 This may reflect a historical migration that strengthened the ties between the Indian church and the Church of the East.The Thomas of Cana story also factors into traditions of the divide of the community into Northist and Southist factions; the Southists or Knanaya claim descent from Thomas of Cana and his followers.The meaning of the "Cana" epithet is unclear; it may refer to the town of Cana or the land of Canaan in the Bible, or it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant ("Knāyil" in Malayam).