List of people from Uttar Pradesh

This is a list of notable people from Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. The criteria of this list includes those who were born in the state of Uttar Pradesh and that part of the former United Provinces that now is part of the modern state of Uttar Pradesh.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Deities and avatars

Jains Gods / Deities

• Rishabhanatha or Ādinath (birthplace: Ayodhya) 1st Tirthankara of Jainism and founder of Jainism
• Ajitnatha (birthplace: Ayodhya) 2nd Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Sambhavanatha (birthplace: Shravasti) 3rd Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Abhinandananatha (birthplace: Ayodhya ) 4th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Sumatinatha (birthplace: Ayodhya) 5th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Padmaprabha (birthplace: Kaushambi) 6th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Suparshvanatha (birthplace: Varanasi) 7th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Chandraprabha (birthplace: Chandrawati, Varanasi) 8th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Pushpadanta (birthplace: Khukhundoo) 9th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Shreyansnath (birthplace: Sarnath), 11th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Vimalanatha (birthplace: Kampilya), 13th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Anantanatha (birthplace: Ayodhya), 14th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Dharmanatha (birthplace: Ratnapuri), 15th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Shantinath (birthplace: Hastinapur), 16th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Kunthunath (birthplace: Hastinapur), 17th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Aranath (birthplace: Hastinapur), 18th Tirthankara of Jainism
• Neminath (birthplace: Mathura), 22nd Tirthankara of Jainism
• Parsvanatha (birthplace: Varanasi), 23rd Tirthankara of Jainism

Hindu gods / deities

• Rama (birthplace: Ayodhya), legendary or historical king of ancient India; in Hinduism, he is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu
• Lakshmana (birthplace: Ayodhya), brother and close companion of Rama; a hero in the epic Ramayana
• Lord Shree Krishna (birthplace: Mathura) deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism
• Parashuram (birthplace: Ghazipur), was an avatar of Vishnu

• 
  Lord Shree Krishna statue at the Sri Mariamman Temple (Singapore)
• 
  L to R: Lord Rama and Lakshmana
• 
  Neminatha (stone). Chahaman, 11th century AD, Narhad, Rajasthan
• 
  Parsvanatha statue in Bhelupur Jain temple, Varanasi
• 
  Lord Rama with arrows
• 
  Shreyansanatha at Sarnath Jain Tirth

Authors of the great epics

• Bhrigu (birthplace: Ballia), one of the seven great sages, the Saptarshis, one of the Prajapatis created by Brahma
• Sur (birthplace: Mathura), saint, poet and musician
• Tulsidas (Ramayana: Chitrakoot), Awadhi poet and philosopher; wrote Rāmacaritamānasa ("The Lake of the Deeds of Rama"), an epic devoted to Lord Rama
• Vyasa, central and much revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions; authored Mahabharata

• 
  Malik Mohammed Jayasi
• 
  Valmiki

Yogis, Sufi poets and mystics

Salím Chishtí

• Amir Khusro, Sufi mystic, one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent
• Bharat Bhushan, only Padmashri recipient in yoga; founder President of Mokshayatan International Yogashram, Saharanpur
• Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, Gazi Miya of Bahraich
• Kabir, poet and saint Varanasi
• Nizamuddin Auliya, Sufi saint, born in Budaun
• Paramahansa Yogananda, Yogi and Guru who introduced Yoga in the West. Born in Gorakhpur in 1893.
• Salim Chishti, Sufi saint of Fatehpur Sikri, Agra

Poet-saints and religious figures

Goswami Tulsidas

Hindu scholars

• Narottama Dasa
• Devraha Baba, Yogi Allahabad
• Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya, Vaishnava scholar and Sanskrit commentator on the Prasthanatrayi, Jaunpur.
• Ramanand, founder of the Rāmānandī sect Prayag (in modern Allahabad)
• Raskhan
• Sant Ravidas, poet and saint, Varanasi
• Shiv Dayal Singh, founder and first guru of Radha Soami sect, Agra
• Shrivatsa Goswami, Indologist and Gaudiya Vaishnava leader
• Sur, blind Hindu poet, saint and musician born in Runkata near Agra
• Swami Karpatri, teacher of Advaita, popularly known as Dharma Samrat, Gorakhpur
• Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan sect, Gonda
• Tulsidas, composer of the Ramcharitmanas

Islam scholars

• Mulla Mahmud Jaunpuri (1606–1651), natural philosopher
• Karamat Ali Jaunpuri (1800-1873), Islamic scholar
• Hafiz Ahmad Jaunpuri (1834-1899), Islamic scholar
• Abdul Awwal Jaunpuri (1867–1921), Islamic scholar
• Abdur Rab Jaunpuri (1875–1935), Islamic scholar
• Majid Ali Jaunpuri (died 1935), Islamic scholar
• Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (1889–2001), Sufi saint
• Muhammad Yunus Jaunpuri (1937–2017), Islamic scholar
• Malik Mohammad Jayasi

Rulers and generals

Ancient

• Keśin Dālbhya, (or Dārbhya) was a king of Panchala during the Late Vedic period, most likely between c. 900 and 750 BCE. He is mentioned prominently in the Taittiriya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas.
• Pravahana Jaivali, was a king of Panchala during the Late Vedic period (8th or 7th century BCE), mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Vi.ii.9-13) and the Chandogya Upanishad (V.4-8). Like King Ajatashatru of Kashi and King Asvapati Kaikeya of Madra, he is depicted as a major Hindu philosopher-king.
• Pasenadi, (c. 6th century BCE) was an Aikṣvāka ruler of Kosala. Sāvatthī was his capital. He succeeded after Sanjaya Mahākosala.
• Virudhaka, was a king of Kosala during the lifetime of the Buddha.
• Chandragupta Maurya, (350-295 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire, a geographically-extensive empire based in Magadha.
• Ashoka, (Sanskrit pronunciation: [ɐˈʃo:kɐ], IAST: Aśoka; c. 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Mauryan Emperor of Magadha in the Indian subcontinent during c. 268 to 232 BCE.
• Samudragupta, (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of India. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty's political and military power.
• Chandragupta II (c. 375-415), also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was the third ruler of the Gupta Empire in India.
• Kumaragupta I (c. 415–455 CE), an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and Queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
• Gomitra
• Gomitra II
• Brahmamitra

Medieval

• Rajyavardhana, , also known as Rajya Vardhan, was the eldest son of Prabhakarvardhana and member of the Pushyabhuti dynasty. He ascended the throne after his father's death and was succeeded by his younger brother, Harsha.
• Harsha, (IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Hun invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana.
• Jahangir, (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (Persian pronunciation: [d͡ʒahɑːn'giːr]; lit. 'Conqueror of the World'), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until his death in 1627.

Modern

• Rani of Jhansi, the Rani of Jhansi (19 November 1828 — 18 June 1858), was the Maharani consort of the princely state of Jhansi in Maratha Empire from 1843 to 1853 by marriage to Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar.

Nawab of Awadh

• Shuja-ud-Daula, (b. (1732-01-19)19 January 1732 – d. (1775-01-26)26 January 1775) was the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.
• Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, (23 September 1748 – 21 September 1797) was the Nawab wazir of Oudh ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah.
• Wajid Ali Shah, (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856.

Banaras state

• Balwant Singh, His eldest son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Balwant Singh Sahib Bahadur Bhumihar who succeeded his father as Raja of Kaswar and Nazim of Benares in 1738.
• Maharaja Chait Singh, commonly known as Chait Singh, a Bhumihar king was a ruler of Kingdom of Benaras in northern India.
• Prabhu Narayan Singh, GCSI GCIE (26 November 1855 – 4 August 1931) was ruler of the Benares State (Royal House of Benares), an Indian princely state, from 1889 to 1931.
• Vibhuti Narayan Singh, (5 November 1927 – 25 December 2000) was the king of Benares, a city considered holy, located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Kohra estate

• Babu Himmat Sah
• Babu Bhoop Singh

Independence Fighters

18th century

• Maharaja Chait Singh, ruler of Banaras, one of the earliest rebel against Company rule.

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Mangal Pandey

Babu Bhoop Singh of Kohra (estate), Leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857

• Mangal Pandey, one of the earliest independence fighters of 1857.
• Banke Chamar, was the freedom fighter of the 1857 revolution who was leading the revolution from Jaunpur.
• Bakht Khan, nominal commander-in-chief of Indian rebel forces in the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Amar Shahid Bandhu Singh, fighter in Indian Rebellion of 1857, he was from Dumari Riyasat of Gorakhpur
• Begum Hazrat Mahal, widow of the last Nawab of Awadh; Indian independence fighter in Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Lal Pratap Singh, fighter in Indian Rebellion of 1857 and Yuvraj of Kalakankar
• Maulvi Liaquat Ali, Indian independence fighter of 1857 from Allahabad; captured the Khusro Bagh in Allahabad and declared the independence of India
• Rani Lakshmibai, Rani (Queen) of Jhansi
• Rao Kadam Singh, freedom fighter; elected by his Gurjar clansmen as their leader to fight against the British forces during the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Jhalkari Bai Koli, Great Indian freedom fighter of 1857; fought against British rule; Commander of Army of Jhansi
• Dhan Singh Gurjar, main freedom fighter of 1857 revolt from Meerut
• Babu Bhoop Singh, ruler of Kohra (estate) and a leader of Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Rao Umrao Singh Bhati, ruler of Dadri and a leader of 1857 rebellion

Later 19th and 20th centuries

• Acharya Narendra Dev, socialist
• Asaf Ali, independence fighter
• Genda Lal Dixit (30 November 1888 – 21 December 1920) was an Indian revolutionary who led the Shivaji Samiti group of freedom fighters against the British Raj.
• Chandra Shekhar Azad, leader of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
• Ashfaqullah Khan of Kakori, independence fighter; member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association; close associate of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad
• Chittu Pandey, independence fighter
• Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, independence fighter, journalist
• Govind Ballabh Pant, Indian independence fighter and politician; Chief Minister of the United Provinces; Bharat Ratna recipient
• Hasrat Mohani, independence fighter and poet
• Laxmi Raman Acharya, freedom fighter accused of the Agra Conspiracy case
• Mahavir Singh Rathore, independence fighter; member of Naujawan Bharat Sabha who helped Bhagat Singh escape
• Mahavir Tyagi, independence fighter
• Maulana Mohammad Ali, independence fighter
• Maulana Shaukat Ali, independence fighter
• Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, independence fighter, Ghazipur
• Munishwar Dutt Upadhyay of Pratapgarh, Indian Independence fighter; two time Member of Parliament
• Purushottam Das Tandon, independence fighter
• Roshan Singh, (Kakori conspiracy) independence fighter
• Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Indian independence fighter and socialist
• Raja Mahendra Pratap, King of Hathras Princely State, known as Aryan Peshwa
• Rajendra Lahiri, independence fighter
• Ram Manohar Lohia, socialist
• Ram Prasad Bismil Indian independence fighter and socialist (Kakori conspiracy)
• Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, freedom fighter.
• Vijay Singh Pathik
• Vishwambhar Dayalu Tripathi (5 October 1899 – 18 November 1959) was an Indian lawyer and politician.

Award winners

Param Vir Chakra

• Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, Ghazipur
• Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey
• Naik Jadu Nath Singh Rathore Shahjahan pur, fighter of World War II and Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
• Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav, of Aurangabad, Bulandshahr; hero of Tiger Hill in Kargil war

Maha Vir Chakra

• Brigadier Mohammad Usman Azamgarh
• Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla
• Lance Naik Ram Ugrah Pandey
• Air Chief Marshall Swaroop Krishna Kaul

Ashok Chakra

• Constable Kamlesh Kumari
• Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh
• Lieutenant Colonel Harsh Uday Singh Gaur
• Lieutenant Colonel Jas Ram Singh

Bharat Ratna

• Bhagwan Das, philosopher and freedom fighter, Varanasi
• Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian independence movement; first Prime Minister of India
• Lal Bahadur Shastri, freedom fighter, former Prime Minister; belonged to Varanasi and Allahabad
• Rajrishi Purushottam Das Tandon, freedom fighter, Allahabad
• Ravi Shankar, sitar maestro, Ghazipur
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, educationist and politician, founder of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee, politician, eleventh Prime Minister of India

Padma Vibhushan

• Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan
• Amitabh Bachchan
• Kishan Maharaj
• Uday Shankar
• Kalyan Singh
• Mulayam Singh Yadav

Padma Bhushan

• Dhyan Chand, international hockey player
• Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan
• Amitabh Bachchan, film actor
• Mahesh Prasad Mehray, ophthalmologist
• Bhagwati Charan Varma, Hindi author
• Irfan Habib, historian
• Josh Malihabadi, poet
• Kishan Maharaj, tabla maestro
• Obaid Siddiqui, science
• Qurratulain Hyder, author
• Rahul Sankrityayan
• Ram Kinkar Upadhyay, scholar
• Srilal Shukla, Hindi writer
• Naushad, music director

Padma Shree

• Bekal Utsahi poet, writer
• Giriraj Kishore writer
• Gopaldas Neeraj, Hindi poet and lyricist
• Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, scholar of Unani medicine
• Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India
• K. P. Saxena, writer
• Kanhai Chitrakar
• Kapil Deva Dvivedi
• Kunwar Digvijay Singh Babu, hockey Olympian
• Mohammed Shahid, ex-captain of Indian hockey team, Varanasi
• Muzaffar Ali, film director
• Prakash Singh
• Praveen Chandra, cardiac surgeon
• Vidya Niwas Mishra, writer
• Yogiraj Bharat Bhushan, only Padmashri awardee yogi; founder director of Mokshayatan International Yogashram at Saharanpur
• Ravindra Jain, singer, music composer, lyricst
• Malini Awasthi
• Usha Yadav, Educationist
• Anil K. Rajvanshi, Grassroot research

Dada Saheb Phalke Award

• Majrooh Sultanpuri, lyricist
• Naushad Ali, music composer
• Amitabh Bachchan, film actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer

Gyananpith Awards

• Akhlaq Mohammed Khan
• Ali Sardar Jafri, writer and poet
• Amarkant
• Firaq Gorakhpuri, poet
• Mahadevi Verma, poet
• Qurratulain Hyder, writer
• Sri Lal Sukla

Magasaysay Award

• Rajendra Singh, water conservationist
• Sandeep Pandey

Arjuna Award

• Abhinn Shyam Gupta, badminton
• Ashish Kumar, gymnastics
• Narsingh Yadav, Wrestler
• Satish Kumar Yadav, Boxer
• Jagbir Singh, hockey
• Moraad Ali Khan, shooter
• Syed Modi, badminton
• Varun Bhati,

Major Dhyan Chand Award

• Rajkumar Baisla, (Wrestling) from Vill. Mewla Bhatti, Ghaziabad

Defence services

Army

• Brigadier Mohammad Usman, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra
• Jadunath Singh, Rajput Regiment, recipient of Param Vir Chakra
• Abdul Hamid, four Grenadiers, Indian Army, Param Vir Chakra recipient
• K.M. Seth
• Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah
• Manoj Kumar Pandey, 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army, Param Vir Chakra recipient
• Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18th Grenadiers of the Indian Army, Param Vir Chakra recipient
• Asaram Tyagi, Mahavir Chakra in Indo-Pak war of 1965

Air force

• S.K. Kaul, Air Chief Marshal (Retd)
• Trevor Keelor IAF, Vir Chakra winner in Indo-Pak war of 1965
• Denzil Keelor IAF, Air Marshall (Retd), Vir Chakra winner; Kirti Chakra recipient
• Norman Anil Kumar Browne, Air Chief Marshal (Retd)
• S.P. Tyagi, Air Chief Marshal (Retd)
• Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, Air Chief Marshal, 26th Chief of the Air Staff (India)

Navy

• Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla

Science and medicine

Lalji Singh

• Sushruta,is the listed author of the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), a treatise considered to be one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine and is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda.
• Anil K. Rajvanshi, sustainability and rural development expert
• Afroz Ahmad, environmental scientist and administrator
• Harish-Chandra (Mehrotra), mathematician who did fundamental work in representation theory, especially harmonic analysis on semisimple Lie groups
• Atul Kumar, CSIR-CDRI (inventor of anti-osteoporosis drug)
• Lalji Singh, molecular biologist
• P. K . Sethi, inventor of the Jaipur foot
• Prem Chand Pandey, scientist, physicist, meteorologist, oceanographer
• Raj Vir Singh Yadav
• Kazi Mobin-Uddin, inventor of Inferior vena cava filter
• Shahid Jameel, Indian virologist
• Hassan Nasiem Siddiquie, Indian marine geologist and former director of the National Institute of Oceanography.
• Mriganka Sur, Indian-born neuroscientist working in the United States
• Digvijai Singh
• Jhillu Singh Yadav, Chemist
• Sri Niwas, Indian geophysicist.
• Nishith Gupta, molecular biologist
• Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, organic chemist specialising in natural product chemistry
• Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Ravindra Khattree, Distinguished Professor and statistician who worked in statistical inference, multivariate analysis, experimental designs, biostatistics and quality control
• Syed Ziaur Rahman, medical pharmacologist
• Rajeev Kumar Varshney, agricultural scientist, genomics specialist, biotechnologist
• Zahoor Qasim, oceanographer, leader of first Indian expedition to Antarctica
• Aditi Sen De is an Indian scientist, a professor in quantum information and computation group at the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad.
• Amita Aggarwal (born 1960) is an Indian clinical immunologist and rheumatologist.
• Saroj Chooramani Gopal, is an Indian medical doctor, medical educationist and considered as the first woman M.ch paediatric surgeon from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in the country.
• Gaiti Hasan (born 19 November 1956) is an Indian scientist who researches in the fields of molecular biology, genetics, neuroscience and cell signalling.
• Ruqaiya Hasan (3 July 1931 – 24 June 2015) was a professor of linguistics who held visiting positions and taught at various universities in England.
• Zoya Hasan was Professor of Political Science and Dean of the School of Social Sciences (SSS) at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
• Ritu Karidhal is an Indian scientist and aerospace engineer working in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She was a Deputy Operations Director to India's Mars orbital mission, Mangalyaan.
• Soniya Nityanand (born 6 September 1962) is an Indian immunologist specialising in hematology.
• Qamar Rahman is an Indian scientist who has worked extensively in the last 40 years to understand the physiological effects of nanoparticles.
• Rani Dhavan Shankardass is an Indian social historian and global expert on prison reform.
• Gopal Krishna Vishwakarma, more popularly known as G K Vishwakarma, was an eminent orthopedic surgeon, academician and public health administrator.

Technology

• Dinesh Kunwar Patel, innovator and developer of world's most languages speaking humanoid Robot Shalu.
• Shalini Kapoor, India's first woman IBM Fellow
• Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO of Paytm
• Rashmi Sinha is an Indian businesswoman and CEO of San Francisco-based technology company SlideShare.
• Deepali Pant Joshi is a former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (retired in 2017).
• Divya Jain is an Indian software engineer and entrepreneur. Jain has been called a "data doyenne" by Fortune.
• Sairee Chahal is a technology entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of SHEROES, a platform that supports women entrepreneurs.

Holders of high offices

President

• Mohammad Hidayatullah, Acting President of India
• Ram Nath Kovind, 14th President of India

Vice President

• Gopal Swarup Pathak, former Vice-President of India
• Mohammad Hidayatullah, former Vice-President of India
• Hamid Ansari, former Vice-President of India

Prime Ministers

• Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee
• Lal Bahadur Shastri, second Prime Minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee
• Indira Gandhi, fourth Prime Minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee
• Choudhary Charan Singh, fifth Prime Minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee
• Rajiv Gandhi, sixth prime minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee
• Vishwanath Pratap Singh, eighth Prime Minister of India
• Chandra Shekhar, ninth Prime Minister of India
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee. eleventh Prime Minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee

Prime Ministers of other countries

Jugnauth (center) with Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao (left) and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh (right) in New Delhi, 1991

• Anerood Jugnauth, former Prime Minister of Mauritius, His grand father migrated from Ballia district
• Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius, Son of Anerood Jugnauth

President of other countries

• Anerood Jugnauth, former President of Mauritius, his grand father migrated from Ballia district,

Governors

• A R Kidwai, former Governor of Haryana
• Girish Chandra Saxena, former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir
• K.M. Seth, former Governor of Chhattisgarh
• Kalyan Singh, Governor of Rajasthan
• Khurshid Alam Khan, former Governor of Karnataka
• Mohammad Fazal, former Governor of Maharashtra
• Mohammad Yunus Saleem, former Governor of Bihar
• Ram Naresh Yadav, former Governor of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
• Syed Sibtey Razi, Governor of Jharkhand
• Triloki Nath Chaturvedi, former CAG and former Governor of Karnataka
• Virendra Verma, former Governor of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh
• Kalraj Mishra, Governor of Rajasthan and former Governor Himanchal Pradesh
• Satya Pal Malik, former Governor of Meghalaya, Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa

Chief Justices

• Kailas Nath Wanchoo, former Chief Justice of India
• Kamal Narain Singh, former Chief Justice of India
• Mirza Hameedullah Beg, former Chief Justice of India
• Mohammad Hidayatullah, former Chief Justice of India
• Raghunandan Swarup Pathak, former Chief Justice of India
• V. N. Khare, former Chief Justice of India

Chief Ministers

• Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari
• Govind Ballabh Pant
• Sampurnanand
• Sucheta Kripalani
• Chandra Bhanu Gupta
• Choudhary Charan Singh
• Tribhuvan Narain Singh
• Kamalapati Tripathi
• Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna
• Narayan Dutt Tiwari
• Ram Naresh Yadav
• Banarsi Das
• Babulal Gaur, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
• Vishwanath Pratap Singh
• Sripati Mishra
• Vir Bahadur Singh
• Mulayam Singh Yadav
• Kalyan Singh
• Ram Prakash Gupta
• Rajnath Singh
• Mayawati
• Akhilesh Yadav
• Yogi Adityanath

Political figures

Pre independence

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

• Govind Ballabh Pant
• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Motilal Nehru, Indian National Congress leader
• Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, former President of Indian National Congress
• Munishwar Dutt Upadhyay
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
• Rai Rajeshwar Bali, education minister (1924–1928)
• Sampurnanand
• Swami Sahajanand Saraswati

Post independence

• Ajai Rai, 5 time MLA from Varanasi
• Akhilesh Das, union minister
• Akhilesh Yadav
• Amar Mani
• Arif Mohammad Khan, political leader
• Bacha Pathak, 7 time MLA from Bansdih constituency, 2 time cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh government
• Beni Prasad Verma, former minister and leader
• Chandra Shekhar, former prime minister of India
• Chaudhary Ajit Singh, political leader
• Choudhary Charan Singh
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
• Devendra Nath Dwivedi, Indian politician and Governor designate of Gujarat
• Dinanath Bhaskar, political leader; former minister
• Feroze Gandhi
• Govind Ballabh Pant
• Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna
• Indira Gandhi
• Ishwar Chandra Shukla
• Kalyan Singh, UP CM and Rajasthan Governor; BJP Vice President
• K.C. Tyagi
• Kailash Nath Katju, former Union Home Minister and lawyer
• Kalpnath Rai
• Kamal Nath, politician
• Kamlesh Paswan, politician
• Kamlesh Tiwari, founder of Hindu Samaj Party, who insulted Muhammad, was imprisoned, and murdered after his release
• Kamalapati Tripathi
• Laxmi Raman Acharya
• Mahendra Singh Tikait, Kisan leader
• Manohar Lal (b. 1938), UP MLA, cabinet minister
• Mohsina Kidwai
• Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Defence Minister of India, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, founder of Samajwadi Party
• Mayawati, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
• Narayan Dutt Tiwari
• Om Prakash Singh, Former chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand
• Prakash Vir Shastri, member of Parliament and advocate of the Arya Samaj movement
• Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
• Raj Babbar, member of Parliament
• Raj Narain
• Raja Bhaiya, MLA
• Rajeev Shukla, journalist and political leader
• Rajendra Kumari Bajpai (1925–1999), former cabinet minister
• Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Gandhian, first lady Minister of India
• Ram Govind Chaudhary
• Ram Chandra Vikal, Deputy Chief Minister
• Ram Manohar Lohia
• Ram Naresh Yadav
• Sanjay Singh
• Satyapal Singh Yadav, former union minister
• Satyaveer Munna
• Sheila Kaul
• Shriprakash Jaiswal, union minister
• Shiv Pratap Shukla, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Minister of state (finance), former Cabinet Minister (Government of Uttar Pradesh)
• Shyama Charan Gupta, politician, entrepreneur
• Shyamlal Yadav, former union minister and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
• Sunder Lal
• Suresh Pasi, ministries of housing, vocational education, skill development
• Thakur Ji Pathak, activist, Indian political leader
• Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 7th prime minister of India

Civil service / diplomacy

Indian Foreign Service

• Asaf Ali, first Indian Ambassador to the United States
• Braj Kumar Nehru, Indian diplomat and Ambassador of India to the United States
• Girija Shankar Bajpai, first Secretary-General of Foreign Affairs
• Shilendra Kumar Singh, former Foreign Secretary of India; former Governor of Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh
• Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and politician; sister of Jawaharlal Nehru

Civil services

• Afroz Ahmad, member of NCA, Government of India
• Baleshwar Rai
• Chandrika Prasad Srivastava, bureaucrat
• Dharma Vira, ICS, cabinet secretary and governor of West Bengal, Mysore
• Durga Shanker Mishra
• Isha Basant Joshi, first woman to be appointed an IAS officer
• Neera Yadav
• Vinod Rai, CAG
• Vinod Kumar Yadav, first CEO of Railway Board
• Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Information Commissioner of India
• Vijai Shankar Dubey is an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1966 cadre batch. He is the only IAS officer to have served as Chief Secretary of two states Bihar & Jharkhand.
• Yogendra Narain is a 1965 batch retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is a former Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha. He also served as the Defence Secretary of India, Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Surface Transport Secretary of India. He is the current Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (HNBGU) situated in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttrakhand. From 2007 to 2017, he was serving as Director at Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure.

Indian Police Service

• Brij Lal
• Girish Bihari
• Jagmohan Yadav
• Manoj Yadava
• Mukul Goel
• Navniet Sekera
• Prakash Singh
• Shrish Chandra Dikshit
• Sulkhan Singh
• Laxmi Singh

Business

• Sumit Jain, entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO Opentalk.to, Co-Founder and ex-CEO Commonfloor.com
• Gajendra Singh, CMD Saaibaba Telefilms; founder of Ganga Gauri Mahavidyalaya, Ramnagar, Baijabari, Azamgarh
• K.P. Singh, president of DLF Universal Group
• Shyama Charan Gupta, founder of Shyam Group
• Subroto Roy, founder of Sahara India
• Vinod Gupta, former CEO and chairman of InfoUSA; founder of Vinod Gupta School of Management
• Surendra Singh Nagar
• Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm Chairperson of Paras Milk Pvt. Ltd.
• Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and executive vice chairman of Info Edge which owns Naukri.com, a job portal, and the co-founder of Ashoka University.
• Ponty Chadha
• Sunil Duggal
• Jaiprakash Gaur, (born c.1930) is an Indian entrepreneur. He founded and, until his retirement in 2010, was the chairman of Jaypee Group.
• Himanshu Gupta, is an Indian American energy policy expert, engineer and entrepreneur in climate change. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of ClimateAI, which was recognized in 2022 by Time magazine as one of the greatest innovations of that year.
• Piyush Gupta, currently serving as the chief executive officer, and director of DBS Group, the largest bank in Southeast Asia by total assets.
• Puran Chandra Gupta, was an Indian journalist who founded the Dainik Jagran media group and it Hindi-language publication Dainik Jagran.
• Haji Kallan
• Khwaja Abdul Hamied
• Ashok Kumar Jain
• Indu Jain, was the chairperson of India's largest media group, popularly known as The Times Group.
• Sahu Ramesh Chandra Jain
• Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain
• Deepali Pant Joshi
• Anil Khandelwal
• Suneet Maheshwari
• Samir Modi
• Narendra Mohan, was an Indian industrialist, chairman and managing director of the Jagran Prakashan, the publisher of the Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran
• Kapil Mohan
• Meenakshi Sargogi
• Ajay S. Shriram
• Lala Kamlapat Singhania, (1884 – 1937) founder of the J. K. Organisation, one of India's largest conglomerates.
• Saurabh Srivastava, entrepreneur, investment professional, institution builder and a former chairman of NASSCOM, a trade organization for the promotion of Indian IT industry.
• Ishwar Das Varshnei, died 1948) was the father of the glass industry in India.
• Shahnaz Husain, (born 1944) the founder, chairperson and managing director of The Shahnaz Husain Group.
• Bimla Poddar, is an Indian social worker, businessperson, philanthropist and the founder of Jnana Pravaha

Educators / founders of educational institutions

• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of Aligarh Muslim University
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of Banaras Hindu University
• Jagdish Gandhi, founder of the City Montessori School
• Naheed Abidi
• Satish Bahadur
• Runa Banerjee
• Gulbadan Begum
• Kamala Bose
• Chandabai
• Saeeda Faiz
• Abidullah Ghazi
• V. Mohini Giri
• Saroj Chooramani Gopal
• Mona Chandravati Gupta
• Hamida Habibullah
• Ruqaiya Hasan
• Zoya Hasan
• Radhika Herzberger
• Sehba Hussain
• Pupul Jayakar
• Deepali Pant Joshi
• Rehana Khatoon
• Aruna Kori
• Birju Maharaj
• Chittaranjan Mitra
• Rajat Moona
• Bishambhar Nath Pande
• Bimla Poddar
• Azarmi Dukht Safavi
• Rani Dhavan Shankardass
• Lilavati Singh
• Uday Pratap Singh
• Parveen Talha
• Romila Thapar
• Rashmi Tiwari
• Ragini Trivedi
• Mahadevi Varma
• Zahida Zaidi
• Roohi Zuberi

Authors

Hindi

Ramchandra Shukla

• Acharya Chatursen (1891–1960), Hindi writer
• Acharya Kuber Nath Rai
• Amitabh Thakur Hindi writer
• Amritlal Nagar, Hindi writer
• Ayodhya Prasad Upadhyay, Hindi writer
• Babu Gulabrai, Hindi writer
• Baldev Upadhyaya, Hindi scholar and writer
• Bhagwati Charan Verma, Hindi writer
• Bharatendu Harishchandra, Hindi writer
• Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Hindi novelist
• Jaishankar Prasad, Hindi writer
• Kashi Nath Singh, Hindi writer
• Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, polyglot
• Malik Muhammad Jayasi, author of Padmavat
• Munshi Prem Chand, novelist
• Rahi Masoom Raza, author of Topi Shukla and Adha Gaon
• Rajendra Yadav, Hindi novelist
• Ramchandra Shukla, Hindi writer and historian
• Ramlochan Vishwakarma, Lok Writer
• Parichay Das, essayist, poet, critic
• Ravindra Prabhat, Hindi novelist
• Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan
• Sahajanand Saraswati, author of books on sociology, freedom struggle, peasant movement, and autobiography
• Sapan Saxena (b. 5 April 1985), novelist known for Finders, Keepers, UNNS-The Captivation and The Tenth Riddle
• Shrilal Shukla, writer of Raag Darbari
• Sri Krishna Rai Hridyesh
• Vibhuti Narain Rai, Hindi writer
• Vidya Niwas Mishra, Hindi scholar
• Vinod Kumar Shukla, writer
• Vishnu Sarma, author of Panchtantra
• Viveki Rai
• Yashpal, Hindi writer

Urdu

• Firaq Gorakhpuri
• Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, author of books on Unani medicine
• Ibne Safi, novelist of Jasoosi Duniya
• Ismat Chugtai, writer
• Mirza Hadi Ruswa, author of Umrao Jaan
• Qurratulain Hyder, writer of Aag Ka Darya

English

• Leema Dhar, novelist, poet and columnist
• Attia Hosain, English author and journalist
• Ajay K. Pandey, English author
• Anil Swarup, English author
• Nitish Rajput, English author
• Nayantara Sahgal, novelist and writer
• Allan Sealy, novelist and writer
• Vikas Swarup, author of Q&A
• Ruchita Misra, author
• Ira Trivedi is an Indian author, columnist, and yoga teacher. She writes both fiction and nonfiction, often on issues related to women and gender in India.

Poets

Hindi

• Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Lit Nibandh
• Ayodhya Prasad Upadhyay
• Gopal Das Neeraj, Hindi poet
• Guru Bhakt Singh 'Bhakt'
• Harikrishna Prasad Gupta Agrahari, poet
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan, writer and poet
• Jaishankar Prasad, one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavaadi school of Hindi
• Kaka Hathrasi, humorous poet
• Virendra Kumar Baranwal, writer of Jinnah: ek punardrishti
• Kedarnath Singh
• Kumar Vishwas, Hindi Poet
• Mahadevi Varma, a major poet of the Chhayavaadi generation, a period of romanticism in modern Hindi poetry; won the Jnanpith award in 1982
• Maithilisharan Gupt, modern Hindi poet
• Dushyant Kumar, Hindi poet
• Ramashankar Yadav, Hindi Poet
• Shivmangal Singh Suman
• Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
• Sumitranandan Pant, one of the four major pillars of the Chhayavaadi school of Hindi
• Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'

Urdu

• Akbar Allahabadi, poet
• Ali Sardar Jafri, Urdu poet
• Bekal Utsahi, Urdu poet
• Brij Narayan Chakbast, Urdu poet
• Daya Shankar Kaul Nasim, Urdu poet
• Firaq Gorakhpuri, Urdu poet, winner of Jnanpith award
• Hasrat Mohani, Urdu poet
• Jigar Moradabadi, Urdu poet
• Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet
• Kaifi Azmi, Urdu and Hindi lyricist, poet and songwriter
• Khumar Barabankvi, Urdu poet
• Majaz, Urdu poet
• Majrooh Sultanpuri, poet and lyricist
• Maulana Hali, Urdu poet, biographer of Ghalib's life, and a commentator of his poetry
• Mir Anis, Urdu Marsiya poet
• Mir Taqi Mir
• Mirza Ghalib, classical Urdu and Persian poet
• A. M. Turaz, Poet & Film writer
• Safi Lakhnavi, Urdu poet
• Zaigham, Urdu poet who migrated to Bengal

Bhojpuri

• Parichay Das
• Viveki Rai

Environmentalists

• Billy Arjan Singh, as an Indian hunter turned conservationist and author. He was the first who tried to reintroduce tigers and leopards from captivity into the wild.
• Afroz Ahmad, is an Indian environment scientist and a former civil servant.
• Ranjit Bhargava, is an Indian environmentalist, known for his endeavors towards environmental conservation and his efforts for obtaining UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the upper Ganga region.
• Sunderlal Bahuguna (9 January 1927 – 21 May 2021) was an Indian environmentalist and Chipko movement leader.
• Anupam Mishra (1948 – 19 December 2016) was an Indian Gandhian, author, journalist, environmentalist, TED speaker, and water conservationist who worked on promoting water conservation, water management and traditional rainwater harvesting techniques.
• Vandana Shiva (born 5 November 1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization author.

Scholars

• Arun Tiwari, missile scientist, author, professor
• Acharya Narendra Dev
• Adya Prasad Pandey, notable economist of Banaras Hindu University and Currently Vice Chancellor of Manipur University
• Divya Dwivedi, philosopher
• Masud Husain Khan, eminent linguist; first Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University; fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university in New Delhi
• Mushirul Hasan, historian
• Raja Ram Yadav, educationist, Physicist, former Vice Chancellor of Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University
• Renu Khator, Chancellor of the University of Houston System; President of the University of Houston; first Indian American to lead a major research university in the United States
• Saket Kushwaha, educationist and agricultural economist of Banaras Hindu University, currently Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University, former Vice Chancellor of Lalit Narayan Mithila University
• Shah Syed Hasnain Baqai, Islamic scholar, thinker, reformer; known for his inclusive and broadminded interpretation of Islam; born in Safipur
• Sudhakara Dvivedi was born in 1855 in Khajuri, a village near Varanasi. In childhood he studied mathematics under Pandit Devakrsna.

Fine arts

• Aman Singh Gulati, world's first almond artist
• Gogi Saroj Pal
• Ram Chandra Shukla, painter
• Arvind Gupta, he is an Indian toy inventor, author, translator and scientist.
• Basawan
• Sukumar Bose
• Eric Bowen
• Mallika Chabba
• Vijay Gaur
• Prayag Jha
• Govind Kanhai
• Krishn Kanhai
• Anil Karanjai
• Imtiyaz Ali Khan
• Frank Wesley
• Ranbir Singh Bisht
• Yashodhar Mathpal
• Mola Ram

Journalism

Raghuvir Sahay

• Aniruddha Bahal, investigative journalist
• Arun Nehru, former minister and columnist
• Dharamvir Bharati, former editor of Dharamyug magazine
• Feroze Gandhi, managing editor of National Herald
• Manikonda Chalapathi Rau, Indian journalist and an authority on Nehruvian thought
• Narendra Mohan, Dainik Jagran
• Pankaj Mishra, journalist
• Parichay Das, writer, essayist, poet and editor of contemporary Bhojpuri poetry
• Raghuvir Sahay, editor of Dinmaan
• Ram Bahadur Rai, magazine editor
• Saeed Naqvi, journalist and TV producer
• Sahu Ramesh Chandra Jain, Times of India and Navbharat Times
• Surendra Pratap Singh, editor of Ravivar
• Vinod Mehta, editor
• Inderjit Badhwar (born 1943) is an Indian journalist, novelist and the former editor of India Today.

Sports

Basketball

• Prashanti Singh (born 5 May 1984, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) is a shooting guard for the Indian national women's basketball team.
• Pratima Singh is a member of the India women's national basketball team, hailing from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.
• Akanksha Singh (born 7 September 1989 in Varanasi Uttar Pradesh) is an Indian basketball player and former captain of the India Women's National Basketball Team.
• Divya Singh (Hindi:'दिव्या सिंह') (born 21 July 1982) is former captain of the Indian National Women's Basketball Team.

Hockey

• Dhyan Chand, former international field hockey player, awarded the Padma Bhushan
• Zafar Iqbal, former international captain of the Indian hockey team and Chief coach of Indian hockey team
• K. D. Singh, former national hockey player and Olympian
• Mohammed Shahid, former international field hockey player; member of the Indian team that won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow; awarded Arjuna Award in 1980 and Padma Shri in 1986
• Jagbir Singh, captain and member of National Hockey team in 1988 and 1992 Olympics; awarded Arjuna Award in 1990

Baseball

• Rinku Singh, one of the first two Indians to sign a professional baseball contract in the United States
• Dinesh Patel, one of the first two Indians to sign a professional baseball contract in the United States

Wrestling

• Anuj Chaudhary
• Divya Kakran
• Narsingh Yadav
• Sandeep Tulsi Yadav

Cricket

• Arun Lal, former Test cricketer
• Ashish Zaidi, cricketer
• Obaid Kamal, cricketer
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar, international cricketer
• Chetan Chauhan, former Test cricketer
• Deepti Sharma, International cricketer
• Gyanendra Pandey, cricketer
• Hemlata Kala, member of Indian women's cricket team
• Manoj Prabhakar, cricketer
• Meghna Singh, International Cricketer
• Mohammed Kaif, international cricketer
• Mohammed Shami, international cricketer
• Narendra Hirwani
• Piyush Chawla
• Poonam Yadav, International Cricketer
• Priyam Garg
• Praveen Kumar
• Parvinder Awana
• R. P. Singh, Rae Bareli (U.P.), international cricketer
• Swapnil Singh, Rae Bareli (U.P.)
• Rajinder Hans
• Raman Lamba
• Rohan Gavaskar
• Sudip Tyagi
• Suresh Raina, international cricketer
• Suryakumar Yadav, international cricketer
• Surinder Amarnath
• Umesh Yadav, Deoria (U.P.), Indian cricketer
• Kuldeep Yadav, cricketer, Kanpur (U.P.)
• Shivam Mavi, cricketer
• Shubham Mavi
• Vijay Yadav, international cricketer
• Yashasvi Jaiswal, cricketer
• Kartik Tyagi, fast-bowler cricketer
• Rinku Singh (cricketer)
• Dhruv Jurel, cricketer
• Mohsin Khan (Indian cricketer), is an Indian cricketer.
• Sameer Rizvi, Uttar Pradesh cricketer.
• Sarfaraz Khan (cricketer), (born 22 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who represents the Indian national cricket team in Test cricket, he was born and brought up in the suburbs of Mumbai. His family hails from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Badminton

• Abhinn Shyam Gupta, former national badminton champion
• Syed Modi, former national badminton champion

Other sports

• Abhishek Yadav, footballer
• Annu Raj Singh, shooter
• Arjun Bhati, golfer
• Ghaus Mohammad, tennis player, the first Indian to reach quarterfinal of The Championships, Wimbledon
• Jaspal Rana, shooter
• Jitu Rai, shooter
• Moraad Ali Khan, shooter
• Nitin Tomar, Kabaddi
• Pawan Gupta (wushu), sanda fighter
• Punam Yadav, weightlifting
• Ram Singh Yadav, Marathon runner, represented India at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Saurabh Chaudhary, shooter
• Satish Kumar, Boxing
• Varun Singh Bhati, para athlete
• Ankit Sharma is an athlete who competes in the long jump event. He was born on 20 July 1992 in Pinahat block.
• Praveen Kumar (para-athlete, born 2003)

Music dance

Musicians

• Nucleya, known by his name Udyan Sagar, is an Indian electronic music producer.
• Ashutosh Bhattacharya (1917–2004), tabla player
• Begum Akhtar, ghazal singer
• Bismillah Khan, shehnai player, awarded the Bharat Ratna (2001)
• Cliff Richard, English singer
• Gopal Shankar Misra, vichitra veena player
• Hari Prasad Chaurasia, bansuri player
• Kishan Maharaj, tabla player
• Lalmani Misra, Indian classical musician
• Naushad Ali, music director; awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contributions to Indian cinema
• Ravi Shankar, sitar player, awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999; recipient of three Grammy awards
• Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, musicologist
• Vikash Maharaj sarod player, awarded the Karmveer, Shiromai, Manishi Ratn.

Singers

Girija Devi

• Abhijeet Bhattacharya, from Kanpur
• Ankit Tiwari, from Kanpur
• Ravindra Jain
• Anup Jalota, Ghazal and Bhajan singer
• Girija Devi, Indian singer and represents the Banaras Gharana of singers
• Harshit Saxena, singer
• Kailash Kher, from Meerut
• Kanika Kapoor, from Lucknow
• Purshottam Das Jalota (1925–2011), bhajan singer, Padma Shri (2004)
• Sharafat Hussain Khan, from Atrauli
• Shubha Mudgal, singer
• Siddheshwari Devi, Hindustani singer from Banares, known as Maa (mother)
• Talat Mahmood, ghazal singer

Folk singers

• Baleshwar Yadav
• Bihari Lal Yadav
• Hiralal Yadav
• Malini Awasthi

Rappers

• Hard Kaur, from Kanpur
• Baba Sehgal

Dancers

• Birju Maharaj, Kathak exponent
• Lachhu Maharaj, Kathak exponent
• Kapila Vatsyayan, scholar of Indian classical dance
• Sitara Devi
• Uday Shankar

Cinema and theatre

Actors and actresses

• Aarun Nagar
• Achint Kaur
• Aditi Sharma
• Aditya Srivastava
• Akshay Oberoi
• Ali Fazal
• Amit Sial
• Amitabh Bachchan
• Anushka Sharma
• Archana Gupta
• Archana Puran Singh
• Arun Govil
• Ashutosh Rana
• Chandrachur Singh
• Chunky Pandey
• Dalip Tahil
• Deepti Bhatnagar
• Dinesh Lal Yadav
• Dipti Bhatnagar
• Disha Patani
• Harsh Nagar
• Jaddanbai
• Javed Jaffrey
• Jimmy Shergill
• K.N. Singh
• Kadar Khan
• Kamal Rashid Khan
• Kumar Gaurav
• Lara Dutta
• Lavanya Tripathi
• Mandakini
• Marc Zuber
• Medha Shankar
• Meenakshi Dixit
• Mika Singh
• Nandini Singh
• Naseeruddin Shah
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui
• Nimmi
• Nivedita Bhattacharya
• Pooja Batra
• Raj Babbar
• Rajpal Yadav
• Ravi Kishan
• Raza Murad
• Saurabh Shukla
• Shweta Tiwari
• Siddharth Nigam
• Sonal Chauhan
• Soniya Bansal
• Surendra Pal
• Sushant Singh
• Tanveer Zaidi
• Tom Alter
• Tuntun
• Urvashi Rautela
• Vedita Pratap Singh
• Vineet Kumar Singh
• Vishwajeet Pradhan
• Vivek Mushran
• Zakir Hussain
• Zohra Segal
• Zoya Afroz

Directors/producers

• Aarun Nagar
• Abhinav Kashyap
• Abhishek Chaubey
• Anurag Kashyap
• Farhan Akhtar
• Gajendra Singh
• K. Asif
• Kamal Amrohi
• Prakash Mehra
• Shaad Ali
• Tigmanshu Dhulia
• Vishal Bhardwaj
• Zoya Akhtar
• Pankaj Advani
• Muzaffar Ali
• Alberrt Antoni
• Nupur Asthana
• Amitabh Aurora
• Sunil Batta
• Muazzam Beg
• Ashwni Dhir
• Mahmood Farooqui
• Ravindra Gautam
• Devendra Goel
• Shaukat Hussain Rizvi
• Nishtha Jain
• D.D. Kashyap
• Shaheed Latif
• Sudhir Mishra
• Vishal Mishra
• Premendra Mitra
• Subodh Mukherjee
• Gyan Mukherjee
• S. K. Ojha
• Rajkumar R. Pandey
• Anil Sharma
• Devi Sharma
• Manoj Sharma
• Dushyant Pratap Singh
• Siddharth Sinha
• Ajay Srivastava
• Sultan Ahmed
• Ravi Tandon
• Tushar Tyagi
• Vijay Krishna Acharya

Singers

• Abhijeet Bhattacharya
• Ankit Tiwari
• Anup Jalota
• Baba Sehgal
• Begum Akhtar
• Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay
• Kabban Mirza
• Kanika Kapoor
• Kavita Seth
• Malini Awasthi
• Rajkumari Dubey
• Ravindra Jain
• Sunidhi Chauhan
• Talat Mahmood

Lyricists

• Ali Sardar Jafri
• Ravindra Jain
• Anjaan
• Indeevar
• Javed Akhtar
• Kaifi Azmi
• Khumar Barabankvi
• Majrooh Sultanpuri
• Sameer
• Shakeel Badayuni
• Manoj Muntashir
• Santosh Anand
• A. M. Turaz
• Amitabh Bhattacharya

Composers

• Anand Milind
• Naushad Ali
• Nucleya
• Ravi K. Tripathi
• Rimi Basu Sinha
• S. N. Tripathi
• Shantanu Moitra
• Vishal Bhardwaj
• Vishal Mishra

Theatre related

• Arvind Gaur
• Nadira Babbar
• Sushil Kumar Singh

Cinematographers

• Anjuli Shukla
• Ashok Kumar
• Ayananka Bose
• Hemant Chaturvedi
• Ravikant Nagaich
• Vierendrra Lalit

Story / script / dialogue writers

• Agha Jani Kashmiri
• Anuraadha Tewari
• Dhiraj Mishra
• Faaiz Anwar
• Himanshu Sharma
• Jalees Sherwani
• Javed Siddiqi
• Juhi Chaturvedi
• K. P. Saxena
• Kamleshwar
• Kamna Chandra
• Mukhram Sharma
• S. Ali Raza
• Shama Zaidi
• Sharat Kumar
• Shivgopal Krishna
• Tanuja Chandra
• Wajahat Mirza

Navratnas

• Raja Todar Mal, Finance Minister and one of the Navratnas of Akbar
• Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Hindi poet and a Navratna of Akbar
• Birbal, jester and poet of Akbar's court

Television

• Aadesh Chaudhary
• Aditya Srivastava
• Akshita Mudgal
• Aparna Dixit
• Aru Krishansh Verma
• Aryan Pandit
• Farman Haider
• Gajendra Singh
• Harsh Nagar
• Hiba Nawab
• Jaya Bhattacharya
• Kanika Maheshwari
• Kiran Dubey
• Kushal Tandon
• Pankhuri Awasthy Rode
• Param Singh
• Parul Chauhan
• Pavitra Punia
• Pravisht Mishra
• Rahi Masoom Raza
• Raju Srivastav
• Randeep Rai
• Ravi Dubey
• Rukhsar Rehman
• Sanjeev Tyagi
• Shalini Arora
• Soumya Seth
• Sumbul Touqeer
• Surendra Pal
• Yuvika Chaudhary

Satire, comedy, cartoons

• Akbar Allahabadi, poet and satirist
• K. P. Saxena
• Kaak (b. 1940, Harish Chandra Shukla), cartoonist
• Kaka Hathrasi, satirist
• Rajpal Yadav, actor and comedian
• Raju Srivastava, actor and stand up comedian
• Tuntun, comedian
• Anubhav Singh Bassi is an Indian actor, YouTuber and stand-up comedian. His career as a standup comic started after an open mic in 2017.
• Aseem Trivedi (born 17 February 1987) is an Indian political cartoonist and activist, known for his anti corruption campaign Cartoons Against Corruption

Photographers

• Lala Deen Dayal, Indian photographer
• Tarun Khiwal (born 1967), Indian fashion and commercial photographer
• Darogha Ubbas Alli (aka Darogha Abbas Ali) was a 19th-century Indian engineer and photographer.
• Farhat Basir Khan (born 2 August 1957) is an Indian photographer.
• Richa Maheshwari is a Delhi-based fashion photographer.
• Virendra Prabhakar (1928 – 2015) was an Indian press photojournalist, cited by the Limca Book of Records as the longest serving press photojournalist.
• Devi Prasad (artist) (1921 – 1 June 2011) was an Indian artist and peace activist. He was a pioneering studio potter, painter, designer, photographer, art educator and peace activist.

Criminals

• Abu Salem, underworld criminal
• Atiq Ahmed, politician turned criminal
• Chavviram Singh Yadav, dacoit
• Daku Man Singh, dacoit
• Mukhtar Ansari, Ex MLA
• Munna Bajrangi
• Nirbhay Gujjar, dacoit
• Phoolan Devi, dacoit turned politician
• Prakash Shukla, gangster
• Dadua, dacoit
• Sibgatullah Ansari
• Khalid Azim
• Thug Behram
• Vikas Dubey
• Ravinder Kumar (serial killer)
• Rasheed Masood
• Ajay Mishra Teni
• Shiv Kumar Patel
• Satish (criminal)
• Devendra Sharma (serial killer)
• Sher Singh Rana
• Hari Shankar Tiwari
• Shekhar Tiwari
• Amarmani Tripathi
• Anand Sen Yadav
• D. P. Yadav
• Neera Yadav

Militants

• Abdul Subhan Qureshi

Others

• Abdul Karim, Munshi to Queen Victoria
• Begum Samru, historical figure
• Deep Tyagi, pioneer of family planning programme in India
• Jaichand of Kannauj, historical figure
• Tabassum Mansoor, Indian educationist in Libya
• Rahul Mishra (born 1979), fashion designer
• Sampat Pal Devi, women's rights activist
• Sheila Dikshit, former Chief Minister of Delhi
• Vinod Rai, former CAG and IAS
• Mohammad Waliullah was a senior judge of the Allahabad High Court in India.
• Shiv Prasad Gupta (28 June 1883 – 24 April 1944) was a visionary, philanthropist, a leader of the Indian Freedom Movement and the founder of the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth.
• Malini Agarwal (born 26 May 1977), also known as MissMalini, is an Indian digital influencer, TV host, entrepreneur, and author.

Photo gallery

• 
  Abdul Hamid's bust at Param Yodha Sthal, National War Memorial, New Delhi
• 
  Jadunath Singh's statue at Param Yodha Sthal, National War Memorial, New Delhi
• 
  Param Vir Chakra Awardee Yogendra Yadav at India Gate on Kargil Vijay Divas, 2018
• 
  Manoj Pandey's statue at Param Yodha Sthal, National War Memorial, New Delhi
• 
  Bhuvneshwar Kumar
• 
  Poonam Yadav bowling for India against Bangladesh during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup
• 
  Suresh Raina
• 
  Surya in Kolkata Knight Riders apparel during the 2017 Indian Premier League

See also

• Lists of Indian people
• List of people from Purvanchal
• States and union territories of India