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The Bania (Malayalam) of India

The Bania (Malayalam) of India, numbering approximately 157,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a cluster of merchant and trading communities traditionally associated with commerce, finance, and accounting. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Malayalam is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bania (Malayalam)

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bania
Primary Language(s): Malayalam (mal)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 157,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048033

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Pray for the Bania (Malayalam) 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

100%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malayalam
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Malayalam Speakers

Media Resources in Malayalam:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Malayalam:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible League International✓✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version ™✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malayalam bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bania (Malayalam) 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 Bania (Malayalam):
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 Bania (Malayalam) 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.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Bania (Malayalam) Across Countries (ROP3 - 116365) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Bania (Malayalam)PG048033Bania (Malayalam)India157,000Engaged yet UnreachedMalayalamHinduism

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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