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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Khatwe of India

The Khatwe of India, numbering approximately 263,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of northern Bihar descended from Magadh migrants who traditionally served as palanquin-bearers. Most are now agricultural laborers, with some vegetarian Vaishnava families. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Maithili is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Maithili (mai)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 263,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049388
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Pray for the Khatwe 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

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maithili
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Maithili Speakers

Media Resources in Maithili:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Maithili:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Tranlsators, Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Maithili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Khatwe 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 Khatwe:
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 Khatwe of India

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 8:1

Pray that God will reassure those who may be struggling with the cost of following Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Khatwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 112541) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KhatwePG049388KhatweIndia263,000Engaged yet UnreachedMaithiliHinduism
KhatwePG049137KhatweNepal131,000Engaged yet UnreachedNepali (individual language)Hinduism

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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