Who are the 10 Greatest Indians Since 1900, and Why
We’ve come up with the top 10 Indians of the past century, not only because we can, but also because each one of these individuals made a lasting impact on India’s history. While they were all different in their own ways, they all had some characteristics in common that made them truly great in our eyes. Whether you agree with us or not, we hope you’ll find this list to be an interesting and enjoyable read.
The 1st – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Dr. Kalam was an Indian scientist and engineer who received numerous awards including a Padma Bhushan Award (India’s third highest civilian award), Padma Vibhushan Award (India’s second highest civilian award) and many more. He played a major role in shaping India into a developed nation; he worked hard on bringing self-sufficiency to
India by producing missiles that could launch satellites. Dr. Kalam became popular as the missile man of India because of his research on various missiles in his youth. Dr. Kalam wrote two bestsellers books with examples of life experiences which were well written which garnered him huge fan following across world.
The 2nd – Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore is popularly known as being India’s greatest poet. He is also considered to be a painter and a musician. Tagore had written novels, poems, short stories and plays. Many of his literary works had used rhythmic speech that was very close to Bengali musical traditions. Tagore himself composed music for some of his plays and dance-dramas.
The 3rd – Jawaharlal Nehru
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is credited with leading India’s independence movement through his work with Mohandas Gandhi. He was first Prime Minister of independent India and he was one of India’s longest serving Prime Ministers. It can be said that he played a major role in shaping India as it is today. His daughter, Indira Gandhi later became Prime Minister; she also served 3 consecutive terms in office.
The 4th – Mahatma Gandhi
Although he will be forever known for leading India to independence from Britain in 1947, Gandhi has made just as much of an impact on social reform. Born into a family of high-caste Brahmin Hindus but raised by his widowed mother after his father’s death, he went on to study law in London. It was there that he had his first run-in with discrimination. His skin color made him suspect of trying to evade railroad fares; eventually authorities threw him off a train in South Africa for refusing to leave when asked because he was sitting in a whites-only compartment.
The 5th – C.V. Raman
Raman is an instrumental figure in Indian history because of his discovery of light scattering—Raman Effect. During his lifetime, he received many awards including India’s highest honor, Bharat Ratna (1954). He was elected as a fellow of Royal Society (London) in 1924 and he served as president of several scientific societies. His discoveries helped further research on topics such as semiconductors and atomic structure. One of his other well-known contributions is establishing Raman’s theorem for Sparse Sampling. With so many achievements during a career that spanned half a century, it seems safe to say that Raman is among India’s greatest minds since 1900.
The 6th – Vikram Sarabhai
Sarabhai led India to one of its greatest achievements in space research. He is most well known for his ambitious vision that put Indian space research on a world stage. Despite tremendous odds, he created organizations like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Under his leadership ISRO developed capabilities like building cryogenic engines, launching satellites by itself which helped launch Chandrayaan I later. Sarabhai had a large vision to make India an advanced technological country but died before seeing it fully accomplished. However under his leadership ISRO did great work and continues to advance India’s space program further today. He was instrumental in developing many experimental technologies that proved useful later on by other organizations around the world.
The 7th – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Frontier Gandhi)
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun social reformer from Peshawar in present-day Pakistan. He is known to most Afghans as Badshah Khan, King of Kings or Emperor. An ethnic Pashtun, Badshah Khan was a pacifist (Ahmadi) and devout Muslim who opposed religious extremism and supported equality for women. His followers, numbering over 20 million according to one source (see Ghaffar Khan), called him Badshah (King), while his enemies called him a Fakir (holy man). Through non-violent means he led his nation to independence from British rule.
The 8th – Rajiv Gandhi
One of India’s greatest Prime Ministers after his father Jawaharlal Nehru. It is because of him that we have one of India’s best leaders till date: A.P.J Abdul Kalam; one of India’s finest Defence Minister: George Fernandes; and a true world leader: Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya. All 3 have defined their area of work so well that they have become legendary figures in their own rights. Rajiv Gandhi deserves all credit for getting them to do what they did with such panache while they were his colleagues in various capacities.
The 9th – Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Born in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now part of Macedonia) on August 26 1910, Blessed Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950. Her ministry focused on assisting to people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; she also spent a great deal of time caring for India’s poor. Teresa passed away on September 5 1997. She was beatified as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta by Pope John Paul II during his visit to India in 1986. On October 19 2003, she was canonized by Pope John Paul II as Saint Teresa of Calcutta during his visit to Albania where she served during World War II.
The 10th – B.R. Ambedkar (the architect of India’s constitution)
When BR Ambedkar drafted India’s constitution he is said to have borrowed heavily from three US documents – The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of United States and Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms. He was self-taught. He then went on to study at Columbia University in New York City where he obtained a Master’s degree in Economics. By doing so he became one of very few untouchables to have ever studied there.
