Afganistan - Bangladesh - Bhutan - India Myanmar (Burma) - Nepal - Pakistan - Sri Lanka

65 Notable Peacemakers in South Asia Click here for peace monuments in South Asia. Click here for return to worldwide list of notable peacemakers (& for meaning of symbols).

c599-527 BCE - Mahavira - Established the central tenets of Jainism including non-violence toward all living beings. P

c563-483 BCE - Siddhartha Gautama - The Buddha. Described Nirvana as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred & other "defilements." P

c304–232 BCE - Ashoka - Emperor. Devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance & vegetarianism. P

1506-1552 - Francis Xavier - Jesuit missionary. Worked two years in Japan. Called "Apostle of the Indies" & "Apostle of Japan.”

1800

1817-1898 - Syed Ahmed Khan - Educator, politician, Islamic reformer & modernist

1851-1939 - Henry Stephens Salt - Writer & campaigner for prison, schools, economic, & animal treatment reform. Introduced Mahatma Gandhi to works of Henry David Thoreau. P

1861-1941 - Rabindranath Tagore - Polymath who reshaped Bengali literature & music with Contextual Modernism. First non-European to win Nobel Prize in Literature. 1913

1863-1902 - Swami Vivekananda - Introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago (USA) in 1893.

1869-1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - "The Great Soul." Leader of Indian independence movement. Pioneer of satyagraha. P Posthumous

1874-1947 - Nicholas Roerich - Artist, mystic, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler & public figure. Created Banner of Peace. Buried in India. 1935

1876-1948 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah - Lawyer & politician. Leader of All-India Muslim League 1913-1947. Founder of Pakistan 1947 & its 1st Governor-General.

1879-1964 - John Haynes Holmes - Minister & social activist. Declared Gandhi "The Greatest Man in the World" in April 1921.

1885-1968 - Muriel Lester - Operated "settlement house (Kingsley Hall) in London (where Gandhi stayed in 1931). P

1885-1985 - Nichidatsu Fujii - Founded the Nipponzan-Myohoji order of Buddhism. Called Guruji by Gandhi. Click here for Peace Pagodas.

1886-1967 - Radhabinod Pal - Jurist. Only dissenter on Japanese war crimes tribunal in 1946. Honored at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

1888-1988 - Fenner Brockway - Born in Calcutta. Anti-war activist & politician. Statue in London. CO

1889-1952 - Stafford Cripps - Labour politicial & ambassador. Opposed appeasement with Nazi Germany. Negotiated with Gandhi in India. P
1889-1964 - Jawaharlal Nehru - First Prime Minister of India. "Architect of the modern Indian nation-state." Father of Indira Gandhi & grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi.

1890-1988 - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan - Pashtun political & spiritual leader. Lifelong pacifist. Organized "Nonviolent Army" to oppose British rule. Grave in Afghanistan suffers neglect. P

1891-1956 - B. R. Ambedkar - Jurist, political leader, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, economist & teacher. Drafted Indian constitution. Untouchable. Became Buddhist.

1892-1982 - Marabehn - Nee Madeleine Slade, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond Slade. Spent much of her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi who named her Marabehn.

1894-1983 - Ghanshyam Das Birla - "Dean" of Indian industry. Built Birla Mandir/Birla Temple w/Gandhi in 1939 for all people including harijan/untouchables.

1895-1982 - Vinova Bhave - Advocate of nonviolence & human rights. Considered to be spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi.
1895-1986 - Jiddu Krishnamurti - Writer & speaker on philosophical & spiritual issues.

1896-1984 - Ralph T. Templin - Missionary & teacher. Acquainted with Gandhi in India, Ralph Borsodi in New York & Arthur Morgan in Ohio. P

1900

1902-1979 - Jayaprakash (JP) Narayan - Gandhian independence activist & political leader. Led opposition to Indira Gandhi.

1907-1995 - U Nu - Burma Prime Minister 1948-56, 1957-58 & 1960-62. Built Kaba Aye/World Peace Pagoda in 1952.

1908-2006 - John Kenneth Galbraith - Keynesian economist. public intellectural. Author & bureaucrat. US ambassador to India. 1985

1909-1974 - U Thant - Diplomat. Secretary of 1st Asian–African summit (Bandung 1955). 3rd Secretary General of the United Nations 1961-1971.

1910-1997 - Mother Teresa - Albanian nun. Founded Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Click here for Wikipedia biography. 1979 1985 Year?

1911-1960 - Krishnalal Shridharani - Gandhian. On Salt March in 1930. Wrote "War Without Violence" in 1939. Influenced CORE.

1912-2011 - Sayadaw U Thila Wunta - Buddist monk. Constructed Peace Pagodas on all continents. Also click here.

1917-1984 - Barbara Deming - Writer. Gandhian. Open lesbian. "Created a body of non-violent theory centered on the women's movement."
1917-1984 - Indira Nehru Gandhi - PM of India 2966-77 & 1980-84. Central figure of National Congress Party. Named "Woman of the Millennium" in a BBC poll in 1999.

1918-2008 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Guru. Developed Transcendental Meditation (TM) & Global Country of World Peace (GCWP). Lives in Fairfield, Iowa.

1924-1997 - Danilo Dolci - Sociologist, educator & poet. Opposed poverty & the Mafia. Promoted non-violence. Called "The Gandhi of Sicily."

1928-Alive - Gene Sharp - "The greatest theorist of nonviolence since Gandhi." Wrote "Waging Nonviolent Struggle" in 1973. 2008

1929-Alive - Krishna Ahooja-Patel - Gandhian. Worked for International Labor Organization 1962-1987. President of WILPF.

1931-2007 - Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose - Spiritual teacher, philosopher, poet, artist & athlete. Many monuments.

1933-1999 - Eqbal Ahmad - Journalist, teacher & anti-war activist. Taught in USA. Criticized US Middle East strategy & the "twin curse" of nationalism & religious fanaticism.
1933-Alive - Ela Ramesh Bhatt - Founded Self-Employed Women's Assn (SEWA) in 1972. Received Niwano Peace Prize in 2010.

1934-Alive - Peter Dougherty - Catholic priest. Founded Michigan Peace Team in 1993. Received 'International Award for promoting Gandhian values outside India.'
1934-Alive - Arun Gandhi - Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Founded M.K. Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence (USA). Year?

1935-Alive - 14th Dalai Lama - Spiritual leader. Exiled from Tibet in 1959. 1989 Year? 2009
1935-Alive - Rajmohan Gandhi - Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Wrote "Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People..."

1940-2011 - Burhanuddin Rabbani - President of Afghanistan 1992-1996. Assassinated by suicide bomber at home in Kabul. President Hamid Karzai gave him title of "Martyr of Peace".
1940-Alive - Ela Gandhi - Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. Dedicated peace monument in Independence (USA). 2002
1940-Alive - Vijay Metha - Textile manufacturer. Co-Founded Uniting for Peace w/Philip Noel-Baker (qv). Promoted UN Millennium Development Goals. Wrote "The Economics of Killing."

1945-Alive - Aung San Suu Kyi - General Secretary of Burmese National League for Democracy. Released from house arrest in November 2010. 1991
c1945-Alive - Kali P. Chaudhuri - Doctor. Owns hospitals & KPC Group of Companies. Donated Gandhi Statue in Riverside, California, in 2005.

1949-Alive - Kiran Bedi - Social activist. First woman officer in Indian Police Service (IPS).

1950

1952-Alive - Vandana Shiva - Ecofeminist. Founded Navdanya in Northern India. Leader of International Forum on Globalization. 1993

1954-Alive - Kailash Satyarthi - Children's rights & anti-slavery activist. Founded Save the Childhood Movement (BBA) in 1980. 2014 with Malala Yousafzai.

1955-Alive - Jigme Singye Wangchuck - King of Bhután 1972-2006. Reformer. Established Gross National Happiness in 1972.

1956-Alive - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Exponent of Advaita Vedanta & spiritual leader of Art of Living Foundation.

1957-Alive - Chris Anderson - Born in Pakistan. Attended Woodstock School. Host of TED Conferences (owned by his Sapling Foundation).
1957-Alive - Greg Mortenson - Wrote "Three Cups of Tea" & Pennies for Peace. Ran Central Asia Inst but mismanaged money in 2011. 2008 2010
1957-Alive - Peter Rühe - Scholar. Foremost Gandhian activist. Founded & heads Gandhitopia & GandhiServe Foundation.

1959-Alive - Ravindra Kumar - Political scientist, peace-worker & educationalist. Editor of "Global Peace International Journal." Author of many works on Mahatma Gandhi & others.

1962-Alive - Taslima Nasrin - Physician. Author of 33 books. Supports human rights & criticizes religion. "All religions are antiwomen." In exile since 1994. Has received many intl awards.

1963-2002 - Daniel Pearl - Journalist. Dual citizenship (US & Israel). Decapitated by Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan.

1970-Alive - Renu Mehta - Model & philanthropist. Daughter of Vijay Metha (qv). Founder of Fortune Forum charity which held summits in London in 2006, 2007 & 2008.

1981-2005 - Shaima Rezayee - Journalist & first female TV presenter in Afghanistan. Adopted western dress. Shot dead at her home in Kabul.

1986-2013 - Anne Smedinghoff - Foreign Service Officer. Killed at age 25 with 8 others by car bomb while delivering books to school in Afghanistan.

1997-Alive - Malala Yousafzai - Student. Blogged to BBC in 2009. Shot by Taliban in 2012. To UK for treatment. 2014 with Kailash Satyarthi.