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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Badaga of India

The Badaga of India, numbering approximately 357,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a prominent Hindu agricultural community of the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu whose name derives from vadugar, meaning northerner, recalling their migration from Karnataka. They speak the Badaga language and traditionally cultivated tea, coffee. They are an Indigenous people in the Kanarese people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Badaga and their primary religion is Hinduism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Kanarese
Primary Language(s): Badaga (bfq)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 357,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041546
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Pray for the Badaga 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

90%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Badaga
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Badaga Speakers

Media Resources in Badaga:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Badaga:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Badaga bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% or Greater but Less than 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Badaga:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Badaga 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 Badaga:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Badaga are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Badaga:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Badaga of India

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
readLuke 12:7

Pray that those who don't yet know how to trust in Jesus will not be consumed by worry and anxiety, but will trust in the Father's care and provision for their daily needs and for their eternal salvation

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Badaga Across Countries (ROP3 - 111397) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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