Christianity in West Bengal


Christianity in West Bengal, India is a minority religion. According to the 2011 census, there were 658,618 Christians in West Bengal, or 0.72% of the population. Although Mother Teresa worked in Kolkata, Christianity is a minority religion in Kolkata as well. West Bengal has the highest number of Bengali Christians. Bengali Christians have been established since the 16th century with the advent of the Portuguese in Bengal. Later in the 19th and 20th centuries, many upper-class Bengalis converted to Christianity during the Bengali Renaissance under British Rule, including Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Anil Kumar Gain, and Gnanendramohan Tagore. Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee was the first Indian to be Anglican Bishop of Calcutta
Bengali Christians are considered a model minority, due to their significant contributions to Bengali culture and society for the past two centuries. They are considered to be among the most progressive communities in Bengal, and have the highest literacy rate, the lowest male-female sex ratio, along with better socio-economic status. Christian missionaries run major social institutions dealing with education and healthcare, such as those run by the Jesuit Catholics, and the dominant Protestant Church of North India.

History

Christianity has been present in Bengal since the 16th century. The Portuguese established a settlement in Bandel, Hooghly district in the 16th century, and Bandel Church, perhaps the first church in West Bengal, was built in 1599. Burnt down during the sacking of Hooghly in 1632, the church was rebuilt in 1660. The followers of Christianity mainly settled in Barddhmann, Bankura, Kolkata and Hooghly district of West Bengal.
William Carey, who founded the Baptist Missionary Society, went to India in 1793 and worked as a missionary in the Danish colony of Serampore, because of opposition from the British East India Company. He translated the Bible into Bengali and Sanskrit. His first Bengali convert was Krishna Pal, who renounced his caste after conversion. In 1818, the first theological college in Bengal, Serampore College, was founded.

Denominations

is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of North India. The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province which has its seat in
the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Other denominations include:
*

Schools

Population by district

#DistrictTotal populationChristian population%
1Jalpaiguri3,872,846186,2794.81%
2Darjiling1,846,823141,8487.68%
3South 24 Parganas8,161,96166,4980.81%
4Kolkata4,496,69439,7580.88%
5Nadia5,167,60033,8350.65%
6North 24 Parganas10,009,78126,9330.27%
7Dakshin Dinajpur1,676,27624,7941.48%
8Paschim Medinipur5,913,45723,2870.39%
9Barddhaman7,717,56321,2200.27%
10Murshidabad7,103,80718,1020.25%
11Uttar Dinajpur3,007,13416,7020.56%
12Maldah3,988,84513,2090.33%
13Birbhum3,502,40410,9060.31%
14Haora4,850,0298,6660.18%
15Puruliya2,930,1158,6460.30%
16Hugli5,519,1457,3000.13%
17Koch Bihar2,819,0864,1220.15%
18Bankura3,596,6743,8650.11%
19Purba Medinipur5,095,8752,6480.05%
West Bengal 91,276,115658,6180.72%

Trends

Census year% of total population
19510.70%
19610.59%
19710.57%
19810.59%
19910.56%
20010.64%
20110.72%