Since the fourth century, the Indian church had a close relationship with the Persian (East Syriac) church. The Indians inherited its East Syriac dialect for liturgical use, and gradually became known as Syriac Christians. During the sixteenth century, Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to latinise the Syrian Christians. Those who preserved East Syriac Rite and Diophysite christology constitute the present-day Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church. Those who adopted West Syrian liturgies and practices and Miaphysite faith evolved into the Malankara Church, and the catholicate was established in 1912.