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The Sauria Paharia of India

The Sauria Paharia of India, numbering approximately 50,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Scheduled Tribe of Sahibganj and Godda districts, Bihar, and West Bengal, speaking the Dravidian Malto language. Traditionally shifting cultivators, today landownership and agriculture are their main occupations. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Mal Paharia is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: South Asian Tribal
Primary Language(s): Mal Paharia (mkb)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 50,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041818
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Pray for the Sauria Paharia 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: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mal Paharia
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Mal Paharia Speakers

Media Resources in Mal Paharia:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mal Paharia:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mal Paharia bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sauria Paharia 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 Sauria Paharia:
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 Sauria Paharia of India

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

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.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
readRomans 4:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not waver but will grow strong in their belief, knowing that the Lord rewards those who seek Him.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Sauria Paharia Across Countries (ROP3 - 113539) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Sauria PahariaPG041818Sauria PahariaIndia50,500No Longer UnreachedMal PahariaFolk Hinduism

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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