The Southern Tati of Iran

The Southern Tati of Iran, numbering approximately 180,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a linguistic subgroup of the Tats, an Iranian ethnic group predominantly found in the Markazi and Qom provinces of northern Iran and can also be known as Maragheh, Razajerdi, Takistani, Ramand, Gozarkhani, Alviri-Vidari, Vafsi, Kabatei, Eshtehardi, Taromi Upper. They are an Indigenous people, in the Persian people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Alviri-Vidari.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Southern Tati

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Alviri-Vidari (avd)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 180,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048860
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Southern Tati of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Alviri-Vidari
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Alviri-Vidari Speakers

Media Resources in Alviri-Vidari:

Films:

No entries found for: Alviri-Vidari(avd). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Alviri-Vidari:

Or check out the Alviri-Vidari bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Southern Tati

The Southern Tati 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 Southern Tati

The Southern Tati 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 Southern Tati

The Southern Tati 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 Southern Tati of Iran

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turnedóevery oneóto his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
readIsaiah 53:6

Pray that those who have wandered far from God will be drawn back to Him, recognizing their need for a Savior and finding forgiveness and new life in Christ.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Tati, Southern (ROP3 - 116566) reported in the following countries:

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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