List of people from Punjab, India

Nobel laureates

Har Gobind Khorana

Rulers

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a founder of a Sikh Empire
Porus the Elder was an ancient Indian King
Banda Singh Bahadur was an commander of Khalsa army
Nawab Kapur Singh was the organizer of the Sikh Confederacy and the Dal Khalsa.^[1]
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Sikh leader during the Sikh Confederacy, being the Supreme Leader of the Dal Khalsa. He was also Misldar of the Ahluwalia Misl from approximately 1716 to 1801. He founded the Kapurthala State in 1772
Charat Singh, the father of Mahan Singh, and grandfather of Ranjit Singh. He distinguished himself in campaigns against Ahmad Shah Abdali and split from the Singhpuria Misl to establish the Sukerchakia Misl.
Maha Singh, the eldest son of Charat Singh and Desan Kaur, who became the second chief of the Sukerchakia Misl on the death of his father. His son Ranjit Singh succeeded him and established the Sikh Empire. He is known for his alliance with Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and for reducing the power of the Kanhaiya Misl
Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was a prominent Sikh leader during the period of the Sikh Confederacy. He was the Commander of the Ramgarhia Misl

Other Notable Misl Rulers

Jai Singh Kanhaiya was the founder of Kanhaiya Misl, he was one of the most powerful sikh rulers during Sikh Confederacies period
Sada Kaur Mother-in-law of Ranjit Singh. She served as a chief of the Kanhaiya Misl from 1789 to 1821
Hari Singh Dhillon one of the most powerful, admired in all the sikhs in 18th century. He was the Maharaja of Amritsar and Lahore and large area of central and western part of Punjab
Baghel Singh was the chief of Singh Krora Misl

Mughal Governors

Military leaders

Indian Armed Forces

Air Force

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, former Chief of Indian Air Force, the only living Indian military officer with a five-star rank.

Air Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra, former Chief of Indian Air Force
Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh, former Chief of the Indian Air Force

Army

General Bikram Singh, former Indian Army chief
General J. J. Singh, former Indian Army Chief
General Pran Nath Thapar, former Indian Army Chief
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh, Western Army Commander and War Hero 1965 Indo-Pak War
Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (retired), known for his heroic leadership in the famous Battle of Longewala for which he was awarded Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) by the Indian Army

Navy

Military Gallantry Award winners

British Indian Army

Victoria Cross

Karamjeet Singh Judge, 15th Punjab Regiment
Gian Singh, Sikh Regiment
Ishar Singh, 28th Punjabis; first Sikh to receive Victoria Cross
Nand Singh, 1/11th Sikh Regiment
Parkash Singh, Sikh Regiment
Sher Shah, 16th Punjab Regiment

Indian Armed Forces

Param Veer Chakra (PVC)

Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan, Sikh Regiment
Gurbachan Singh Salaria, 1 Gorkha Rifles
Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, Indian Air Force
Lance Naik Karam Singh, Sikh Regiment

Maha Veer Chakra (MVC)

Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, known for his heroic leadership in the famous Battle of Longewala
Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian Army general and an administrator
Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath, officer in Indian Air Force
Major General Kulwant Singh Pannu, officer of Indian Army
Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai, senior Indian Army officer
General Tapishwar Narain Raina, former Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army
Nand Singh, also an Indian recipient of Victoria Cross
Sukhjit Singh
Major General Rajinder Singh Sparrow, Armoured Corps

Business

Sunil Bharti Mittal is the chairman and managing director of Bharti Telecom.

Trishneet Arora
Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail
Gurbaksh Chahal
Naresh Goyal, of Jet Airways
Sunil Mittal, Chairman and managing director of the Bharti group
Aroon Purie, India Today group
Kanwal Rekhi, one of the first Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley

Artists

Educators and scientists

Megh R. Goyal, father of irrigation engineering in Puerto Rico
Narinder Singh Kapany

Historians

Astronauts

Air Commodore Ravish Malhotra
Rakesh Sharma, first Indian in space

Punjabi Cinema

Punjabi Actors

Punjabi Actress

Bollywood

Families

The Anands

Chetan Anand
Dev Anand
Vijay Anand
Shekhar Kapur

The Chopras

The Deols

The Devgans

The Dutts

The Oberois

The Paintals

Paintal
Gufi Paintal

The Puris

The Sahnis

Individual artists

Diljit Dosanjh

Akshay Kumar

Documentary filmmakers

Jaspal Bhatti

Directors

Crossover directors and actors (Hollywood)

History

Porus and Alexender

Charaka

Folklore

Puran Bhagat

Religious and spiritual figures

The Ten Gurus of Sikhism

Sikh

Related to Sikhism

Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak Dev

Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Baba Jaimal Singh
Baba Sawan Singh
Sardar Bahadur Maharaj Jagat Singh
Maharaj Charan Singh
Baba Gurinder Singh

Ahmidiyya Muslim Community

Writers

Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu

Giani Gurdit Singh

Bhai Gurdas
Giani Gurdit Singh
Shardha Ram Phillauri
Nanak Singh
Dhani Ram Chatrik
Ram Sarup Ankhi
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha
Devendra Satyarthi
Bhai Vir Singh
Pandit Lekh Ram
Rajinder Singh Bedi
Shiv Kumar Batalvi
Damodar Das Arora
Sahir Ludhianvi
Amrita Pritam
Gulzar (full name Sampooran Singh Gulzar), Oscar winner for movie Slumdog Millionaire
Jaswant Neki
Pash
Rupinderpal Singh Dhillon
Harbhajan Singh
Munir Niazi
Ajmer Rode
Navtej Bharati
Jaswant Singh Kanwal
Hafeez Jullundhri
Saadat Hasan Manto
Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi
Kulwant Singh Virk

English

Khushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist.

Journalists

Print

India

Tamil cinema

Sonia Agarwal, Punjabi Hindu

Models

Waris Ahluwalia, American model, endorses the clothing brand GAP

Musicians

Punjabi Folk and Classical Music

Punjabi Pop and Hip Hop

Bollywood

Bhangra and other Punjabi people

Jay Sean

Revolutionaries and Freedom Fighters

Prithvi Singh Azad, Indian independence activist, revolutionary and one of the founder members of Ghadar Party
Bhai Balmukund was an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter
Sohan Singh Bhakna, was an Indian revolutionary, the founding president of the Ghadar Party
Amir Chand Bombwal
Diwan Mulraj Chopra
Satyapal Dang
Jathedar Bhai Tehal Singh Dhanju, Indian Freedom Fighter, Sikh leader and activist; planned The Lahore Conspiracies
Madan Lal Dhingra, was an Indian revolutionary independence activist
Kishan Singh Gargaj, Indian Freedom Fighter and Founder of militant Babbar Akali Movement against British rule
Sadhu Singh Hamdard, well-known freedom fighter and the journalist of Punjab
Dharam Singh Hayatpur, was an Indian revolutionary, he was a prominent member of the Sikh political and religious group the Babbar Akali Movement in India
Kartar Singh Jhabbar, was an Indian revolutionary, he was a Sikh leader known for his role in the Gurdwara Reform Movement of the 1920s
Sohan Singh Josh, was an Indian communist activist and freedom fighter
Gulab Kaur
Sardul Singh Kavishar
Saifuddin Kitchlew
Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, was a General of Akali Movement
Mangu Ram Mugowalia, Indian freedom fighter, politician from Punjab and one of the founder members of the Ghadar Party
Bhai Parmanand
Darshan Singh Pheruman, Indian freedom fighter, Sikh activist and politician
Jaswant Singh Rahi
Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian Freedom Fighter, popularly known as Punjab Kesari
Ram Rakha
Lala Achint Ram
Harnam Singh Saini
Labh Singh Saini, Akali politician and notable Indian freedom fighter
Maya Singh Saini, was a soldier in the Sikh Khalsa Army during the Anglo-Sikh Wars and continued fighting British Rule after the Second war
Teja Singh Samundri
Kartar Singh Sarabha, Indian Independence activist and a Ghadr revolutionary
Baba Gurdit Singh
Baba Gurmukh Singh, Indian Freedom Fighter, a Ghadr revolutionary and a Sikh activist
Baba Kharak Singh
Baldev Singh, was an Indian independence movement leader and also the first Defence Minister of India
Bhagat Singh, Indian Freedom Fighter and most common symbol of India's Freedom Struggle by any means and a Ghadr revolutionary
Captain Mohan Singh, was an Indian military officer and also an Indian Independence Activist
Ganda Singh, was a prominent member of the Ghadar Party
Giani Ditt Singh
Pandit Kanshi Ram, Was an Indian Revolutionary and Treasurer Of Ghadar Party
Ram Singh, credited as being the first Indian to use non-cooperation and boycott of British merchandise and services as a political weapon.
Ripudaman Singh, Indian revolutionary
Sardar Ajit Singh, was an Indian revolutionary, he was the uncle of sardar Bhagat Singh and an alleged assassin for the Ghadar Party
Udham Singh, Indian Revolutionary
Teja Singh Swatantar
Sukhdev Thapar, was an Indian Revolutionary
Bhagwati Charan Vohra, was an Indian revolutionary, associated with Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

Politicians

India

Sportspersons

Cricket

Harbhajan, pictured here bowling in the nets

Hockey

Field hockey

Athletics

Milkha Singh
Ajmer Singh (1940–2010), Olympian and 1966 Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist sprinter^[4]
Kamaljeet Sandhu
Baljinder Singh (born 1986), race walker
Inderjeet Singh, shot put athlete

Golf

Wrestling

The "Great" Gama

The Great Gama
Dara Singh
Jinder Mahal
Premchand Degra
Tiger Jeet Singh
Gurjit Singh
Sonjay Dutt (real name Ritesh Bhalla), TNA wrestler

Fighters

Akshay Kumar, real name Rajeev Bhatia, black belt in karate; film actor
Veeru Devgan, father of Ajay Devgan, action and stunt designer

Shooting

Avneet Sidhu, Commonwealth Games medalist, Arjun Award recipient
Harveen Srao, 2011 Summer Universiade medalist in 10m air pistol

Basketball

Satnam Singh Bhamara, drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 52nd pick in the 2015 NBA draft, making him the first person of Indian descent to be drafted into the NBA

Sports Executives and Administrators

Shammi Rana

See also

References

^ W.H.McLeod, Louis E.Fenech (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman and Littlefield. p. 172. ISBN 9781442236011.
^ "Amrish Puri- A tribute".
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20071211120409/http://164.100.24.209/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=197 Parliamentary Biography
^ "Olympian athlete Ajmer Singh passed away". The Times of India. Jan 27, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.

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