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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sauntia of India

The Sauntia of India, numbering approximately 57,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste of Ganjam district, Odisha, their name recalling the gathering of scattered things, traditionally agricultural laborers and firewood sellers. Agriculture and wage labor remain their main occupations today. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Chhattisgarhi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Chhattisgarhi (hne)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 57,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041895
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Pray for the Sauntia 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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chhattisgarhi
Language Family: Indo-European

50%
%
Chhattisgarhi Speakers

Media Resources in Chhattisgarhi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Chhattisgarhi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2012 Bharatiya General Conference Mennonite Church✓✓
Bible Society of India✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Chhattisgarhi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sauntia 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 Sauntia:
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 Sauntia of India

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
readPsalm 51:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him, and God will help them to proclaim His praise and declare His goodness all day long.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Sauntia Across Countries (ROP3 - 113537) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SauntiaPG041895SauntiaIndia57,000Engaged yet UnreachedChhattisgarhiEthnoreligion

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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