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The Siyal of India

The Siyal of India, numbering approximately 36,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste of Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, and Sundargarh districts, Odisha, their name recalling the jackal, traditionally toddy-tappers. Cultivation and weaving of leaf mats and baskets remain common, alongside service and labor. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Odia is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Odia
Primary Language(s): Odia (ory)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 36,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041955
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Pray for the Siyal 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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

100%
%
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 Siyal 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 Siyal:
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 Siyal of India

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
readPsalm 105:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will glory in His holy name and that their hearts will rejoice.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Siyal Across Countries (ROP3 - 113625) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
SiyalPG041955SiyalIndia36,000Engaged yet UnreachedOdiaHinduism

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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