Mar Sabor and Mar Proth

Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, according to Syrian Christians of Kerala, were two Church of the East Bishops believed to have arrived in 825 AD alongside a group of Christian settlers led by a merchant from Persia. Together, they established ecclesiastical institutions in several regions. Revered for their devoutness, they were posthumously recognized as saints by the local ecclesiastical body. The mission is said to have received permission from the then king of Kerala to build a church in Kollam.

That the historicity of this mission cannot be verified does not dispute the epigraphical evidence that Christians were on the Malabar Coast in 9th century AD. Kollam Syrian copper plates, a 9th-century royal grant from Kerala, mentions that certain Maruvan Sapir Iso built a church at Kollam with the blessing of the then Emperor of Kerala. It is likely that Mar Sapir had a companion named Mar Prot. A stone cross, one of the five Persian Crosses, with Sassanid Pahlavi inscription recovered also mentions certain "Afras the Syrian" as "the son of Chaharabukht".

The two bishops are said to have died in Kerala and have been considered as saints by the Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Syro Malabar Church.