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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yadava (Marathi) of India

The Yadava (Marathi) of India, numbering approximately 1,230,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large, historically pastoral community of India and Nepal whose shared identity is rooted in mythological descent from King Yadu and association with Krishna, and whose modern form emerged through social consolidation in the 19th–20th centuries. They are an Indigenous people, in the Yadav people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism. They primarily speak Marathi.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Yadava (Marathi)

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Yadav
Primary Language(s): Marathi (mar)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 1,230,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046322

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Pray for the Yadava (Marathi) of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Marathi
Language Family: Indo-European

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Media Resources in Marathi:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Marathi:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Marathi bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Yadava (Marathi)

The Yadava (Marathi) are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Yadava (Marathi)

The Yadava (Marathi) 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.

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

Next steps for the Yadava (Marathi)

The Yadava (Marathi) 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yadava (Marathi) of India

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
readMark 1:17-18

Pray that God will raise up believers from this place and/or other cultures nearby to proclaim the gospel to those who desperately need to encounter it.

Yadava, Marathi (ROP3 - 116746) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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