Khasi Hills Unitarianism

Who are the Unitarians of India? The Unitarians of India live mostly in the northeast corner of India near the Himalayas. This area became part of India under British rule. Along with colonial rule came the missionaries. For the Khasi and Jaintia tribes, that meant Welsh Presbyterians, who came in the early 19th century. They introduced a school system, a written form of the Khasi language using our English alphabet), and the Christian religion. Welsh Presbyterians believed that God was male, three-part, and harshly judgmental.

One person who went through the new Welsh schools rebelled against this view. His name was Hajom Kissor Singh. He proposed a new religion that reclaimed the traditional tribal beliefs of monotheism in a new form. He established several congregations based upon these beliefs. British missionaries told him that he sounded like a Unitarian, and he was put in touch with British and American Unitarians. He recognized beliefs he held in common with Unitarians. The churches he was establishing received support and became known as Unitarian, as they are still. Their number has grown steadily in recent decades and now there are about 8000 Unitarians in 32 churches and 5 fellowships.