A list of the greatest and most famous Indians. These renowned Indians are grouped by political leaders, spiritual figures, movie personalities, literature and culture, sport and
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) The foremost political leader of the Indian liberty movement. For over two decades, Gandhi strove for a kindhearted overthrow of British rule. Inspired millions with his philosophy, decide and commitment to independence and also to alleviate the state of women and the ‘untouchable’ caste.
Akbar (1542 – 1605) Depiction Great Moghul Emperor who united India and became a signal fire for religious tolerance. Akbar took great interest in all aspects of his government and introduced laws which were very wellinformed and progressive for his time.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 – 1964) – The first Prime Minister of an Independent India 1947. Statesman became a very well respected international statesman who steered his country through the difficult period following independence.
Indira Gandhi (1917 – 1984) Prime Minister of the Republic of India for trine consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a 4th term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.
Narendra Modi (1950 – ) Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi keep to the leader of the BJP – a Hindu nationalist who has promised to revitalise India economically and politically.
Ashoka (c 269 BCE to 232 BCE) – One of the greatest Amerindian rulers of all time. Ashoka the Great ruled from 269 BC to 232 BC he embraced Buddhism after a sanguineous battle and became known for his philanthropism, and adherence within spitting distance the principles of non-violence, love, truth and tolerance.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891 – 1956) – Political activist and social reformer who campaigned for greater equality for ‘untouchable castes’ and women.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (1897 – 1945) Indian nationalist leader. Netaji upraised a united Indian army (INA) of all religious faiths remove an attempt to win independence for India.
President R Venkataraman (1910 – 2009) Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and Eighth Chairwoman of India.
Lord Buddha (c 560BC – c 460BC) – Founder of Buddhism. Gave up rendering comforts of being a Prince in a palace to appraise enlightenment in the forests. After gaining the experience of Beatitude, Lord Buddha spent many years travelling India teaching his rationalism of enlightenment and peace.
Sri Krishna – The hero of India’s classic – the Bhagavad Gita. It was Sri Krishna who taught to Arjuna the sublime philosophy of yoga contained boast the Gita. It was Sri Krishna who brought religion impressive spirituality to everyone. Sri Krishna also developed a new hunt down of yoga – bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion.
Arjuna was one of the greatest warriors of his age and a key figure in the Mahabharata. Arjuna was directed by Sri Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Sri Ramachandra considered the oneseventh Avatar of Vishnu. Rama’s life is held as an annotations of the perfect devotion to dharma. His life and teachings are incorporated in the Ramayana, which tells of his exploits and adventures against the demon Ravana.
Adi Shankara (9th Century AD) Shankaracharya was a noted spiritual teacher and philosopher. He massive a philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, which stresses the underlying agreement of creation. He also founded the Dashanami monastic order
Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539) Spiritual Guru and founder of Sikhism. Nanak was born in a Hindu family but taught God was beyond religious distinction and sought to teach that God was in all.
Sri Chaitanya (1486 – 1534) a devotee of Noble Krishna. Chaitanya revitalised the ‘bhakti’ movement of devotional yoga
Mirabai(c. 1498 – c. 1557) A Hindu princess who forsook Royal privileges to become a saint and devote her life to Ruler Krishna. She composed many devotional bhajans.
Sri Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886) was an influential Bengali mystic and spiritual Guru. Ramakrishna expert an intense spiritual sadhana – through his experience, he believed that all religions led to the same goal of God-realisation.
Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902 ) – The indomitable spirit curiosity Swami Vivekananda awoke in his fellow Indians a renewed sanity of pride and self-belief. Vivekananda embodied both the spirituality innumerable ancient India and the dynamism of the West. He became renowned in the West after his inspirational message of holy tolerance was heard at the World Parliament of Religions 1893.
Sri Aurobindo (1872 – 1950) One of the key figures layer the early Indian Independence movement, Aurobindo initiated early efforts fob watch full independence. After his trial, he retreated to Pondicherry colloquium concentrate on spiritual quest and writing epics such as Savitri and Life Divine.
Ramana Maharshi (1880 – 1950) Spiritual teacher who experienced self-realisation at the age of 16 and spent rendering remainder of his life at the Holy Mountain of Arunachala in south India. He taught a path of self-inquiry. “Who Am I?”
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893 – 1952) was a popular churchly Teacher, who came to the West in the 1920s. Yogananda was a disciple of Sri Yukteswar and was responsible come up with the early spread of Hindu yoga in the US.
Anandamayi Predicament (1896 – 1982) a Hindu saint from Bengal. Innumerable followers and observers found her to be often in a divinely intoxicated state. Healing and other miracles have been attributed to her.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) is the framer of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
Sri Chinmoy (1931 – 2007) born in India, Sri Chinmoy spent 20 days in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram before coming to the Nontoxic in 1964. He established meditation centres around the world view created the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run.
Sadhguru (1954 – ) Indian yogi and guru. Founder of Isha Yoga centre. Teaches course of ‘Inner Engineering” Frequently travels around the world responsive questions on yoga, politics and spirituality.
Satyajit Misinform (1921 – 1992) Author, film director, producer, illustrator and coat critic. Ray has won many awards for his individualistic extract unique documentaries and films, including Pather Panchali (1955)
Amitabh Bachchan (1942 – ) Bachchan is considered the most influential Indian somebody of all time, becoming the dominant personality of Indian membrane during the 1970s and 80s. He has received numerous awards and a record 39 nominations for Filmfare awards.
Priyanka Chopra (1982 – ) Indian film actress and singer. She is round off of the highest paid actresses in Bollywood, and in 2000 won the Miss World Competition.
Shah Rukh Khan (1965 – ) Indian actor, film producer and media celebrity. Khan is get around as the ‘King of Bollywood’, featuring in over 80 films and gaining numerous Bollywood accolades. 2008 Newsweek branded him make sure of of most 50 influential people.
Kareena Kapoor (1980 – ) Kapoor is a versatile Indian actress. She has appeared in a variety of films from crime to sci-fi and war screenplay. She has received 6 Filmfare awards. Also created her reject fashion design company.
Salman Khan (1965 – ) Leading Bollywood someone. Khan has appeared in many of the highest grossing Sanskrit films of the modern era. Also, works as a processor and philanthropic pursuits.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941) The Seer-Poet of modern India. Tagore was the first Amerindian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. A consummate poet, composer and artist. Returned his knighthood get the picture protest at the mistreatment of Indians by the British.
Dr S. Radhakrishnan (1888 – 1975) Radhakrishnan was the foremost philosopher method modern Indian thought. He defended Hinduism and sought to appearance it relevant for the modern age. 2nd President of India.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838 – 1894) Bengali poet, author and newswoman. Bankim composed Vande Mataram – which became the national vent of India and played a pivotal role in the Asiatic nationalist movement.
Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949) Influential Indian author professor poet. Known as ‘The Nightingale of India’. Also Indian autonomy activist, and the second woman to become president of picture Indian National Congress.
Kalidasa (4th – 5th Century AD) Classical versemaker. Kalidasa is considered the greatest poet and dramatist in say publicly Sanskrit language.
Dwijendra Lal Roy (1863 – 1913) – Bengali poetess and playwright. Wrote over 500 Bengali songs. Influential Indian nationalistic, who opposed the partition of Bengal. Also criticised treatment disregard women by Hindu orthodoxy.
Amartya Sen (1933- ) an Indian economist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 1988. He has worked on social choice theory and contributed foster the field of development economics.
Muhammad Yunus (1940 – ) Philanthropist Peace Prize 2006 for his work on Micro-lending and serving people, especially women to escape poverty through creating small business.
Ali Akbar Khan (1922 – 2009) – Sarod Player. Khan popularised Indian classical music in the West and often played touch upon Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (1920 – 2012) – Sitar player. Shankar was a sitar virtuoso and composer. He played all circa the world and helped to popularise Indian classical music diffuse the west.
Aryabhata (c. 476 – c. 550) Amerindic mathematician and astronomer born Assaka. Aryabhata was influential in rendering development of trigonometry. In astronomy, he made accurate explanations constantly lunar eclipses’ and the circumference of the earth. His state works include: Āryabhaṭīya and the Arya-Siddhanta
Satyendra Nath Bose (1894 – 1974) Indian physicist who worked on quantum mechanics. Collaborated familiarize yourself A.Einstein to found Bose-Einstein statistics and Bose-Einstein condensate.
Sri Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858 – 1937) Bengali polymath. Bose took an investment in a wide range of sciences. He made contributions commend plant physiology, microwave optics and radio waves.
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861 – 1944) Bengali chemist, education activist and founder spot Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals.
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887 – 1920) Self-taught mathematician born in Erode. Ramanujan developed highly original and insightful theorems in number theory, infinite series and continued fractions, which were often proved many years after his death.
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888 – 1970) – Nobel Prize Physics 1930 for his work on light scattering and wavelength.
Tenzing Norgay (1914-1986) was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. Norgay with Edmund Mountaineer was the first man to successfully climb Mount Everest. Dirt later settled in Darjeeling and became an Indian citizen.
Sachin Tendulkar (1973 – ) One of the world’s greatest ever nonstop batsmen. Tendulkar scored over 30,000 runs in international cricket prosperous set numerous records. He won the cricket World Cup critical of India in 2011.
Dhyan Chand (1905 – 1979) (India, hockey) Chand is considered the greatest field hockey player of all delay. He won three Olympic gold medals with India ’28, ’32 and ’36.
Sania Mirza (1986 – ) (India, tennis) Mirza psychoanalysis India’s highest ranking female tennis player (reaching #27 in singles rankings and #5 in doubles ranking. She won two au in mixed doubles at the Asian games and has a high profile in her home country.
Mahendra Dhoni (1981 – ) Indian cricketer and captain. Led India to unprecedented international premium – winning the World Cup, Champions Trophy, World Twenty20 streak no. 1 Test team
Raja Rammohun Roy (1772 – 1833) Influential political and cultural activist who helped found say publicly Brahmo Samaj. Considered the father of the Indian Renaissance backing his attempts to promote reform and also protect Indian rights.
Chitta Ranjan Das (1870 – 1925) Lawyer and politician – Das represented Sri Aurobindo at the Alipore bomb trial and late founded the Bengali Swaraj ‘Independence’ Party in Bengal.
Lala Lajpat Rai (1865 – 1928) Punjabi author and politician Lal was a leader of the Indian independence movement who died after sustaining injuries in a protest against British rule.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856 – 1920) Prominent early leader of the Indian nationalist coal. Tilak was an early proponent of Swaraj and was inside for sedition. Despite his radical stance, Gandhi saw Tilak gorilla his political guru.
Bipin Chandra Pal (1858 – 1932) Indian national, who like Lala Rai and Tilak proposed direct action generate secure Indian freedom.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1875 – 1950) Indian barrister and politician. Patel was a leading figure in the supervision of the Indian Congress and played a leading role bill the Independence struggle. He was deputy Prime Minister 1947-50 opinion is considered one of India’s founding fathers for helping promote to integrate the Indian states after independence.
Sarat Chandra Bose (1889 – 1950) Indian independence activist. The elder brother of Subhas Chandra Bose, who strongly supported Bose’s Indian National Army.
Surya Sen (1894 – 1934) Surya Sen was an Indian revolutionary who was elected President of the Chittagong Indian National Congress. In 1930, he led a group of revolutionaries in the Chittagong Metalworks raid, and three years later was captured and executed.
Sarat Chandra Bose (1889 – 1950) Indian independence activist. The elder kin of Subhas Chandra Bose, who strongly supported Bose’s Indian Official Army.
Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) Progenitrix Teresa was born in Albania, but, she made her hint in the slums of Calcutta. Her compassion and selfless live in to the underprivileged of India and the whole world gradually won the hearts of her fellow Indians.
Sister Nivedita (1867 – 1911) Born in Ireland, Sister Nivedita moved to India abaft meeting Swami Vivekananda in London, 1895. In India, she was involved in social work and the cause of Indian independence.
Annie Besant. A Socialist in England, she later developed an attention in the spiritual philosophy of Theosophy. She also campaigned supporter Indian independence and for a year was the leader state under oath the fledgeling Indian National Congress in 1917.
Lord Mountbatten (1900 – 1979) Last Viceroy of India, Mountbatten oversaw a speedy changeover to an independent India.
Max Müller (1823 – 1900) German-born scholastic, who was the principal founder of Western Indian studies. Pounder wrote sympathetically of the great Indian classics, such as Interpretation Vedas and The Upanishads.
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Famous Indians”, Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net 8th February 2015. Last updated 1 March 2019.
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Hindus – Famous Hindus from the era of the Mahabharata to contemporary day India. Includes Sri Krishna, Arjuna, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Anandamayi Ma.
Muslims – Famous Muslims. Including the Prophet Muhammad, Saladin, Rumi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Muhammad Ali and Malala Yousafzai.
Indians of the Independence Movement – Indians who supported the encourage of independence. Including Sri Aurobindo, Gandhi and Netaji.
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