We are also called 'Vipra' (learned) and Dvija (twice-born). Our roots go back to 6000 B.C which is called the Vedic period. We can trace our lineage to the seven rishis (saptarshi) who are recognized as the mind-born sons of the creator Brahma. Historically, our community has played a key role in defining and giving meaning to the Hindu way of life and holding together the diverse elements of society. The influence our community has in religious, social and cultural matters continues to this day. World renowned scientists and Nobel laureates Dr S. Chandrasekhar and Sir C.V. Raman and legendary mathematicians like Arya Bhata and Bhaskara were Brahmins.

Prominent Personalities
Brahmins - Born to rule!

Our community has given the country four presidents and six prime ministers.

Presidents of India
Varaha Venkata Giri - Fourth President of India
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan - Philosopher, Second President of India, First Vice President of India
Shankar Dayal Sharma - Ninth President of India
Ramaswamy Venkataraman - Eighth President of India, Seventh Vice President of India

Prime Ministers of India
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai - Sixth Prime Minister of India
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi - Fifth Prime Minister of India
Rajiv Gandhi - Ninth Prime Minister of India
Jawaharlal Nehru - Freedom fighter, First Prime Minister of India
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao - 12th Prime Minister of India
Atal Bihari Vajpayee- 13th and 16th Prime Minister of India

Other prominent Brahmins in politics include: Mamata Banerjee, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, Jayalalitha, Jairam Ramesh and Sitaram Yechury. In fact, every party has one: a Brahmin drafting canny political strategy.

Here is a list of notable Brahmins, historical as well as contemporary, in various fields. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Sports
Sachin Tendulkar
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Sunil Gavaskar
Krishnamachari Srikanth
Ravi Shasthri
V.V.S.Lakshman
Ajit Agarkar
Javagal Srinath
Anil Kumble

Politics, Social and Freedom Fighters
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Rabindranath Tagore (Pirali Brahmin)
Jawaharlal Nehru
Lal Bahadhur Shastri
Chandrashekar Azad
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
VV.Giri
Rajagopalachari(1st and only Governor General)
T N Seshan
Krishna Murthy
Ram Jethmalani
PV.NarasimhaRao
AB.Vajpayee
Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar
Potti SreeRamulu
Veereshlingam Panthulu
Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu
Pingali Venkiah
Gurajada Apparao
Mahakavi Sri Sri
Tenali Ramakrishna
Chanakya

Arts & Entertainment
Kamal Hasan, Madhavan, Mani Ratnam (Gopal Ratnam Subramaniyam Iyer), K.Balachander, K.Vishwanath, Kota Srinivas Rao, SP.Balasubramaniyam, PB.Srinivas, P.Sushila, S.Janaki, Karunya, Sunitha Upadhrushta, Anuradha Sriram, Ghantasala, S.RajeshwarRao, Mani Sharma, Vidhya Sagar, Athreya, Veturi Sundara Rama Murthi, Sirivennala Seetharama Shasthri, Suryakantham, Sowcar Janaki, Bhanumathi, Krishnakumari, Girija, RamaPrabha, Kanchana, Lakshmi, Sridevi, Vidhya Balan, Trisha Krishnan, Ramya Krishnan, Jayasudha, Vijay Nirmala, Gauthami, Suhasini, Bhanupriya, Naresh, Singeetham Srinivas Rao, Trivikram Srinivas Rao, Arudhra, Vennalakanti, RajaBabu, Padmanabham, Chittor Nagaiah, Nagabhooshanam, Dhoolipala Setharama Shastry, Mukkamala Krishna murthy, Chandra Mohan, Somayajulu, LB.Sriram, Rallapalli, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Dharma Varapu subramaniyam, Tanikella Bharani, NutanPrasad, Raghuvaran, Ajith Kumar, Madhuri Dixit, Sonali Bendre, Sushmita sen

Academics, Science & Technology and Business
Jiddu KrishnaMurthy
C.V.Raman(Nobel prize winner for Raman Effect)
Subramanyam Chandrashekar Iyer (Nobel prize winner for Chandrashekar Limit)
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Nobel prize winner for Molecular Biology)
Ramanujam (Math genius)
Bhaskaracharya (Great mathematician)
Amartya Sen (Noble Prize winner)
Narayana Murthy (Infosys)
IIT Ramaiah
IIT Krishna Murthy
TIME (MBA coaching)
Krishna Murthuy (Infosys)

The Great Bhakthi Saints, Carnatic Artists and Devotees
Thyagaraja
Annamacharya
Narayana Theertha (Govinda Shastry)
MS.Subbulakshmi (born to Subramanyian Iyer and Veenai Shanmuka Vadivi)
Shyama Shasthri
Muthuswamy Dikshithar
Bhaktha Ramdass (Kancherla Gopanna)
Ramana Maharishi (VenkatRaman Iyer)
Ramakrishna ParamaHamsa (Gadhadhar Chattopadhyay)
Swamy Vivekanandha(Kayastha Brahmin)
Balamuralikrishna
Semmankudi Srinivas Iyer
Sudha Raghunathan
Hariharan
Unnikrishnan
Karthik