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People group profile · PG049144

The Mallah of Nepal

The Mallah of Nepal, numbering about 202,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a traditional boatmen and fishermen people found across Nepal's plains, who trace descent to the ancient Nishada tribe of the Mahabharata and claim further ancestry from the sage Veda Vyasa, related to the Kewat boatmen of North India.

They are an indigenous people in the Mallah people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Hinduism, and they primarily speak Nepali (individual language).

Pray for the MallahPrint profile

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

Fast facts

Country
Nepal
Population
202,000
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Mallah
Primary language
Nepali (individual language) (npi)
Primary religion
Hinduism
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 Mallah 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 Mallah

  • 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

Nepali (individual language) · Indo-European family

100% speak Nepali (individual language)

Gospel resources in Nepali (individual language)

  • Bible available, published 2012
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not 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 Mallah

  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.

Download a prayer guide

Mallah, Hindu in other countries

The same people (ROP3 112835) is reported in 1 other country.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
MallahIndia3,780,000Engaged yet Unreached

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