List of Firsts in India
List of Firsts in India covers the pioneering milestones in politics, judiciary, the Olympics, education, and administration that defined the founding and growth of the Republic of India.
Constitutional and Political Firsts[edit | edit source]
| Post / Milestone | Person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru | Served 1947–1964 |
| First President (Elected) | Rajendra Prasad | — |
| First Indian Governor General | C. Rajagopalachari | — |
| First Vice President | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan | — |
| First Chief Justice of India | Justice Harilal J. Kania | — |
| First Home Minister and Deputy PM | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | — |
| First Education Minister | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | — |
| First Finance Minister | R. K. Shanmugham Shetty | — |
| First Chief Election Commissioner | Sukumar Sen | — |
| First female PM (1966–1977 and 1980–1984) | Indira Gandhi | — |
| First female President (2007–2012) | Pratibha Patil | — |
| First female CM (Uttar Pradesh) | Sucheta Kriplani | 1963–1967 |
| First female President of INC (1917) | Annie Besant | — |
| First Indian female President of INC (1925) | Sarojini Naidu | Also first woman Governor (U.P.) |
| First female doctor of India | Anandi Gopal Rao Joshi | — |
| First woman IAS officer | Anna Rajam Malhotra | — |
| First female High Court judge | Anna Chandy | Kerala High Court |
| First barrister of India | Monomohun Ghose | — |
| First private bank of India | IndusInd Bank | — |
Sports Firsts[edit | edit source]
| Milestone | Person / Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Olympics | Athens, 1896 | — |
| First Paralympic Games | Rome, 1960 | — |
| First captain of Indian Cricket Team in ODI | Ajit Wadekar | — |
| First Indian woman to summit Everest | Bachendri Pal | — |
| First woman to win Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Rani Rampaul | — |
Social Reform Organizations[edit | edit source]
| Organization | Year Founded | Founder |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmo Samaj | 1828 | Raja Ram Mohan Roy |
| Prarthana Samaj | 1867 | Atmaram Pandurang |
| Arya Samaj | 1875 | Dayananda Saraswati |
| Aligarh Muslim University | 1875 | Syed Ahmad Khan |
| Bombay Stock Exchange | 1875 | Premchand Roychand (cotton merchant) |
| Indian National Congress | 1885 | Allan Octavian Hume |
| Ramakrishna Mission | 1897 | Swami Vivekananda |
| Gadar Party | 1913 | Sohan Singh Bhakna and Har Dayal Singh |
Books and Authors (Selected)[edit | edit source]
| Year | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1776 | The Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith |
| 1859 | On the Origin of Species | Charles Darwin |
| 1882 | Ananda Math | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee |
| 1909 | Hind Swaraj | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1913 | The Gardener | Rabindranath Tagore |
| 1925 | My Experiments with Truth | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1981 | Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie |
| 1988 | The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho |
| 1997 | The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy |
| 2006 | The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai |
| 2008 | The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga |
| 2022 | Tomb of Sand | Geetanjali Shree |