The Malaneese of India

The Malaneese of India, numbering approximately 2,100 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an isolated community of the village of Malana in Himachal Pradesh, speaking their own Tibeto-Burman language, Kanashi. Agriculture remains their main occupation, supplemented by herb-collecting and animal husbandry. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Kanashi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Kanashi (xns)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 2,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049385
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kanashi
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

74%
%
Kanashi Speakers

Media Resources in Kanashi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Kanashi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Kanashi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent 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 Malaneese:
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

Pray specifically for the Malaneese of India

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:26-27

Pray that the lost will seek God and find Him, for He is not far from each one of us. Pray that they will have opportunities to access the gospel, learn God's purpose for their lives, and believe in Him.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Malaneese Across Countries (ROP3 - 113038) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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