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The Teli (Punjabi) of India

The Teli (Punjabi) of India, numbering approximately 101,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large occupational caste/community of South Asia, historically known as oil pressers and oil traders. Their name comes from a Hindi word meaning oil, reflecting their traditional work of extracting vegetable oil using bullock‑driven wooden presses. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Panjabi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Teli
Primary Language(s): Panjabi (pan)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 101,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049949

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Pray for the Teli (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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

—
%
Sunni Islam 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

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Panjabi:

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

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Panjabi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Teli (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 Teli (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 Teli (Punjabi) of India

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
readPsalm 66:4

Pray that the good news of Jesus will advance here and that many will bow down and sing praises to His name.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Teli (Panjabi) Across Countries (ROP3 - 117858) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Teli (Punjabi)PG049949Teli (Punjabi)India101,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam

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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