This is a list of notable people from

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

Religious and spiritual figures

Splendid Shrine of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya

Fariduddin Ganjshakar Farīd al-Dīn Masʿūd Ganj-i-Shakar ( ; – 7 May 1266) was a 13th-century Punjabi Sunni Muslim preacher and mystic, who was one of the most revered and distinguished Muslim mystics of the medieval period. He is known reverentially as B ...

Bahauddin Zakariya Baha-ud-din Zakariya (Urdu and fa, بہاءُ الدین زکریا) (c.1170 – 1262), also spelled Bahauddin Zakariya, and also known as Baha-ul-Haq and Bahauddin Zakariya Multani, was a Sunni Muslim scholar saint and poet who establish ...

* Rukn-e-Alam *

Shah Hussain Shah Hussain ( pa, ; ; 1538–1599), also known as Madhoo Lal Hussain, was a 16th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. He lived during the ruling periods of Mughal emperors Akbar ...

* Mian Mir *

Sultan Bahu Sultan Bahu ( pa, , ਸੁਲਤਾਨ ਬਾਹੂ ; also spelled Bahoo; 17 January 1630 – 1 March 1691), was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) duri ...

* Shah Inayat Qadri * Bulleh Shah *

Waris Shah Waris Shah ( pa, ; ; 1722–1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of ''Heer Ranjha'' . Background Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Kh ...

Muhammad Channan Shah Nuri Muhammad Channan Shah Nuri was an Islamic scholar, saint, and preacher in South Asia. He founded the Aminia branch of the Sunni Naqshbandi order. He preached Islam in South Asia and brought non-Muslims into the fold of Islam. His adherents call ...

* Mian Muhammad Baksh * Khwaja Ghulam Farid * Meher Ali Shah

National figures

Allama Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

Rahmat Ali Chaudhry Rahmat Ali (; ur, ; 16 November 1897 – 3 February 1951) was a Pakistani nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name "Pakistan" for a separate M ...

* Liaquat Ali Khan *

Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his international ...

Jahanara Shahnawaz Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979) was a politician and Muslim League activist. She was the daughter of Sir Muhammad Shafi. Her husband was Mian Shah Nawaz. She studied at Queen Mary College, Lahore, British India ...

* Naseer Ahmed Malhi * Shaukat Hayat Khan * Ghazanfar Ali Khan *

Zafar Ali Khan Zafar Ali Khan (1874– 27 November 1956) ( pnb, – ), also known as Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, was a Pakistani writer, poet, translator and a journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement against the British Raj. He is genera ...

* Muhammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi

Pakistan Armed Forces

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Raheel Sharif, former Chief of Army Staff of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

*General

Qamar Javed Bajwa General Qamar Javed Bajwa ( ur, ; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes' ...

, current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army *General

Asif Nawaz Janjua General Asif Nawaz Janjua NI(M), HI(M), SBt, psc, (Urdu: ; 3 January 1937 – 8 January 1993) was a senior officer of the Pakistan Army who served as the fourth Chief of Army Staff from 16 August 1991 until his death by Arsenic poiso ...

, former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army * Lt Gen

Asim Saleem Bajwa Asim Saleem Bajwa (Urdu, Punjabi: ) is a retired Pakistani three-star general who served as the chairman of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority from November 2019 to August 2021 and the special assistant to then Prime Minister Imran ...

*Lt Gen

Abdul Ali Malik Abdul Ali Malik was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and an infantry officer in the Pakistan Army from Nineteenth Battalion of Punjab Regiment who earned distinction of leading the combat infantry formations to mechanized w ...

Maj Gen Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Iftikhar Janjua Major General Iftikhar Khan Janjua ( ur, ) (died December 9, 1971) of the Pakistan Army is one of the most senior Pakistani officers to have been killed in action. He is known in Pakistan as the hero of Rann of Kutch, as he was a brigadier in c ...

*Maj Gen

Akhtar Hussain Malik Akhtar ( fa, links=no, ) means "star" in Persian. It is a unisex name. It is also a common surname. A variant spelling is Akhter. Notable people with the given name or surname include: Given name Akhtar * Akhtar Aly Kureshy Pakistani lawyer a ...

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Tufail Muhammad, recipient of the Nishan-e-Haider (NH) *Major Raja Aziz Bhatti, recipient of NH *Major

Muhammad Akram Major Muhammad Akram (; 4 April 1938 – 5 December 1971) was a military officer in the Pakistan Army who was cited with the Nishan-e-Haider posthumously after the military confrontation took place in railway station in Hilli, East-Paki ...

, recipient of NH *Major Shabbir Sharif, recipient of NH *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Muhammad Sarwar, recipient of NH * Naik

Saif Ali Janjua Naik Saif Ali Janjua (Urdu: سیف علی جنجوعہ; c. 25 April 1922 – 26 October 1948), was a Pakistan Army Non-commissioned officer of the Azad Kashmir Regiment, he was a platoon commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He ...

, recipient of NH * Lace Naik Muhammad Mahfuz, recipient of NH *Sowar Muhammad Hussain, recipient of NH

Politicians

* Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, former Army Chief of Staff and former President of Pakistan (1977–1988) *

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (; ur, ; 2 November 1929 – 7 March 2022) was a Pakistani politician and jurist who served as the ninth president of Pakistan from January 1998 until his resignation in June 2001, and prior to that as a senator from Punja ...

, former President of Pakistan *

Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan ( ur, نواب زاده نصر الله خان) (13 November 1916 – 27 September 2003) was a senior politician in British India and later Pakistan. He was also a prominent Urdu poet. He was the only West Pakistani to ...

, politician * Yousaf Raza Gillani, former Prime Minister of Pakistan (Pakistan Peoples Party) *

Qamar Zaman Kaira Qamar Zaman Kaira ( ur, ; born 5 January 1960) is the former Minister of Information and Mass-Media Broadcasting in the Government of Pakistan. He is Incumbent advisor on Kashmir Affairs to current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Before headi ...

, former Minister (Pakistan Peoples Party) * Shah Mehmood Qureshi, politician PTI * Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan, longest serving parliamentarian of Pakistan from 1951 to 1999 *

Malik Allahyar Khan Malik Allahyar Khan ( ur, ) was a parliamentarian from Pakistan. Early life He was born on 2 June 1927 in Khunda, a small village in Attock District. His father, Malik Khaki Jan, was a landlord of the area given the title of Khan Bahadur by ...

(1927–2007), former member of parliament *

Amir Mohammad Khan Malik Amir Mohammad Khan (; 20 June 1910 – 26 November 1967) was the Nawab of Kalabagh and a prominent feudal lord, politician, the chief or sardar of the Awan (tribe), Awan tribe, and of his tribal estate Kalabagh, in Mianwali District of no ...

, Nawab of Kalabagh, Governor of East Pakistan * Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, former President of Pakistan (PPP) * Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, current president of PML(Q) * Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, first Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, former Chief Minister of Punjab (2002–2007)

Lawyers

Ijaz Husain Batalvi In Islam, ''’i‘jāz'' ( ar, اَلْإِعْجَازُ, al-’i‘jāz) or inimitability of the Qur’ān is the doctrine which holds that the Qur’ān has a miraculous quality, both in content and in form, that no human speech can match. A ...

* S M Zafar * Ashtar Ausaf Ali * Syed Ali Zafar *

Akhtar Aly Kureshy Akhtar Aly Kureshy ( ur, ) (born 15 November 1963) is a Pakistani lawyer, advisor and senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who served as Assistant Attorney-General for Pakistan. He remained Assistant Advocate General Punjab, a ...

Azam Nazeer Tarar Azam Nazeer Tarar (Urdu, pa, اعظم نذیر تارڑ) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Federal Minister of Law and Justice from April to October 2022. He is a member of the Senate of Pakistan elected from Punjab in ...

* Hamid Khan

Writers and Poets

* Bulleh Shah *

Ali Haider Multani Ali Haider (1690-1785), Saraiki and Punjabi Sufi poet, was born in Chountra village, Pir Mahal Tehsil, Toba Tek Singh District, Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'' ...

* Lutf Ali *

Qadir Yar Qadir Yar (1802–1892), born Qadar Baksh, was a Muslim Sandhu Jatt and a poet of the Punjabi language. Born in Gujranwala, he wrote Punjabi Qissa like ''Qissa Purana Bhagat'', ''Raja Rasal''. Life Qadir Yar was born in the village Machhike ...

* Mian Muhammad Baksh * Khawaja Ghulam Fareed * Ghulam Rasool Alampuri *

* Muhammad Iqbal * Hakim Ahmad Shuja *

Hafeez Jalandhari Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari ( ur, ) (born 14 January 1900 – 21 December 1982) was a Pakistani Urdu-language poet who wrote the lyrics for the National Anthem of Pakistan

Faiz Ahmad Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

Ustad Daman Ustad Daman ( Punjabi, ur, , (born as Chiragh Deen), Punjabi, ur, ), (3 September 1911 – 3 December 1984) was a Punjabi poet, writer and a mystic.Hasan Manto *

Shareef Kunjahi Sharif Kunjahi ( pa, (Shahmukhi)) (1914 – 2007) was a leading writer and poet of Punjabi. He was among the first faculty members of the Department of Punjabi Language at University of Punjab in the 1970s and contributed to Punjabi literatu ...

Ahmad Rahi Ahmad Rahi (12 November 1923 – 2 September 2002) was a Punjabi poet and writer from Pakistan. Early life He was born 12 November 1923 in Amritsar, British India. His real name was Ghulam Ahmad, a name given by his spiritual leader Khorshe ...

Habib Jalib Habib Jalib (24 March 1928 - 12 March 1993; Urdu, Punjabi: ) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression. Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz said that he was the poet of ...

Anwar Masood Anwar Masood ( ur, , pnb, ); born 8 November 1935) is a Pakistani poet known for his comic poetry. However, his works include other genres as well. He writes in Punjabi, Urdu and Persian languages. His poetry is known for the unique use of ...

* Aizaz Azar *

Mazhar Tirmazi Mazhar Tirmazi (born September 26, 1950) is a London-based Punjabi poet and journalist. His poem, ''UmraN LangiaN PabaN Bhaar'' (A Lifetime on Tiptoes — Healing the Wounds of Partition), was adapted for a Ghazal rendition by Asad Amanat Ali Khan ...

Ali Arshad Mir Ali Arshad Mir ( pa, ; January 1, 1951 – October 16, 2008) was an epic Punjabi poet and writer, sometimes described as the "Homer of Punjab". His works have been translated into languages such as Urdu and English. In the 1970s, his ''Internat ...

Mir Tanha Yousafi Mir Tanha Yousufi (1 January 1955 26 August 2019) was a Pakistani Punjabi and Urdu writer, best known for his Punjabi literature. He produced two short story collections and five novels in Punjabi. Most of his work was transliterated in Gurumu ...

Sportspersons

Ajaz Akhtar Ajaz Akhtar (born 1 September 1968) is a former Pakistani-born British first-class cricketer. Akhtar is a right-handed batsman (cricket), batsman who bowls right-arm Seam bowling, medium pace. He was born in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Upon coming to ...

, cricketer * Amir Iqbal Khan, boxer *

Abdul Khaliq ʻAbd al-Khāliq (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الخالق) is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Khāliq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to ...

, sprinter * Shoaib Akhtar, cricketer *

Abdul Razzaq ʻAbd al-Razzāq (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الرزاق) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Razzāq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to ...

, cricketer *

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...

, cricketer *

Abdul Hafeez Kardar Abdul Hafeez Kardar PP, HI ( ur, ) (17 January 1925 – 21 April 1996) was a Pakistani cricketer, politician and diplomat. He was the first captain of the Pakistan cricket team. He is one of the only three players to have played Test crick ...

, cricketer *

Inzamam-ul-Haq Inzamam-ul-Haq SI ( ur, ; born 3 March 1970), also known as Inzi, is a former Pakistan cricketer and captain of Pakistan national cricket team. He was also professional cricket coach for Pakistan. He was the leading run scorer for Pakistan i ...

, cricketer * Waqar Younis, cricketer and sports presenter *

Shahnaz Sheikh Shahnaz Sheikh (born 21 March 1949) is a retired Pakistani field hockey player. He was born at Sialkot, Pakistan. He is related to Olympians Zahid Sheikh and Tariq Sheikh. In 2014, he was the head coach of Pakistan National Hockey Team. A f ...

, hockey player *

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national ...

, cricketer *

Misbah-ul-Haq ; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team. A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...

, cricketer * Saeed Anwar, cricketer *

Muhammad Amir Mohammad Amir ( ur, ; born 13 April 1992) is a Pakistani cricketer and bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team. He is playing as a left-arm fast-medium bowler and uses his left hand when batting. Amir made his first-class debut in N ...

, cricketer

Scientists

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...

, theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner in Physics for his contributions to the

Electroweak force In particle physics, the electroweak interaction or electroweak force is the unified description of two of the four known fundamental interactions of nature: electromagnetism and the weak interaction. Although these two forces appear very differe ...

* Riazuddin, theoretical physicist and one of the key developers of the theoretical designs of Pakistan's nuclear weapons *

Masud Ahmad Muhammad Masud Ahmad ( Urdu: محمد مسعود احمد; ), best known as Masood Ahmad, (16 November 1943 – 29 December 2018) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and ICTP laureate known for his work in dual resonance and Veneziano ...

, theoretical physicist and one of the key developers of the theoretical designs of Pakistan's nuclear weapons * Ayyub Ommaya, neurosurgeon and inventor of the

Ommaya reservoir An Ommaya reservoir is an intraventricular catheter system that can be used for the aspiration of cerebrospinal fluid or for the delivery of drugs (e.g. chemotherapy) into the cerebrospinal fluid. It consists of a catheter in one lateral ventricle ...

* Mahbub ul Haq, economist and inventor of the Human Development Index (HDI)

Film and TV artists

Sultan Rahi Sultan Rahi ( ur, ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ ﺭﺍﮨﯽ ; June 24, 1938 – January 9, 1996) was a Pakistani actor, producer and screenwriter. He established himself as one of the leading and most successful actors of Pakistani and Punjabi cinema, and ...

, actor * Shaan Shahid, actor *

Bilal Ashraf Bilal Ashraf ( ur, ; born 10 October 1979) is a Pakistani film actor, producer and visual effects director. After studying visual effects from the Franklin Marshall College, he started his career as a visual effects director and then pursued his ...

, actor *

Humayun Saeed Humayun Saeed Ansari (born 27 July 1971), professionally known as Humayun Saeed, is a Pakistani actor and producer. He has appeared in dozens of Pakistani television dramas and limited number of films, and earned Lux Style Awards, and ARY Fil ...

, actor * Ali Zafar, actor

Singers

Alam Lohar Alam Lohar ( pa, ) was a prominent Pakistani Punjabi folk music singer. He is credited with creating and popularising the musical term Jugni. Early life and career Alam Lohar was born in 1928 in Achh, near Kotla Arab Ali Khan, Gujrat Tehsil, ...

, Punjabi folk singer * Arif Lohar, Punjabi folk singer *

Pathanay Khan Pathanay Khan or Pathane Khan (Urdu: پٹھانے خان ; born Ghulam Mohammad; 1926 – 2000) was a legendary Saraiki people, Saraiki folk music, folk singer from Pakistan. He mostly sang Kafis or Ghazals (in Saraiki dialect, Saraiki), us ...

, Punjabi folk singer * Inayat Hussain Bhatti, Punjabi folk singer * Musarrat Nazir, Punjabi folk singer * Fateh Ali Khan, ''qawwali'' singer *

Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan ( ur, ) (December 25, 1952 – September 7, 2003) was a Pakistani musician, who played the harmonium in Qawwali music. He was also a member of a well-known family of Qawwali musicians, the Qawwal Bacchon gharana (Delhi g ...

, ''qawwali'' singer * Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, ''qawwali'' singer * Badar Miandad, ''qawwali'' singer * Ghulam Farid Sabri, ''qawwali'' singer * Maqbool Ahmad Sabri, ''qawwali'' singer * Amjad Sabri, ''qawwali'' singer * Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, ''qawwali'' singer *

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan ( Punjabi: ) (born () Allah Rakhi Wasai ; 23 September 1926 – 23 December 2000; sometimes spelled Noorjehan),Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema,'' British Film Institute, Oxford University Pres ...

, classical singer * Atif Aslam, pop singer

Others

* Chaudhary Niaz Ali Khan (civil engineer)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Punjabis

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...