Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mahishya of India

The Mahishya of India, numbering approximately 15,980,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a caste community of West Bengal and Bihar. The Mahishya speak Bengali and Hindi and historically practiced agriculture, deriving their name from Sanskrit words meaning earth or soil. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Bengali is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Mahishya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Bengali (ben)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 15,980,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041241
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Pray for the Mahishya of India

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bengali
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bengali Speakers

Media Resources in Bengali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bengali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Common Language Version✓✓✓
Mussolmani✓✓
Re-edit Bangla Version✓✓

3 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bengali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mahishya 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 Mahishya:
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 Mahishya of India

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
readColossians 3:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will set their minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, as they look to Christ for guidance and strength.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Mahishya Across Countries (ROP3 - 112811) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MahishyaPG041241MahishyaIndia15,980,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliHinduism

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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