List of First in India: First in Governance, Awards and Sports

There are a bunch of MCQ type questions asked in various competitive exams. This is a General Knowledge topic that includes facts that don’t change. Topics on First in India include people and their great achievements in India’s history.

Check the list of first in India from below table.

First in Indian Governance

The table below mentions first people in Indian governance.

Position	Name
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

Read More

• List of cabinet minister of India
• List of Railway Ministers of India
• List of All Prime Ministers of India
• List of CM of all states of India
• List of President of India

First in Awards

The table below consists a list of prestigious awards won by Indian individuals for the first time.

Position	Name
First Bharat Ratna Award	Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
First Indian Nobel Laureate	Rabindranath Tagore
First Indian to get Ashok Chakra	Rakesh Sharma (Astronaut)
First Indian to get Jnanpith Award	G. Shankar Kurup
First Indian to receive an Oscar Award	Bhanu Athaiya
First Indian to receive Magsaysay Award	Acharya Vinoba Bhave
First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Economics	Amartya Sen
First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine	Hargovind Khurana
First Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Physics	C.V Raman
First Indian to receive Paramvir Chakra	Major Somnath Sharma
First Indian to receive Stalin Prize	Saifuddin Kitchlu
First Scientist to get Nobel Prize	C.V. Raman
First Sportsperson to get Padma Shri	Balbir Singh Dosanjh
First Transgender to get Padma Shri	Narthaki Nataraj
First Woman to get Ashok Chakra	Nirja Bhanot
First Woman to get Bharat Ratna Award	Indira Gandhi
First woman to receive Jnanpith Award	Ashapoorna Devi
The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize	Mother Teresa

• Father of Various Field
• List of Bharat Ratna Award Winners
• Sahitya Akademi Award Winners
• Oscar Awards 2024 Winners

First in Defence

The table below gives the list of people who held important positions in the Indian Defense Sector.

Position	Name
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 co-pilot	IAF Officer Avani Chaturvedi
First cosmonaut	Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma
First woman in the Indian Army awarded the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ prize	Divya Ajith Kumar

• List of Air Chief Marshal of India
• Chief of Defence Staff

First in Sports

The table below gives the list of important achievements in the field of sports, specially at the Olympics:

Position	Name
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

• ODI World Cup Winner List
• T20 World Cup Winner List
• IPL Winners List

First in Science & Technology

The table below gives the list of important achievements in the field of Science & Technology.

Position	Name
First hydroelectric plant	Sidrapong (Darjeeling)
First Man in Space	Rakesh Sharma
First Nuclear Reactor	Apsara (Maharashtra)
First satellite	Aryabhatta
First successfully indigenous launch vehicle	SLV-3
First genetically modified food product in India	Bt. Eggplant Hybrid [Banned]
First to pass the examination of the Indian Medical Service (IMS)	Surjo Kumar Chakroborty
First Indian to be appointed as the deputy director-general of programmes (DDP) of the World Health Organization (WHO)	Dr. Soumya Swaminathan
First satellite earth station for domestic communications	Secunderabad
First Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics	C.V Raman

First in Architecture

The table below gives information on Indian Architecture.

Position	Name
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 in Other Fields

Position	Name
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 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 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 Bharat Ratna award	Dr. Radhakrishnan
The first Indian to win Nobel Prize	Rabindranath Tagore
The first Judge of International Court of Justice	Dr. Nagendra Singh
The first lady to become Miss World	Rita Faria
The first man who introduced printing press in India	James Hicky
The first Muslim President of India	Dr. Zakir Hussain
The first Muslim President of Indian National Congress	Badruddin Tayyabji
The first Muslim President of 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 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 Indian National Congress	W.C. Banerjee
The first President of 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 judge in a district court in 1937)
The first woman judge in Supreme Court	Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi
The first woman Judge in 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 Indian National Congress	Mrs Annie Besant
The first woman President of 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 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

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First in India – FAQs

Which European came for the first time in India?

The first European to arrive in India across the Atlantic Ocean was Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who landed at Calicut. When the Portuguese attempted to penetrate the Indian market in the middle of the 16th century, the Dutch followed. The French and British arrived considerably later.

Who was the first king of India?

Chandragupta Maurya was the first king of India. He was one of the earliest known emperors who ruled over a large part of ancient India..

Who is the first citizen of India?

The President is titled as the “First Citizen of India” due to their position as the highest-ranking official and head of state in the country.