The Khetauri of India

The Khetauri of India, numbering approximately 140,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of Bihar's Santal Pargana region believed to have migrated from Rajasthan in the sixteenth century. Their name derives from khet, meaning field. Agriculture remains their main occupation, supplemented by construction labor. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Maithili is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bhojpur-Maithili
Primary Language(s): Maithili (mai)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 140,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041616
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Pray for the Khetauri 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: Maithili
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Maithili Speakers

Media Resources in Maithili:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Maithili:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Tranlsators, Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Maithili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Khetauri 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 Khetauri:
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 Khetauri of India

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Khetauri Across Countries (ROP3 - 112520) 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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