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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Charan of India

The Charan of India, numbering approximately 218,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a traditional bardic and genealogist community, historically attached to royal courts to record princely genealogies and sing the praises of Rajput rulers. They live mainly in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, where many now farm. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Shekhawati is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Other South Asian
Primary Language(s): Shekhawati (swv)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 218,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041509
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Pray for the Charan 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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shekhawati
Language Family: Indo-European

50%
%
Shekhawati Speakers

Media Resources in Shekhawati:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shekhawati:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shekhawati bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Charan 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 Charan:
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 Charan of India

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
read1 John 1:9

Pray that God, who is faithful and just, will open the eyes of those who are lost and draw them to confess their sins and trust in Him to grant forgiveness.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

But you said, "I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."
readGenesis 32:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience God's presence and protection even in difficult circumstances, knowing that He will make them fruitful.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

Charan, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 111764) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
CharanPG041509CharanIndia218,000Engaged yet UnreachedShekhawatiHinduism

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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