Famous Women of India
This is a list of Indian women, or of women who lived in India.
Poets and writers
Kamala Das
Sarojini Naidu
Taslima Nasrin
Mamta Sagar
Mahadevi Verma poems by Mahadevi Verma
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan poems by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
Anita Desai
Kiran Desai
Shama Futehally
Shashi Deshpande
Arundhati Roy
Bapsi Sidhwa
Gita Hariharan
Saroj Pathak
Kamala Desai
Sulekha Sanyal
Kabita Sinha
Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Sabitri Roy
Kamala Markandeya
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Jhumpa Lahiri
Religious leaders, philanthropists and philosophers
Gargi Vachnavi (female sage in Brihadaranyaka Upanisad)
Sulabha (philosopher and sage in the Mahabharata)
Alexandra David-Néel (author of "L'Inde ou j'ai vécu")
Sri Sarada Devi
Lalleshvari 14th century
Amritanandamayi
Mirabai 16th century
Akka Mahadevi 12th century
Andal Goda
Mother Meera
The Mother
Sister Nivedita
Sahajo
Helena Blavatsky
Annie Besant
Helena Roerich
Rani Rashmoni Devi (built the Dakshineshvar temple)
Music
Asha Bhosle
Lata Mangeshkar
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Actors and directors
Deepa Mehta director
Moon Moon Sen actor
Preity Zinta
Pooja Bedi
Pooja Bhatt
Aishwarya Rai
Kajol Mukherjee
Rani Mukherjee
Smita Patil
Rekha
Padmini Kolhapure
Juhi Chawla
Sridevi
Rulers and queens
Queen Ahalyabai Holkar 1725-95
Tarabai wife of Rajaram, Shivaji's son, and leader
Begum Hazrat Mahal
Kota Rani 14th century, Kashmir
Rani Durgavati 16th century
Rani Lakshmi Bai (Joan of Arc of India)
Rani Chennamma of Kittur 1778 - 1829
Rani Avantibai 19th century
Leaders and politicians
Indira Gandhi
Anna Mascarenha
Mamata Banerjee
Jayalalitha
Uma Bharati
Sonia Gandhi
Activists
Medha Patkar
