The Southeast Pashayi of Afghanistan

The Southeast Pashayi of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 172,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a distinct subgroup of the Pashayi, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic people native to mountainous regions of northeastern Afghanistan, particularly in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces . They are an Indigenous people, in the Kashmiri people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Pashai, Southeast.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Southeast Pashayi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Kashmiri
Primary Language(s): Pashai, Southeast (psi)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 172,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048537

Pray for the Southeast Pashayi of Afghanistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pashai, Southeast
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Pashai, Southeast Speakers

Media Resources in Pashai, Southeast:

Films:

No entries found for: Pashai, Southeast(psi). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Pashai, Southeast:

Next steps for the Southeast Pashayi

The Southeast Pashayi 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 Southeast Pashayi

The Southeast Pashayi 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 Southeast Pashayi

The Southeast Pashayi 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 Southeast Pashayi of Afghanistan

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.  

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Pashayi, Southeast reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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