The Gawar-Bati of Afghanistan

The Gawar-Bati of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 39,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a subgroup of the larger Dardic ethnic group of northeastern Afghanistan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Gawar-Bati is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Nuristani
Primary Language(s): Gawar-Bati (gwt)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 39,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023974
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gawar-Bati of Afghanistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gawar-Bati
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Gawar-Bati Speakers

Media Resources in Gawar-Bati:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Gawar-Bati:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gawar-Bati bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Gawar-Bati:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Gawar-Bati of Afghanistan

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
readIsaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
readHebrews 10:35

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hold unswervingly to their faith and to their confidence in Christ, which has a great reward.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Gawar-Bati Across Countries (ROP3 - 103257) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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