List of recipients

Birth / Death

Name

Image

Awarded

Notes

1.

C Rajagopalachari

1878 1972

1954

Independence activist, last and the only Indian Governor-General of India

2.

C. V. Raman

1888 1970

1954

Physicist from Madras and a Nobel laureate

3.

Radhakrishnan

1888 1975

1954

Philosopher, India's First Vice-President (1952 1962), and India's Second President(19621967)

4.

Bhagwan Das

1869 1958

1955

Independence activist, author, Founder of Kashi Vidya Peeth

5.

Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya

1861 1962

1955

Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore

6.

Jawaharlal Nehru

1889 1964

1955

Independence activist, author, first Prime Minister

7.

Govind Ballabh Pant

1887 1961

1957

Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

8.

Dhondo Keshav Karve

1858 1962

1958

Educator, social reformer

9.

Bidhan Chandra Roy

1882 1962

1961

Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengal

10.

Purushottam Das Tandon

1882 1962

1961

Independence activist, educator

11. Rajendra Prasad

1884 1963

1962

Independence activist, jurist, first President

12. Zakir Hussain

1897 1969

1963

Independence activist, scholar, third President

13.

Pandurang Vaman Kane

1880 1972

1963

Indologist and Sanskrit scholar

14.

Lal Bahadur Shastri

1904 1966

1966

Posthumous, independence activist, second Prime Minister

15. Indira Gandhi

1917 1984

1971

Third Prime Minister, first female Prime Minister of India (19661977,19801984)

16. V. V. Giri

1894 1980

1975

Trade unionist and fourth President of India

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

17. K. Kamaraj

1903 1975

1976

Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State

18.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

1910 1997

1980

Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata and Nobel laureate

19. Vinoba Bhave

1895 1982

1983

Posthumous, social reformer, independence activist

20.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

1890 1988

1987

First non-citizen, independence activist

21.

M. G. Ramachandran

1917 1987

1988

Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

22. B. R. Ambedkar

1891 1956

1990

Posthumous, Chief architect of the Indian Constitution,Crusader against Untouchability, Dalit Icon, Social Reformer, historian, politician, economist, and scholar

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

23. Nelson Mandela

1918 2013

1990

Second non-citizen and non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement and Nobel laureate

24. Rajiv Gandhi

1944 1991

1991

Posthumous, Sixth Prime Minister.

25. Vallabhbhai Patel

1875 1950

1991

Posthumous, independence activist, first Home Minister,Was responsible for unification of all Indian princely states.

26. Morarji Desai

1896 1995

1991

Independence activist, fourth Prime Minister

27. Abul Kalam Azad

1888 1958

1992

Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education

28. J. R. D. Tata

1904 1993

1992

Industrialist and philanthropist

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

29. Satyajit Ray

1922 1992

1992

Bengali Filmmaker

30.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

b. 1931

1997

Aeronautical Engineer,11th President of India

31. Gulzarilal Nanda

1898 1998

1997

Independence activist, interim Prime Minister

32. Aruna Asaf Ali

1908 1996

1997

Posthumous, independence activist

33.

M. S. Subbulakshmi

1916 2004

1998

Carnatic classical singer

34.

Chidambaram Subramaniam

1910 2000

1998

Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture

35.

Jayaprakash Narayan

1902 1979

1998

Posthumous, independence activist and politician

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

36. Ravi Shankar

1920 2012

1999

Sitar player from Calcutta

37. Amartya Sen

b. 1933

1999

Economist from Kolkata and a Nobel laureate

38. Gopinath Bordoloi

1890 1950

1999

Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam

39. Lata Mangeshkar

b. 1929

2001

Playback singer

40. Bismillah Khan

1916 2006

2001

Hindustani classical shehnai player

41. Bhimsen Joshi

1922 2011

2009

[7]

Hindustani classical singer

Name

Image

Birth / Death

Awarded

Notes

42. C. N. R. Rao

[8][9]

b. 1934

2014

Scientist

43.

Sachin [8][9] Tendulkar

b. 1973

2014

Cricket player

Controversies