The main reason for Christian growth in India was not individual conversions but rather Christian mass movements (CMMs). Since the late 1700s, a series of independent CMMs among non-Christians and a mass reformation movement within the Suriani community have occurred in the southern end of India. These MMs culminated in a mass emancipation movement against caste-imposed segregation of Dalits in the late 1800s, an event of national significance. In the early 1900s, Pentecostalism evolved from these CMMs and transformed the religious landscape of Christianity in South India and later in India as a whole. The Thoma Christians were the early catalysts for the expansion of new-generation Christianity in India. The Christian population in India, researched and compiled by non-governmental expertise, tallied its growth from a mere 1.15% (of 238.3 million) in 1901 to over 5.8% (of 1.38 billion) in 2020
