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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bishnupriya of Bangladesh

The Bishnupriya of Bangladesh, numbering approximately 48,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Manipur-descended people historically called Khalachai after their homeland near Lake Loktak, who fled political upheaval to settle Bangladesh's Sylhet plains from the late 1700s, speaking an Indo-Aryan tongue with Meitei loanwords. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Bishnupriya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Bishnupriya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Himalayan Peoples
Country: Bangladesh
People Cluster: Manipuri
Primary Language(s): Bishnupriya (bpy)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 48,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048706
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Pray for the Bishnupriya of Bangladesh

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bishnupriya
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bishnupuriya Speakers

Media Resources in Bishnupriya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bishnupriya:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bishnupriya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bishnupriya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Bishnupriya:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Bishnupriya of Bangladesh

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

But Jesus called them to him, saying "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
readLuke 18:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a burden to share the hope of Christ with children.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that the promise in Revelation 7:9-10 will encourage believers from among them or from nearby people groups to share the gospel with people who have never learned it.

Bishnupuria Across Countries (ROP3 - 115966) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BisnupriyaPG049509BisnupriyaIndia512,000Engaged yet UnreachedBishnupriyaHinduism
BishnupriyaPG048706BishnupriyaBangladesh48,000Engaged yet UnreachedBishnupriyaHinduism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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