Tangkhul Naga 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

Unfortunately the history of the Tangkhul tribe is not written in the early days. Still then, history can be read and understood through oral conversation, songs and cultures of the people. The Tangkhul people belong to the Mongoloid race that came from the East and this has been agreed by all the Tangkhul.

The arrival of Missionaries in the hills of Manipur to 'civilize the savage' marked the beginning of profound changes in their ways of life. Tangkhul's speak more than a hundred dialects among themselves, one readily intelligible to those of the neighboring areas but may not be to others further in geographic spread.


Where Are they Located?

Most of them live in Manipur's Ukhrul district in North East India. These days many Tangkhul youngsters are staying in different cities of India where they study or work. They may be far away of their hometown but they love their people, its culture, food and language! In most of the cities you can find a Tangkhul church!


What Are Their Lives Like?

The Tangkhul are basically agriculturists, but they do run small scale industries in the village level. Their limited sources of income and resources could not meet both ends and sooner they were reduced to a people living below poverty line. Even to this day, they have yet to pick-up with the trends of modern economy. The main sources of income of the people can be broadly divided into agriculture, industries, forest wealth, river wealth and a very primitive animal husbandry method. Tangkhul's are music lovers and their songs are soft and melodious.

There are also thousands and thousands of Tangkhul's outside of Manipur. Almost every family has at least one of their children who is staying in places like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Dehradun, Calcutta, Chennai or one of the other major cities of India where they are studying or do have a job. Many of them are working in call-centers. The Gospel brought education and as they are quite well educated, smart, good looking, have good moral and often speak good English they have the opportunity to have well paid jobs what gives them the opportunity to support their families back home. This is one of the fruits of the Gospel coming to them as education was introduced to them by Alice Pettigrew, William Pettigrew's wife, the first missionary to them, but very few young people will give the glory to God! Christianity became for many of them not more as a part of their tradition.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Ukhrul district is the birthplace of Christianity and Western education in Manipur State, brought as early as 1896. Those days the Tangkhul's were known to be head hunters but the Gospel brought an amazing transformation. William and Alice Pettigrew established the Mission School in Ukhrul, translated the Bible into the Tangkhul language and baptized the first 12 Tangkhul. In less than half a century almost 99% of the Tangkhul's were converted to Christianity and many of the other tribes living in the North-East of India have embraced Christianity as a result of this. There are different denominations but most of the Tangkhul's are Baptist or Roman Catholic.

Majority may have embraced Christianity but Christ and His commands became for many Tangkhul's more a tradition as a reality to live for.


What Are Their Needs?

In India Manipur is the state with the highest percentage of drug and alcohol addicts and HIV and aids affected and inside Manipur Ukhrul district has the highest percentage. This is a result of 'giving freedom' and of not having (or giving) time to the children and of lack of discipleship in the church. Mainly we can say that this is understandable as life is very hard. Most of the things are still done by hand. Getting water out of a well, washing clothes, cooking on a wood fire, cutting wood … it keeps people busy and keeps them away from caring for the heart of the children and to disciple them.

Most of the church leaders have a good Bible knowledge but sadly have more zeal for their church programs than for the unreached that still have to be reached. Most of them show little or no interest in missionary activities among the unreached and therefore also fail in training youngster to do so.

Many Tangkhul's still go to church but also many take it for granted and therefore also many children don't go to church or Sunday school anymore. If we are not going to take discipleship and ministry to the children belonging to the 4-14 Window (ages 4 to 14) serious the Tangkhul's will be on the list of unreached people in about 40 or 50 years!!!


Prayer Points

For a revelation of God's heart for the unreached.
Biblical discipleship and church leadership.
For God's Spirit to influence and transform the community in all 7 spheres of society. (Family, government, religion, education, celebration (arts, sports and entertainment), media, business and economics)
For Christian social workers to work among the drug and alcohol addicted people.
Divine comfort for the victims of AIDS.
For the children and youth (4/14 Window) to be reached, revived and released into Kingdom ministries


Scripture Prayers for the Naga Tangkhul in India.


Profile Source:   Moved For All Nations 

People Name General Naga Tangkhul
People Name in Country Naga Tangkhul
Natural Name Tangkhul Naga
Alternate Names Tankhul; नगा, टांग्खुल
Population this Country 224,000
Population all Countries 229,000
Total Countries 2
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 3
Unreached No
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 6  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed
PeopleID3 18214
ROP3 Code 113738
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 10
Largest States
Manipur
202,000
Nagaland
21,000
Meghalaya
1,000
Delhi
500
West Bengal
90
Arunachal Pradesh
70
Uttar Pradesh
20
Rajasthan
10
Assam
10
Uttarakhand
10
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 10
  Manipur 202,000
  Nagaland 21,000
  Meghalaya 1,000
  Delhi 500
  West Bengal 90
  Arunachal Pradesh 70
  Uttar Pradesh 20
  Rajasthan 10
  Assam 10
  Uttarakhand 10
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Christianity
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
0.27 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
98.08 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
1.05 %
Islam
0.42 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.05 %
Unknown
0.13 %
* From latest India census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Naga, Tangkhul (India) (193,000 speakers)
Language Code nmf   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 29
Secondary Languages
(only 15 largest shown)
Naga, Chokri
2,300
Naga, Liangmai
1,400
Chin, Thado
700
Hindi
300
Vaiphei
200
English
200
Naga, Zeme
100
Chin, Paite
90
Gangte
80
Meitei
70
Nepali
70
Naga, Maring
60
Urdu
40
Bengali
20
Dogri
20
Primary Language Naga, Tangkhul (India) (193,000 speakers)
Language Code nmf   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 29
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown)
  Naga, Chokri 2,300
  Naga, Liangmai 1,400
  Chin, Thado 700
  Hindi 300
  Vaiphei 200
  English 200
  Naga, Zeme 100
  Chin, Paite 90
  Gangte 80
  Meitei 70
  Nepali 70
  Naga, Maring 60
  Urdu 40
  Bengali 20
  Dogri 20
People Groups Speaking Naga, Tangkhul (India)

Primary Language:  Naga, Tangkhul (India)

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1904-1967)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (1927-1995)
Bible-Complete Yes  (1976-2014)
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 Naga, Tangkhul Jesus Film Project
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
General YouVersion Bible versions in text and/or audio YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App Android Bible app: Naga, Tangkhul YouVersion Bibles
Mobile App iOS Bible app: Naga, Tangkhul YouVersion Bibles
Text / Printed Matter Topical Scripture booklets and Bible studies World Missionary Press
Photo Source Moved For All Nations 
Map Source People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Moved For All Nations 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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