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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Karmali of India

The Karmali of India, numbering approximately 86,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a small indigenous tribal community of eastern India, traditionally known as artisan blacksmiths and ironworkers. They are most closely associated with the Chotanagpur Plateau region, especially in Jharkhand, where they are recognized as a Scheduled Tribe. They are an Indigenous people in the Munda-Santal people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Maithili and their primary religion is Folk Hinduism.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: India Water Portal - Flickr India Water Portal - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Munda-Santal
Primary Language(s): Maithili (mai)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 86,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041834
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Pray for the Karmali of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

95%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maithili
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Maithili Speakers

Media Resources in Maithili:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Maithili:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Maithili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Karmali:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Karmali 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 Karmali:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Karmali 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.

Next steps for the Karmali:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Karmali of India

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
readHebrews 10:35

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hold unswervingly to their faith and to their confidence in Christ, which has a great reward.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Karmali Across Countries (ROP3 - 112444) 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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