The Kurmi (Bagheli) of India

The Kurmi (Bagheli) of India, numbering approximately 150,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large agrarian community found across northern, eastern, and central India. Traditionally known as skilled cultivators and land-tilling farmers, they have played a major role in India's agricultural economy for centuries. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Bagheli is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Kurmi
Primary Language(s): Bagheli (bfy)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 150,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046067

Pray for the Kurmi (Bagheli) 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

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bagheli
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bagheli Speakers

Media Resources in Bagheli:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bagheli:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe India, 2020✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Bagheli bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kurmi (Bagheli) 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 Kurmi (Bagheli):
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 Kurmi (Bagheli) of India

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
readMark 10:29-30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know that when they make sacrifices to follow Jesus, He is there with them and will bless them abundantly in this life and in the life to come.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Kurmi (Bagheli) Across Countries (ROP3 - 116487) 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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