbar and Jahangir in Christian works of arts. The Portuguese Church provided the earliest introduction to European architectural ideas in India. The Missionaries were the best interpreters of India to the Western World with their popular letters from the mission field. All these works of the missionaries brought the Indians and Europeans closer.

(c) The Missionaries, in order to establish effective communication with Indian people, brought out grammars and dictionaries of the Indian languages. St. Francis Xavier learnt the language of Malabar and brought out a manual of grammar and a vocabulary which helped the Jesuits and other missionaries to learn the language of the people of Malabar. The English Jesuit, Thomas Stephens, brought out an epic in Konkani and a grammar book. Diogo Ribeiro, another English missionary, wrote a grammar book and booklets on Christian doctrines. The missionaries began teaching Western music, dance and instrumental music in Church schools in India. The Missionaries and the Church were also teachers and patrons in India of the arts of painting, carving and sculpture. The religious paintings of the Churches influenced the Mughals. The Portuguese Church provided the earliest introduction to European architectural ideas in India. This included the long, two-storeyed house, with high-pitched roof, balconies and verandas, many windows and elaborately carved walls.