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The Rushon of Tajikistan

The Rushon of Tajikistan, numbering approximately 17,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Pamiri people of Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan speaking a Shughni-Rushani language, converted to Ismaili Islam in the 11th century by the poet-philosopher Nasir Khusraw after finding refuge from Sunni persecution in the Pamir mountains. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Shughni is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Tajikistan
People Cluster: Tajik
Primary Language(s): Shughni (sgh)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 17,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047001

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Pray for the Rushon of Tajikistan

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shughni
Language Family: Indo-European

80%
%
Shughni Speakers

Media Resources in Shughni:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shughni:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shughni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Rushon 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 Rushon:
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 Rushon of Tajikistan

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
readJohn 3:17

Pray for those who are living under the burdens of man-made religion to learn about the freedom Jesus offers them and turn to Him in faith.

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.

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
readIsaiah 25:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of the Lord's coming, when He will swallow up death forever and wipe away their tears.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Rushan Across Countries (ROP3 - 116094) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RushonPG047001RushonTajikistan17,500Engaged yet UnreachedShughniShia Islam
RushonPG047002RushonAfghanistan6,000Engaged yet UnreachedShughniShia Imami Ismaili 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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