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The Balmiki (Awadhi) of India

The Balmiki (Awadhi) of India, numbering approximately 1,745,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Dalit community whose modern identity is strongly tied to devotion to Sage Valmiki and to efforts toward social dignity, education, and upward mobility despite a history of caste-based marginalization. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Awadhi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Valmiki
Primary Language(s): Awadhi (awa)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 1,745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041289

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Pray for the Balmiki (Awadhi) 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

80%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Awadhi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Awadhi Speakers

Media Resources in Awadhi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Awadhi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Awadhi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Balmiki (Awadhi) 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 Balmiki (Awadhi):
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 Balmiki (Awadhi) of India

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

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.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Balmiki (Awadhi) Across Countries (ROP3 - 118134) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Balmiki (Awadhi)PG041289Balmiki (Awadhi)India1,745,000No Longer UnreachedAwadhiHinduism

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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