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People group profile · PG041396

The Manihar of India

The Manihar of India, numbering about 623,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a bangle-making community of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh who migrated from Sindh roughly two centuries ago. Making and selling lac and glass bangles remains their traditional trade.

They are an indigenous people in the Urdu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Urdu.

Pray for the ManiharPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Manihar people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Manihar

Fast facts

Country
India
Population
623,000
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Urdu
Primary language
Urdu (urd)
Primary religion
Sunni Islam
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Southern Asia, Asia

Where they live

Gospel status

The Manihar are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, 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.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Manihar

  • 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

Primary religion

Sunni Islam · Islam

99% adherents

Primary language

Urdu · Indo-European family

100% speak Urdu

Gospel resources in Urdu

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Manihar

  1. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
  2. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  3. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  4. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.

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