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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sayyid of India

The Sayyid of India, numbering approximately 8,265,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a hereditary social community within the Muslim population. Many Sayyids speak local languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, or Sindhi and are integrated into the regional cultures where they live They are an Indigenous people, with Sayyid as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Sayyid people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Shia Islam. They primarily speak Urdu.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Sayyid
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 8,265,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041270
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Pray for the Sayyid 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

50%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Pakistan Bible Society✓
Revised✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sayyid 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 Sayyid:
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 Sayyid of India

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
readPsalm 19:1

Pray that those who are lost will look to the heavens and see the glory of God displayed, leading them to seek Him and know Him as their Creator and Savior.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

Sayyid Across Countries (ROP3 - 113540) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SayyidPG041270SayyidIndia8,265,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduShia Islam

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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