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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bakkarwal of India

The Bakkarwal of India, numbering approximately 47,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a pastoral nomadic Sunni Muslim community of Jammu and Kashmir whose name derives from bakriwale, meaning goat herders. They are of Gujjar stock, speak Gujjari, and migrate seasonally between altitudes with their sheep and goats They are an Indigenous people, with Bakarwal as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the South Asian Tribal people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Gujari.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Isudas Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: South Asian Tribal
Primary Language(s): Gujari (gju)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 47,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041971
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Pray for the Bakkarwal of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gujari
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Gujari Speakers

Media Resources in Gujari:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Gujari:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Gujari bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Bakkarwal:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bakkarwal 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 Bakkarwal:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bakkarwal 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 Bakkarwal:
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 Bakkarwal of India

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
readLamentations 3:23-23

Pray that they will have hope in the Lord, knowing that His compassions never fails and that His mercies are new every morning.

For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.
readPsalm 47:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will exalt the Lord, recognizing His reign over the nations and His sovereignty over all things.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Bakkarwal Across Countries (ROP3 - 111433) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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