Famous People from India

98 notable historical figures from India, including leaders, artists, scientists, and other influential people.

Mahatma Gandhi

1869 – 1948

Indian independence activist (1869–1948)

Born October 2

Mother Teresa

1910 – 1997

Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and missionary (1910–1997)

Born August 26

Jawaharlal Nehru

1889 – 1964

Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964

Born November 14

Indira Gandhi

1917 – 1984

Prime Minister of India (1966-1977, 1980-1984)

Born November 19

B. R. Ambedkar

1891 – 1956

Indian polymath, philosopher, and social reformer (1891–1956)

Born April 14

Satyajit Ray

1921 – 1992

Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992)

Born May 2

Shah Rukh Khan

1965 – Present

Indian actor, producer and television personality

Born November 2

Salman Rushdie

1947 – Present

Indian-born British-American novelist (born 1947)

Born June 19

Amitabh Bachchan

1942 – Present

Indian film actor (born 1942)

Born October 11

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

1973 – Present

Indian actress (1973-present)

Born November 1

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

1888 – 1970

Indian physicist (1888–1970)

Born November 7

Manmohan Singh

1932 – 2024

Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician and statesman

Born September 26

Priyanka Chopra

1982 – Present

Indian actress (born 1982)

Born July 18

Rajiv Gandhi

1944 – 1991

Prime Minister of India (1984-1989)

Born August 20

Amartya Sen

1933 – Present

Indian economist and philosopher (1933-)

Born November 3

Jiddu Krishnamurti

1895 – 1986

Indian spiritual philosopher, mystic, speaker and writer (1895–1986)

Born May 12

Salman Khan

1965 – Present

Indian actor and producer (born 1965)

Born December 27

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

1931 – 2015

Indian scientist and statesman (1931–2015)

Born October 15

Pranab Mukherjee

1935 – 2020

President of India from 2012 to 2017

Born December 11

Aurobindo Ghosh

1872 – 1950

Indian Bengali philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet and nationalist (1872–1950)

Born August 15

Ravi Shankar

1920 – 2012

Indian sitar player (1920–2012)

Born April 7

Rajneesh

1931 – 1990

Indian guru and leader of the Rajneesh movement (1931–1990)

Born December 11

Tenzing Norgay

1914 – 1986

Nepalese Indian Sherpa mountaineer (1914-1986)

Born May 29

Arundhati Roy

1961 – Present

Indian novelist, essayist, and activist

Born November 24

Pratibha Patil

1934 – Present

President of India from 2007 to 2012

Born December 19

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

1924 – 2018

Prime Minister of India (1996, 1988-2004)

Born December 24

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

1910 – 1995

Indian-American astrophysicist

Born October 19

Droupadi Murmu

1958 – Present

President of India since 2022

Born June 20

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

1888 – 1975

2nd President and 1st Vice President of India, Indian philosopher and politician (1888–1975)

Born September 5

Ram Nath Kovind

1945 – Present

President of India from 2017 to 2022

Born October 1

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

1875 – 1950

Indian barrister, leader of the Indian National Congress and founding father of the Republic of India (1875-1950)

Born October 31

Satyendra Nath Bose

1894 – 1974

Indian Bengali physicist and polymath (1894–1974)

Born January 1

Ram Narayan

1927 – 2024

Indian classical sarangi player (1927–2024)

Born December 25

Rajendra Prasad

1884 – 1963

First President of the Republic of India

Born December 3

Paramahansa Yogananda

1893 – 1952

Yogi, Kriya Yoga guru and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship (1893-1952)

Born January 5

Abhishek Bachchan

1976 – Present

Indian actor and film producer (Born 1976)

Born February 5

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

1896 – 1977

Indian spiritual teacher and founder of the ISKCON

Born September 1

Har Gobind Khorana

1922 – 2011

Indian-American molecular biologist (1922-2011)

Born January 9

Ramana Maharshi

1879 – 1950

Indian spiritual teacher (1879–1950)

Born December 30

Shraddha Kapoor

1987 – Present

Indian film actress and singer

Born March 3

Lal Bahadur Shastri

1904 – 1966

Prime Minister of India (1964-1966)

Born October 2

Vandana Shiva

1952 – Present

Indian philosopher, activist and environmentalist (*1952)

Born November 5

Anushka Sharma

1988 – Present

Indian actress

Born May 1

Hema Malini

1948 – Present

Indian actress, dancer, and politician

Born October 16

Jhumpa Lahiri

1967 – Present

American author of Indian origin (born 1967)

Born July 11

Gukesh D

2006 – Present

Indian chess grandmaster

Born May 29

Sarojini Naidu

1879 – 1949

Indian poet, politician, governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949

Born February 13

Saif Ali Khan

1970 – Present

Indian film actor and producer

Born August 16

Sundar Pichai

1972 – Present

Indian-American business executive, CEO of Google LLC & Alphabet Inc.

Born June 10

A. R. Rahman

1966 – Present

Indian composer and musician

Born January 6

M. Night Shyamalan

1970 – Present

American filmmaker (born 1970)

Born August 6

Shilpa Shetty

1976 – Present

Indian actress and film producer (born 1975)

Born June 8

P. V. Narasimha Rao

1921 – 2004

Prime Minister of India (1991-1996)

Born June 28

Lara Dutta

1978 – Present

Indian actress (born 1978)

Born April 16

V. V. Giri

1894 – 1980

Indian politician and 4th president of India (1894-1980)

Born August 10

Ajay Devgn

1969 – Present

Indian film actor, director and producer

Born April 2

Karisma Kapoor

1974 – Present

Indian actress (born 1974)

Born June 25

J.B.S. Haldane

1892 – 1964

Geneticist and evolutionary biologist (1892-1964)

Born November 5

Rahul Gandhi

1970 – Present

Indian politician (1970-present)

Born June 19

Anna Hazare

1937 – Present

Indian activist (born 1937)

Born June 15

K. R. Narayanan

1920 – 2005

President of India from 1997 to 2002

Born October 27

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

1905 – 1977

politician, fifth President of India (1905-1977)

Born May 13

Abul Kalam Azad

1888 – 1958

Indian politician and writer (1888–1958)

Born November 11

Meera

1498 – 1546

16th-century Hindu mystic poet, saint and devotee of the god Krishna

Born January 1