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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bankhariya of Nepal

The Bankhariya of Nepal, numbering approximately 175 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Nepal traditionally involved with fishing and boating. They are an Indigenous people in the Nepali-Pahari people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Kharia and their primary religion is Animism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Nepal
People Cluster: Nepali-Pahari
Primary Language(s): Kharia (khr)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 175
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006234

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Pray for the Bankhariya of Nepal

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kharia
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Kharia Speakers

Media Resources in Kharia:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kharia:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kharia 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, No Recent 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 Bankhariya:
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 Bankhariya 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 Bankhariya:
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 Bankhariya 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 Bankhariya:
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 Bankhariya of Nepal

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be eager to proclaim the good news of peace, knowing that the Lord has called them to this task.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Bankariya Across Countries (ROP3 - 111647) 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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