People who achieve something for the first time is always remembered as they made the country proud whether its in field of science, space, architect, politics, sports, technology etc. Due to this, list of First in India become an important topic in Static GK for various competitive exams like SSC, Banks, Defence etc. In various interviews also, to check the general awareness of a candidate, questions might be asked from this field. There is no wonder if questions are asked from this topic in one of the popular television show i.e Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Here is the list of First In India, divided into 3 parts i.e. Male, Female and Miscellaneous :-
List of First in India (Male) :-
| First Prime minister of independent India | Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru | |
| First President of independent India | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | |
| First Muslim President of India | Dr. Zakir Hussain | |
| First Sikh President of India | Giani Jail Singh | |
| First Dalit President of India | K.R. Narayana | |
| First President of India who died during his tenure | Dr. Zakir Hussain | |
| First Vice-President of India | Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | |
| First Speaker of the Lok Sabha | G.V.(Ganesh Vasudev) Mavalankar | |
| First Indian to join the I.C.S.(Indian civil service) | Satyendranath Tagore | |
| First President of Indian National Congress | W.C.(Womesh Chandra) Banerjee | |
| First Muslim President of Indian National Congress | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | |
| First Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament | Chaudhary Charan Singh | |
| First Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing his full term | Morarji Desai | |
| First Indian to win Nobel Prize | Rabindranath Tagore | |
| First Indian to win Nobel Prize in Physics | Dr. C.V. Raman | |
| First person of Indian origin to win Nobel Prize in Medicine | Hargovind Khurana | |
| First person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics | Amartya Sen | |
| First Indian to receive Bharat Ratna | Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | |
| First Home Minister of India | Sardar Vallabha Bhai Patel | |
| First Education Minister | Abul Kalam Azad | |
| First Defence Minister of India | Baldev Singh Chokkar | |
| First foreigner to receive Bharat Ratna | Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan | |
| First Indian Pilot | J.R.D. (Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy)Tata | |
| First man to have climbed Mount Everest twice | Nawang Gombu | |
| First man in space | Rakesh Sharma | |
| First Indian Commander-in-Chief of India | General K.M.Cariappa | |
| First Cheif of Army Staff | Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji | |
| First Field Marshal of India | S.H.F.J Manekshaw | |
| First Indian Air Chief Marshal | Subroto Mukerjee | |
| First Indian Chief of Navy | Vice Admiral R.D. Katari | |
| First Chief Justice of Supreme Court | Justice Hiralal J. Kania | |
| First Governor of Bengal | Lord Clive | |
| First British Governor-General of Bengal | Warren Hastings | |
| First British Governor General of India | Lord William Bentinck | |
| First British Viceroy of India | Lord Canning | |
| First Governor General of free India | Lord Mountbatten | |
| First as well as last Indian Governer General of free India | C. Rajgopalachari | |
| First batsman to score double century in ODI(One Day International)cricket match | Sachin Tendulkar | |
| First man who introduced printing press in India | James Augustus Hicky | |
| First Indian member of the Viceroy’s executive council | S.P.(Satyendra Prasanna)Sinha | |
| First Indian to cross English Channel | Mihir Sen | |
| First person to receive Magsaysay Award | Achrya Vinoba Bhave | |
| First person to receive Gyanpith award | G. Sankara Kurup | |
| First person to receive Paramveer Chakra | Major Somnath Sharma | |
| First Chief Election Commissioner | Sukumar Sen | |
| First judge of ICJ(International Court of Justice) | Dr. Nagendra Singh | |
| First person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen | Sherpa Anga Dorjee | |
| First person to receive Stalin Prize | Saifuddin Kitchlu | |
| First Lokpal of India | Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose | |
| First British to visit India | Thomas Roe | |
| First Chinese pilgrim to visit India | Fa-hien | |
| First Indian to receive gold medal at Olympics | Abhinav Bindra (2008, Beijing) | |
| First Chess Grandmaster of India | Viswanathan Anand |
List of First in India (Female) :-
| First Woman Prime Minister of India | Indira Gandhi |
| First Woman President of India | Pratibha Patil |
| First Woman Speaker of Lok Sabha | Meira Kumar (2009) |
| First Indian Woman to get Bharat Ratna | Indira Gandhi |
| First Woman President of INC(Indian national congress) | Annie Besant(1917) |
| First Indian Woman President of INC | Sarojini Naidu(1925) |
| First Woman Governor of India | Sarojini Naidu(U.P) |
| First Woman Chief Minister of State | Sucheta Kripalani(U.P) |
| First Woman Union Minister of India | Rajkumari Amrita Kaur(Health minister) |
| First Woman IPS Officer of India | Kiran Bedi |
| First Indian Woman to win Nobel Prize | Mother Teresa |
| First Indian Woman to climb Mount Everest | Bachendri Pal |
| First Indian Woman to climb Mount Everest twice | Santosh Yadhav |
| First Indian Woman in space | Kalpana Chawla |
| First Indian Woman to become Miss Universe | Susmita Sen |
| First Indian Woman to become Miss World | Miss Reita Faria Powell |
| First female Chief Justice of India | Leila Seth(Himachal Pradesh High Court) |
| First Woman Judge of Supreme Court of India | Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi |
| First woman judge | Anna Chandy(Judge of district court in 1937) |
| First Indian Woman to swim across English Channel | Arati Saha |
| First Woman to get Ashok Chakra | Neerja Bhanot |
| First Indian Woman Ambassador at UN | Vijalakshmi Pandit |
| First Indian Woman to win Booker Prize | Arundhati Roy |
| First Woman Musician to get Bharat Ratna | MS Subbalakshmi |
| First woman to win an Olympic medal | Karnam Malleswari (Weightlifting) in 2000 Sydney Olympics |
| First woman to win Silver medal in Olympics | P.V. Sindhu |
| First Badminton player to win a medal in Olympics | Saina Nehwal |
| First Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in wrestling | Sakshi Malik (Bronze,2016) |
| First and last Muslim woman ruler of India | Razia Sultan |
| First woman Air Vice Marshall | P. Bandopadhyaya |
| First Indian Woman Airline Pilot | Durga Banerjee |
| First Indian Woman to get Jnanpith Award | Ashapurna Devi |
| First woman chairman of UPSC(Union Public Service Commission) | Roze Millian Bethew |
| First woman President of United Nations General Assembly | Mrs. Vijaya Laxmi Pandit |
| First Indian Woman to win Gold in Asian Games | Kamaljeet Sandhu |
| First woman speaker of a state assembly | Shanno Devi |
List of First in India (Miscellaneous) :-
| First satellite launched by India | Aryabhatta |
| First newspaper in India | Bengal Gazette, 1780 |
| First moon mission of India | Chandrayan-1 |
| First nuclear plant in India | Tarapur atomic power plant(Maharashtra) |
| First silent movie in India | Raja Harischandra(1913) |
| First talkie movie(sound film) in India | Alam Ara(1931) |
| First general elections in India | 1951-52 |
| First Asian games in India | 1951, New Delhi |
| First Nuclear reactor in India | Apsara |
| First railway line | Between Bombay to Thane (16 April, 1853) |
| First Five-year plan | 1951 |
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