List of Jains

This is a list of worldwide prominent Jains, the followers of Jainism with historical briefs.

Historical

• Lord Rishabha / Adinath: 1st Tirthankar, first king of Ayodhya kingdom (earlier known as Vinita City), whose seals are being discovered from Indus civilisation remains. He founded Jainism in this cycle.
• Ajitnath
• Sambhavanath
• Abhinandannath
• Sumatinath
• Padmaprabha
• Suparshvanath
• Chandraprabha
• Pushpadanta
• Sheetalnath
• Shreyansanath
• Vasupujya
• Vimalnath
• Anantnath
• Dharmanath
• Shantinath
• Kunthunath
• Aranath
• Mallinath
• Munisuvrata
• Naminatha
• Neminatha
• Parshwanath 23rd Tirthankar
• Mahavir 24th Tirthankar
• Gautam Gandhar
• Acharya Kundakunda
• Acharya Amritchandra
• Abbakka Rani - queen of Tulunadu (Karnataka) who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th century
• Kittur Chennamma - queen of the princely state Kittur in Karnataka
• Shantala Devi - Queen of Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana was a Jain and was well versed in dance and music and rendered public performances.
• Muni Shri Padmaprabhmaldhari Dev
• Bhadrabahu - Jain Acharya from Bengal and teacher of Emperor Chandragupta
• Acharya Umaswami
• Acharya Jayasen
• Adikavi Pampa - One of the greatest Kannada poets of all and one of the "three gems of Kannada literature".
• Ranna - One of the greatest Kannada poets of all and one of the "three gems of Kannada literature".
• Sri Ponna - One of the greatest Kannada poets of all and one of the "three gems of Kannada literature".He was honoured by the title Kavichakravarthi for his prowess and domination of the Kannada literary circles at that time.
• Bhaiya Bhagwatidasji
• Pandit Daulatramji
• Pandit Banaradasji
• Pandit Pravar Acharyakalp (Acharya like) Todarmalji
• King Shrenik Bimbisara Magadh Emperor, 1st Tirthankar of next future cycle
• Shrimad Rajchandraji - 19th century philosopher/mystic[1]
• Kanjiswami - 20th century philosopher/mystic/Future Tirthankar[2]
• Champaben - 20th century philosopher/mystic/Future Gandhar (Prime Acharya)
• Sthulibhadra - Jain Acharya
• Chandragupta Maurya - Founder of the Mauryan empire
• Acharya Suhasti - Jain saint and teacher of Emperor Samprati
• Samprati - Mauryan Emperor
• Kharavela - Kalinga Emperor (Kalinga is today known as Orissa)
• Amoghvarsh - Rashtrakut Emperor
• Chamundraya - General of Ganga King Marsinha who built the, Gomateshwara,a monolithic statue standing at 60 feet (18 m) above a hill in a place called Shravanabelagola in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India.
• Acharya Maghnandi - Jain Acharya and scholar
• Gandraditya - Shilahar king
• King Bhoj II - Shilahar king
• Acharya Hemchandra - Jain Acharya and scholar (who again revived Jainism)
• Kumarpal - Solanki king (who again revived Jainism)
• Bhamashah - Wealthiest business tycoon, was the childhood friend, colleague and adviser of Maharana Pratap, the legendary hero of Mewar (Rajasthan). Bhamashah's loyal support was pivotal to the career of the Maharana, right from the time of his coronation. Courageous and possessing exemplary military skills, Bhamashah played crucial roles in the numerous military exercises of Mewar against the mighty Mughal army, including the famous battle of Haldi Ghati. Modern historians describe him as the "Uplifter of Mewar".

• Siddhasen Diwakar - Great Jain monk & ancient scholar
• Tiruvalluvar - Jain monk, poet, philosopher, Father of South India.
• Avaiyaar - Poet, philosopher, saint
• Devchandra - Jain monk
• Som Sundar - 14th century Jain monk
• Muni Sundar - 14th century Jain monk
• Acharya Atmaramji - Guru of Acharya Vallabsuriji
• Acharya Vallabhsuri - Great Jain Acharya of 20th century during Indo Pak partition, who motivated Jain Schools & colleges in many Jain segements.
• Muni Vallabh Dutt - Jain monk famous as Phakkad Muni, disciple of Acharya Vallabhsuri
• Acharya Rajendrasuri - Jain Acharya of the 20th century
• Acharya Bhiksu - Jain Acharya of the 20th century
• Acharya Tulsi - Jain Acharya with revolutionary vision
• Acharya Mahaprajna - Great Jain Acharya, scholar, thinker, writer of the 21st century
• Haribhadrasuri - 12th century philosopher[3]
• Virasena - 9th century mathematician
• Panyas Purnanand Vijay - Famous Jain Panyas Muni 20th century
• Mahendra Suri - Sanskrit astrologer
• Acharya Shantisagar - Great Jain Acharya of 20th century
• Acharya Vidyasagar - Present Great Digamber Jain Acharya
• Acharya Subhodhsagarji - Great Jain monk
• Muni Roopmuni - existing great miraculous Jain monk
• Acharya SushilSuriji - Great Jain monk who was main driving force behind many Jain temples.
• Virchand Gandhi - First Silver Medalist Jain at first ever Parliament of World Religions at Chicago, USA (1893)& disciple of Acharya Atmaramji.
• Acharya Shri Chandanaji - Great Jain Acharya of the 21st century
• Acharya Shri Vijay Nityanandsurishwarji - A great Acharya presently Gachchhadipati, well known as "Shanti-Doot" working for peace among the mankind. Strong follower of education for all and rehabilitation for downtrodden people of the society. Who motivated Jain schools & colleges, dharmashala, hospitals & Jain temples in many part of the country.

Politicians and businessmen

• Annasaheb Latthe - First Finance Minister of Maharashtra, Diwan of Kolhapur, educationalist, social reformer, Author, Awarded the title "Diwan Bahaddur" by the then Viceroy of India.
• Chetan Jain - CEO, Voxel Works Private Limited. A prominent entrepreneur, with exemplary knowledge and experience in 'Maya'. Currently, he operates out of his office at Chennai, with plans to expand all over the globe.
• L. M. Singhvi - Former Indian Ambassador to UK, Member of Parliament
• Sunder Singh Bhandari - Governor of Gujarat
• Sarkar Laxmichand Hingarh - had equvivalent powers of king & honoured with title of Sarkar by Jodhpur Maharaja & pioneer of famous HUF firm R.S.(Rikhabdas Sardarmal), Business tycoon Rani, Rajasthan
• Sundar Lal Patwa - Former Chief Minister of MP and Cabinet Minister of India
• P C Sethi - Former Chief Minister of MP
• Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha - Former Chief Minister of MP
• Takhtmal Jain - Former Chief Minister of Central Province
• Sri Himmat Kothari - Minister in MP Govt (Cabinet/Forest)
• Sri Raghavji Bhai - Minister in MP Govt (Cabinet/Finance)
• Sri Jayant Mallya - Minister in MP Govt (Cabinet/Urban Development)
• Sri Paras Jain - Minister in MP Govt (State/Higher Education)
• Padma shree Veerendra Heggade- Well known social activist and the 21st Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala,Karnataka.
• Mr. Jawaharlal Darda - a veteran freedom fighter, Congress leader and founder of the Lokmat group of newspapers. Mr. Darda was elected to the Maharastra Legislative Council between 1972 and 1995. He made a mark in the governance in Maharastra by his admirable handling of the portfolios of energy, industry, irrigation, health, food and civil supplies, sports, youth affairs, textiles and environment as a Minister.
• Mr. Mohan Lal Sukhadia - Ex-Chief Minister of Rajasthan and ex-Governor of various states
• Tejraj Dedavat - Charismatic Jain business tycoon& establisher of bombay umbrella industry (M/S Oswal Umbrellas, Sanderao) who had close cordial relations with King of Jodhpur & film financer for personalities like Raj Kapoor, Hema Malini, Vishwajeet, Shailedra Singh,etc.
• Abhishek Manu Singhvi a politician from Indian National Congress party is presently a Member of the Parliament of India representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
• Jivaraj Papriwal - Prominent Jain legend, 15th century

A prominent Jain politician was Babu Ajit Prasad Jain from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was a veteran freedom fighter who was member of UP legislative council before independence. He was appointed the rehabilitation minister and then Union Food minister in the cabinet of Pandit Nehru. He was elected to the Lok Sabha 3 times and Rajya sabha twice. He played a prominent role in the formulating Zamidari abolition bill and for agricultural reform in India which went a great way in formulating the green revolution in India. He is remembered for his courage, honesty and great social work done for the poor.

Corporate

• Indu Jain and Vineet Jain - Owners of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., which owns The Times of India and other related media brands.
• Narendra ku. Patni - Patni computers
• Ashok ku. Patni - R.K.Marbles
• Pradeep Jain - Prasvnath Developers
• V.S Jain - Sail
• Arihant Capital
• Polaris Software Lab Limited Arun Jain
• Jain Irrigation
• Shah & Nahar Group
• Anshu Jain Anshu Jain of Deutsche Bank, London

Entertainment

• V Shantaram - Pioneer of Indian film industry
• Asha Parekh - Famous leading lady of Yesteryears
• Sooraj R. Barjatya - Rajashri film producer & director
• Kalyanji - Anandji - Music director
• Ravindra Jain - Music director
• Anuradha Paudwal - Singer
• Bharat Shah - Diamond merchant and film producer
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Famous film maker
• KLal - Famous magician
• Samir Jain - famous for video editing
• Darsheel Safary - Award winning child artist for Bollywood film Taare Zameen Par

Sports

• Dilip Doshi - Indian Test and one-day cricketer

Authors

• Kundakunda - Jain scholar monk, 2nd century CE, composer of spiritual classics such as: Samayasara, Niyamasara, Pancastikayasara, Pravacanasara, Atthapahuda and Barasanuvekkha.
• Umasvami - Author of Tattvarthasutra
• Siddhasena Divakara - Author of Sanmatitarka Prakarana
• Banarasidasa - Poet, Spiritualist and Thinker. Composed the Banarasivilasa, Nataka Samayasara and his magnum opus, Ardhakathanaka, the first ever autobiography in Hindi literature.
• Nathuram Premi - Publisher and scholar of Jainism, founder of Hindi Granth Karyalay and Manikchandra Jain Granthamala, historian, researcher, social reformer and editor of Jain Mitra and Jain Hitaishi. [b. 26 November, 1881 in Devari (Madhya Pradesh) - d. 30 January, 1960 in Mumbai (Maharashtra)].
• Dr. Bhagchandra Jain 'Bhaskar' - Renowned Scholar of Jainism, Buddhism, Religious Studies and Ancient Languages. He is a recipient of the President's (Rastrapati) Award and has written over 40 books and published more than 300 research papers.
• Shrenik Annadate - Editor and scholar, Mumbai, India
• Pierre Amiel - Writer and activist, France
• S.A. Bhuvanendra Kumar - Jain scholar & editor, Canada
• Yashvant Malaiya - Sanskritist and Jain scholar, Colorado, USA
• Sudhir M. Shah - Writer, editor, scholar & activist, Connecticut, USA
• Dr. Hemalata Pokharna - Scholar & doctor, Chicago
• Amar Salgia - Young scholar, activist & publisher, Los Angeles
• Annasaheb B Latthe - Started the magazines Sri Jinavijay, Pragati Ani Jinavijaya, Deccan Rayat and wrote many books on Jainism and politics including Jagati Federal Rajyaghatana.
• Sanjay D.Bafna - Writer, editor, scholar & activist, Connecticut, Mumbai
• Dr. Hukumchnad Bharill - Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Author of 52 books on main principles of Jainism like Krambadh Paryaya, Anekant-Syadwad, Nimitt-Upadaan, Naychakra, etc.
• Pt. Ratanchnad Bharill - Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Author of many books on Jainisim like Sanskar, Jin-Pujan-Rahasya, etc.

Other

• Acharya Rajneesh - "Osho" Controversial philosopher and guru
• Shahil Mehta - World-renowned mathematician
• Chandra Swami- Controversial Godman
• Vikram Sarabhai - World-famous space scientist of India
• Dr. Karmveer Bhaurao Patil - educationalist and social worker
• Dr. Jagdish Chandra Jain - renowned Jain philosopher
• Babulal Bhandari - President Amolak Education Trust kada, social worker.

Prominent Jain social workers

• Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain
• Sahu Ramesh Chandra Jain