List of Kashmiri Pandit Personalities in Various Fields". Achievements and Contributions of famous Kashmiri Pandit personalities from different fields, such as politics, music, literature, cinema, sports, and spirituality.
was a renowned Indian lawyer, politician and activist associated with the Indian National Congress. He was the president of the Congress for two terms, between 1919 and 1920 and between 1928 and 1929. He was the head of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and the father of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
was a pivotal figure in India's independence struggle in the mid-20th century. He was a prominent leader of the Indian nationalist movement during the 1930s and 1940s and became the first Prime Minister of India when the country attained independence in 1947. Throughout his 16 years as Prime Minister, Nehru was an advocate for anti-colonial nationalism, secular humanism, social democracy, and civil rights.
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi
was a prominent Indian political leader and the only female Prime Minister of India to date. She was in office from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until she was tragically assassinated in 1984. She was the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her as India's sixth prime minister, and the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, who served as the country's first prime minister.
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
was a prominent figure in India's struggle for independence and later in international diplomacy. She was the first woman to be elected President of the United Nations General Assembly and the 6th Governor of Maharashtra. She was imprisoned several times for her part in the Indian independence movement.
Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar
was a well-known Indian diplomat and official who served from 4 September 1913 to 25 November 1998.He was most notably known for his two-year period serving as the principal secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1971–73). During this time, Haksar was considered the main strategist and policy advisor behind the inexperienced prime minister's swift rise to power in the 1970s.
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru
was a major player in India's journey to freedom. He was a lawyer, politician, and freedom fighter who played a significant role in the drafting of India's Constitution. As the leader of the Liberal party in the British-ruled era, he worked to ensure India's independence. He passed away on the 20th of January 1949, having lived from 8 December 1875.
General Tapishwar Narain Raina
who is widely known as T.N. Raina, From 1975 to 1978, Raina, a famous army commander and diplomat, served as the Indian Army's 9th Chief of Army Staff.After retiring, he was appointed as High Commissioner of India to Canada. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour of India, for his meritorious services.
is a well-known former Indian Police Service officer who belonged to the Gujarat-cadre. He gained notoriety for submitting an affidavit to the Supreme Court of India against the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, alleging his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Modi allegedly asked top police officials to permit Hindus to show their rage against Muslims during a meeting, according to Bhatt.
who was formerly known as Kulbhushan Pandit, was a renowned Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. Over the course of a career that spanned four decades, he starred in more than 70 Hindi films, the most famous of which was the Oscar-nominated 1957 movie Mother India, in which he played the role of Nargis' husband. Prior to becoming an actor, he was a Sub Inspector in the Indian Police. Notable films he appeared in include Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960) and Gharana (1961).
is a renowned Indian actor and producer who has left a long-lasting impression in the film industry across multiple languages, including Hindi, English, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. His extraordinary talent has been rewarded with eight Filmfare Awards and two National Film Awards.He has been recognised as an extremely talented actor who has taken up a wide range of roles. The Government of India has recognised his accomplishments by bestowing him with the Padma Shri in 2004 and Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his outstanding achievements in the world of cinema and the arts.
is a renowned figure in the Indian entertainment industry. He has had experience in both the acting and directing realms. His most notable work as a director is the television show Sanskaar, which aired in 1999.
Kunal Ravi Kemmu
was born on May 25th, 1983 to two actors, Ravi Kemmu & Jyoti Kemmu, in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He has a younger sibling, Karishma Kemmu. He received his early education from Burn Hall School, but had to move to Jammu due to the Insurgency in Kashmir in the 1990s, as his family was Kashmiri Hindu. Then, they resided in Mira Road, Mumbai, Maharashtra. He completed his schooling from St.xaviers High School in Andheri East, and later joined SVKM's Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile Parle for further studies.
Puru Raaj Kumar
the son of famous Bollywood actor Raaj Kumar, was born on 30th March, 1970. He is married to Croatian model Koraljika Grdak and works in Indian films.
is an Indian actor who has been seen in both Hindi films and television shows. His career began in 2004 with a science fiction show called Antariksh and he then went on to appear in Don Muthu Swami in 2008. He is most renowned for his portrayal of the Hindu god Shiva in the television series Devon Ke Dev – Mahadev and Mahabharat. Prior to this, he had taken part in several TV series such as Chehra (2009) and Ganga Kii Dheej (2010).
Moti Lal Kemmu
was born in 1933 in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir into a Kashmiri Pandit family. He studied at Jammu and Kashmir University.
Ram Chandra Kak
served as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 1945 to 1947, making him one of the few Kashmiri Pandits to ever be in such a position. During this time, he had the difficult task of helping the state transition from the British Raj to the newly independent India and Pakistan. He had to deal with the demands of the two political parties National Conference and Muslim Conference, while also protecting the Maharaja from any outside pressure to join either country. He offered the suggestion of allowing the Maharaja to remain independent for another year before making a final decision.
Rameshwar Nath Kao
who was the first head of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from 1968 to 1977, was renowned for his intelligence services. He was the Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India and was also in charge of personal security for Prime Minister Nehru and security adviser for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Furthermore, Kao was responsible for establishing the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) and the Joint Intelligence Committee. Although he was well-known during his career, he was a very private man and rarely appeared in public following his retirement.
Mohan Lal Zutshi KLS
has a legacy of being a major contributor to the so-called Great Game and is thought to be the first notable Indian to do so. He was an integral figure in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–1842 and wrote a biography of the Emir of Afghanistan in Kabul, Dost Mohammad Khan, which serves as a major source on the war. His wife, Hyderi Begum, was a learned Muslim and is said to have documented the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in a diary.
was born on 6th May 1861, and belonged to a family that had been living in Delhi since the 18th century. Lakshmi Narayan, his grandfather, served as the Vakil of the East India Company at the Delhi Mughal Court. His dad was a Delhi police officer in the tumultuous year of 1857.He was a politician, lawyer and activist.Motilal Nehru spent his formative years in Khetri, Rajasthan, where his older brother Nandalal was the Diwan. Motilal was a major contributor to the establishment of the Swaraj Party and its agenda was successful in gaining seats in the Central Legislative Assembly. He authored the Nehru Report in 1928, which was a proposed framework for the constitution of India after independence.
Triloki Nath Kaul
who is widely renowned as one of India's greatest diplomats, was born on 16 January 1913 in Baramulla, Kashmir. He obtained his education from Allahabad, Punjab, and London. He then became the Indian Foreign Secretary from 1967 to 1972 and attained expertise in strategic studies. Kaul was a prolific writer as he wrote several books and was also the Indian ambassador of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar
born on 4 September 1913, was a renowned Indian public servant and diplomat, who notably served as the Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1971 to 1973. His part in aiding Indira Gandhi to acquire absolute power was very significant, thus earning him the title of “Chanakya of Indira Gandhi”. He was also known to be an advocate of centralization and socialism.Before being chosen for the Indian Foreign Service in 1947, P.N. Haksar had already established himself as a lawyer in Allahabad. He had good friendly relationship with Jawaharlal Nehru.
was an ancient Indian sage who is credited with writing the Yoga Sutras, a well-known Sanskrit text that dates back to 200 BCE to 200 CE. This text is regarded as a classic in the field of yoga.
who lived in Kashmir in 950 to 1016 CE, was a polymath with a wide range of talents, including philosophy, mysticism, aesthetics, music, poetry, drama, exegesis, theology, and logic. He came from a Brahmin family of scholars and mystics whose ancestors had been brought by the great King of Kashmir, Lalitaditya Muktapida. Throughout his life, he studied under fifteen (or more) teachers and gurus, and wrote over 35 works, the most famous of which being Tantrāloka, an extensive examination of Kaula and Trika (now known as Kashmir Shaivism).
was a highly respected scholar in ancient India, generally thought to have lived between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He was an expert in Sanskrit grammar and a celebrated philologist. He is remembered as the father of Sanskrit grammar.Since the publication of Aṣṭādhyāyī in the 19th century, Pāṇini has been widely regarded as the first linguist to actively describe language, establishing him as "the father of linguistics." His work had a great influence on later linguists such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield.
who was born in a Brahmin family of Kashmir, was an Indian musicologist from the 13th century who wrote the famous Sanskrit text on music and drama, Sangita Ratnakara. His family migrated south due to the Islamic invasion of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent, settling in the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan region ruled by the Yadava dynasty near Ellora Caves in Maharashtra. There, Śārṅgadeva worked as an accountant but was free to pursue his passion for music in the court of King Simhana. He is widely regarded as the father of both Carnatic and Hindustani music.
Durga prasad Dhar
was a prominent Kashmiri politician and diplomat. He was born on April 24, 1918 and was a close ally of India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He had graduated from the University of Punjab and went on to obtain his LLB from the University of Lucknow. Dhar also served as the Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union and held ministerial positions in Delhi and Kashmir. Additionally, he was Deputy Chairman of India's Planning Commission.
Rameshwar Nath Kao
who was born on 10 May 1918, is widely recognized for being the inaugural head of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country's premier external intelligence agency. He served as the security chief to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and also acted as adviser to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In addition, Kao was responsible for establishing the Aviation Research Center (ARC) and the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was a very private man, being photographed only twice throughout his life.
Avtar Kishan Hangal
popularly known as A.K. Hangal, was born in Sialkot, Punjab in 1914. He actively participated in India's struggle for independence from 1929 to 1947. He started his acting career in 1936 and went on to become a renowned actor in 1966. His most famous works include Aaina, Sholay, Manzil, Prem Bandhan and many more. In 2006, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India for his contribution to Hindi cinema. Unfortunately, he passed away in Mumbai in 2012 due to injuries and breathing difficulties.
Shri Jankinath Kaul ‘Kamal’
who was born in Drabiyar, Srinagar in 1914, was widely recognized as a learned scholar. His works on Kashmir Shaivism and Vedanta garnered him national recognition. He was highly esteemed for his devotedness and generous attitude, making him one of the most beloved writers.
M K Raina
was born on 10th February 1948 and is renowned for his work in theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama in 1970 and has been involved in theatre in various languages across the country ever since. He has acted in numerous films such as Taare Zameen Par (2007), Aisha (2010), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and Lakshya (2004). He has been felicitated with prestigious awards such as Sanskiriti Samman in 1980, Sahitya Kala Parishad in 1981 and B.V. Karanth award for lifetime achievement in 2007.