Jaunsari in India

The Jaunsari have only been reported in India
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge
* Data can be from various sources including official census, agencies, and local research. Data from these sources can sometimes differ even by orders of magnitude. Joshua Project attempts to present a conservative, balanced estimate.

Introduction / History

The Jaunsari Pahari live primarily in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The term "Pahari" can refer to any mountain dwelling people, but in North India it generally refers to the Indo-European speaking peoples of the Himalayas. The different Paharia groups can be distinguished by region, religion, and caste.

With a culture over 4,000 years old and the world's second largest population, India contains a multitude of closely related people groups. Over thousands of years, these countless groups have migrated into this subcontinent, and many have maintained distinctive cultures. Today, more than 800 languages are spoken in India, and the complex caste system has further divided the people into an endless number of social classes.

The Jaunsari caste system has only three categories: landowners, servants (those involved in a service occupation or art), and Brahmins (Hindu priests). One's "assignment" to a caste is determined by birth.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Most of the Jaunsari are farmers. They cultivate terraces on hillsides which produce only meager crops twice a year. Their principal crops are potatoes and rice, and a variety of other vegetables are also grown. Fertilizer is used, as well as a system of plot rotation in which the ground is allowed to lie fallow. Wet rice is grown during the monsoon season, whereas dry rice, maize, millet, and wheat are raised on the drier land during the summer and winter months. Most of the farmers raise buffalo and goats for meat and cows for milk. The villagers live on a simple diet of milk, lentils, a few vegetables, a little fruit, and occasionally meat.

The Jaunsari live in extended families in villages that consist of loosely grouped homes surrounded by the farm land. The villages are generally situated near rivers or springs, and the homes are connected by footpaths. Sometimes the paths meet together near a large tree that is used as a meeting place for the villagers as well as a resting place for travelers.

The houses are rectangular in shape with stone and mortar walls. The roofs are made of slate, wood, or thatch. Doors, windows, and door frames are often ornately carved and painted. The houses usually have two or more stories, with the people living on the second floor and the animals roaming freely on the ground floor.

Like most Hindus, the Jaunsari are required to marry within the same caste. Children, whether born to landowners or to servants, are generally treated well. Breast-feeding may continue until a child is two or three years old. There are many rites of passage for children such as the first rice feeding and the first haircut. Also, girls go through puberty rites and boys go through initiations known as sacred thread ceremonies. When they are about eight years old, the children begin doing domestic chores. Girls help care for the younger children, haul water, and carry food for the animals. Boys usually tend the animals.

Among the landowners, both the men and women share the farming duties. Men use the animals to plow and sow seed, while the women prepare manure for fertilizer, and sift and grind the grain. They also care for the children, cook, keep the house, and tend to the animals, while their husbands are responsible for building the homes, as well as trading goods outside the villages. In families of the lower caste, the men work at a specified occupation.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Virtually all of the Jaunsari are Hindus; however, they are not as strict as most Hindus. They believe in ghosts and demons that haunt the crossroads and rivers, and regularly try to appease them with offerings. The Brahmins (Hindu scholars and priests) perform important domestic rituals and teachings for the people.


What Are Their Needs?

There is a need for gospel materials Jaunsari. Only a few have converted to Christianity.


Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to India and share Christ with the Jaunsari.
Pray for God to raise up prayer teams who will break up the soil through worship and intercession.
Ask God to give Jaunsari Christians boldness to share the Gospel with their own people.
Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the people toward Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
Pray that God will open the hearts of India's governmental leaders to the Gospel.


Scripture Prayers for the Jaunsari in India.


Profile Source:   Bethany World Prayer Center  

People Name General Jaunsari
People Name in Country Jaunsari
Pronunciation JON-saw-ree
Alternate Names Pahari; जौनसारी
Population this Country 105,000
Population all Countries 105,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 2
PeopleID3 16998
ROP3 Code 112314
Country India
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 11  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States on file 4
Largest States
Uttarakhand
100,000
Uttar Pradesh
4,200
Himachal Pradesh
600
Rajasthan
70
Districts Interactive map, listing and data download
Specialized Website South Asia Peoples
Country India
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 11  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States 4
  Uttarakhand 100,000
  Uttar Pradesh 4,200
  Himachal Pradesh 600
  Rajasthan 70
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Hinduism
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
0.01 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
0.03 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
99.59 %
Islam
0.27 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.03 %
Unknown
0.07 %
* From latest India census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Jaunsari (86,000 speakers)
Language Code jns   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 24
Secondary Languages
(only 15 largest shown)
Hindi
3,700
Garhwali
2,000
Bhili
200
Nepali
100
Pahari, Mahasu
100
Kashmiri
100
Kinnauri
50
Braj Bhasha
20
Kurux
20
Pahari Sikkimese Kannada
Bhojpuri Sanskrit Bengali
Primary Language Jaunsari (86,000 speakers)
Language Code jns   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 24
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown)
  Hindi 3,700
  Garhwali 2,000
  Bhili 200
  Nepali 100
  Pahari, Mahasu 100
  Kashmiri 100
  Kinnauri 50
  Braj Bhasha 20
  Kurux 20
  Pahari 10
  Sikkimese 10
  Kannada 0
  Bhojpuri 0
  Sanskrit 0
  Bengali 0
People Groups Speaking Jaunsari
Photo Source Anonymous 
Map Source People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Bethany World Prayer Center 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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