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The Knānāya are an ancient diaspora of Jewish-Christians (Early Christians) from the Syriac speaking centers of Mesopotamia who settled in the Spice Kingdoms of the Malabar Coast under the leadership of the merchant Knāy Thoma in the 4th century.

The folk songs of the community are ancient in origins and were first written down on palm-leaf manuscripts in the 16th and 17th centuries. Analytically the songs are sung in Old Malayalam but contain Syriac and Tamil diction indicating their antiquity. The songs are considered a poetic amalgamate of Jewish-Christian, Hindu, and Syriac culture representing the centuries the Knanaya have lived as a minority in India. (It is important to note however that while the oldest of these songs date to the medieval period, others are dated in the range of the 16th to 19th centuries, this being especially true of the historical songs recording the establishment of newer churches).