The Bania (Punjabi) of India

The Bania (Punjabi) of India, numbering approximately 207,000 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 Panjabi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bania
Primary Language(s): Panjabi (pan)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 207,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048038

Pray for the Bania (Punjabi) 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

96%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Panjabi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Punjabi, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Panjabi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Panjabi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 Bible League International✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Panjabi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bania (Punjabi) 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 (Punjabi):
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 (Punjabi) of India

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Bania (Panjabi) Across Countries (ROP3 - 116369) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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