First in India List: Quick Answer
The "first in India" facts asked most in SSC and Railway exams are: first President Dr Rajendra Prasad, first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, first woman President Pratibha Patil, first Indian in space Rakesh Sharma (1984), first Indian woman in space Kalpana Chawla (1997), first woman to climb Everest Bachendri Pal (1984), first Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1913) and first individual Olympic gold Abhinav Bindra (2008).
Key takeaway: Split the topic into four boxes: first men, first women, first things (railway, metro, satellite, newspaper) and first awards. In MCQs, the trap is usually a close cousin: first Governor-General of Bengal vs of India, first Indian woman INC president vs first woman INC president, first Indian in space vs first Indian on the ISS.
First Men in India List (Politics and Constitution)
| Position | First person | Year |
|---|---|---|
| President of India | Dr Rajendra Prasad | 1950 |
| Vice-President of India | Dr S. Radhakrishnan | 1952 |
| Prime Minister of India | Jawaharlal Nehru | 1947 |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1947 |
| Governor-General of independent India | Lord Mountbatten | 1947 |
| First and last Indian Governor-General | C. Rajagopalachari | 1948 |
| Governor-General of Bengal | Warren Hastings | 1773 |
| Governor-General of India | Lord William Bentinck | 1833 |
| Viceroy of India | Lord Canning | 1858 |
| Speaker of the Lok Sabha | G.V. Mavalankar | 1952 |
| Chief Justice of India | H.J. Kania | 1950 |
| Chief Election Commissioner | Sukumar Sen | 1950 |
| President of the Indian National Congress | W.C. Bonnerjee | 1885 |
| Indian to join the ICS | Satyendranath Tagore | 1864 |
| Muslim President | Dr Zakir Husain | 1967 |
| Sikh President | Giani Zail Singh | 1982 |
| Dalit President | K.R. Narayanan | 1997 |
| Indian Governor of the RBI | C.D. Deshmukh | 1943 |
First Women in India List (Politics, Judiciary and Administration)
| Position | First woman | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi | 1966 |
| President | Pratibha Patil | 2007 |
| Tribal (Adivasi) President | Droupadi Murmu | 2022 |
| Governor of a state | Sarojini Naidu (United Provinces) | 1947 |
| Chief Minister of a state | Sucheta Kripalani (Uttar Pradesh) | 1963 |
| Union Cabinet Minister | Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (Health) | 1947 |
| Speaker of the Lok Sabha | Meira Kumar | 2009 |
| Full-time Defence Minister | Nirmala Sitharaman | 2017 |
| Full-time Finance Minister | Nirmala Sitharaman (Indira Gandhi held it as PM, 1970-71) | 2019 |
| President of the INC | Annie Besant | 1917 |
| Indian woman President of the INC | Sarojini Naidu | 1925 |
| Judge of the Supreme Court | Justice M. Fathima Beevi | 1989 |
| Judge of a High Court | Justice Anna Chandy (Kerala) | 1959 |
| Chief Justice of a High Court | Justice Leila Seth (Himachal Pradesh) | 1991 |
| Chief Election Commissioner | V.S. Ramadevi | 1990 |
| IAS officer | Anna Rajam Malhotra | 1951 |
| IPS officer | Kiran Bedi | 1972 |
No woman has yet been Chief Justice of India. On current seniority, Justice B.V. Nagarathna is in line to become the first, in 2027.
First in India in Defence and Space (Male and Female)
| Achievement | First person | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army | General K.M. Cariappa | 1949 |
| Field Marshal | Sam Manekshaw | 1973 |
| Chief of Defence Staff | General Bipin Rawat | 2020 |
| Param Vir Chakra recipient | Major Somnath Sharma (posthumous) | 1947 action |
| Indian in space | Rakesh Sharma (Soyuz T-11) | 1984 |
| Indian-born woman in space | Kalpana Chawla (Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-87) | 1997 |
| Indian astronaut on the International Space Station | Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (Axiom-4) | 2025 |
| Woman fighter pilots of the IAF | Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh | 2016 |
| Woman pilot (licence) | Sarla Thakral | 1936 |
| Indian to get a pilot licence | J.R.D. Tata | 1929 |
First in India in Sports (Male and Female)
| Achievement | First person | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Olympic medal (independent India) | K.D. Jadhav (bronze, wrestling, Helsinki) | 1952 |
| Individual Olympic gold | Abhinav Bindra (10 m air rifle, Beijing) | 2008 |
| Olympic gold in athletics | Neeraj Chopra (javelin, Tokyo 2020) | 2021 |
| Woman to win an Olympic medal | Karnam Malleswari (bronze, weightlifting, Sydney) | 2000 |
| Woman to win an Olympic silver | P.V. Sindhu (badminton, Rio) | 2016 |
| Two medals at one Olympics (independent India) | Manu Bhaker (shooting, Paris) | 2024 |
| Grandmaster in chess | Viswanathan Anand | 1988 |
| Test cricket captain | C.K. Nayudu | 1932 |
| Cricket World Cup-winning captain | Kapil Dev | 1983 |
| To climb Mount Everest (with Edmund Hillary) | Tenzing Norgay | 1953 |
| Woman to climb Mount Everest | Bachendri Pal | 1984 |
| Woman to climb Everest twice | Santosh Yadav | 1992, 1993 |
| Miss World | Reita Faria | 1966 |
| Miss Universe | Sushmita Sen | 1994 |
First in India: Awards List (Nobel, Bharat Ratna, Oscar)
| Award | First Indian | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Nobel Prize | Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, for Gitanjali) | 1913 |
| Nobel Prize in Science | C.V. Raman (Physics, Raman effect) | 1930 |
| Woman Nobel laureate (Indian citizen) | Mother Teresa (Peace) | 1979 |
| Bharat Ratna (first three) | C. Rajagopalachari, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, C.V. Raman | 1954 |
| Woman Bharat Ratna | Indira Gandhi | 1971 |
| Posthumous Bharat Ratna | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1966 |
| Oscar (Academy Award) | Bhanu Athaiya (costume design, Gandhi) | 1983 |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Devika Rani | 1969 |
| Jnanpith Award | G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) | 1965 |
| Woman Jnanpith awardee | Ashapoorna Devi | 1976 |
| Booker Prize (Indian woman) | Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) | 1997 |
| Magsaysay Award | Vinoba Bhave | 1958 |
First Women in India in Education and Society
| Achievement | First woman | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Woman teacher (and first girls' school, Pune, with Jyotirao Phule) | Savitribai Phule | 1848 |
| Women graduates | Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu | 1883 |
| Woman doctor trained in Western medicine | Anandibai Joshi (USA) | 1886 |
| Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha | Violet Alva | 1962 |
First Things in India List (Railway, Metro, Space and More)
| First in India | Detail |
|---|---|
| Passenger train | Bori Bunder (Mumbai) to Thane, 34 km, 16 April 1853 |
| Metro rail | Kolkata, 24 October 1984 |
| Underwater metro | Kolkata, under the Hooghly, inaugurated March 2024 |
| Vande Bharat Express | New Delhi to Varanasi, flagged off 15 February 2019 |
| Newspaper | Hicky's Bengal Gazette, 1780 |
| Bank fully managed by Indians with Indian capital | Punjab National Bank (founded 1894, opened 1895) |
| Talkie film | Alam Ara, 1931 |
| Full-length feature film | Raja Harishchandra, 1913 (Dadasaheb Phalke) |
| Satellite | Aryabhata, 19 April 1975 |
| Nuclear reactor | Apsara, Trombay, 1956 |
| Nuclear test | Pokhran (Smiling Buddha), 18 May 1974 |
| Antarctic research station | Dakshin Gangotri, 1983-84 |
| Mars mission | Mangalyaan (MOM), launched 2013, in Mars orbit 24 September 2014 |
| Landing near the Moon's south pole | Chandrayaan-3, 23 August 2023 (now National Space Day) |
| Solar observatory mission | Aditya-L1, launched 2023 |
| Indigenous aircraft carrier | INS Vikrant, commissioned 2022 |
| Fully solar-powered airport | Cochin International Airport, 2015 |
| General election | 1951-52 |
First in India Tricks to Remember
- Bengal before India before Viceroy: Warren Hastings (1773, Bengal) → William Bentinck (1833, India) → Canning (1858, first Viceroy). Remember "Happy Birthday Canning" for the H-B-C order.
- Two Sarojinis: Sarojini Naidu was the first woman Governor (1947) and the first Indian woman INC president (1925). Annie Besant (Irish) was the first woman INC president (1917).
- Space trio: Rakesh Sharma (1984, Soviet craft) → Kalpana Chawla (1997, NASA) → Shubhanshu Shukla (2025, first on the ISS).
- First Bharat Ratna "RRR": Rajagopalachari, Radhakrishnan, Raman, all in 1954.
- Everest pair of 1984: Rakesh Sharma went to space and Bachendri Pal climbed Everest in the same year.
- Olympic ladder: Jadhav 1952 bronze → Malleswari 2000 (first woman) → Bindra 2008 (first individual gold) → Chopra Tokyo (first athletics gold).
First in India GK Questions with Answers (PYQ-Style)
1. Who was the first woman Governor of an Indian state? (a) Sucheta Kripalani (b) Sarojini Naidu (c) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (d) Indira Gandhi Answer: (b) Sarojini Naidu, Governor of the United Provinces in 1947. Sucheta Kripalani was the first woman Chief Minister.
2. Who was the first Indian to go to space? (a) Kalpana Chawla (b) Rakesh Sharma (c) Sunita Williams (d) Shubhanshu Shukla Answer: (b) Rakesh Sharma, aboard Soyuz T-11 in April 1984.
3. Who was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India? (a) Leila Seth (b) Anna Chandy (c) M. Fathima Beevi (d) Sujata Manohar Answer: (c) M. Fathima Beevi, appointed in 1989.
4. The first passenger train in India ran between: (a) Howrah and Hooghly (b) Bombay and Thane (c) Madras and Arcot (d) Delhi and Agra Answer: (b) Bombay (Bori Bunder) and Thane, on 16 April 1853.
5. Who was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress? (a) Sarojini Naidu (b) Annie Besant (c) Nellie Sengupta (d) Kasturba Gandhi Answer: (b) Annie Besant (Calcutta, 1917). Sarojini Naidu (Kanpur, 1925) was the first Indian woman.
6. Who was the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest? (a) Santosh Yadav (b) Bachendri Pal (c) Arunima Sinha (d) Premlata Agarwal Answer: (b) Bachendri Pal, on 23 May 1984.
7. Who was the first Governor-General of India? (a) Warren Hastings (b) Lord Canning (c) Lord William Bentinck (d) Lord Cornwallis Answer: (c) Lord William Bentinck, under the Charter Act of 1833. Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal.
8. India's first satellite was: (a) Rohini (b) Bhaskara (c) Aryabhata (d) INSAT-1A Answer: (c) Aryabhata, launched on 19 April 1975 from the Soviet Union.
9. Who was the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal? (a) P.T. Usha (b) Karnam Malleswari (c) Mary Kom (d) Saina Nehwal Answer: (b) Karnam Malleswari, bronze in weightlifting at Sydney 2000.
10. Who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India? (a) Sukumar Sen (b) T.N. Seshan (c) K.V.K. Sundaram (d) S.P. Sen Verma Answer: (a) Sukumar Sen, who conducted the first general election of 1951-52.
11. Who was the first woman Chief Minister in India? (a) Nandini Satpathy (b) Sucheta Kripalani (c) Jayalalithaa (d) Mayawati Answer: (b) Sucheta Kripalani, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963.
12. The first Indian to win a Nobel Prize in Science was: (a) Har Gobind Khorana (b) S. Chandrasekhar (c) C.V. Raman (d) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Answer: (c) C.V. Raman, Physics, 1930.
First in India FAQs
Who is the first woman in India to become President?
Pratibha Patil, who served as the 12th President from 2007 to 2012. Droupadi Murmu (2022) is the first tribal woman President.
Who was the first Indian to reach the International Space Station?
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force, on the Axiom-4 mission in 2025. Rakesh Sharma (1984) remains the first Indian in space.
Who was the first Indian woman to win the Nobel Prize?
Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was born in Skopje and became an Indian citizen.
Which was the first metro in India?
The Kolkata Metro, opened on 24 October 1984. Kolkata also has India's first underwater metro tunnel under the Hooghly river.
Who was the first woman IPS officer in India?
Kiran Bedi, who joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. Anna Rajam Malhotra (1951) was the first woman IAS officer.
Who was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal?
Abhinav Bindra, in the 10 m air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Who was the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
Meira Kumar, elected in 2009.
Practice Next
- GK mock tests: SSC CGL Static GK Mock Test 01, SSC CHSL Static GK Mock Test 02, SSC CGL General Awareness Sectional Mock Test 01, RRB NTPC GK Mini Mock Test 01.
- Related notes: List of Prime Ministers of India, President of India list 1950 to 2026, Governor-General of India list trick, Awards and honours 2026, International organisations and their headquarters.
- Exam updates: SSC CGL 2026, RRB NTPC 2026.
- Railway GK: Vande Bharat Express train list 2026.
- Browse all study notes.