20th-century Indian writers

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā, first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world.

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister for 16 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.

Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician who has served as the prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the member of parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister outside the Indian National Congress.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and politician who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. Ambedkar served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He later renounced Hinduism and converted to Buddhism, inspiring the Dalit Buddhist movement.

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

British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator (1847-1933)

Indian self-rule activist (1856–1920)

Indian yogi, occultist and guru (1855-1936)

Bengali feminist writer and social reformer (1880-1932)

Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda

writer, memoirist, women's rights activist

Hindu Guru (1896–1982)

Indian politician and activist

Burmese teacher of vipassanā meditation

Indian spiritual leader and social reformer (1856–1928)

Indian-American actress, food and travel writer, and television personality

Indian film director (1922–2006)

Indian television journalist and author

Indian physician and legislator

feminist activist who protested patriarchy and caste in 19th century India

Indian spiritual Guru, philosopher, social reformer and composer (1921–1990)

Field Hockey player and political leader (1903-1970)

politician from Odisha, India (1931-2006)

Madeleine Slade (22 November 1892 – 20 July 1982), also known as Mirabehn or Meera Behn, was a British supporter of the Indian Independence Movement who in the 1920s left her home in England to live and work with Mahatma Gandhi. She devoted her life to human development and the advancement of Gandhi's principles.

Indian film director (born 1957)

Indian film director

Indian Kannada writer

Indian politician

Indian freedom fighter (1899–1985)

Irish-Indian suffragist and feminist

Indian historian

Indian actress

Bengali artist (1863-1915)

Indian Malayalam language author

Indian painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school (1867-1938)

Indian author

Indian author and diplomat (1895-1963)

Indian philosopher and writer

Gujarati writer, social worker and educationist (1882-1970)

Jnanpith awardee and renowned Telugu poet

Indian historian and filmmaker

Indian, Hindi language writer

Indian writer (1924–1997)

Indian academic

economist

Indian economist

Indian writer and academic

Maharani of Baroda

Indian writer and folklorist

Indian writer and painter (born 1952)

Indian-born literary and cultural theorist

Indian linguist, scholar

Indian politician (1892-1963)

Indian historian

Indian writer, columnist and documentary filmmaker

Indian activist

Indian film director

Indian historian

Indian writer (1880–1960)

Indian film director