B BurewalaPunjab, Pakistan
Notable people

The town's name-makers

A canal-colony market town of a few hundred thousand people has produced a Test-cricket captain, the tallest international cricketer in history, a Nishan-e-Haider war hero — and a family tie to Bollywood's first superstar. Here is who they are, and what the record actually says.

Illustration: anonymous silhouettes of a soldier, a cricketer, a farmer and a student in front of a small-town skyline - decorative, not photos of the people profiled
AI-generated illustration
Silhouette illustration of a batsman playing a shot - decorative, not a photo of Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna

Bollywood actor · India's first film “superstar” · Family roots in Burewala · 1942 – 2012

Born Jatin Khanna in December 1942, Rajesh Khanna reigned over Hindi cinema with a record fifteen consecutive solo-hit films between 1969 and 1971, and remained Hindi cinema's biggest box-office draw through the 1970s and 1980s.

The Burewala connection. His father, Lala Hiranand Khanna, was the founding headmaster of the city's MC High School, serving from 1931 until Partition in March 1947 — a school board still bears his name. Pakistani press (NDTV, The News, Geo) reported that the actor was born in Burewala's Block H and spent his earliest years here before the family moved to Amritsar in 1948; the family's former two-storey house survives, its doorway inscribed “Jatin Niwas” in Hindi, next to a former temple building now used as a police station. Standard reference works such as Wikipedia list Amritsar as his birthplace, so the precise birth-city is disputed — but the family's Burewala roots, and the town's own claim, are a matter of public record. When Khanna died in July 2012, Burewala's residents publicly mourned him as one of their own.

Silhouette illustration of a soldier saluting - decorative, not a photo of Major Tufail Mohammad

Major Tufail Mohammad

Punjab Regiment · Nishan-e-Haider recipient · 22 June 1914 – 7 August 1958

Major Tufail Mohammad is the town's most solemn name. In August 1958, leading a company against an incursion in the Lakshmipur area of East Pakistan, he was mortally wounded but pressed the attack to victory; he died of his wounds and was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan's highest military gallantry award — only the second ever given.

He is buried in Burewala with full military honours, and the nearby settlement of Tufailabad is named in his memory. Annual commemorations at his grave remain a fixture of the city's calendar. His fuller profile →

Silhouette illustration of a fast bowler mid-delivery - decorative, not a photo of Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Maitla

Right-arm fast bowler · Pakistan captain & head coach · Born 16 November 1971, Burewala

The “Burewala Express” took 373 Test and 416 ODI wickets between 1989 and 2003, captained Pakistan in Tests at 22 — still the youngest man ever to do so — and later returned as the national team's head coach. His reverse swing, bowling alongside Wasim Akram, defined an era of Pakistani pace. Career statistics in full →

Silhouette illustration of a tall left-arm fast bowler in full delivery stride - decorative, not a photo of Mohammad Irfan

Mohammad Irfan

Left-arm fast bowler · Pakistan (Test, ODI, T20I) · Born 6 June 1982, Gaggo Mandi, Vehari district

At 7 ft 1 in, Mohammad Irfan is the tallest cricketer ever to play international cricket. He was working in a plastic-pipe factory when a trial at Khan Research Laboratories changed his life; by 2010 he was opening the bowling for Pakistan, and he went on to play across all three formats, including the 2015 World Cup. His profile →

Silhouette illustration of a batsman playing a shot - decorative, not a photo of Gulraiz Sadaf

Gulraiz Sadaf

First-class cricketer · Multan region

A first-class cricketer of the region who appears in the domestic record books — a reminder that the town's cricket culture runs far deeper than its two international stars. His profile →

A note on sourcing

We list only people whose connection to Burewala is documented in public records or contemporaneous press reporting. Where a claim is contested — as with Rajesh Khanna's birthplace — we say so rather than repeat the stronger story. Know someone who belongs on this page? Tell us with sources.