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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sauria Paharia of India

The Sauria Paharia of India, numbering approximately 50,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Scheduled Tribe of Sahibganj and Godda districts, Bihar, and West Bengal, speaking the Dravidian Malto language. Traditionally shifting cultivators, today landownership and agriculture are their main occupations. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Mal Paharia is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: South Asian Tribal
Primary Language(s): Mal Paharia (mkb)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 50,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041818
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Pray for the Sauria 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mal Paharia
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
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 Sauria 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 Sauria 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 Sauria Paharia of India

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
readMatthew 16:16

Pray that many will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and put their trust in Him.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
readHebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

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.

Sauria Paharia Across Countries (ROP3 - 113539) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Sauria PahariaPG041818Sauria PahariaIndia50,500No Longer UnreachedMal PahariaFolk 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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