Important Notes on List of First in India

First Person

Name

      Facts

First President of Indian Republic

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, 1950 to 1962

·       President of the Constituent Assembly (1948-1950)

First Prime Minister of free India

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru

·       He is also known as the architect of modern India.

·       Chairman of the constituent assembly.

·       Chairman of Union Constitution Committee, Union Powers Committee and States Committee

First Indian to win Nobel Prize

Rabindranath Tagore

·       Also Known as Gurudev.

·       Wrote National Anthem of India.

First President of Indian National Congress

W.C. Banerjee

First Muslim President of Indian National Congress

Badruddin Tayyabji

First Muslim President of India

Dr. Zakir Hussain

First British Governor-General of India

Lord William Bentinck (1833-1835)

·       Sati system was banned during his regime.

First British Governor-General of Bengal

Lord Warren Hasting (1773-1785)

·       First Maratha war and second Mysore war occured during his regime

·       Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal.

First British Viceroy of India

Lord Canning

·       Revolt of 1857 happened during his regime.

·       Established 3 universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

First Governor-General of free India

Lord Mountbatten

·       Indian Independence Bill 1947 was passed during his regime.

First and the last Indian to be Governor-General of free India

C. Rajgopalachari

·       Informally called as Rajaji or C.R.

The first man who introduced the printing press in India

James Hickey (Bengal Gazette)

·       Bible was the first book printed in India.

The First Indian to join the I.C.S

Satyendra Nath Tagore

First man in Space from India

Rakesh Sharma

First Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term

Morarji Desai

First Indian Commander-in-Chief of India

General Cariappa

First Chief of Army Staff

Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji

First Indian to join Viceroy’s executive council

S.P.Sinha

First President of India who died while in office

Dr. Zakir Hussain

·       He was awarded Bharat Ratna award.

First Muslim President of Indian Republic

Dr. Zakir Hussain

First Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament

Charan Singh

·       Serving from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980.

First Field Marshal of India

S.H.F. Manekshaw(1914-2008)

First-person to get Nobel Prize in Physics from India

C.V.Raman

·       For the discovery of Raman Effect or Raman Scattering.

First Indian to receive Bharat Ratna award

C. Rajgopalachari, Dr. Radhakrishnan &

CV Raman

·       First and the last Indian to be Governor-General of free India

·       First Vice President of India: Dr. Radhakrishnan

·       Nobel Prize Winner: CV Raman

First Indian to cross the English Channel

Mihir Sen

First Person to receive Jnanpith award

Sri Shankar Kurup

The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Ganesh Vasudeva Mavalankar

·       Also known as Dadasaheb

·       Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of India

First Vice-President of India

Dr. Radhakrishnan

First Education Minister

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

First Home Minister of India

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

·       India's first Deputy Prime Minister.

·       Started Bardoli Satyagarh.

·       Chairman of Provincial Constitution Committee and Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.

First Indian Air Marshal

S. Mukherjee

First Indian Naval Chief

Vice Admiral R.D. Katari

First Indian Judge of International Court of Justice

Dr. Nagendra Singh

First-person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen

Sherpa Dorjee

First-person to get Param Vir Chakra

Major Somnath Sharma

First Chief Election Commissioner

Sukumar Sen

First-person to receive Magsaysay Award

Acharya Vinoba Bhave

·       First person chosen for Individual Satyagraha.

First-person of Indian origin to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine

Hargovind Khurana

First Chinese traveler to visit India

Fahein

·       Visited India during the reign of Gupta emperor Chandragupta II

First-person to receive Stalin Prize

Saifuddin Kitchlu

·       Jalliawala Bagh gathering 1919 was held against the arrest of Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr. Satyapal.

The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

·       Served as Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet

·       Founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) predecessor in 1951.

First-person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics

Amartya Sen

• For his contributions to welfare economics

First Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Justice Hirala J. Kania

First Indian Pilot

J.R.D. Tata (1929)

First in India – Science

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 Indian Medical Service (IMS) exam

Surjo Kumar Chakroborty

First deputy director-general of programmes (DDP) of the 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 India – Governance

President of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Vice-President of India

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

President of Indian National Congress

Womesh Chandra Bannerjee

Prime Minister of India

Jawaharlal Nehru

Chief Election Commissioner of India

Sukumar Sen

Viceroy of India

Lord Canning

Governor-General of India

Lord William Bentinck

Chief Justice of India

H.J Kania

Speaker of Lok Sabha

G. V. Mavlankar

Home Minister of India

Sardar Vallabhai Patel

Chairperson of Lokpal of India

Pinaki Chandra Ghose

First in India – Defense

Defense Minister of India

Baldev Singh Chokkar

Commander-in-Chief of Free India

Kodandera Madappa Cariappa

Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force

Subroto Mukherjee

Field Marshal

Sam Manekshaw

Param Vir Chakra Winner

Major Somnath Sharma

Female Jawan in the Army

Shanti Tigga

Indian woman to fly fighter aircraft without a co-pilot

IAF Officer Avani Chaturvedi

Cosmonaut

Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma

Womann in the Indian Army awarded the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ prize

Divya Ajith Kumar

First in India – Sports

Olympics Team Medal

Gold in Field Hockey (1928, Summer Olympics)

Indian woman wrestler to win an Asian gold medal

Navjot Kaur

Indian woman badminton player to win an Asian Games medal

Saina Nehwal

Indian woman to win a medal at Asian Games

Santhi Soundarajan

Person to win the international bronze medal in skiing

Aanchal Thakur

Woman to Win an Olympic Silver Medal

P. V. Sindhu in Badminton

Female to represent India at the Summer Olympics

Nora Polley, 1924 Summer Olympics

Individual Gold Medal won by

Abhinav Bindra, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing

Woman to Win a Medal in Wrestling

Sakshi Malik won Bronze in the 2016 Summer Olympics

First in India – 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 several interconnected structures

Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu