Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mal Paharia of India

The Mal Paharia of India, numbering approximately 234,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Scheduled Tribe of the Rajmahal hills in Bihar's Dumka and Sahebganj districts and Murshidabad district in West Bengal. Settled agriculture has replaced hunting and gathering, and they are skilled basket-makers. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Mal Paharia is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Munda-Santal
Primary Language(s): Mal Paharia (mkb)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 234,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041653
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Mal Paharia 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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mal Paharia
Language Family: Indo-European

74%
%
Mal Paharia Speakers

Media Resources in Mal Paharia:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mal Paharia:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mal Paharia bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mal Paharia 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 Mal Paharia:
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 Mal Paharia of India

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
readPsalm 133:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified and love one another as God loves them.

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.

Malto Across Countries (ROP3 - 112837) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Mal PahariaPG041653Mal PahariaIndia234,000No Longer UnreachedMal PahariaHinduism

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.

Scroll to Top