The Kami (Nepali) of India

The Kami (Nepali) of India, numbering approximately 147,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are traditionally the blacksmiths and metalworkers of Nepal's hill villages, a Dalit community long classified as an impure but touchable caste under the 1854 Muluki Ain code, historically famed for forging khukri knives. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Nepali (individual language) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Nepali-Pahari
Primary Language(s): Nepali (individual language) (npi)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 147,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041721
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Pray for the Kami (Nepali) 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

95%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nepali (individual language)
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Nepali Speakers

Media Resources in Nepali (individual language):

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

4 films

Bible Resources in Nepali (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
New Revised Version✓✓
New Revised Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓

2 entries

Or check out the Nepali (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kami (Nepali) 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 Kami (Nepali):
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 Kami (Nepali) of India

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Kami Across Countries (ROP3 - 112407) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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