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The Teli (Tamil) of India

The Teli (Tamil) of India, numbering approximately 266,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large occupational caste/community of South Asia, historically known as oil pressers and oil traders. Their name comes from a Hindi word meaning oil, reflecting their traditional work of extracting vegetable oil using bullock‑driven wooden presses. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Tamil is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Teli
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 266,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046232

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Pray for the Teli (Tamil) 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

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Tamil Speakers

Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tamil:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Contemporary Version✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film✓
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Teli (Tamil) 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 Teli (Tamil):
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 Teli (Tamil) of India

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Teli (Tamil) Across Countries (ROP3 - 116780) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Teli (Tamil)PG046232Teli (Tamil)India266,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism

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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