Thomas in Parthia and India

Thomas traveled much further than any other apostle. He left Jerusalem a week after the Pentecost where the apostles received the gift of tongues, and he never saw any of them again. 

 Thomas left Jerusalem with Habban as an indentured servant in the employ of Gundaphorus of Parthia as a carpenter and architect. Thomas in Parthia established many Christian communities during the ten years he lived there before he went to India. 

In those days, Parthia was the general name given to all the land between the Tigris/Euphrates valley and the Indus River. All lands east of the Indus river were called India, including China. 

Thomas established Christian communities along the western and eastern shores of (modern-day) India, and many of those are still going strong. 

Thomas was martyred in Mylapore, Chennai, on the Bay of Bengal in the south of India. Many streets in that area today bear the name of Thomas.

The author of Thomas the Apostle lived and worked in Chennai and learned many stories of Thomas that friends were delighted to relate, stories they had heard from their parents and grandparents. 

The name of the city of Madras was changed to Chennai in 1996 while the author lived there.

This novel also tells many stories of: 

James and Levi, sons of Alphaeus and older brothers of Thomas

Nathanael, often paired with Thomas while they studied together under Jesus  

Essenes, where Thomas spent many happy years. 

John the Baptizer, whose disciples included Thomas.   

The man from India who followed Jesus as a disciple and was later renamed as

Jesus the Gatherer 

since he gathered the stories of Jesus and took them back to India.