The Chamar people are also known as Bhambi, Asadaru, Khalpa, Machigar, Mochi, and Rohit. The origins of the name "chamar" come from their leather work. Like most major Hindu castes, the Chamar have subgroups. One of their subgroups is the Satnami.
The Satnamis were established by a Hindu guru by the name of Ghasidas who lived from 1756 to 1850. Satnami Chamars live mainly in Chand?garh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
In traditional Hinduism, those who deal with "dead" matter are among the low status communities. This is especially true for those who work with leather, which comes from the "holy" cow. The Chamar's main occupation is manufacturing shoes and chappals from finished leather. Chamars are among the largest Dalit communities in the Hindu world and have very low status. This low status in Indian-Hindu tradition makes them undesirable and unworthy of any sort of consideration or provision by society. This translates into frequent joblessness, lack of education and lifelong poverty. Traditional upper caste members would avoid their shadow, though this would be rare today.
Some are engaged in daily-wage labor and petty business. Chamar Women are also involved in agricultural work, animal husbandry and various economic activities.
The Chamar practice monogamy in marriage, meaning one man marries one woman. They allow remarriage for widowers but not for the widows. The dead body of a bachelor is buried lying on its back with the head facing the south, whereas others are cremated, and their mortal remains are immersed in sacred water. They offer rice balls to the dead and to ancestors on the tenth day after death.
The Satnami Chamar are Hindu. They follow the teachings of Ghasidas, a guru who taught that all communities are equal. Ghasidas emphasized truth and equality much like the Sikhs. He told his people to throw away their idols and listen to a white man who comes to them with a large book. For a time, they listened to Christian missionaries, but that movement has since fizzled out.
There is a slightly higher degree of responsiveness to the gospel among the Chamars than among other Dalits. There is a church planting movement underway among Chamars in several districts across India, but they are far from unreached. It will take many workers to get the gospel to all Chamar communities throughout India.
Pray for God to send hundreds of Christian workers among them and meet their spiritual and physical needs.
Pray for the Chamar people to break through the caste barrier and be accepted by other communities.
Pray that these Chamar believers will be salt and light to Chamar communities throughout India.
Pray that church planting will multiply across all Chamar communities.
Scripture Prayers for the Chamar Satnami in India.
India Missions Association, Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Copyrighted © Used with permission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamar
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chamars
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chamar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghasidas
Profile Source: Joshua Project |
People Name General | Chamar Satnami |
People Name in Country | Chamar Satnami |
Natural Name | Satnami Chamar |
Alternate Names | Chamar; Chambhar; Chamehar; Chhattis; Dhusia; Dohare; Jaiswar; Jatava; Jhusia; Kureel; Mochi; Moci; Ramdasia; Satnami; Shankhwar |
Population this Country | 2,120,000 |
Population all Countries | 2,120,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | No |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 42 |
People ID | 21708 |
ROP3 Code | 118496 |
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 | 5 | ||||||
Largest States |
|
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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 | 5 |
Chhattisgarh 1,273,000 | |
Uttar Pradesh 757,000 | |
Maharashtra 39,000 | |
Jharkhand 11,000 | |
Madhya Pradesh 7,300 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Religion: | Hinduism |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.51 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical Unknown) |
1.69 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
97.80 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
* From latest India census data. Current Christian values may substantially differ. |
Primary Language | Hindi (937,000 speakers) | |||||||||||||||
Language Code | hin Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||||||||
Total Languages | 14 | |||||||||||||||
Secondary Languages |
|
Primary Language | Hindi (937,000 speakers) |
Language Code | hin Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 14 |
Secondary Languages | |
Chhattisgarhi 733,000 | |
Bhojpuri 37,000 | |
Awadhi 23,000 | |
Kanauji 18,000 | |
Marathi 12,000 | |
Odia 5,300 | |
Bagheli 2,500 | |
Bundeli 2,400 | |
Konkani 1,600 | |
Bengali 800 | |
Braj Bhasha 600 | |
Ahirani 200 | |
Bhatri 30 | |
People Groups | Speaking Hindi |
Primary Language: Hindi
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes (1806-1962) |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (1811-1998) |
Bible-Complete | Yes (1835-2022) |
Bible-NT Audio | Online |
Bible-NT Text | Online |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Photo Source | Amit Satnami - Wikimedia Creative Commons |
Map Source | People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project |
Profile Source | Joshua Project |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more. |