The Kanjar of India

The Kanjar of India, numbering approximately 238,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a historically nomadic community of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, once classified as a criminal tribe under colonial rule. Traditionally hunters and small traders, most now work as laborers. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Hindi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Hindi (hin)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 238,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041618
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kanjar 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Hindi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Hindi Speakers

Media Resources in Hindi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Hindi:

Or check out the Hindi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kanjar 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 Kanjar:
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 Kanjar of India

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods.

Kanjar, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 112420) 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.

Scroll to Top