Telugu Christians or Telugu Kraistava are a religious community who form the third-largest religious minority in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. According to the Census of India, there are over a million Christians in Andhra Pradesh, constituting 1.51% of the state's population, although a decrease from the 1971 census figure which was 2%, as a result of low birth rates and emigration. Most Telugu Christians are Protestant, belonging to major Indian Protestant denominations such as the predominant Anglican Church of South India, Pentecostals such as Assemblies of God in India, India Pentecostal Church of God, The Pentecostal Mission, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches, the Salvation Army and several others. There also is a significant number of Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. Although the Franciscans of the Roman Catholic Church brought Christianity to the Deccan area in 1535, it was only after 1759 AD, when the Northern Circars came under the rule of the East India Company, that the region opened up to greater Christian influence. The first Protestant missionaries in Andhra Pradesh were Rev. Cran and Rev. Des Granges who were sent out by the London Missionary Society. They set up their station at Visakhapatnam in 1805 AD. Regions with significant populations of Telugu Christians include the erstwhile Northern Circars, the coastal belt and the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Telugu Christians have one of the highest literacy and work participation figures and most even male-to-female ratio figures among the various religious communities in the state.
History and spread
Northern Circars and Coastal Belt regions
The first convert to Christianity in Andhra Pradesh was Thumma Hanumantha Reddy, also known as Manda Reddy. Manda Reddy, along with thirty Reddy families of Muddiguba and some other Reddy families in Alamuru, embraced Christianity in 1715. In the Rayalaseema region, many Reddys began visiting churches and converted to Christianity (Catholics). By 1735, in South Andhra, there were thousands of Christians, most of whom belonged to the Reddy and traditional weaver communities. Many reddys in Guntur district have converted in to Roman Catholisim, Reddy who converted to Roman Catholics still kept some the Hindu traditions like thali, bottu, some the Catholic reddys have migrated Telangana via krishna river in Telangana they named their village names has Guntur pally, Reddypuram or Reddypallem. By 1750, Christianity further spread to the Circar Districts due to the migration of Christian Reddys into those areas. In the early 18th century many Catholic reddys had migrated from Rayalaseema to some parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Telangana.
Beginning in the nineteenth century, missionaries from most major denominations started arriving in the Andhra region. Established in 1805, the London Missionary Society was the first Protestant mission in Andhra Pradesh which had its station at Visakhapatnam. The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists who were largely Congregationalist in outlook. George Crann and Augustus Des Granges were the first batch of missionaries that was sent out by the London Missionary Society to Andhra Pradesh in 1804. They arrived in Visakhapatnam on 18 July 1805 and began learning the Telugu language. They mastered it in a short time and began translating parts of the New Testament. In the next three years, the four Gospels were published. Their work was halted with the deaths of George Crann in 1809 and of Des Granges in 1810. A new batch of missionaries, Revs. Lee, Gordon and Pritchett took over the work done by their predecessors. The first complete New Testament in Telugu was printed in Madras.
Baptist missions
The American Baptist Mission and Godavari Delta Mission established their stations in 1836. They were followed by Church Missionary Society in 1841 and the then American Lutheran Mission in 1842. British colonial officers, Eurasians, and the likely presence of a few native Christian families has made missionary activity a possibility in these early years. Telugu Baptist pastors like Puroshottam Choudhary and Das Anthervedy from the Telugu-speaking districts of Madras Presidency, also known as Madras Province ministered in Coastal Andhra even before the British Baptist Missionary Society's Serampore Mission was established.