Created by 39.43.38.255
Last edited February 27, 2026

Following is the list of famous and notable Punjabi people in South Asia, mainly from what is today Punjab, Pakistan and Punjab, India, and people with Punjabi ancestry or people who speak Punjabi as their primary language.

Nobel laureates

Abdus Salam, first Pakistani Nobel prize winner in Physics
Har Gobind Khorana, first Punjabi Nobel prize winner.

Pakistan

India

Military leaders

Medieval Punjab

Muslim

Sikh

Sikh Empire

Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire

Sikh

Hindu

Pakistan Armed Forces

General Raheel Sharif, former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, is the most respected and popular general in the country's history.[1]

Air Force

Army

Navy

Indian Armed Forces

Airforce

Army

General Bikram Singh, former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army

Navy

Other notables

Singapore Armed Forces

Army

Business

India

Pakistan

Music

Pakistan

Alam Lohar, considered one of the most important singers of Punjabi folk.[6]

Punjabi Folk

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, considered as one of the greatest performers of qawwali.[7]

Sufi Qawwali

Classical Hindustani Gharanas

Panjabi Gharana
Patiala Gharana
Sham Chaurasia Gharana
Atif Aslam, widely acclaimed playback singer

Modern Playback

India

Mohammed Rafi was a singer famous for singing multiple genres and styles
Punjabi folk singers and sisters Parkash Kaur and Surinder Kaur in 1967

Punjabi folk

Sufi Qawwali

Jagjit Singh, popular ghazal singer

Classical Hindustani Music

Patiala Gharana
Sham Chaurasia Gharana
Rampur Sahaswan Gharana
Sukhwinder Singh, singer of Academy and Grammy award winning song "Jai Ho"

Modern playback

Cartoonists

Indian Editorial Cartoonist Shekhar Gurera.

Doctors

India

Educators and scientists

Pakistan

India

Astronauts

India

Bollywood (India)

The following is a list of famous Punjabi families and individual artistes who have worked in Bollywood:

Family Artistes
The Sahnis Balraj Sahni, Bhisham Sahni, Parikshit Sahni
The Anands Chetan Anand, Dev Anand, Vijay Anand
The Chopras - 1 Baldev Raj Chopra, Yash Chopra, Ravi Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Uday Chopra
The Chopras - 2 Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti Chopra
The Deols Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol, Abhay Deol
The Bachchans Teji Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shweta Bachchan Nanda
The Malhotras Prem Nath, Rajendra Nath, Bina Rai, Prem Kishen
The Roshans Rakesh Roshan, Hrithik Roshan
The Singhs Dara Singh, Vindu Dara Singh
The Rajs Jagdish Raj, Anita Raj
The Puris Madan Puri, Amrish Puri, Om Puri
The Khannas - 1 Rajesh Khanna, Twinkle Khanna, Rinke Khanna
The Khannas - 2 Vinod Khanna,[12] Akshaye Khanna, Rahul Khanna
The Bedis Kabir Bedi, Pooja Bedi, Protima Bedi
The Kapurs Pankaj Kapur, Shahid Kapoor
The Kapoors - 1 Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Karan Kapoor
The Kapoors - 2 Anil Kapoor, Boney Kapoor,

Sanjay Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor

The Kapoors - 3 Jeetendra, Tusshar Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor
The Dhawans David Dhawan, Varun Dhawan, Rohit Dhawan, Anil Dhawan
The Devgans Veeru Devgan, Ajay Devgan, Anil Devgan
The Oberois Suresh Oberoi, Vivek Oberoi
The Aroras Malaika Arora Khan, Amrita Arora
The Tulis Rajendra Kumar, Kumar Gaurav
The Dutts Nargis Dutt, Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Dutt

Individual Actors

Directors

Documentary filmmakers

Crossover directors and actors (Hollywood)

Historical figures

Porus and Alexander

Folklore

Religious and spiritual figures

Muslim Sufis and saints

File:BullehShah.jpg
Bulleh Shah was a Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet

Hindu Gurus and saints

Ahmadiyya community

Sikh Gurus

Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism

Religious Sikhs

Writers

Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu

India

Giani Gurdit Singh

Pakistan

Muhammad Iqbal, widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of Urdu in the 20th century.[15]

English

Khushwant Singh (1915-2014) was a prominent Indian novelist and journalist.

Journalists

Print

India

England

Pakistan

Electronic/broadcast

India

Pakistan

Lollywood (Pakistan)

Tamil cinema (India)

Models

Revolutionaries

Politicians

India

Pakistan

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Punjabi cinema (India)

Directors

Actors

The Punjabi film industry has produced a number of successful actors, actresses, writers, directors and filmmakers, many of whom have been known internationally.

Actors

Actresses

Sportspersons

Baseball

Chess

Table Tennis

Tennis

Cricket

India

Harbhajan, pictured here bowling in the nets

Pakistan

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar is one of the fastest bowlers in the world.

England

Canada

Bangladesh

New Zealand

Basketball

Hockey

Field hockey

Ice hockey

Athletics

Golf

Wrestling

Shooting

Cycling

Soccer

Boxing

Volleyball

Mixed martial arts

Artists

See also

References

  1. Hussain, Zahid (2016-11-23). "The general's legacy". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "Marshal Arjan Singh". Mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  4. "Land Forces Site - Featured Articles". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2012-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. "AFMC chief becomes first lady Vice-Admiral". Indian Express. Retrieved 2005-05-17.
  6. Dillagi, Lohar, Alam. Pachhtaya Khan, Atta Ullah. Nathli Khan, Atta Ullah. Chimta K̲h̲ān, Badar Miyān̲ Dād. Sajan K̲h̲ān, Badar Miyān̲ Dād. Dil Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali., Super legends, Star, OCLC 872096062, retrieved 2021-02-19{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan | Biography, Songs, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  8. Punjabi author Pritam Saini dead, Tribune News Service, Monday, November 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India, / http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031110/punjab1.htm
  9. Clinical Application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Abdomen, pp 111, Endoscopy and gastrointestinal radiology By Gregory G. Ginsberg, Michael L. Kochman, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2004
  10. "Sanjay Saini, MD, Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School". Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
  11. "Subhash Saini". Zyvex.com. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  12. Parliamentary Biography
  13. [email protected] (2005-01-12). "Amrish Puri- A tribute". Gatewayforindia.com. Retrieved 2012-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/150417/punjab-association-confers-lifetime-achievement-award-upon-dilip-kumar.html
  15. "All writings of Allama Iqbal". Rekhta. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  16. "Khushwant Singh - Khushwant Singh Biography, Life History of Khuswant Singh". Iloveindia.com. 1915-02-02. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  17. "Amarjot Kaur - Femina Miss India Chandigarh Contestants". Indiatimes.com. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  18. "Burberry enlists first Indian model Neelam Gill as its new beauty muse". The Independent. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  19. "Kapil Dev - Player Webpage". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2007-03-17.