List of First in India

Table of Contents

Importance of ”List of First in India” for UPSC CSE

List of First in India is a static General Knowledge topic for UPSC. This is informative in nature which helps in solving portions of Multiple Choice Questions for the UPSC Prelims Examination. Here, in the List of First in India, we presented important personalities who have achieved in the fields of science & technology, governance, defense, sports, and architecture, etc.

List of First in India in the Field of Governance

First President of India	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
First Vice-President of India	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
First President of Indian National Congress	Womesh Chandra Bannerjee
First Prime Minister of India	Jawaharlal Nehru
First Chief Election Commissioner of India	Sukumar Sen
First Viceroy of India	Lord Canning
First Governor-General of India	Lord William Bentinck
First Chief Justice of India	H.J Kania
First Speaker of Lok Sabha	G. V. Mavlankar
First Home Minister of India	Sardar Vallabhai Patel
First Chairperson of Lokpal of India	Pinaki Chandra Ghose

List of First in India in the Field of Defence

First Defence Minister of India	Baldev Singh Chokkar
First Commander-in-Chief of Free India	Kodandera Madappa Cariappa
First Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force	Subroto Mukherjee
First Field Marshal	Sam Manekshaw
First Param Vir Chakra Winner	Major Somnath Sharma
First female Jawan in the Army	Shanti Tigga
First Indian woman to fly fighter aircraft without a co-pilot	IAF Officer Avani Chaturvedi
First cosmonaut	Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma
The first woman in the Indian Army awarded the coveted ‘Sword of Honour prize	Divya Ajith Kumar

List of First in India in the Field of Sports

First Olympics Team Medal	Gold in Field Hockey (1928, Summer Olympics)
First Indian woman wrestler to win an Asian gold medal	Navjot Kaur
First Indian woman badminton player to win an Asian Games medal	Saina Nehwal
First Indian woman to win a medal at Asian Games	Santhi Soundarajan
First person to win the international bronze medal in skiing	Aanchal Thakur
First Woman to Win an Olympic Silver Medal	P. V. Sindhu in Badminton
First female to represent India at the Summer Olympics	Nora Polley, 1924 Summer Olympics
First Individual Gold Medal won by	Abhinav Bindra, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
First Woman to Win a Medal in Wrestling	Sakshi Malik won Bronze in the 2016 Summer Olympics

List of First in India in the field of Architecture

First temple constructed from a single rock	Kailasa temple at Ellora
First church in India	St. Thomas Church, Palayoor
First mosque in India	Cheraman Juma Mosque in Methala
First dam in India	Kallanai Dam
First Indian temple with many interconnected structures	Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu

List of First in India – Miscellaneous

First British to Visit India	Thomas Roe
First Chinese pilgrim to Visit India	Fa-Hien/Faxian
First Indian to reach Antarctica	Lt. Ram Charan
First Judge in International Court of Justice	Dr. Nagender Singh
First Muslim President of the Indian National Congress	Badruddin Tayyabji
First Post Office Opened in India	Kolkata(1727)
First Wax statue of a Living Indian	Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud’s in 1939
India’s First Lok Sabha Member to be Elected with a record maximum number of Votes	P.V.Narasimha Rao
India’s First Open University	Dr. B.R Ambedkar Open University
India’s First University	Nalanda University
India’s first man in Space	Rakesh Sharma
The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha	Ganesh Vasudeva Mavalankar
The first and last Muslim woman ruler of India	Razia Sultan
The first and the last Indian to be Governor-General of Free India	C. Rajgopalachari
The first British Governor-General of Bengal	Lord Warren Hastings(1774-1885)
The first British Governor-General of India	Lord William Bentinck(1833-1835)
The first British Viceroy of India	Lord Canning
The first Chief Election Commissioner	Sukumar Sen
The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court	Justice Hirala J. Kania
The first Chief of Army Staff	Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji
The first Education Minister	Abdul Kalam Azad
The first Field Marshal of India	S.H.F. Manekshaw
The first Governor-General of Free India	Lord Mountbatten
The first Home Minister of India	Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
The first Indian Air Chief Marshal	S. Mukherjee
The first Indian Commander-in-Chief of India	General Cariappa
The first Indian Member of the Viceroy’s executive council	S.P.Sinha
The first Indian Naval Chief	Vice-Admiral R.D. Katari
The first Indian Pilot	J.R.D. Tata (1929)
The first Indian to cross the English Channel	Mihir Sen
The first Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics	C.V.Raman
The first Indian to join the Indian Civil Services	Satyendra Nath Tagore
The first Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna award	Dr. Radhakrishnan
The first Indian to win Nobel Prize	Rabindranath Tagore
The first Judge of the International Court of Justice	Dr. Nagendra Singh
The first lady to become Miss World	Rita Faria
The first man who introduced the printing press in India	James Hickey
The first Muslim President of India	Dr. Zakir Hussain
The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress	Badruddin Tayyabji
The first Muslim President of the Indian Republic	Dr. Zakhir Hussain
The first person of Indian origin to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine	Hargovind Khurana
The first person to get Param Vir Chakra	Major Somnath Sharma
The first person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen	Sherpa Anga Dorjee
The first person to receive the Jnanpith award	Sri Shankar Kurup
The first person to receive Magsaysay Award	Acharya Vinoba Bhave
The first person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics	Amartya Sen
The first person to receive Stalin Prize	Saifuddin Kitchlu
The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet	Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
The first President of India who died while in office	Dr. Zakhir Hussain
The first President of the Indian National Congress	W.C. Banerjee
The first President of the Indian Republic	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
The first Prime Minister of free India	Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
The first Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament	Charan Singh
The first Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term	Morarji Desai
The first Vice-President of India	Dr. Radhakrishnan
The first woman Air Vice Marshal	P. Bandopadhyaya
The first woman Airline Pilot	Durba Banerjee
The first woman Ambassador	Miss C.B. Muthamma
The first woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner	Kamlijit Sandhu
The first woman Chairman of Union Public Service Commission	Roze Millian Bethew
The first woman chairperson of Indian Airlines	Sushma Chawla
The first woman Cheif Justice of High Court	Mrs. Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court)
The first woman Chief Minister of an Indian State	Mrs Sucheta Kripalani
The first woman Director General of Police	Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya
The first woman Governor of a state in free India	Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
The first woman Graduates	Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
The first woman Honours Graduate	Kamini Roy, 1886
The first woman IPS officer	Mrs. Kiran Bedi
The first woman Judge	Anna Chandy (She became a judge in a district court in 1937)
The first woman judge in Supreme Court	Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi
The first woman Judge in the Supreme Court of India	Kumari Justice M. Fathima Beevi
The first woman Lawyer	Cornelia Sorabjee
The first woman Lieutenant General	Puneeta Arora
The first woman Minister in a Government	Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
The first woman Olympic medal Winner	Karnam Malleswari, 2000
The first woman pilot in Indian Air Force	Harita Kaur Dayal
The first woman President of the Indian National Congress	Mrs. Annie Besant
The first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly	Mrs. Vijaya Laxmi Pandit
The first woman Prime Minister	Mrs. Indira Gandhi
The first woman Speaker of a State Assembly	Shanno Devi
The first woman to climb Mount Everest	Bachhendri Pal
The first woman to climb Mount Everest twice	Santosh Yadav
The first woman to cross the English Channel	Aarti Saha
The first woman to receive Ashoka Chakra	Nirja Bhanot
The first woman to receive Bharat Ratna	Mrs. Indira Gandhi
The first woman to receive Jnanpith Award	Ashapurna Devi
The first woman to receive Jnanpith Award	Ashpurna Devi
The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize	Mother Teresa

Some Previous Year’s FAQs in UPSC

In the “Individual Satyagraha”, Vinoba Bhave was chosen as the first Satyagrahi. Who was the second?
(a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(b) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) C. Rajagopalachari
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Ans: B
Consider the following statements :
1. The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu.
2. The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: B
With reference to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), consider the following statements:
1. The first European power to occupy Pondicherry were the Portuguese.
2. The second European power to occupy Pondicherry were the French.
3. The English never occupied Pondicherry.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Ans: A
With whose permission did the English set up their first factory in Surat?
(a) Akbar
(b) Jahangir
(c) Shahjahan
(d) Aurangzeb
Ans: B
Where was the First Session of the Indian National Congress held in December 1885?
(a) Ahmadabad
(b) Bombay
(c) Calcutta
(d) Delhi
Ans: B