Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Volume 3

...he returned for this purpose. And he stood, and he took the price from him, and he delivered him to Mar Thomas. Mar Thomas accepted that price from him, and he commanded him to preach without fear.

When, however, they had traveled and arrived in India, Haban informed the King regarding Thomas, and brought him before him. And the King asked him about the building of the royal palace. And Thomas demonstrated that he was a very wise master. And the King commanded his treasurers that everything that Thomas asked for, they should give to him. And he departed, and he entrusted him to the building. And he began to make from it a deliverance for the poor. And he commanded Thomas to complete it while he himself went out to the cities and to the islands of his kingdom. And Thomas took much gold, and he distributed all of it to the needy and to the poor. And when the King returned, he asked him about the building. And when he heard that not even the foundation could be found, the King became angry with Thomas and asked him about the cause of the delay and where he had put the gold that he had taken. And Mar Thomas answered him:

"I have laid the foundation, and I desire something else to go out for the lime and for the roofing." And the King became angry and said that "Truly, this man is mad," and he commanded that they imprison him.

responded Haban: "For this cause indeed I have come." Hence a price was agreed upon; and with that accepted, the Lord handed Thomas over to him. Furthermore, the Lord gave the price to Thomas, and commanded him to preach without fear.

When, however, having completed the journey, they had arrived in India and Haban had presented a report concerning Thomas and had introduced him to the king, he interrogated him regarding the construction of a royal palace, and Thomas showed himself to be very expert. Therefore, the king commanded the keepers of his treasury that whatever Thomas asked, this should be given to him. Meanwhile, the king, being about to institute a journey to a certain province of his kingdom, ordered Thomas to diligently apply himself to the building, so that after his return he might find the palace finished. Thomas, however, accepted much gold and distributed it all to the needy and the miserable; but the king, returning from the journey, questioned Thomas about the building, and when he perceived that not even a foundation had yet been constructed, he was angry at Thomas and questioned him both about the cause of the delay and about the use of the gold he had received. Thomas replied: "I indeed spent the gold on the foundations, and I require more to spend on the walls and the arches." Then the king, burning with anger, said: "Truly, this man is possessed," and he ordered him to be imprisoned.

1. That king in the apocryphal acts is called Gundaphar or Gudnaphar; and truly in the coins of the kings of India, contemporaries of the Apostle Thomas, the name of King Gundaphar is read. See Reinaud, Mémoire histor. et géogr. sur l'Inde [Historical and geographical memoir on India] in Mémoires de l'académie des Inscript. [Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions], vol. XVIII, p. 94-96. Paris, 1849.
2. "to be found" is missing in Smith's Thesaurus syriacus.