Table of Contents
List of First in India
First in India: People who achieve something for the first time create an example for others to follow, and as a result, the entire country feels proud of them. It is essential to be aware of these people because they do things that no one before them had ever done. As a result, the List of First in India is a very important section for the several competitive examinations as a part of General Awareness. In this article, we are providing you comprehensive coverage of the First in India in different fields like Politics, Government, Science, Sports etc.
Read More: List of Countries & Capitals
First in India Government & Politics
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of First in India in the field of Government & Politics:
| S.No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First President of India | Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
| 2. | First Prime Minister of India | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 3. | First British Governor General of India | Lord William Bentinck (1833-1835) |
| 4. | First Vice President of India | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 5. | First Female President of India | Pratibha Patil |
| 6. | First Female Prime Minister of India | Indira Gandhi |
| 7. | First Chief Election Commissioner of India | Sukumar Sen |
| 8. | First Viceroy of India | Lord Canning |
| 9. | First Home Minister of India | Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel |
| 10. | First Chief Justice of India | H. J. Kania |
| 11. | First Female Chief Justice of India | Leila Seth |
| 12. | First Education Minister of India | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad |
| 13. | First Dalit President of India | K.R. Narayana |
| 14. | First Transgender Mayer of India | Madhu Bai Kinnar |
| 15. | First Muslim President of India | Zakir Hussain |
| 16. | First Female Governor of India | Sarojini Naidu |
| 17. | First Finance Minister of India | R.K. Shanmukham Chetty |
| 18. | First Female Chief Minister of a State | Sucheta Kripalani |
| 19. | First Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India | Ranganath Misra |
| 20. | First Cabinet Secretary of India | N.P.Pillai |
| 21. | First Minister of Information and Broadcasting | Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel |
| 22. | First Female Minister of External Affairs | Sushma Swaraj |
| 23. | First Speaker of Lok Sabha | Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar |
| 24. | First President of Indian National Congress | W.C. Banerjee |
| 25. | First Foreign Secretary of India | K.P.S Menon |
| 26. | First General Election in India | 1951-1952 |
| 27. | First Muslim President of the Indian National Congress | Badruddin Tayyabji |
| 28. | First Lok Sabha Member with a record highest number of Votes | P.V.Narasimha Rao |
| 29. | First and last Muslim woman ruler of India (Before Independence) | Razia Sultan |
| 30. | First and last Indian Governor General of Independent India | C. Rajgopalachari |
| 31. | First British Governor General of Bengal | Lord Warren Hastings(1774-1885) |
| 32. | First Indian Prime Minister who did not face the Parliament | Charan Singh |
| 33. | First British Viceroy of India | Lord Canning |
| 34. | First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court | Justice Hirala J. Kania |
| 35. | First Governor-General of Independent India | Lord Mountbatten |
| 36. | First Indian Member of the Viceroy’s executive council | S.P.Sinha |
| 37. | First person to resign from the Central Cabinet | Shyama Prasad Mukherje |
| 38. | First President of India who died during his tenure | Dr. Zakhir Hussain |
| 39. | First Indian Prime Minister who resigned without completing the full term | Morarji Desai |
| 40. | First woman Minister in a Government | Rajkumari Amrit Kaur |
| 41. | First woman President of the Indian National Congress | Mrs Annie Besant |
| 42. | First woman President of the United Nations General Assembly | Mrs Vijaya Laxmi Pandit |
| 43. | First woman Speaker of a State Assembly | Shanno Devi |
Read More: Cabinet Ministers of India
First in India Defence
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of First in India in the field of Defence:
| S.No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First Defence Minister of India | Baldev Singh Chokkar |
| 2. | First Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army of Independent India | Kodandera Madappa Cariappa |
| 3. | First Indian Chief of the Air Force of Independent India | Subroto Mukherjee |
| 4. | First Field Marshal of India | Sam Manekshaw |
| 5. | First Recipient of the Param Vir Chakra | Major Somnath Sharma |
| 6. | First Female Jawan in the Indian Army | Shanti Tigga |
| 7. | First Indian Woman to Fly a Fighter Aircraft Solo | IAF Officer Avani Chaturvedi |
| 8. | First Cosmonaut of India | Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma |
| 9. | First woman in the Indian Army Conferred with the Sword of Honour Prize | Divya Ajith Kumar |
| 10. | First Chief of Army Staff | Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji |
| 11. | First Indian Naval Chief | Vice-Admiral R.D. Katari |
| 12. | First woman Air Vice Marshal | P. Bandopadhyaya |
| 13. | First woman Airline Pilot | Durba Banerjee |
| 14. | First woman Lieutenant General | Puneeta Arora |
| 15. | First woman pilot in Indian Air Force | Harita Kaur Dayal |
Read More: List of the Mughal Emperors
First in India Sports
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of Firsts in India in the field of Sports:
| S. No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First Indian to receive Gold Medal at Olympics | Abhinav Bindra |
| 2. | First Team Medal at Olympics | Field Hockey, Gold Medal |
| 3. | First Indian Woman to win in Olympics | Karnam Malleswari (2000) |
| 4. | First Indian Woman to win Silver in Olympics | P.V. Sindhu |
| 5. | First Indian Woman to win a medal in Wrestling | Sakshi Malik |
| 6. | First Indian Woman Badminton Player to win a medal in Olympics | Saina Nehwal |
| 7. | First Indian Chess Grandmaster | Viswanathan Anand |
| 8. | First Woman to be awarded the Padma Shri | Arati Saha |
| 9. | First time Indians win Cricket World Cup | 1983 |
| 10. | First Paralympics Gold Medal | Murlikant Petkar (Swimming) in 1974 |
| 11. | First Asian Games in India | New Delhi, 1951 |
| 12. | First woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner | Kamlijit Sandhu |
Read More: International Organizations and their Headquarters
First in India Awards & Prize
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of First in India related to the various awards and prizes:
| S. No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First Indian Nobel Laureate | Rabindranath Tagore |
| 2. | First Bharat Ratna Award | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan |
| 3. | First Scientist to get Nobel Prize | C.V. Raman |
| 4. | First Woman to get Bharat Ratna Award | Indira Gandhi |
| 5. | First Indian to get Ashok Chakra | Rakesh Sharma (Astronaut) |
| 6. | First Woman to get Ashok Chakra | Nirja Bhanot |
| 7. | First Indian to get Jnanpith Award | G. Shankar Kurup |
| 8. | First Transgender to get Padma Shri | Narthaki Nataraj |
| 9. | First Sportsperson to get Padma Shri | Balbir Singh Dosanjh |
| 10. | First Indian to receive Paramvir Chakra | Major Somnath Sharma |
| 11. | First Indian to receive an Oscar Award | Bhanu Athaiya |
| 12. | First Indian to receive Magsaysay Award | Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
| 13. | First Indian to receive Stalin Prize | Saifuddin Kitchlu |
| 14. | First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine | Hargovind Khurana |
| 15. | First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Economics | Amartya Sen |
| 16. | First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Physics | C.V Raman |
| 17. | First woman to receive Jnanpith Award | Ashapoorna Devi |
| 18. | The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize | Mother Teresa |
Read More: Nuclear Power Plants in India
First in India Science
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of First in India related to the Science and Technology field:
| S. No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First Hydroelectric Plant | Sidrapong (Darjeeling) |
| 2. | First Indian in Space | Rakesh Sharma |
| 3. | First Nuclear Reactor in India | Apsara (Located in Maharashtra) |
| 4. | First Satellite of India | Aryabhatta |
| 5. | First successful indigenous launch vehicle | SLV-3 |
| 6. | First Genetically Modified (GM) food product in India | Bt. Eggplant Hybrid [Banned] |
| 7. | First to pass the Indian Medical Service (IMS) Examination | Surjo Kumar Chakroborty |
| 8. | First Indian appointed in the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Deputy Director-general of Programmes (DDP) | Dr. Soumya Swaminathan |
| 9. | First satellite earth station in India for domestic communications | Secunderabad |
| 10. | First Computer developed in India | TIFRAC |
| 11. | First Female Doctor in India | Rukhmabai Bhimrao Raut |
| 12. | First moon mission of India | Chandrayan-1 (2008-2009) |
| 13. | First Indian to develop an Airplane | Shivkar Bapuji Talpade |
| 14. | First Nuclear Plant in India | Tarapur Atomic Power Plant-1 |
| 15. | First female mining engineer in India | Chandrani Prasad Verma |
| 16. | First successful nuclear test in India | Operation Smiling Buddha, 18th May 1974 |
| 17. | First Space Shuttle launched in India | RLV-TD, 2016 |
| 18. | First Indian Pilot in India | J.R.D. Tata |
| 19. | First woman to go to space from India | Kalpana Chawla |
Read More: Missiles of India
First in India Entertainment & Miscellaneous
For different government examinations, here is the complete List of First in India in different fields like entertainment:
| S. No. | First in India | Name |
| 1. | First Newspaper in India | The Bengal Gazette, 1780 |
| 2. | First silent movie in India | Raja Harishchandra |
| 3. | First female entrepreneur in India | Kalpana Saroj |
| 4. | First IAS officer of India | Satyendranath Tagore |
| 5. | First woman IPS officer in India | Kiran Bedi |
| 6. | First Hindi newspaper in India | Udant Martand (30 May 1826) |
| 7. | First woman to climb Mount Everest | Bachhendri Pal |
| 8. | First Temple built with Single Rock | Kailasa Temple at Ellora |
| 9. | First Dam in India | Kallanai Dam |
| 10. | First Church in India | St. Thomas Church, Palayoor |
| 11. | First Mosque in India | Cheraman Juma Mosque, Methala |
| 12. | First Indian to reach Antarctica | Lt. Ram Charan |
| 13. | First Indian temple with Interconnected Structures | Brihadeeswarar Temple (Tamil Nadu) |
| 14. | First British to Visit India | Thomas Roe |
| 15. | First Chinese Pilgrim to Visit India | Fa-Hien |
| 16. | First Indian Judge in International Court of Justice | Dr. Nagender Singh |
| 17. | First Post Office Opened in India | Kolkata(1727) |
| 18. | First Wax statue of a Living Indian | Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud’s in 1939 |
| 19. | India’s First Open University | Dr B.R Ambedkar Open University |
| 20. | India’s First University | Nalanda University |
| 21. | First Indian to cross the English Channel | Mihir Sen |
| 22. | First Judge of the International Court of Justice | Dr. Nagendra Singh |
| 23. | First lady to become Miss World | Rita Faria |
| 24. | First man who introduced the printing press in India | James Hicky |
| 25. | First person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen | Sherpa Anga Dorjee |
| 26. | First woman Ambassador | Miss C.B. Muthamma |
| 27. | First woman Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission | Roze Millian Bethew |
| 28. | First woman chairperson of Indian Airlines | Sushma Chawla |
| 29. | First woman Cheif Justice of the High Court | Mrs Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court) |
| 30. | First woman Director General of Police | Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya |
| 31. | First woman Graduates | Kadambini Ganguly & Chandramukhi Basu, 1883 |
| 32. | First woman Honours Graduate | Kamini Roy, 1886 |
| 33. | First woman Judge | Anna Chandy (District Court Judge in 1937) |
| 34. | First woman judge in Supreme Court | Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi |
| 35. | First woman Lawyer | Cornelia Sorabjee |
| 36. | First woman to climb Mount Everest twice | Santosh Yadav |
| 37. | First woman to cross the English Channel | Aarti Saha |
| 38. | First RBI Governor of India | Sir Osborne Smith |
Read More: Neighbouring Countries of India
First in India List FAQs
Q. Who was Bengal’s first Governor General?
Ans. Warren Hastings was the First Governor General of Bengal from 1772-1785.
Q. Who was India’s first Prime Minister?
Ans. The country of India’s first prime minister was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Q. Who was India’s first female IPS officer?
Ans. Kiran Bedi is the First woman IPS officer in India.
Q. Who was the First woman Cheif Justice of the High Court?
Ans. The first female Chief Justice of an Indian state high court was Leila Seth. In 1991, she was appointed Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. She was also the Delhi High Court’s first female judge.
Major Incidents in Indian History
- Quit India Movement
- Chauri Chaura Incident
- Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
- Green Revolution in India
- Non-Cooperation Movement
Famous Personalities Biography
Mangal Pandey |
Maharana Pratap |
Rabindranath Tagore |
Bhagat Singh |
Jyotiba Phule |
Satyendra Nath Bose |
Raja Ram Mohan Roy |
Subhash Chandra Bose |
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