The Vydhianveetil Family
Preamble
It is a very difficult task to trace the family roots of Syrian Christians of Kerala, as they have to be traced since the beginning of Christianity in Kerala, which is more than 2000 years old. The problem is compounded since there is no documentary evidence and most of the early history of Kerala Syrian Christians has been constructed mostly with the help of traditions and legends which have been passed on by word of mouth through generations. As the members grew, the early families have moved out from their original place for brighter future and divided into different branches carrying names of the new environment. Even with all these difficulties some have taken considerable efforts by spending time and money travelling across various places collecting oral and documentary evidences to establish their family lineage. Many of these are available in the public domain. Nobody from Vydhianveetil family has ever documented about their family history (might not have found worth the effort). What is given below is the Vydhianveetil family ancestry from the church documents and the data available on the net. I am also conscious about the fact since what is given in the net is not peer reviewed the authenticity could be doubtful. (Even the arrival of St. Thomas and conversion of Brahmins have controversies amongst some historians.). I have made my observations based on many articles available on the net, however used only those which have some consistency within different reports. Some of the useful links are given under reference. The Vydhianveetil is spelt differently such as-VydhianVeetil; Vydianveetil; VydianVeetiletc-which is not correct. Request all to use the same spelling i.e. VYDHIANVEETIL. (For those ‘Vydhianveedens’ whose feet has not touched the Kerala soil I have included the maps showing some of the important historical places of relevance to present study!1). I have also received some data/information from Dr. George Jacob (Bappu) who has taken interest in our family roots. I have suitably included them in the write up. For continuity I have started with a short account of Christianity in India and the events lead to the formation of Mar Thoma Sabha, though it is well documented in many articles.
Some of the missing links here is information on Vydhianachen’s mother’s name & family and the siblings of Vydhianachen. My age & health do not permit to be more proactive to do something more. I may also point out that my interest is limited to find out the roots of Vydhianveetil family. I wish some of the younger generation will take interest to create a portal so as to have a directory of our family members. I have shown for one branch as an example up to 3rdgeneration.
I want to put on record the initiative taken by Mrs. Binu Mathew ( the great granddaughter of MC Joseph, the eldest son of Vydhian Achen; granddaughter of MJ Koshy) to start a WhatsApp group to bring together all family members related to Vydhianveetil family. She also contributed to generate MC Joseph’s family chart.
If there are any obvious mistakes or feel some addition is necessary please let me know for updating.
(George Joseph)
+919978288287
To read more click the link The Vydhianveetil Family-2-May-2019
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