The Sandhu or Sindhu clan (Punjabi: ਸੰਧੂ (Gurmukhi); سندھو (Shahmukhi)) is the second-largest clan of

Jats The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in ...

in the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, spanning both

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The Sandhus have had a significant impact on

Sikh history Guru Nanak founded the Sikhism, Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, janeu, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system in India, caste ...

, founding several Sikh states, including the

Nakai Misl The Nakai Misl ( (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi)), founded by Sandhu Jat people, Jats, was one of the twelve Sikh Confederacy, Sikh Misls (groupings with their distinct guerrilla militia) that later became part of the Sikh Empire. It held territory bet ...

, Shaheedan Misl, and

Kanhaiya Misl The Kanhaiya Misl was one of the twelve misls of the Sikh Confederacy. It had been founded by Sandhu Jats. History Jai Singh Sandhu (son of Khushal Singh) of the village Kanha (district Lahore) was the founder of this ''Misl''; hence th ...

. Qadir Yar Sandhu, a

Muslim Jat Jat Muslim or Musalman Jats (; ), also spelled Jatt or Jutt (), are an elastic and diverse ethnoreligious subgroup of the Jat people, who follow Islam and are native to the northwestern Indian subcontinent. They are primarily found in Sindh an ...

and court poet of

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

, made notable contributions towards

Punjabi literature Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab of present-day Pakistan and India and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which th ...

List of notable people

Notable people with the surname, who may or may not be affiliated to the clan, include: *

Arif Nakai Sardar Muhammad Arif Nakai () was a Pakistani politician who served as the 12th Chief Minister of Punjab. Early life He was born into a Jat family of the Nakai Misl, one of the twelve Misls of the Sikh Confederacy. His great-grandfather, Sar ...

, 12th

Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan The chief minister of Punjab (; ) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government, and is elected by the provincial assembly for Provincial Assembly. ...

, direct descendant of the Nakai misldars *

Aaqib Javed Aaqib Javed (Urdu: ; born 5 August 1972) is a Pakistani former international cricketer and the current head coach of Pakistani cricket team in all formats. He is also a member of the Men's National Selection Committee of the Pakistan Cricket B ...

, Pakistani cricket player *

Avtar Singh Sandhu Avtar Singh Sandhu (9 September 1950 – 23 March 1988), who wrote under the pen name Pash, was an Indian poet, one of the major poets in Punjabi of the 1970s. He was killed by Sikh extremists on 23 March 1988. His strongly left-wing views w ...

, better known as Pash, Indian poet *

Baba Deep Singh Baba Deep Singh (26 January 1682 – 13 November 1757) is revered among Sikhs as one of the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism. He is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. Baba Deep Singh was the fir ...

(1682–1757), Sikh martyr *

Banita Sandhu Banita Sandhu (born 22 June 1997) is a Welsh actress. Known for her work in Indian cinema, she made her film debut with the 2018 Hindi-language film ''October'', going on to star in the Tamil-language production '' Adithya Varma'' and the CW ser ...

, British-Indian actress *

Bhai Bala Bhai Bala (; 1466–1544) was a companion of Guru Nanak. Born in Talwandi into a Sandhu Jat family, Bala was also a close associate of Bhai Mardana. Biography According to the , he traveled with Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana on all of their ...

(1466–1544), a companion of Guru Nanak *

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...

(1907-1931), Indian revolutionary *

Captain Abhimanyu Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu (born 18 December 1967) is an Indian politician. He was cabinet minister with independent charge of eight departments in the Government of Haryana state in India in the first-ever government led by the Bharatiya J ...

, former cabinet minister,

Government of Haryana Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the Haryana Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

Garry Sandhu Gurmukh Singh "Garry" Sandhu, is an Indian singer, songwriter, rapper and actor known for his work in Punjabi music The music of Punjab reflects the traditions of the Punjab region associated with Punjabi language. Punjab is currently divid ...

(born 1984), Indian singer, lyricist, actor and owner of label Fresh Media Records *

Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu (), also spelled as Gurbax/Gurbux Singh Sandhu, was the national boxing coach of India. He started coaching the India National Team from the year 1993. He was influential in bringing a medal to India in 2008 Summer Olympics, ...

, former national boxing coach, India *

Gurinder Sandhu Gurinder Singh Sandhu (born 14 June 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for Queensland in Domestic cricket. He is the first male cricketer of Indian descent to represent Australia in an international tournament. Early lif ...

(born 1993), Indian-Australian professional cricketer *

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (born 3 February 1992) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national football team Sandhu was named captain of the India national team for the ...

(born 1992), Indian international goalkeeper *

Harnaaz Sandhu Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (born 3 March 2000) is an Indian model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2021. The third entrant from India to win Miss Universe, Sandhu was previously crowned Femina ...

, Miss India 2021 and Miss Universe 2021 * Harpreet Sandhu (born 1979), Indian actor, director, writer, music director, editor, cinematographer and poet *

Harrdy Sandhu Hardavinder Singh Sandhu (born 6 September 1986) is an Indian singer, actor and former cricketer who works in Punjabi and Hindi films. His first song was ''Tequilla Shot'', and he gained popularity with ''Soch'' (2013) and ''Joker'' (2014), whi ...

(born 1986), Indian singer and actor *

Heera Singh Sandhu Sardar Heera Singh Sandhu (1706–1776) was the founder of Nakai Misl, one of the twelve Sikh Misls that later became the Sikh Empire under the leadership of Ranjit Singh. Heera Singh was born in a Sandhu Jat Sikh family in prese ...

(1706-1767), founder of the

Jaswinder Singh Sandhu Jaswinder Singh Sandhu (4 August 1955 - 19 January 2019) was an Indian politician. Belonging to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) party, he was a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly representing the Pehowa Vidhan Sabha constituency in Har ...

, military secretary, Indian army * Jinny Sandhu, British-Indian professional wrestler *

Jordan Sandhu Jasminder Singh Sandhu known professionally as Jordan Sandhu is an Indian singer and actor from Punjab. He started his career in 2014 with the song ''Brand'', written by Kumar Sunny, composed by Desi Crew, and released under the Fine Tone label. ...

, Indian singer and actor *

Kamaljeet Sandhu Kamaljeet Kaur Kooner nee Sandhu (born 20 August 1948) is a female Indian athlete who won gold medal at 1970 Bangkok Asian Games in 400 m race. She ran the distance in 57.3 seconds. She is the first Indian woman athlete to win an individual gol ...

, Indian athlete * Khalil Tahir Sandhu, Pakistani politician *

Manavjit Singh Sandhu Manavjit Singh Sandhu (born 3 November 1976) is an Indian sport shooter who specializes in trap shooting. He is a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee in 2006 and Arjuna Awardee in 1998. He is a 4 time Olympian, having represented India at the Athe ...

(born 1976), Indian sport shooter and three-time Olympian *

Mehtab Kaur Maharani Mehtab Kaur ( 1782 – 1813) was the first wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. She was the mother of Maharaja Sher Singh, who briefly became the ruler of the Sikh Empire from 1841 until his death in 1843. ...

(1782-1813), Queen of the Sikh Empire * Muhammad Afzal Sindhu, Pakistani politician, Ex Minister of State for Law and Justice and federal minister for railways *

Nandish Sandhu Nandish Singh Sandhu (born 25 December 1981) is an Indian actor, working in Hindi cinema and television. He is best known for starring in the notable soap opera ''Uttaran'' (2009–2012) as the lead, Veer Singh Bundela. Sandhu's other TV works ...

, Indian model and television actor *

Nashra Sandhu Nashra Sandhu (born 19 November 1997) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays as a Left-arm orthodox spin, slow left-arm orthodox Bowling (cricket), bowler. International career She made her Women's One Day International cricket (WODI) debut against ...

, Pakistani cricketer *

Nick Sandhu Hargurnek Singh Sandhu (born January 26, 1962, in Jamsher Khas, Jalandhar, Punjab (India), Punjab, India), known as "Nick" or "Niki", is an Indian-born Canadian former field hockey defender. Sandhu participated in two consecutive Summer Olympics ...

(born 1962), Indian field hockey player * Nauman Zakaria, Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army *

Paige Sandhu Paige Courtney S. Sandhu (born 28 October 1992) is an English actress. She began her career with appearances in ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'' and ''Endeavour (TV series), Endeavour'', before being cast as Meena Jutla in the ITV (TV chan ...

, British-Indian actress * Peter Sandhu, Indo-Canadian politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta *

Qadir Yar Qadir Yar (1802–1892), born Qadar Baksh, was a Muslim Sandhu Jat and a poet of the Punjabi language. Born in Gujranwala, he wrote Punjabi Qissa like ''Qissa Purana Bhagat'', ''Raja Rasal''. Life Qadir Yar was born in the village Machhike, ...

, court poet under

* Sahil Sandhu (born 1991), Indo-Canadian soccer player *

Taranjit Singh Sandhu Taranjit Singh Sandhu (born 23 January 1963) is an Indian Politician and retired diplomat of Indian Foreign Service who served as List of ambassadors and high commissioners of India, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka and 28th List of amba ...

, Indian ambassador to United States * Tayyab Rashid, Pakistani politician *

Tommy Sandhu Tommy Sandhu (born 24 November 1976) is an English disc jockey remixer, record producer and television presenter. Career Sandhu's first presenting job was with Tess Daly on ''Smash Hits TV'' for Sky One. He was also the announcer – replaci ...

(born 1976), British-Indian DJ, remixer, producer and television presenter * Yasir Zafar Sindhu, Pakistani politician

References

{{Ethnic groups, tribes and clans of the Punjab

Jat clans of Pakistan Social groups of Punjab, India Surnames of Indian origin Surnames of Hindu origin Punjabi-language surnames Jat clans of Punjab