The Bhandari of India

The Bhandari of India, numbering approximately 6,600 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Hindu community of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Daman and Diu whose name derives from bhandaar, meaning treasury, and who trace their identity to storekeeping and toddy-tapping. Today most Bhandari earn their living through cultivation and trade. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Gujarati is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Odia
Primary Language(s): Gujarati (guj)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 6,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041414
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bhandari 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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gujarati
Language Family: Indo-European

60%
%
Gujarati Speakers

Media Resources in Gujarati:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Gujarati:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
1997 Bible League International ✓
Gujarati New India Bible ✓

2 entries

Or check out the Gujarati bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bhandari 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 Bhandari:
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 Bhandari of India

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Bhandari Across Countries (ROP3 - 111551) 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.

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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