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The Mahale of Bangladesh

The Mahale of Bangladesh, numbering approximately 25,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Munda-speaking people who migrated from Jharkhand's Dumka district to Bangladesh's northern districts in the early 1900s, sharing twelve clans and 80 percent language similarity with the neighboring Santal, traditionally skilled in bamboo basketry. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Santali is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Mahale

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Bangladesh
People Cluster: Munda-Santal
Primary Language(s): Santali (sat)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 25,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG001187
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Pray for the Mahale of Bangladesh

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

39%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Santali
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Santhali Speakers

Media Resources in Santali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Santali:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Santali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mahale 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 Mahale:
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 Mahale of Bangladesh

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.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Mahli, Mahali Across Countries (ROP3 - 106041) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
MahliPG041634MahliIndia558,000Engaged yet UnreachedMarathiHinduism
MahalePG001187MahaleBangladesh25,000No Longer UnreachedSantaliProtestantism

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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