Karmali in Bangladesh


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 Karmali of India are a Scheduled Tribe in the state of Jharkhand. They are mostly in Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum. A smaller number are in Bangladesh.


What Are Their Lives Like?

The Karmali build their homes with mud walls and with tiles and bamboo. Their houses are rectangular in shape, and they make their own wooden doors. They breed and eat pigs and, as a result, other tribes regard them as low caste and do not accept food and water from them. The Karmali weave baskets and the women wear ornaments.
The Karmali people are monogamous. When the women cannot have children through barrenness, bigamy and trigamy is permitted. They also allow remarriage for widowers and widows. They are endogamous and have clan exogamy. This means they marry within the group but not within their same clan. They do not allow marriage between tribes.
In marriage there is a bride price paid in cash or with goods by the father of the groom. The fathers or guardians arrange the marriage. The boy's father contacts the girl's father to arrange the marriage. The village priest helps to arrange the date of the marriage. Females from both families perform a soil digging ritual. Oil is put on the couple, and they are blessed by the families. They have a feast. The bride stays for a week and the father of the bride takes her home where she stays for a year.
The Karmali make, sharpen and repair tools. They sell them to agricultural communities. They also make house and agriculture tools such as axes and sickles. Today they have difficulty getting the needed raw materials, so some earn their living as day laborers.
The Karmali have a community panchayat and all family leaders are members. The leader is called Mahato and is also the village chief. Cases such as divorce, adultery, rape and unfaithfulness in marriage are listened to and then a decision is given.
The Karmali kinship goes according to parentage and marriage. The lineage is through the fathers. Kin are classed by how near and distant they are.


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Karmali are Hindus. The main god they worship is Singbonga but they worship other gods as well. They believe that spirits of their ancestors live in their homes, so they and their priests make sacrifices to these gods. They believe in witchcraft.


What Are Their Needs?

The Karmali people in Bangladesh need more of Jesus in their families, their villages and their communities.


Prayer Points

Pray for the Karmali culture to be renewed and enhanced by a work of the Holy Spirit and shaped into a God-centered and God-honoring mold.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among Karmali family and community leaders to seek his face and enjoy his blessings.
Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers who will be compelled to nurture a Disciple Making Movement among the Karmali people.
Pray that soon the Karmali people will have faith that will lead them to live honorable lives that will draw others to the savior.


Scripture Prayers for the Karmali in Bangladesh.


References

www.indianetzone.com/56/karmali_tribe.htm


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Karmali
People Name in Country Karmali
Pronunciation kar-MAH-lee
Alternate Names Kamalia; Karnalia; करमाली
Population this Country 5,400
Population all Countries 150,000
Total Countries 2
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group No
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 17102
ROP3 Code 112444
Country Bangladesh
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 26  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Country Bangladesh
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 26  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States 1
  Sylhet 5,400
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Hinduism
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
2.70 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
97.06 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.24 %
* From latest Bangladesh census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Sylheti (4,400 speakers)
Language Code syl   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
Bengali
1,000
Primary Language Sylheti (4,400 speakers)
Language Code syl   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
  Bengali 1,000
People Groups Speaking Sylheti

Primary Language:  Sylheti

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1993)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (2014)
Bible-Complete No
FCBH NT (www.bible.is) Online
YouVersion NT (www.bible.com) Online
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Film / Video God's Story video God's Story
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Sylheti Jesus Film Project
Film / Video LUMO film of Gospels Bible Media Group/LUMO
Film / Video My Last Day video, anime Jesus Film Project
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Bible in text or audio or video South Asia Bibles
General Bible in text or audio or video Internet Publishing Sevice
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links (Bangla script) Scripture Earth
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links (Nagri script) Scripture Earth
General YouVersion Bible versions in text and/or audio YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App Android Bible app: Sylheti YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App Android Bible app: Sylheti Kitab General / Other
Mobile App iOS Bible app: Sylheti YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App iOS Bible app: Sylheti Kitab General / Other
Photo Source (Representative photo)
India Water Portal - Flickr  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.


Joshua Project logo    Terms of Use   Privacy Policy   Contact Us   Copyright © 2024