# List of people from Karachi

This is a list of notable people from the city of Karachi in Pakistan, also known as Karachiites:

## Armed forces

* Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan - governor
* Muhammad Mahmood Alam
* Mirza Aslam Beg - four-star general
* Moinuddin Haider - lieutenant general, governor
* Pervez Musharraf - former president and Army Chief of Pakistan
* Ft. Lt. Rashid Minhas Shaheed - only PAF recipient of Nishan-e-Haider
* Marium Mukhtiar Pakistan's first female martyred fighter pilot in the line of duty.

## Art and literature

* Minocher K. Spencer Parsi author and spiritual healer from Karachi (born October 4, 1888 Pune, India)
* Jamiluddin Aali - poet, columnist, critic (born 1926 in Delhi)
* Mohammad Abdul Ahed - architect, educator, painter (1919-2001)
* Manzoor Ahmad - philosopher (born 1934)
* Obaidullah Aleem - journalist, poet (1939-1998)
* Ahmed Ali - novelist, poet, critic, translator, diplomat and scholar (1910 in New Delhi - 1994 in Karachi)
* Nasim Amrohvi - Urdu poet, philosopher, and lexicographer (1908-1987)
* Rais Amrohvi - journalist, poet, psychoanalyst (1914-1988)
* Iftikhar Arif - poet, critic, author (born 1943)
* Hasan Askari - philosopher, author, critic (1919-1978)
* Zamir Ali Badayuni - critic (1941-2003)
* Fatima Surayya Bajia - drama writer (born 1930)
* Tabish Dehlvi - poet (1911-2004)
* Jon Elia - Arsalan Kachaliya's favorite poet, philosopher (1931-2002)
* Aslam Farrukhi - writer, critic, linguist (born 1923)
* Farman Fatehpuri - researcher, poet, critic, linguist (1926-2013)
* Dilawar Figar - humorous poet, scholar (1929 Badaun, UP - 1998 Karachi)
* Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah - first female columnist of Pakistan (1921-2000)
* Maulvi Abdul Haq - father of modern Urdu (1872-1961)
* Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee - Urdu poet, writer, journalist, broadcaster, translator, critic, researcher, linguist and lexicographer
* Hameed Haroon - journalist, activist
* Sibte Hassan - author, columnist, activist (1916-1986)
* Zahida Hina - columnist, author, poet (born 1946)
* Ashfaq Hussain - Urdu poet and television personality in Canada for Asian Television Network (born 1951)
* Intizar Hussain - linguist, novelist, critic (born 1923)
* Ibn-e-Insha - poet, writer and humorist (1927 Phillaur, Punjab, British India - 1978 London, England)
* Ibn-e-Safi - novelist, story writer (1928 Nara, district of Allahabad, UP, British India - 1980 Karachi)
* Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah - writer, activist (1915-2000)
* Farhat Ishtiaq - writer, author and screenwriter (born June 23, 1980)
* Siddiq Ismail - religious Hamd and Naat reciter (born 1954)
* Qamar Jalalvi - poet (1887 Jalali, Aligarh, India - 1968 Karachi)
* Jameel Jalibi - scholar, critic, linguist, former VC KU (born 1929)
* Abul Khair Kashfi - critic, linguist, author, scholar (1932 Kanpur, British India - 2008 Karachi)
* Khalique Ibrahim Khalique - journalist, poet, critic (1926-2006)
* Ghulam Mustafa Khan - writer, critic, linguist, researcher, scholar, educationist (1912-2005)
* Josh Malihabadi - poet, linguist, scholar (1894-1982)
* Anwar Maqsood - drama writer, anchor, actor (born 1935 Hyderabad State)
* Haseena Moin - playwright, drama writer
* Zehra Nigah - poet
* Pirzada Qasim - poet, author, educationist (born 1943)
* Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi - author, historian, educationist (1903-1981)
* Fahmida Riaz - writer, poet, activist (born 1946 Meerut, UP, British India)
* Sadequain - painter, calligraphist (1930 Amroha, British India - 1987 Karachi)
* Hakeem Muhammad Said - pioneer of Eastern medicine, philanthropist (1993-1994)
* Abul Lais Siddiqui - critic, linguist, author, scholar
* Shaukat Siddiqui - novelist, fiction writer (1923-2006)
* Raees Warsi - journalist, author, poet, founder of Urdu Markaz New York (born 1963)
* Mushtaq Ahmed Yousfi - author, humorist (born 1923)
* Mustafa Zaidi - poet (1930-1970)

## Bankers

* Agha Hasan Abedi - banker and founder of the now-defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International
* Shaukat Aziz - former prime minister of Pakistan
* Ishrat Hussain - former Governor State Bank of Pakistan and incumbent Dean of Institute of Business Administration

## Businessmen

* Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, Chairman of the ARY Group
* Ahmed Dawood, industrialist, philanthropist and founder of Dawood Group
* Agha Hasan Abedi - banker, founder of BCCI
* Bashir Ali Mohammad, Gul Ahmed Group
* Hussain Haqqani - leading Urdu debater, National College, Karachi; Ambassador of Pakistan to U.S.A.
* Jahangir Siddiqui, owner of JS Group
* Javed Jabbar - orator, politician, Senator
* Malik Riaz - Pakistani business tycoon who is the founder of Bahria Town.
* Monis Rahman - Founder & CEO of Naseeb Networks
* Rafiq M. Habib - Group chairman of the renowned ‘House of Habib’, chairman of Habib Insurance Company Ltd.
* Raza Rabbani - English debater, politician, Senator
* Sadruddin Hashwani - Founder and chairman of Hashoo Group.
* Safi Qureshi - co-founder and CEO of AST Research; born and educated in Karachi; now based in the US
* Sikandar Sultan - Managing Director of Shan Food Industries

## Debaters and orators

* Hussain Haqqani - leading Urdu debater, National College, Karachi; Ambassador of Pakistan to U.S.A.
* Javed Jabbar - orator, politician, Senator
* Raza Rabbani - English debater, politician, Senator

## Economists

* Ishrat Hussain - former Governor State Bank of Pakistan
* Akhtar Hameed Khan - pioneer of microcredit and microfinance in Pakistan, founder of Orangi Pilot Project
* Nawab Haider Naqvi - former Director PIDE
* Anwar Shaikh - Marxist economist, and professor
* Muhammad Shoaib - Finance Minister; Executive Director World Bank; father of Nafisa Sadik

## Education

* Anita Ghulam Ali - educationist
* Nasim Amrohvi
* Moinuddin Aqeel - author, critic, linguist, scholar
* Bernadette Louise Dean - former Principal of Kinnaird College, Lahore
* Mary Emily - recipient of the Sitara-e-Imtiaz for services to education
* Aslam Farrukhi - author, poet, critic, linguist, scholar
* Farman Fatehpuri - real name Syed Dildar Ali; author, critic, linguist, scholar
* Khalida Ghous - human rights activist, scholar
* Yolande Henderson - high school teacher
* Jameel Jalibi - linguist, scholar
* Abul Khair Kashfi - author, critic, linguist, scholar
* Matin Ahmed Khan - academic, marketing expert and management educator, Dean and Director of the Institute of Business Administration
* Ghulam Mustafa Khan - author, critic, linguist, scholar, Sufi
* Anthony Theodore Lobo - founder of many schools
* Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi - VC Karachi University, author, historian, scholar
* Ata ur Rahman - Chairman HEC, scientist
* Hakim Saeed - VC Hamdard University
* Abul Lais Siddiqui - author, critic, linguist, scholar
* Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui - Chancellor, Karachi University
* Raziuddin Siddiqui - physicist, mathematician, scholar
* Shahid Aziz Siddiqi - former Federal Secretary and Vice Chancellor, Ziauddin University
* Norma Fernandes - former Headmistress (Kindergarten/Junior Section) of the Karachi Grammar School

## Journalists

* Cyril Almeida
* Mujahid Barelvi
* Ardeshir Cowasjee
* Ian Fyfe, sports journalist
* Kamran Khan
* Daniele Mastrogiacomo - Italian journalist born in Karachi
* Arshad Sharif
* Waseem Badami
* Maria Memon
* Shahid Masood

## Law and judiciary

* Justice Syed Sajjad Ali Shah - CJS, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court from Karachi.
* Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed - Chief Justice Sind High Court and Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan
* Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius
* Mohammad Haleem - former chief justice of Pakistan
* Makhdoom Ali Khan - former attorney general of Pakistan
* Naimatullah Khan - advocate
* Justice Ajmal Mian - former chief justice of Pakistan
* Justice Dorab Patel
* Nazim Hussain Siddiqui - former chief justice of Pakistan
* Justice Haziqul Khairi - former Chief Justice Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan
* Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui - former chief justice of Pakistan
* Justice Rana Bhagwandas - former acting chief justice of Pakistan
* Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid - former Chief Justice Sindh High Court and Justice Pakistan Supreme Court of Pakistan
* Khalid Jawed Khan Attorney General for Pakistan

## Performing arts
### Actors and comedians

* Aamina Sheikh - model, actress
* Adeel Hussain - model, actress
* Adnan Jaffar - television, film actor
* Ahad Raza Mir - actor
* Aijaz Aslam - actor
* Aiman Khan - actress
* Aiza Khan - actress, model
* Alizeh Shah - model, actress
* Angela Thorne - English actress
* Anwar Maqsood - drama writer, anchor, actor
* Ather Shah Khan Jaidi Writer comedian
* Ayaz Samoo - comedian, actor
* Azfar Rehman - actor
* Babar Ali - actor
* Behroze Sabzwari - film actor
* Bilal Abbas Khan - actor
* Bushra Ansari - actress, comedian
* Danish Nawaz - actor
* Danish Taimoor - actor
* Fahad Mustafa - actor
* Fawad Khan - actor
* Fatima Effendi - model, actress
* Hina Altaf - actress
* Hina Dilpazeer - actress, TV host, model
* Humayun Saeed - actor, model and producer
* Iman Vellani - Pakistani-Canadian television actor
* Iqbal Theba - Pakistani-American television actor
* Iqra Aziz - model, actress
* Izhar Qazi - film and TV actor
* Jamshed Ansari - comedian
* Kaveeta - actress
* Kumail Nanjiani - comedian
* Mashal Khan - actress
* Madiha Imam - model, actress
* Mahira Khan - television, film actor
* Margaret Lockwood - film and stage actress (1916-1990)
* Mawra Hocane - model, actress
* Mehwish Hayat - actress, model
* Minal Khan - actress
* Mohib Mirza - actor
* Moin Akhter - TV, film and stage actor, comedian and host
* Momal Sheikh - actress
* Muneeb Butt - actor
* Nadeem - film actor
* Nadia Hussain - model, actress
* Nirala (real name Muzaffar Hussain) - comedian
* Ramsha Khan - model, actress
* Rauf Lala - comedian, actor
* Sajid Hasan - actor
* Salim Nasir - comedian, actor
* Sami Shah - comedian, writer
* Sana Javed - model, actress
* Sangeeta - actress, filmmaker, director
* Saud Qasmi - actor
* Shehroz Sabzwari - actor
* Somy Ali, actress and activist
* Syed Kamal - film actor
* Syra Yousuf - model, actress
* Talat Hussain - television actor, director
* Umer Sharif - comic actor
* Urwa Hocane - actress
* Yasir Nawaz - actor
* Yumna Zaidi - actress
* Zafar Karachiwala, Indian actor, ancestors from Karachi
* Zainab Qayyum - model, actress, TV host
* Zhalay Sarhadi - model, actress

### Singers, musicians and music & directors

* Salma Agha - singer
* Alamgir - pop singer
* Sajjad Ali - singer
* Waqar Ali - singer and musician
* Talha Anjum - rapper and singer
* Faraz Anwar - guitarist
* Iqbal Bano - ghazal singer
* Nisar Bazmi - composer
* Munni Begum - singer
* Ali Haider - singer
* Mehdi Hassan - ghazal singer
* Nazia Hassan - first female pop singer of Pakistan
* Zohaib Hassan - singer
* Mehreen Jabbar - Pakistani film director
* Ahmed Jahanzeb - singer
* S. B. John - singer
* Faisal Kapadia - singer
* Bilal Maqsood - composer
* Habib Wali Mohammad - singer
* Sohail Rana - composer
* Shehzad Roy - singer
* Ahmed Rushdi - singer
* Ramesh Sippy Indian film director and producer from Karachi.
* Syed Ali Raza Usama - Pakistani film and drama director
* Talhah Yunus - rapper
* Lenny Zakatek - English pop and rock star

### Dancers

* Sheema Kermani social activist, theater director and exponent of Bharatnatyam dance.

## Philanthropists and social workers

* Somy Ali - activist, filmmaker, and former actress and model
* Ansar Burney - human rights activist and founder of the Ansar Burney Trust
* Abdul Sattar Edhi - philanthropist and founder of the Edhi Foundation
* Bilquis Edhi - philanthropist, founder of the Bilquis Edhi Foundation, wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi
* Ruth Lewis - awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz for managing Darul Sukun, a home for the disabled
* Fatima Lodhi - social worker, founder of Dark is Divine, first anti-colorism campaign from Pakistan
* Fahmida Riaz
* Hakim Said - scholar, philanthropist, former governor of Sindh
* Nafis Sadik - United Nations
* Ramzan Chhipa - philanthropist and founder of the Chhipa Welfare Association

## Politicians and bureaucrats

* Lal Krishna Advani - Former Deputy Prime Minister of India and co-founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India
* Abdul Sattar Afghani - ex-Mayor Karachi Metropolitan City
* Shaukat Aziz - former prime minister and Finance Minister of Pakistan
* Benazir Bhutto - former Prime Minister
* Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim - Governor, Law Minister, Attorney General
* Imran Farooq - co-founder of MQM
* Syed Munawar Hasan - former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami
* Altaf Hussain - founder and chairman of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
* Fatima Jinnah - sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Madar-i-Millet
* Muhammad Ali Jinnah - founder of Pakistan
* Syed Mustafa Kamal - former Nazim (Mayor) of Karachi
* Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan - former governor of Sindh
* Naimatullah Khan - former mayor of Karachi city
* Shahryar Khan - former Foreign Secretary and former chairman of the Cricket Board in Pakistan
* Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta - Mayor of Karachi
* Pervez Musharraf - General (Retd.), former Army Chief, military dictator and President of Pakistan
* Farooq Sattar - parliamentary leader of the MQM
* Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi - leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan; founder of the World Islamic Mission
* Azeem Ahmed Tariq - former chairman of MQM
* Harchandrai Vishandas - former mayor of Karachi (during 1900s)
* Ali Zaidi - Pakistan Tahreek e insaaf
* Asif Ali Zardari - former president of Pakistan
* Bilawal Bhutto Zardari - Chairman of Pakistan People's Party
* Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar sixth Prime Minister of Pakistan, former Pakistani ambassador to Turkey
* Hussain Haroon Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations
* Ghulam Akbar Lasi - Pakistani politician
* Faisal Vawda - Pakistani politician
* Muhammad Zubair Umar - former governor of Sindh
* Imran Ismail - former governor of Sindh
* Murad Ali Shah - Chief Minister of Sindh
* Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman - Pakistani politician
* Saeed Ghani - Pakistani politician
* Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui - Pakistani politician
* Khurrum Sher Zaman - Pakistani politician
* Firdous Shamim Naqvi - Pakistani politician
* Khawaja Izharul Hassan - Pakistani politician
* Faisal Subzwari - Pakistani politician
* Syed Aminul Haque - Pakistani politician

## Religious leaders and scholars

* Talib Jauhari - religious scholar
* Aga Khan III - Imam Sultan Mohammed Shah - 48th Imam of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, President League of Nations, President All India Muslim League and GCSI, GCMG
* Muhammad Ilyas Qadri - founder of Dawat-e-Islami
* Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui
* Godrej Sidhwa A Parsi Zoroastrian priest
* Taqi Usmani - religious scholar
* Rafi Usmani - religious scholar
* Mufti Muhammad Naeem - religious scholar
* Abdullah Shah Ghazi was an eighth-century (c. 720) mystic Sufi, whose shrine is located in the Clifton, Karachi.

## Scientists

* Salimuzzaman Siddiqui - chemist
* Abdul Qadeer Khan - metallurgist and founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme
* Atta ur Rahman - chemist
* Raziuddin Siddiqui - astrophysicist and mathematician
* Ziauddin Ahmed
* Muhammad Ali Shah - orthopaedic surgeon
* M. Shahid Qureshi - astrophysicist and mathematician
* Pervez Hoodbhoy - nuclear physicist
* Ahmed Mohiuddin - zoologist
* Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda

## Sportspersons
### Badminton players

* Palwasha Bashir
* Mahoor Shahzad

### Cricketers

* Nain Abidi
* Shahid Afridi - world record holder for the fastest ODI century
* Afzaal Ahmed
* Sarfaraz Ahmed
* Tanvir Ahmed
* Tauseef Ahmed
* Mansoor Akhtar
* Manzoor Akhtar
* Fawad Alam
* Anwar Ali
* Basit Ali
* Liaqat Ali
* Saad Ali
* Saeed Anwar
* Atiq-uz-Zaman
* Sikandar Bakht
* Wasim Bari
* Philip Bonham-Carter
* Anil Dalpat - first Hindu to play for the country
* Rusi Dinshaw
* Antao D'Souza
* Mir Hamza
* Shahzaib Hasan
* Afaq Hussain
* Asif Iqbal
* Faisal Iqbal
* Saleem Jaffar
* Jalal-ud-Din - in 1982, took the first hat-trick in an ODI
* Abdul Kadir
* Asim Kamal
* Danish Kaneria - second Hindu to play for the country
* Saleem Karim
* Javeria Khan
* Mohsin Khan
* Moin Khan
* Rashid Khan
* Tabish Khan
* Khalid Latif
* Rashid Latif
* Shahid Mahmood
* Khurram Manzoor
* Wallis Mathias
* Anwar Miandad
* Javed Miandad
* Hanif Mohammad - first Pakistani batsman to score a triple century
* Mushtaq Mohammad
* Shoaib Mohammad
* Asif Mujtaba
* Urooj Mumtaz - former cricketer, commentator, dentist
* Nasim-ul-Ghani
* Naumanullah
* Iqbal Qasim
* Rumman Raees
* Haroon Rasheed
* Hasan Raza
* Rameez Raja Jnr
* Mohammad Sami
* Asad Shafiq
* Owais Shah (born 1978) - English cricketer
* Saud Shakeel
* Saleem Yousuf

### Footballer

* Saddam Hussain
* Hajra Khan - captain of the Pakistan women's national football team

### Hockey players

* Sohail Abbas
* Mansoor Ahmed
* Jack Britto (Olympian)
* Hanif Khan
* Shahid Ali Khan
* Hassan Sardar
* Islahuddin Siddique

### Sprinters

* John Permal, He was the fastest man in Pakistan
* Naseem Hameed

### Swimmer

* Mumtaz Ahmed - olympian

## Historical personalities

* Mai Kolachi incumbent name of Karachi is derived from this fisher woman.

## Miscellaneous

* Bashir Ahmad
* Tazeen Ahmad
* Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
* Jacqueline Maria Dias, professor of nursing
* Jacob Harris, first-class cricketer and sports coach
* Lady Abdullah Haroon
* Agha Hilaly
* Aamir Liaquat Hussain
* Junaid Jamshed
* Siddiq Ismail
* Farahnaz Ispahani
* Shadab Kabir
* Jahangir Khan
* Yousuf Ludhianvi
* Iskander Mirza
* Abdur Rab Nishtar
* Arman Sabir
* Benny Mario Travas
* Kamal Warsi
* Irfan Yusuf