The Bhil of India

The Bhil of India, numbering approximately 20,560,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large, geographically dispersed Adivasi people of western and central India whose identity is rooted in clan-based social organization, forest and agricultural livelihoods, indigenous religious traditions, and cultural resistance to external domination. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Bhili is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bhil

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bhil
Primary Language(s): Bhili (bhb)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 20,560,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041244
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bhil 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

98%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bhili
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bhili Speakers

Media Resources in Bhili:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bhili:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Bhili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bhil 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 Bhil:
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 Bhil of India

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that many people will receive the gospel and will be part of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, clothed in white robes and palm branches, proclaiming salvation belongs to our God.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
readJames 1:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will consider it pure joy when they face trials of many kinds, trusting in God's promise that the testing of their faith produces perseverance.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Bhil Across Countries (ROP3 - 111565) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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