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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Dandasi of India

The Dandasi of India, numbering approximately 98,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh whose name derives from the stick and sword once carried by their ancestors. They traditionally served as village watchmen and are now largely engaged in agricultural and industrial labor. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Odia is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Odia
Primary Language(s): Odia (ory)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 98,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041715
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Pray for the Dandasi 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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

98%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Odia
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Odia Speakers

Media Resources in Odia:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Odia:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Bible League International✓✓
Easy to Read Version✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Odia bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Dandasi 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 Dandasi:
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 Dandasi of India

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Dandasi Across Countries (ROP3 - 111883) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DandasiPG041715DandasiIndia98,000Engaged yet UnreachedOdiaFolk Hinduism

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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