After the office of the Catholicate fell into Nestorian heresy, the Orthodox faithful in Persia were wandering in wilderness.  Even though the Church in Persia had officially accepted Nestorius as a Church father, a substantial group of Christians in Mosul, Niniveh and Tigris (Tagrit) continued to keep their loyalty to the old faith.  A few decades later the Orthodox wing of the Church in Persia that continued to be under the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch & all the East, got reorganized under St. Ya`qub Burdono and installed St. Ahudemmeh as 'The Great Metropolitan of the East', but he too found it difficult to discharge his ecclesiastical duties smoothly because of political enmity between the empires.

 

However by 628 the situation changed for better as a result of the reconciliation reached between the Persian and Roman Empires. Since then the communication between the Patriarchate and the Church in the East improved. In 628 Patriarch Athanasius I (595-631) sent his secretary Rabban (Monk) Youhanna to the East. He met with Bishop Christophorus, head of the Monastery of St. Matthew and discussed with him the subject of resuming relations between the See of Antioch and the Church in the East. The bishop convened a synod which was attended by Monk Youhanna and four regional bishops. They elected three monks, Marutha, Ithalaha and Aha, and requested the patriarch to consecrate them bishops. The patriarch accepted the request and honored the old custom of the Church of the East which allowed three bishops in the absence of the Catholicos to consecrate a new bishop in dire circumstances. The Eastern bishops consecrated the chosen monks as bishops in the presence of the patriarch's envoy. The patriarch then installed Marutha, one of the three new bishops, as Bishop of Tikrit, and gave him authority to preside over the East, on his behalf. The above incident indicates that the Church in the East was autonomous and that its Catholicos who was installed by the patriarch had authority over all its bishoprics. Also we can see in the history of the church that the Patriarch was enthroned by the fathers of the church with the cooperation of the Catholicos.

 

 

It was in AD 629, the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East elevated St. Marutha (Marooso) as the first MAPHRYONO OF THE EAST for the rejuvenated Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church in Persia.  After heading the eastern church for two decades he passed away in AD 649.  From him the Maphrianate took its line of succession. It is worth mentioning that the bishoprics of the East increased in number and prestige to the extent that they outnumbered the dioceses of the See of Antioch during the time of Mor Gregorios Bar `Ebroyo who himself was a Maphriyono of the East (1264-12861). Bar `Ebroyo is considered to be one of the most famous and scholarly Maphryonos of the East.

 

The headquarters of the Maphrianate was first in Tikrit and remained there until 1089 AD. Subsequently, it was transferred to Mosul, and then back to Tikrit where it remained until 1152 when it was transferred to St. Matthew (Mor Mattai) Monastery, very near to the city of Mosul in Iraq. For sometime the Maphrianate was at Bartelleh near Mosul and then was brought back to Mosul.

 

Title 'BASELIOS' to the Maphriyono

 

In the past, it was the custom to have the Maphriyono keep his Episcopal name even after his installation. But since the 16th century, the name BASELIOS was added to the primates personal name.

 

Abolishing the Maphrianate

 

The Catholicate and later on the Maphrianate was formed between the 4th and the 6th centuries to escape from the ecclesiasical isolation the church in the Persian Empire were facing due to its enmity with the Roman Empire.  However later on the political situation in the region changed drastically and the importance of Maphrianate within the church also diminished . Hence in the year 1860, after the death of Maphryono Mor Baselios Bahnam IV of Mosul, the seat of the Maphrianate was abolished as per the decision of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church Synod held at Deyrul'al Zafran Monastery (Kurkkumo Dayro) under Patriarch Ignatius Ya`qub II.