Society and history

Ananda Krishnan (தத்பராநந்தம் ஆநந்தகிருஷ்ணன்)

Ananda Krishnan, also known as Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan, was a Malaysian billionaire businessman who founded Maxis, Astro, and MEASAT and died in Switzerland in 2024 at 86.

Ananda Mahidol (อานันทมหิดล)

Ananda Mahidol (อานันทมหิดล), King Rama VIII of Thailand, reigned 1935–1946 after Prajadhipok's abdication, mostly from Switzerland. He died of a gunshot on 9 June 1946; three servants were executed in a flawed trial.

Ananda Marga

Ananda Marga, or Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha, is a socio-spiritual movement founded by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar in Bihar, India, in 1955, combining tantric meditation with the PROUT philosophy.

Ānanda Vanaratana

Ānanda Vanaratana (आनन्दवनरतन), also Vanaratana Tissa, was a Theravada elder of Ceylon who headed the Vanavāsi forest fraternity, wrote the Mūlatīkā on Buddhaghosa's Abhidhamma commentaries, and taught Culla-Dhammapāla.

Ānandagiri

Ānandagiri (आनन्दगिरि), also known as Ānandajñāna, was an Advaita Vedanta scholar of about 1300 who wrote subcommentaries on Shankara's commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita, and the Brahma-sutra.

Anandamayi Ma (আনন্দময়ী মা)

Anandamayi Ma (আনন্দময়ী মা), born Nirmala Sundari in 1896 in what is now Bangladesh, was a Bengali holy woman revered as a divine embodiment until her death in 1982.

Anandamohan Bose

Anandamohan Bose (আনন্দমোহন বসু, 1847–1906) was an Indian lawyer, educator, and nationalist leader, the first Indian Wrangler at Cambridge and a co-founder of the Indian Association.

Anandapala

Anandapala (آنندپال) was a Hindu Shahi ruler of the Kabul Valley and Punjab from about 1002 to 1011 who led the dynasty's last great coalition against Mahmud of Ghazni, losing the Battle of Chach in 1008–09.

Anandavardhana

Anandavardhana (आनन्दवर्धन) was a ninth-century Kashmiri poet and critic at the court of King Avantivarman, whose Dhvanyaloka founded the dhvani theory of suggestion in Sanskrit poetics.

Anandibai

Anandibai (आनंदीबाई) was a Maratha noblewoman of the Peshwa family, wife of Raghunathrao and mother of Bajirao II, remembered for the 1773 murder of Narayanrao.

Anandiben Patel (આનંદીબેન મફતભાઈ પટેલ)

Anandiben Patel (Anandiben Mafatbhai Patel), BJP leader born in 1941 in Mehsana district, was Gujarat's first woman chief minister (2014-2016) after Narendra Modi, later Governor of Madhya Pradesh and, since 29 July 2019, of Uttar Pradesh.

Anandrao Gaekwad

Anandrao Gaekwad (आनंदराव गायकवाड) was Maharaja of Baroda from 1800 to 1819, a Gaekwad dynasty ruler who signed a subsidiary alliance with the East India Company in 1802.

Anangabhima III

Anangabhima III (ଅନଙ୍ଗଭୀମ ଦେବ ତୃତୀୟ) was an Eastern Ganga ruler of Odisha who in 1230 dedicated his kingdom to Jagannatha, founding the Gajapati ideology of kingship.

Anangapala Tomara

Anangapala Tomara (अनंगपाल तोमर), also known as Anangpal II, was an 11th-century Tomara ruler of Delhi credited with founding the city and building Lal Kot.

Anangpal Tomar

Anangpal Tomar (अनंगपाल), also called Anangpal II, was a Tomara dynasty king who ruled Delhi from 1051 to 1081 and built the Lal Kot fort.

Sep 19, 2026

Ananiah (son of Azariah)

Ananiah, son of Azariah, also rendered Anani, was a Jewish servitor of the temple of Yahu at Elephantine in Egypt, known from his family archive of Aramaic papyri.

Ananias and Sapphira

Ananias and Sapphira are a married couple in the New Testament Book of Acts who sell property, secretly keep part of the proceeds, and die after Peter confronts them.

Sep 19, 2026

Ananias ben Onias

Ananias ben Onias (Hebrew Hananiya ben Honiyyahu) was a Jewish general in Ptolemaic Egypt, son of the high priest Onias IV, who dissuaded Cleopatra III from annexing Judea.

Ananias of Damascus (חנניה)

Ananias of Damascus (חנניה) is the disciple whom, according to Acts 9, the Lord sent in a vision to restore Saul's sight and baptize him.

Anant Kumar Singh

Anant Kumar Singh, Bihar "bahubali" and JD(U)/RJD MLA from Mokama, five-time legislator, chhote sarkar; elected from jail in 2015, UAPA arms case, acquitted 2024, arrested in 2025 Dular Chand Yadav murder case, assets ₹100.6 crore.

Sep 27, 2026

Anant Maharaj

Anant Maharaj, also written Ananta Maharaj and born Nagendra Ray, is an Indian BJP politician and Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal since 2023, a leader of the Greater Coochbehar Peoples Association.

Anant Vidur Puri

Anant Vidur Puri is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners based in India, who sourced the firm's investments in Swiggy and Urban Company as a young analyst.

Ananta Kandali

Ananta Kandali (অনন্ত কন্দলী), born Haricharan, was a 16th-century Brahmin poet and Sanskrit scholar of Hajo, Assam, who translated parts of the Bhagavata, Ramayana, and Mahabharata into Assamese at the Koch court.

Sep 27, 2026

Ananta Nayak

Ananta Nayak, born 1969, is an Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician who represented Keonjhar in the Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2009 and again from 2024.

Anantānanda

Anantānanda (अनन्तानन्द) is a Hindu ascetic named first among Ramananda's twelve disciples in the Bhaktamal of Nabhadas, whose line founded 27 of the 36 Ramanandi clans recognized at Galta.

Anantavarman Chodaganga

Anantavarman Chodaganga (ଅନନ୍ତବର୍ମନ ଚୋଡଗଙ୍ଗ) was the Eastern Ganga ruler of Kalinga who annexed Utkala, uniting coastal Odisha, and is credited with beginning the Jagannatha temple at Puri.

Ananth Kumar (ಅನಂತ್ ಕುಮಾರ್)

Ananth Kumar (ಅನಂತ್ ಕುಮಾರ್), BJP leader from Bengaluru South, six-term Lok Sabha MP 1996-2018, youngest 1998 Vajpayee minister, Parliamentary Affairs and Chemicals & Fertilizers minister; died of cancer 12 November 2018, aged 59.

Ānāpānasati Sutta

The Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) is a discourse in the Majjhima Nikāya where the Buddha presents sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing leading to knowledge and freedom.

Anarcha-feminism

Anarcha-feminism, or anarcho-feminism, unites anarchism with feminism, treating patriarchy as a hierarchy to abolish. Key expressions include Mujeres Libres (Spain, 1936), Emma Goldman, and 1970s US groups like Black Rose.