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The Barwala of India

The Barwala of India, numbering approximately 79,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste community of the Jammu valley, also known as Doom or Dum Bantwal, who claim to be the region's original inhabitants. Traditionally village watchmen and messengers, they now work mainly in agriculture and labor and speak Dogri. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Dogri (individual language) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Other South Asian
Primary Language(s): Dogri (individual language) (dgo)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 79,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041951
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Pray for the Barwala 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

99%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dogri (individual language)
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Dogri Speakers

Media Resources in Dogri (individual language):

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Dogri (individual language):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dogri (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Barwala 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 Barwala:
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 Barwala of India

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

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.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Barwala, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 111475) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID ▲ Name Country Population Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Barwala PG041951 Barwala India 79,000 Engaged yet Unreached Dogri (individual language) Folk 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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