List of Presidents of India

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. The President`s role is largely ceremonial, with real executive authority vested in the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. The powers of the President of India are comparable to those of the monarch of the UK. There were in all 14 presidents till date.

Rajendra Prasad
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of Independent India. As the first President, he was indepedent and unwilling to allow the Prime Minister or the party to seize his constitutional rights. However, following the conflict over the passing of the Hindu Code Bill, he restrained his stand. He set several important rules for later Presidents to follow. He had also served as President of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the constitution of the Republic from 1948 to 1950.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 and died on April 17, 1975. He was a philosopher and statesman. He became Vice President of India in 1952 and was elected President in 1962, he held office until 1967. In India, his birthday is celebrated as Teacher`s Day in his honour. He was one of the first scholars of comparative religion and philosophy in his time, he built a bridge between Eastern and Western thought showing each to be understandable within the terms of the other. He introduced Western ideas into Indian philosophy and was the first scholar of importance to provide a comprehensive exegesis of India`s religious and philosophical literature to English speaking peoples.

Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain was born on February 8, 1897 and died on May 3, 1969. He was the third President of India from May 13, 1967 until his death. Hussain was born in Hyderabad. After serving as the Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962, and as the Vice President of India from 1962 to 196. In his inaugural speech he said that the whole of India was his home and all its people were his family.

Varahagiri Venkata Giri
He was born on August 10, 1894 and died on June 23, 1980 he was commonly known as V. V. Giri. He was the fourth president of the Republic of India. He received India`s highest civilianAward, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975. He was a prolific writer and a good orator. He has written books on `Industrial Relations` and `Labour problems in Indian Industry`. He was elected as Vice-president of India in 1967. Giri became acting president of India in 1969 upon the death in office of Zakir Hussain and decided to run for that position in the election. The Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi chose to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the position, but he was able to prevail anyway due to a last-minute change in the decision by Indira Gandhi, he served until 1974. He has served the office Twice as President.

Muhammad Hidayat Ullah
Muhammad Hidayatullah was born on 1905 and died on 1992. He was the acting President of India in 1969 and the second Muslim to hold the post. Hidayatullah was succeeded by the previous President, Varahagiri Venkata Giri. He was the first Muslim Chief Justice of India from January 1968 to February 1970. He was also Vice-President of India from August 1979 to August 1984. A National Law University has been established in his name at Jodhpur.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on May 13 1905 and died on February 11, 1977. He was President of India from 1974 to 1977. He was educated at St. Stephen`s College and St Catharine`s College, Cambridge, and subsequently became an active member of the Congress Party. He was chosen for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, becoming the third Muslim President in Delhi. He would later use his constitutional authority as head of state to allow her to rule by decree once emergency rule was proclaimed in 1975. He died in office

Basappa Danappa Jatti
Basappa Danappa Jatti was born on September 10, 1912 and died on June 7, 2002. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi. After the 1952 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Health and Labour of the then Bombay Government. Re-elected from Jamkhandi constituency in the third general elections, Jatti was appointed Finance Minister on July 2, 1962 in the Nijalingappa Ministry. He became acting President for a brief period after the death of Fakruddin Ali Ahmed.

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was born on May 18, 1913 and died on June 1, 1996. He was the sixth President of the republic of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. He was also Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation, Shipping and Tourism from January 1966 to March 1967 in the Cabinet. He was Elected to the Lok Sabha from Hindupur constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He was elected Speaker of Lok Sabha on March 17, 1967, where he won unprecedented acclaim and admiration. He was elected President by the electoral college in July 1977, and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed.

Zail Singh
Giani Zail Singh was born in Punjab on May 5, 1916 and died on December 25, 1994. He was the President of India from 1982-1987, and the first Sikh to hold India`s highest public office and honour. Giani Zail Singh Ramgarhia was elected to the highest office of the President of India on July 15, 1982. He was critisized for his dominating attitude towards the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. His relations with Rajiv Gandhi, the next Prime Minister, were rocky at best.

R. Venkataraman
Ramaswamy Venkataraman was born on December 4, 1910 was the 8th President of the Republic of India, serving from 1987 to 1992. Before his election as President, Venkataraman served nearly 4 years as the 7th Vice-President. He is currently the third oldest living former head of state in the world behind Aden Abdullah Osman Daar and Anthony Mamo. He is also the only living former President of India. Although re-elected to Parliament in 1957, Venkataraman resigned his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the State Government of Madras as a Minister. There Shri Venkataraman held the portfolios of Industries, Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport and Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During this time, he was also Leader of the Upper House, namely, the Madras Legislative Council.

Shankar Dayal Sharma
Shankar Dayal Sharma was born on August 19, 1918 and died on December 26, 1999. He was the 9th President of republic of India serving from 1992 to 1997. Sharma served as Vice-President until 1992, when he was elected President. During his five-year term, he was active in ceremonial matters and was in charge of dismissing and appointing governors. During his last year as President, it was his responsibility to swear in three prime ministers. He did not run for a second term as President.

K. R. Narayanan
Kocheril Raman Narayanan was born on 4 February 1921 and died on 9 November 2005. He was also known as K. R. Narayanan, was the tenth President of the Republic of India. He is the only Dalit and the only Malayali to have held the Presidency. K. R. Narayanan was elected as the Presidency of India 17 July 1997 with 95% of the votes in the electoral college, from the Presidential poll 14 July. This is the only Presidential election to have been held with a minority government holding power at the centre.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam Maraikkayar was born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the President of India from 26th July,2002 to 25th July 2007. A notable scientist and engineer, he is often referred to as the Missile Man of India for his work and is considered a leading progressive, mentor, innovator and visionary in India.

Pratibha Patil is the 13th and current President of India. She is the first woman and first Maharashtrian to hold this post. The Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan sworn her as President of India on July 25, 2007.