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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bahelia of India

The Bahelia of India, numbering approximately 186,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste community of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal traditionally engaged in bird-catching and making fans from peacock feathers. They claim Rajput descent, tracing their origins to the Sisodia Rajputs of Chittorgarh. They are an Indigenous people in the Hindi people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Braj Bhasha and their primary religion is Folk Hinduism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Braj Bhasha (bra)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 186,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041690
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Pray for the Bahelia of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

98%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Braj Bhasha
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%

Media Resources in Braj Bhasha:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Braj Bhasha:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Braj Bhasha bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% or Greater but Less than 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Bahelia:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bahelia 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 Bahelia:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bahelia 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 Bahelia:
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 Bahelia of India

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Bahelia, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 111413) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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