List of Mudaliars

Mudaliar also Mudaliyar, Mudali and Moodley is a title used by Tamil castes such as Agamudayars, Vellalars and Sengunthars. It is derived from the honorary title Mudali meaning a person of first rank in in the Tamil language which was bestowed upon top-ranking bureaucratic officials and army officers in medieval south India.The surname is generally prevalent among Indian Tamils and the Tamil diaspora though it is also used in other parts of South India.

The following is a list of some notable members of the Mudaliar community.
 

Historical personalities

Poets

• Ottakoothar: Poet in Chola dynasty and author of Thakayagaparani and Saraswathi Andhadhi
• Andhaka Kavi Vira Raghava Mudaliar: A poet of the 16th century
• Sekkizhar

Kings and lords

• Vallal Sadaiyappa Mudaliar: A landlord and patron of Tamil Poet Kambar who created Kamba Ramayanam.

Ministers

• Ambi Aramvalartha Mudaliar: Reputed minister during the reign of Krishnadevaraya
• Ariyanatha Mudaliar: Vellala Dalavoy of the Vijayanagar viceroy Viswanatha Nayaka.
• Sekkizhar : Minister and a poet

Modern personalities

Social leaders, activists

• S. P. Ayyaswamy Mudaliar
• C. Jambulingam Mudaliar
• OKSR Kumaraswamy Mudaliar aka Tiruppur Kumaran (1904 - 1932) a leader died holding the Indian national flag
• Muthuranga Mudaliar
• Sarojini Varadappan
• Thillaiaadi Valliammai, a South African Tamil woman who fought the apartheid regime along with Mahatma Gandhi

Tamil literature

• Paventhar Bharathidasan: Tamil poet also known as "Puratchi Kavignar"
• Kalyanasundara Mudaliar: Tamil writer
• Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
• Pa. Subramania Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
• Varadarasanar: Tamil novelist
• Mahavidwan Vasudeva Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
• Vellai vaaranaar, Tamil scholar from Tiruvarur
• Erode Tamilanban, noted poet

Philanthropists

• Pachaiyappa Mudaliar: Philanthropist after whom the Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai was named.
• Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar: Philanthropist who endowed a hospital and dispensary in the Native infirmary
• W. T. Masilamani Mudaliar, Philanthropist of educational purposes

Politics

• O. V. Alagesan: Former union minister of India.
• T. M. Anbarasan: Current Labour Minister Of Tamil Nadu
• K. Anbazhagan: Minister of Tamil Nadu and DMK Leader.
• C. N. Annadurai: Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and founder Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
• R. N. Arogyasamy Mudaliar: an Indian civil engineer and politician who served as the Minister of Development in the Madras Presidency from 1926 to 1928
• M. Bhakthavatchalam: Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and Congress leader.
• Pulavar K. Govindan: Former speaker, TN legislative assembly
• Jayanthi Natarajan: Former MP from Indian National Congress party
• Muniswamy Mudaliar: a Fiji Indian politician & a member of the Legislative Council of Fiji from 1932 to 1937
• N. V. Natarajan: Founding member of DMK and former minister of Labour and Backward Classes in the Tamil Nadu government during 1967-75
• C. Natesa Mudaliar: Founded Justice Party
• V. R. Nedunchezhiyan: Former Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu and former interim chief minister of Tamilnadu.
• P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan: (1932-2006) Formerly speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly,Endowment Minister
• Ponnambalam Arunachalam: Tamil political leader in Ceylon and a member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council.
• Ponnambalam Ramanathan: Former Solicitor-General and Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka.
• A. M. Ponnuranga Mudaliar: Former MLA of Sholinghur constituency, INC
• Sir P. T. Rajan: Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Leader Justice Party.
• C. Ramaswamy Mudaliar (1905-1997), Indian politician from Indian National Congress. Member of Lok Sabha for Kumbakonam from 1951 to 1957.
• S. J. Ramaswamy Mudali: Former DMK MLA
• A. Ranganatha Mudaliar: Indian politician and theosophist from Bellary
• S. C. Sadayappa Mudaliar: Former INC MLA
• Era Sezhiyan: Former MP
• A. C. Shanmugam: Founder New Justice Party, ex-MLA, MP
• P. Shanmugam: Former Chief Minister of Pondicherry State and present State Congress Chief.
• N. V. N. Somu: Former MP
• A. R. Subbiah Mudaliar: Tamil Nadu politician
• C. P. Subbiah Mudaliar: Tamil Nadu politician
• C. N. Visvanathan: Former MP, Lok Sabha

Founders of educational institutions

• V. L. Ethiraj Founder of Ethiraj college for Women
• A. C. Shanmugam Founder, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute
• G. Viswanathan: Founder of VIT University, Vellore

Doctors,scientists and academicians

• A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar First Indian Principal of the Madras Medical College, Served as Chairman-UNESCO; Vice Chancellor, University of Madras(padma Vibushan)
• Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar: Justice Party Politician, Member of Winston Churchill's war cabinet, First President of ECOSOC and Founder of WHO, Diwan of Mysore.
• Mylswamy Annadurai: Indian scientist and Chandrayaan-1 project director

Civil service and judiciary

• S. Muthiah Mudaliar: High court lawyer and politician, Justice party
• Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar: a senior leader of the Justice Party
• Justice R. Sudhakar: Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Chennai
• T. V. Rajeswar, IPS Officer and Current Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Sports

• Mithali Raj: Indian Women's Cricket Team Captain
• Thirunavukkarasu Kumaran: Cricket Player, Indian Cricket League
• Vasudevan Baskaran: Former field hockey player and captain

Arts and cinema

• Allah Rakha Rahman(AR Rahman): Music director, composer and singer. (Born A. S. Dileep in a Hindu Mudaliar family)
• Anandaraj: Tamil film actor
• Kalaipuli Dhanu: Tamil film producer
• N. S. Krishnan: popularly known as Kalaivanar, film comedian, drama artist, playback singer
• Na. Muthukumar: Tamil lyricist
• Pandiarajan: Tamil film director and actor
• Papanasa Mudaliar (1650–1725): an early Carnatic music composer of mukattai kAttiya in Bhairavi ragam and nadamAdittirintha in Kambhoji ragam. Later Tyagaraja followed this in songs
• G. V. Prakash Kumar: Tamil film music director
• Prashanth Thyagarajan: Tamil film actor
• M. K. Radha: cinema actor & recipient of the Padma Shri Award
• Aascar Ravichandran: Tamil film producer, Aaskar films
• S. Shankar: Tamil film director
• V. Ravichandran: Kannada film actor and director
• K. S. Ravikumar: Tamil film director and actor
• Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar: Playwright and director of Tamil drama
• R. K. Selvamani: Tamil film director
• R. K. Shekhar: Music conductor and composer for Malayalam films
• Thengai Srinivasan: Tamil film actor
• Tharini Mudaliar: Australian actress
• Thyagarajan: Tamil actor, stunt man, director and producer
• Pa. Vijay: Tamil lyricist and actor
• Vijaya Bhaskar: Kannada film Music Director
• Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan: singer, composer of Tamil folk songs
• Vikranth: Tamil film actor

Persons with Mudaliar ancestry

• Joseph Vijay: Tamil film actor
• M. Night Shyamalan: Indian-born American filmmaker, script writer and actor
• Vikram: Film actor

Spiritual

• Kirupanandha Variyar: Shaivite spiritual leader
• Vethathiri Maharishi: Founder of the The World Community Service Center, an organization promoting World peace

Business

• Chenniappan: Chairman, Nilgiris
• M.B.Nirmal: Founder and chairman of Exnora International
• Sivasankaran: Chairman of Sterling group
• Ethiraj Mudaliar : Chairman Binny group , Partner Ram Chandra Medical College

Miscellaneous

• Varadarajan Mudaliar: Known as Vardha Bhai; Tamil movie Nayagan was based on his life story.

Natesa Mudaliar, Founded Justice Party along with Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair as part of the Dravidian movement.

Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar, involved with early Tamil theater