The Hanabar of India

The Hanabar of India, numbering approximately 180,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a pastoral caste of Belagavi and Vijayapura districts in Karnataka, also known as Krishna Golla. The Hanabar were traditionally cattle and buffalo herders, but now many are sharecroppers and wage laborers. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Kannada is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Kanarese
Primary Language(s): Kannada (kan)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 180,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041727
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Hanabar 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

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kannada
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Kannada Speakers

Media Resources in Kannada:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Kannada:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓
Kannada Contemporary Translation✓

3 entries

Or check out the Kannada bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Hanabar 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 Hanabar:
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 Hanabar 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.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Hanabar Across Countries (ROP3 - 112202) 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.

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