- V. S. Naipaul
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, T.C. (born August 17, 1932, in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago), better known as V. S. Naipaul, is a Trinidadian-born British writer of Indo-Trinidadian ethnicity and Bhumihar Brahmin heritage from Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. Naipaul lives now in Wiltshire, England. Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
- Narayana Guru
Nārāyana Guru (नारायण गुरु,നാരായണ ഗുരു), also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a saint, sage and social reformer of India. He was born into an "Ezhava" family, in an era when the Ezhava caste, because of its precarious position between the upper and lowest strata in the caste hierarchy, faced much social injustice.
- Ram Chandra
Baba Ram Chandra (born 1864) was an Indian trade unionist who organised the farmers of Oudh, India into forming a united front to fight against the abuses of landlords in the 1920s and 1930s. He was also an influential figure in the history of Fiji, and owed his inspiration to take up the cause of the down-trodden to his 12 years as an indentured labourer in Fiji and to his efforts to end the indenture system. His real name was Shridhar Balwant Jodhpurkar.
- Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (December 6 1732 - August 22 1818) was the first governor-general of British India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously impeached in 1787 for corruption, and acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814. Hastings was born at Churchill, Oxfordshire. He attended Westminster School before joining the British East India Company in 1750 as a clerk. In 1757 he was made the British Resident (administrative in charge) of Murshidabad.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti, (May 12, 1895-February 17, 1986) was a well-known writer and speaker on fundamental philosophical and spiritual subjects, such as the purpose of meditation, human relationships, and how to enact positive change in global society. After publically renouncing, at the age of 34, the fame and messiah status he had gained from being proclaimed the new incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha by the Theosophical Society, …
- Tilopa
Tilopa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: Talika, 988 - 1069) was born in either Chativavo (Chittagong), Bengal or Jagora, Bengal. He was a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha. He developed the Mahamudra method, a set of spiritual practices that greatly accelerated the process of attaining bodhi (enlightenment). He is regarded as the human founder of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and is, in effect, the Buddha Vajradhara.
- Sitaram Yechury
Sitaram Yechury is an Indian politician, member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was born on 12 August, 1952 in an Andhra Brahmin family hailing from Kakinada. After school education in Hyderabad, he had to move to Delhi due to disruption of academic life as a result of the Telengana movement in 1969. At Delhi, in 1970 he completed Higher Secondary (one Year Course) standing first in the All India merit list.
- Joshi
Joshi is a family name common in many parts of Nepal and India, especially in the West and North. The word Joshi is derived from "Jyotishi" meaning Astrologer. The surname Joshi is an indicator that the person is a Hindu Brahmin... In Deccan India, the Marathi and the Kannadiga have the name ज़ोशी as opposed to जोशी in North India and Nepal, however, it's the same surname.
- Swami Rama
Swami Rama (1925 - 1996) was born Brij Kishore Dhasmana, to a Northern Indian Brahmin family and became lineage holder of the Sankya Yoga tradition of the Himalayan Masters. He was raised in the Himalayas by his master "Bengali Baba", and, under the guidance of his Master, traveled from monastery to monastery and studied with a variety of Himalayan saints and sages, including his grandmaster who was living in a remote region of Tibet.
- Pandita Ramabai
Pandita Ramabai (23rd April 1858, Maharashtra- 5th April 1922) was an eminent Indian Christian social reformer and activist. She was a poet, a scholar, and a champion of improvement in the plight of Indian women. As a social reformer, she championed the cause of emancipation of Indian women. A widely traveled lady, she visited most parts of India, and even went to England (1883) and the USA (1886-88). She wrote a book titled "The High Caste Hindu Woman", …
- Somadeva
Somadeva, 11th century CE, from Kashmir was the author of a famous compendium of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales - the "Kathasaritsagara". Not much is know about him except that his father's name was Rama and he composed his work (probably during the years 1063-81 CE) for the entertainment of the queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya ("Ishshor Chôndro Bôndopaddhae"), was a Bengali polymath and a pillar of the Bengal Renaissance. He was an academic, philosopher, educator, printer, entrepreneur, writer, translater, reformer and philanthropist. His efforts to simplify and modernize Bangla prose were significant.
- Mahadev Govind Ranade
Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade (16 January 1842-16 January 1901) was an Indian judge, author, and reformer. He was born at Niphad, in Nasik district, of a Chitpavan Brahman family. When his father was minister at Kolhapur he attended the Anglo-vernacular school in that town and joined the Elphinstone College in Bombay at the age of fourteen. Ranade belonged-as did his fellow reformer, Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar-to the first batch of graduates of the Bombay University, …
- Milind Soman
Milind Soman is an Indian supermodel and actor. Born on 4 november 1965. He was born in a Maharashtrian Chitpavan Brahmin family in Scotland and lived in England for seven years before leaving for India. His breakthrough came with Thackersey fabrics. He was briefly engaged to model Madhu Sapre with whom he had done a controversial Tuff advertisement in which both were shown apprently wearing only shoes and a python. Soman is also an actor.
- Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili (1577-16 January, 1656) was a Tuscan Jesuit missionary to Southern India. He pioneered new methods of evangelism (inculturation), adopting many Brahmin customs which were not, in his opinion, contrary to Christianity, in order to get a hearing. This practice was very controversial in the following decades. Roberto de Nobili arrived in Goa on May 20, 1605. After a short stay in Kochin, he arrived in Madurai.
- Shobha De
Shobhaa Dé is an Indian columnist and novelist often called India's Jackie Collins. Born Shobha Rajadhyaksha in a Maharashtrian Saraswat Brahmin family, she graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology. After making her name as a model, she began a career in journalism in 1970, in the course of which she founded and edited three popular magazines - Stardust, "Society", and "Celebrity".
- Vadula
Vadula (Vadhula / Vadoola / Vadhoola / Vatula / Vathula) is a Sanskrit word that has several meanings including "enlightened, lashed by the wind to the point of losing one's sanity, god's madcap, detached from the world, and seeker of truth." Vadula was a Rishi who gave his name to a Gotra, or a line of descent, commonly amongst Brahmins. Vadula Maharishi was reportedly prone to great distraction, which some ascribe to deep, consciousness-expanding meditation.
- Dwarkanath Tagore
Dwarkanath Tagore (1794-1846), one of the earliest entrepreneurs from India, has been remembered for an altogether different reason: that of being the founder of the great Tagore family, which included Rabindranath Tagore, and for making substantial contributions to the Bengal Renaissance. Dwarkanath was a western-educated Bengali brahmin and an acknowledged civic leader of Kolkata who played a pioneering role in setting up a string of commercial ventures -- banking, …
- Moggaliputta-Tissa
Moggaliputta-Tissa (ca. 327 BC - 247 BC), (born in Pataliputra, Magadha (now Patna, India) was a Buddhist monk and scholar who lived in the 3rd century BC. He was the spiritual teacher of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, and his son Mahinda, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Moggaliputta-Tissa also presided over the Third Buddhist Council. According to the "Mahavamsa," he had consented himself to be reincarnated as a human in order to chair the council, …
- Rani Lakshmibai
Lakshmibai, The Rani of Jhansi (Marathi रानी लक्ष्मीबाई) was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi in North India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian rebellion of 1857, and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India.
- Nargis
Nargis (Hindi: नर्गिस, Urdu: نرگس), June 1, 1929 - May 3, 1981, was an Indian actress best known for her role as Radha in the Oscar-nominated film "Mother India". She was the wife of actor Sunil Dutt (who appeared in "Mother India" as her son) and her son Sanjay Dutt is currently a very successful actor in the industry.
- Jayapala
Jayapala Shahi, the son of Asatapala, succeeded the last Brahmin Hindu Shahi Bhima and thus began the start of the Janjua Rajput phase of Shahiya Dynasty. The son of Jayapala is "Anandapal"
- Trivedi
Trivedis are found scattered throughout northern India and some parts of ancient Persia (Iran) where they ruled belonging to the Shahi dynasty. Trivedis were considered historically to be very intelligent and sharp minded individuals, they were regarded as the elite caste possessing great wisdom and are respected in many parts of India/Iran to this day.
- Colin MacKenzie
Colonel Colin Mackenzie was Surveyor General of India, and an art collector and orientalist. Mackenzie was born in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He produced many of the first accurate maps of India, and his research and collections contributed significantly to the field of Asian studies. He began his career as a customs officer in Stornoway, but at age 28, joined the British East India Company as an officer in the engineers.
- Shah Hussain
Shah Hussain (1538-1599) was a Punjabi poet and Sufi saint. He was born in Lahore (present-day Pakistan). His tomb and shrine lies in Baghbanpura, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens. His urs (annual death anniversary) is celebrated at his shrine every year. It is known as "Mela Chiraghan" ("Festival of Lights") and is the second largest festival in Lahore after Basant. It used to be the biggest festival of the Punjab.
- Sudama
Sudama was a childhood friend of Krishna. He was from a poor Brahmin family while Krishna was from the royal family. But this difference in social status did not come in the way of their friendship. They lost contact over the years and while Krishna became a military leader and King of great repute, Sudama stayed as a humble, and somewhat impoverished Brahmin living in a village. Some time later when Sudama was going through some bad times, …
- Raj Narain
Raj Narain (1917 - December 31, 1986) was an Indian politician who as a candidate of Janata Party in 1977 defeated Indira Gandhi- then Prime Minister of India in Lok Sabha election from Rai Bareli constituency. He was though earlier defeated by her in 1971 election. Raj Narain accused Indira Gandhi of corrupt electoral practices and filed election petition against her.
- Brahmananda Saraswati
Brahmananda Saraswati (1870 - 1953) a Hindu Guru who was born into a Brahmin family in the village of Gana, near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, India. At the age of nine he left home to wander and follow a spiritual path of renunciation. At the age of 14 he found his master, Dandi Swami Krishnanand Saraswati, in Uttar Kashi. Later, following his master's instructions, he retired to a cave, resolving not to emerge until he had attained enlightenment.
- Sister Nirmala
Sister Nirmala (born 1934) succeeded Mother Teresa as Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity in March 1997. She was born Nirmala Joshi into a family of Brahmins in 1934 in Ranchi (then in Bihar and now the capital of the Indian State of Jharkhand). Her parents were high-caste Hindu Brahmins from Nepal. Her father was devout Hindu Indian Army officer originally from Nepal.
- Haridas
Swami Haridas has a highly significant place in the music of north India, for the era in which he lived was an extremely active and productive one. Therefore, Haridas found a fecund environment to give of his best to society. He may not be considered a pioneer in creating new forms of music, but was certainly a strong force in the spread of "dhrupad". Near the "brija" land of Mathura and Brindavan, at Gwalior, Rajan Man Singh Tomar, …
- Brahmabandhab Upadhyay
Brahmobandab Upadhyaya was a Bengali Brahmin and nephew of the Indian freedom-fighter Kalicharan Banerjee who converted to Anglicanism. Upadhyaya, after initially opposing his uncle's conversion, began to study under a Catholic priest and sought conversion, but being denied, sought and received baptism at the hands of an Anglican, after which he was conditionally re-baptized and admitted into the Catholic Church.
- Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Sahajananad Saraswati (1889-1950), was born in a Jujhoutia Bhumihar Brahmin family of Gazipur of Uttar Pradesh state of India, was an ascetic Dandi sanyasi as well as a peasant leader of eastern India. Although he was born in Uttar Pradesh, his social and political activities centered mostly in Bihar. He had setup an ashram at Bihta,near patna and carried out most of his work, in the later part of his life from here.
- Tushar Gandhi
Tushar Arun Gandhi(तुषार गांधी) (born January 17, 1960) is a great-grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian who helped India gain independence. He is the son of US-based former journalist Arun Gandhi. In 1985, Gandhi married Sonal Desai. They have one son, Vivian (born 1991), and one daughter, Kasturi. Tushar Gandhi promotes non-violence around the world.
- Vajrabodhi
Vajrabodhi was an Indian buddhist monk and Zhen Yan teacher in Tang China. Vajrabodhi was the second of three Vajrayana missionaries to eighth-century China. He was born of a South Indian brahmin family, and his father was a priest for the royal house. Vajrabodhi probably converted to Buddhism at the age of sixteen, although some accounts place him at the Buddhist institution of Nālandā at the age of ten.
- Swaminathan Aiyar
Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar is a noted Indian economist and journalist. An alumnus of The Doon School and St Stephen's College, he earned a master's degree in economics from Magdalen College, Oxford, UK. He is currently consulting editor of The Economic Times, India's leading financial daily that is part of Bennett, Coleman & Co, the same company that owns The Times Of India. He is also a research fellow at the Cato Institute, …
- Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963) was one of the most widely traveled scholars of India, who spent forty-five years of his life on travel and away from home. He became a buddhist monk("Bauddh Bhikkhu") and eventually drew towards Marxist Socialism. He was given the title of "Mahapandit" (great scholar). India is known as land of great saints and scholars.
- F. W. Bain
Francis William Bain was a British writer of fantasy stories that he claimed were translated from Sanskrit. The first of these was "A Digit of the Moon" (1898), which Bain claimed was his translation of the eighth part of sixteen of a Sanskrit manuscript given to him by a brahmin. In the story, the king Súryakánta falls in love with the wise and beautiful princess Anangarágá, who will marry only the suitor who asks her a question she cannot answer.
- Asanga
Asanga (also called Aryasanga), born around 300 CE, was an exponent of the yogācāra school of Buddhist philosophy. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school. Born the son of a Kshatriya father in Puruspura (Peshawar) in northernwestern India, Asanga was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahāyāna; after many years of intense meditation, …
- D. K. Pattammal
The vocalist Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal (March 28, 1919 -) is one of the most popular and respected Carnatic musicians. Pattammal and her contemporaries M. S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasanthakumari were popularly referred to as the "female trinity of Carnatic Music". This trio initiated the entry of women into mainstream Carnatic Music. Pattammal was born on March 28, 1919 at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, India.
- Chattampi Swamikal
Chattampi Swamikal was a Hindu sage and one of Kerala’s famed religoius and social reformer. Chattampi Swamikal along with his contemporary Sree Nārāyana Guru, reformed the then heavily ritualistic and caste ridden Hindu society that prevailed around the late 19th and early 20th centuries across the present-day Kerala Chattampi Swamikal denounced Brahmin domination in religion citing sources from Vedas.