who adhered to Catholic Church. He soon also designated himself as 'Metran of All India' and 'Gate of India'. Thoma I, meanwhile sent requests to various Oriental Churches to receive canonical consecration as bishop. In 1665, Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, a bishop sent by the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius ʿAbdulmasīḥ I, arrived in India and the faction under the leadership of Thoma I welcomed him. The bishop was sent in correspondence to the letter sent by Thoma I to the Oriental Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. Bishop Abdul Jaleel consecrated Thoma I canonically as a bishop and regularised his episcopal succession. This led to the first lasting formal schism in the Saint Thomas Christian community. Thereafter, the faction affiliated with the Catholic Church under Bishop Palliveettil Chandy came to be known as Pazhayakuttukar (or "Old Allegiance"), and the branch affiliated with Thoma I came to be known as Puthenkūttukār (or "New Allegiance"). These appellations have been somewhat controversial, though, as both parties considered themselves the true heirs to the Saint Thomas tradition, and saw the other party as schismatic. The Pazhayakuttukar or Pazhayakoor faction was also known as Romo-Syrians and organized as the Syrian Catholic Church whereas the Puthenkūttukār or Puthenkoor faction was also known as Jacobite Syrians and organized as the Malankara Syrian Church. Between 1661 and 1665, the Pazhayakoor faction (Syrian Catholics) claimed 72 of the 116 churches, while Archdeacon Thoma I and the Puthenkoor faction (Malankara Syrians) claimed 32. The remaining 12 churches were shared between the two factions until the late nineteenth century. The Pazhayakūr faction is the body from which the modern Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church descend. The Puthenkūr faction is the body from which the Jacobite, Orthodox, Marthoma, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and Malabar Independent Syrian Church originate. This visit of Gregorios Abdal Jaleel gradually introduced the West Syriac liturgy, customs and script to the Malabar Coast. The visits of prelates from the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch continued since then and this led to gradual replacement of the East Syriac Rite liturgy with the West Syriac Rite and the Malankara Church affiliated to the Miaphysite Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Communion. Furthermore, ʿAbdulmasīḥ I sent Maphrian Baselios Yaldo in 1685, along with Bishop Ivanios Hidayattullah who vehemently propagated the West Syriac Rite and solidified the association of the Malankara Church with the Syriac Orthodox Church. The main body of the Pazhayakoor faction