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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sonar of India

The Sonar of India, numbering approximately 9,745,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a traditional goldsmith and jewelry-making artisan community, whose historical role has been the crafting, repair, and trade of gold and silver ornaments across India. They are an Indigenous people in the Sonar people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Marathi and their primary religion is Hinduism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Sonar
Primary Language(s): Marathi (mar)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 9,745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041252
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Pray for the Sonar of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Marathi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Marathi Speakers

Media Resources in Marathi:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Marathi:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Marathi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity (GSEC: 3), this people group is less than 2% evangelical but there has been dispersed church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Sonar:
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 Sonar 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 Sonar:
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 Sonar 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 Sonar:
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 Sonar of India

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
read1 Timothy 2:1-2

Pray that leaders and those in authority will not thwart the spread of the gospel but put their faith in Christ, have hearts that are soft toward their people, and be freed from the temptations that power can bring.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Sonar Across Countries (ROP3 - 113659) 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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