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The Pathan (Marwadi) of India

The Pathan (Marwadi) of India, numbering approximately 286,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a socioreligious community of Muslim warriors of Afghan origin, distributed across India, speaking Pushto and local languages, the name believed derived from the native word Pukhtana, traditionally employed as soldiers. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Marwari (India) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Marwari (India) (rwr)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 286,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046349

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Pray for the Pathan (Marwadi) 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

—
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Marwari (India)
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Marwari (India) Speakers

Media Resources in Marwari (India):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Marwari (India):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Marwari (India) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Pathan (Marwadi) 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 Pathan (Marwadi):
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 Pathan (Marwadi) of India

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the message of hope will reach those who are wandering in darkness, offering them a path to eternal life.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
readPsalm 150:2

Pray for the gospel to advance among those who are living in darkness. Pray that they will come to know Jesus and praise Him for all that He has done.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Pathan (Marwari) Across Countries (ROP3 - 116804) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Pathan (Marwadi)PG046349Pathan (Marwadi)India286,000Engaged yet UnreachedMarwari (India)Sunni Islam

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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