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People group profile · PG041856

The Thoria of India

The Thoria of India, numbering about 52,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of the Odisha-Madhya Pradesh border, also called Mahajan in Madhya Pradesh, once traders in salt and stationery. Settled agriculture and moneylending are now their main occupations.

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

Pray for the ThoriaPrint profile

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

Fast facts

Country
India
Population
52,000
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Odia
Primary language
Odia (ory)
Primary religion
Hinduism
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
No Known Evangelicals
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Southern Asia, Asia
Location
Andhra Pradesh: Vishakhapatnam district; Chhattisgarh: Bastar, Raigarh, and Raipur districts; Jharkhand: Ranchi and Singhbhum districts; West Bengal: Medinipur (Midnapore) district; Assam and Odisha states

Where they live

Gospel status

The Thoria 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 No
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Thoria

  • 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

Hinduism

99% adherents

Primary language

Odia · Indo-European family

100% speak Odia

Gospel resources in Odia

  • Bible available, published 2021
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories available

Films

Bibles

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

Pray for the Thoria

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

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