They were under the leadership of an archdeacon (a native ecclesiastical head with temporal powers, deriving from the Greek arkhidiākonos). The Saint Thomas Christians were in communion with the Church of the East, centered in Persia, since at least 496. The indigenous Church of Malabar (Malankara) followed the faith and traditions of Thomas the Apostle. Portuguese Jesuits attempted to annex the native Christians to the Latin Church at the 1599 Synod of Diamper. The Saint Thomas Christians, who were opposed to the Portuguese Padroado missionaries, took the Coonan Cross Oath on 3 January 1653. The Dutch East India Company defeated the Portuguese for control of the Malabar spice trade in 1663. Bishop Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of the Syriac Orthodox Church witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop Thoma I, who forged a relationship with the Syriac church, which laid the foundation for adopting West Syrian liturgy and practices over the next two centuries.