This is a list of notable Tamils.
Ancient Kings and Rulers
Tamil dynasties Chola dynasty Pandya dynasty Chera dynasty Pallava dynasty Ay dynasty Velir dynasty Aryacakravarti dynasty Vanni dynasty Rajahnate of Cebu Kongu Chera dynasty
Other royal families Rulers of Ramnad Ramanatha Sethupathi (?–1979), last Raja of Ramnad estate Rajeswari Nachiyar, only daughter of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi, present titular ruler of Ramnad estate Rajkumar Sethupathi, actor, brother of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and Latha, married leading actress in the 1980s Sripriya Latha, actress, sister of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and actor Rajkumar Sethupathi Rulers of Pudukkottai Rajagopala Thondaiman (1922–1997), last ruler of the princely state of Pudukkottai R. Rajagopala Thondaiman (1958–?), present head of the royal house of Pudukkottai, son of Radhakrishna Thondaiman, nephew of last ruler Rajagopala Thondaiman Charubala Thondaiman (1958–), wife of R. Rajagopala Thondaiman, member of the INC, former mayor of Tiruchirappalli (2001–2009)
Multinational positions Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953–), Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Roy Padayachie (1950–2012), Minister of Public Service and Administration of the Republic of South Africa; also served in the economics desk of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and as deputy head of local government portfolio; consultant to UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Indra Nooyi, Indian-American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo Raghuram Rajan, former IMF Chief Economist
Independence movement Indian independence movement Nagappan Padayatchi (1891 – 6 July 1909) Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone (1710–1757) Puli Thevar (1715–1767) Marudhanayagam pillai (1725–1764) Rani Velu Nachiar (1730–1796) Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945) Dheeran Chinnamalai Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), poet and social reformer V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953), scholar Subramaniya Siva (1884–1925), writer Dawood Shah (1885–1969), scholar Muhammad Ismail Rowther (1896–1972) Jeevanandham (1907–1963) Champakaraman Pillai (1891–1934) Tiruppur Kumaran (1904–1932) K. Kamaraj (1903–1975) Veeran Sundaralingam (1770–1799) Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar V. O. Chidambaram pillai (1872–1936)
Independence movements in other countries Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1898–1914), South African militant Captain Miller (1966–1987), Tamil rebel and member of the Tamil Tigers, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka; known as the LTTE's first Black Tiger (suicide bomber). V. T. Sambanthan (1919–1979), one of the three founding fathers of Malaysia Pon Sivakumaran (1950–1974), Eelam Tamil rebel and the first Tamil militant to commit suicide by swallowing cyanide Ponnambalam Ramanathan, leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement Ponnambalam Arunachalam, leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement Cankili I also known as Cekaracacekaran VII, most remembered Jaffna kingdom king in the Eelam Tamil history. He was very active in resisting Portuguese colonial inroads into Eelam. Cankili II, known as the last King of the Jaffna Kingdom Arumaipperumal, Batticaloa chieftain in the 18th century who led a rebellion against the British colonial occupiers in 1803 Pandara Vanniyan (1775–1810), Tamil Chieftain who ruled in Vanni Nadu in 18th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last Tamil king in Sri Lanka, who also rose to revolt against the British Ceylon empire and Dutch Ceylon empire, who died battling the British colonial rule on the island. Periyapillai, known to mount the major attack on the Portuguese fort in the Mannar Island to regain territory lost during Cankili's rule Migapulle Arachchi also known as Chinna Migapillai, feudal lord from the Jaffna Kingdom who became a rebel leader just after its annexation by the Portuguese Empire in 1619. His title Arachchi, is a title given to the commanders of Lascarins or native military forces. Varunakulattan, 17th-century feudal lord and military commander from the Jaffna Kingdom. He led a rebellion as the military commander of Thanjavur Nayak against the Portuguese in their conquest of the Jaffna kingdom in 1619. Although the nominal king was Cankili II, Varunakulattan was described as the king of Karaiyars, and wield the real power in the Jaffna Peninsula. Puviraja Pandaram Kasi Nayinar Pararacacekaran Ethirimana Cinkam S. A. Ganapathy (1912 or 1917 – 4 May 1949), was a veteran of the communist underground resistance during Japanese occupation and postwar trade unionist in then Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia). Charles Tambu (1907-1965), a representative of the Indonesia government in international diplomacy.
Contributions to Tamil people Marshal Nesamony (1895–1968), responsible for Kanyakumari district merger with Tamil Nadu Varadarajan Mudaliar (1926–1988), known as Vardha Bhai; the Tamil movie Nayakan was based on his life story Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani, Singaporean Tamil pioneer
Governor-Generals No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1C. Rajagopalachari(1878–1972)21 June 194826 January 19501 year, 219 days2Veerasamy Ringadoo(1920–2000)17 January 198612 March 19926 years, 55 days
Presidents No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan(1888–1975)13 May 196213 May 19675 years2R. Venkataraman(1910–2009)25 July 198725 July 19925 years3Veerasamy Ringadoo(1920–2000)12 March 199230 June 1992110 days4S. R. Nathan(1924–2016)1 September 19991 September 201112 years5A. P. J. Abdul Kalam(1931–2015)25 July 200225 July 20075 years6Tharman Shanmugaratnam( 1957)14 September 2023Incumbent
Vice Presidents No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan(1888–1975)13 May 195212 May 19629 years, 364 days2R. Venkataraman(1910–2009)31 August 198424 July 19872 years, 327 days3Angidi Veeriah Chettiar(1928–2010)1 July 199717 February 20027 years, 252 days25 August 200715 September 20104Moses Nagamootoo( 1947)20 May 20152 August 20205 years, 74 days5Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory( 1964)4 April 201625 November 20193 years, 235 days6Kamala Harris( 1964)20 January 202120 January 20254 years7C. P. Radhakrishnan( 1957)12 September 2025Incumbent
Prime Ministers No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Moses Nagamootoo( 1947)20 May 20152 August 20205 years, 74 days
Deputy Prime Ministers No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Tharman Shanmugaratnam( 1957)21 May 201130 April 20197 years, 344 days
Chief Justices No.NameCountryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1M. Patanjali Sastri(1889–1963)7 November 19513 January 19542 years, 57 days2P. Sathasivam( 1949)19 July 201326 April 2014281 days
Governors of states No.NameStateTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1C. Rajagopalachari(1878–1972)West Bengal15 August 194721 June 1948311 days2P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja(1898–1957)Odisha10 February 195411 September 19562 years, 214 days3P. Subbarayan(1889–1962)Maharashtra17 April 19626 October 1962172 days4Jothi Venkatachalam(1917–Unknown)Keralam14 October 197726 October 19825 years, 12 days5M. M. Ismail(1921–2005)Tamil Nadu27 October 19803 November 19807 days6P. Ramachandran(1921–2001)Keralam27 October 198223 February 19885 years, 119 days7T. V. Rajeswar(1926–2018)Sikkim21 November 19851 March 19893 years, 100 daysWest Bengal2 March 19896 February 1990341 daysUttar Pradesh8 July 200428 July 20095 years, 20 daysRajasthan1 November 20048 November 20047 days8C. Subramaniam(1910–2000)Maharashtra5 February 19909 January 19932 years, 339 days9Shanmughasundaram Mohan(1930–2019)Karnataka5 February 19908 May 199092 days10Viswanathan Ratnam(1932–2020)Himachal Pradesh10 July 199430 July 199420 days11Gopala Ramanujam(1915–2001)Goa4 August 199415 June 1995315 daysOdisha18 June 199530 January 19972 years and 164 days13 February 199713 December 1997Andhra Pradesh22 August 199723 November 199793 days12C. Rangarajan( 1932)24 November 19973 January 20035 years, 40 daysOdisha27 April 199814 November 19991 year, 201 daysKeralam29 February 200023 April 200085 days19 October 20007 November 200016 February 200228 February 2002Tamil Nadu3 July 200117 January 2002198 days13A. Padmanaban(1928–Unknown)Mizoram2 May 199830 November 20002 years, 212 days14M. M. Rajendran(1935–2023)Odisha15 November 199917 November 20045 years, 2 days15E. S. L. Narasimhan( 1945)Chhattisgarh25 January 200723 January 20102 years, 363 daysAndhra Pradesh28 December 200923 July 20199 years, 207 daysTelangana2 June 20147 September 20195 years, 97 days16M. O. H. Farook(1937–2012)Jharkhand22 January 20103 September 20111 year, 224 daysKeralam8 September 201126 January 2012140 days17M. K. Narayanan( 1934)West Bengal24 January 201030 June 20144 years, 157 daysSikkim7 April 201027 April 201020 days18Sasindran Muthuvel( 1974)West New Britain16 July 2012Incumbent19P. Sathasivam( 1949)Keralam5 September 20145 September 20195 years20V. Shanmuganathan( 1949)Meghalaya20 May 201527 January 20171 year, 252 daysManipur30 September 201520 August 2016325 daysArunachal Pradesh14 September 201627 January 2017135 days21Tamilisai Soundararajan( 1961)Telangana8 September 201919 March 20244 years, 193 days22La. Ganesan(1945–2025)Manipur27 August 202121 February 2023 1 year, 178 daysWest Bengal18 July 202222 November 2022127 daysNagaland20 February 202315 August 20252 years, 176 days23C. P. Radhakrishnan( 1957)Jharkhand18 February 202330 July 20241 year, 153 daysTelangana19 March 202431 July 2024134 daysMaharashtra31 July 202411 September 20251 year, 42 days
Lieutenant governors of union territories No.NameUnion territoryTerm of officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1T. V. Rajeswar(1926–2018)Arunachal Pradesh10 August 198321 November 19852 years, 103 days2Tamilisai Soundararajan( 1961)Puducherry16 February 202118 March 20243 years, 31 days3C. P. Radhakrishnan( 1957)22 March 20246 August 2024137 days
Chief Ministers