The killing of two Jesuits and the spread of Christianity in Ramanathapuram

Maravar Seemai was less tolerant of the foreign religion. Kizhavan Sethupathi executed Jesuit priest John De Britto in 1693 for converting Tirya Devan, a prince, to Christianity. Over a century earlier, Antony Criminali SJ (1520-1549) was killed when he tried to protect the converts from an alliance of Muslims and the Nayak Army