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
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Nikari of India

The Nikari of India, numbering approximately 203,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bengali Muslim community of South 24 Parganas along the Ichamati and Raimangal rivers, descended from converts of the Hindu Jele fishing caste, whose name means doer of good work and who traditionally wholesale fish from the Sundarbans. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Bengali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Bengali (ben)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 203,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041645
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Pray for the Nikari 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam 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 Nikari 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 Nikari:
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 Nikari of India

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
readHebrews 10:34

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have compassion for those in prison, sympathize with those who are mistreated, and continue to do good and share the gospel with others.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Nikari, Muslim Across Countries (ROP3 - 113245) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NikariPG041645NikariIndia203,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam

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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