V.V Nagom Aiya in his state manual  states  “ In 822A.D. two Nestorian Bishops Mar Sapor and Mar Peroz  settled in Quilon with a following .Two years later  the Malabar Era began (824A.D.) and ws called after Quilon which was undoubtedly  the premier city of malabar including Travancore and Cochin”¹²

T.K.VeluPillai  in the Travancore State Manual  writes, “ Gopinatha Rao who assigns the latter part of the 9^th century as the period of the reign bases his conclusions on he assumption that Kollam era was started in the memory of the coming of Maruvan Sobor Iso  and a colony of foreign traders .”¹³ T.K.VeluPillai  in the Travancore State Manual  “tradition says that St.Thomas preached there( in Syria) and  in after times a party of Christian immigrants from Syria landed in the neighbourhood of the modern town( Quilon) a place now engulfed in sea just a similar party did at Crangannore ( in 3^rd century under Thomas of Cana).Whether they came for purpose of trade or driven to seek shelter from the sword of Mohammed or for other reason cannot now be determined”¹⁴

M.G.S.Narayan in his paper on Cera_pandya conflict in the 8^th – 9^th centuries which led to the birth of Venad  writes, “ It is not surprising that the Chera king who was  contemplating the development of the new harbour town at Kurakeni Kollam  welcomed the foreigner  and permitted him to settle down at the new harbour site .This was the period when th e Cera-Pandya conflict was developing in the south. Subsequently Vilinjam was retained in the Pandyan sphere of influence while the Vel country with  new  headquarters at Kurakkeni Kollam became a division of Cera kingdom..The foundation of Kollam in 825A.D. must have coincided with this victory of Cera in the Vel province.Therefore it is easy to understand the anxiety of the cera king  to please foreign merchants and settle them at Kollam so that the harbour might grow quickly and compete effectively with Vilinjam further south which had passed under the control of the Pandya.This incident reveals the practical wisdom of the rulers and throws light on the economic –political motivations  of men who promoted ideas of religion and culture. The Syrian Christian merchants who took advantage of the  situation were equally clever and resourceful .In the absence of materials for a detailed history ,it is difficult to ascertain whether Mar Sapir Iso was a merchant or a (priest) missionary. Perhaps he was both at the same time ans there was no inherent contradiction between the two roles.¹⁵

Narayan M.G.S.,writes in Cultural Symbiosis that “ By the time of the Syrian Christian Copper Plates of the 9^th century the foreign Christians and the Christians of Kerala had become part and parcel of the local village community.” This means that the migrant Christians did not remain as a separate group but rather they intermarried the Christians of Kerala  and accepted the local cultural idioms. “The deity of the Tarsa Chruch was refered to the tevar.An important offering to the tevar was    the sacred oil lamp as in the case of contemporary Brahmanical temples ,is an indication to the fact that  their conception of religion was shaped by local culture.”¹⁶

  Adept at trade and driven by adventure with priesthood in their blood a few members of a West Asian family who settled around Kollam in 9^th century A.D. are the progenitors of the ThulasseryManapurathu family . On arriving they    worked as commanders of Venad kings , engaged in trade activities and served as priests in the Church established by Mar Sabore .

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