people, including those of Ezhavas, Christians, and Muslims, was submitted to the Maharajah, Moolam Thirunal. This was a result of the emergence of a Tamil Brahmin monopoly of policy positions in government and the subsequent decline of caste groups from within Kerala. Poet and Writer: Nidhiri wrote number of poems and authored three Malayalam books. Ecumenicalism: The ecumenical association, Nasrani Jathiaikya Sangham, organized by Nidhiri and Mar Dionysius, the Malankara Church Metropolitan, was one of the important happenings in Syrian Christians history. They acquired property at Kottayam for building a college in 1875, and planned for the opening of colleges, schools, orphanages, libraries, banks, etc. The project was aborted by the diplomatic approach of the Carmelite apostolic delegate Aiuti who was afraid of unity among the Syrian Christians. It was the leadership of Nidhiri that fostered a unity among the Syriac Catholics from within and with the Jacobites. Apologist of faith: Nidhiri led his community in its fight against the European hegemony over the Nasrani Christians. It was in this fight with the Syriac Catholics under the leadership of Nidhiri that freed the people from Padroado jurisdiction, paving the way for indigenous Bishops. Historian: Nidhiri had also authored a number of religious historical texts and was on the forefront of upholding the Chaldean patrimony of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. References Further reading External links Syro-Malabar priests Malayali people 1842 births 1904 deaths Malayalam-language journalists Writers from Kottayam 19th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Kerala 19th-century Indian educational theorists Indian editors English-language writers from India Indian religious writers Poets from Kerala 19th-century Indian poets Scholars from Kerala Christian clergy from Kottayam