First in India (Male, Female, Place and Others)

First in India (Male)

• First Governor of Bengal - Lord Clive (1757 60)
• Last Governor of Bengal - Warren Hastings (1772-74)
• First Governor General and First Viceroy of India - Lord Canning (1856-62)
• First Governor General of Bengal - Warren Hastings (1774-85)
• First Governor General of India - Lord William Bentinck (1833-35)
• First Governor General of Independent India - Lord Mountbatten (1947-48)
• First President of Indian National Congress - W.C Banerjee
• First Governor of RBI – Sir Osborne Smith
• First Indian Governor General of Independent India - C Raigopalachari (1948-50)
• First Indian Civil Service Officer - Satyendra Nath Tagore
• First Indian Cosmonaut (to go into space) - Sqn. Ldr Rakesh Sharma
• First temporary President of the Constitutent Assembly - Dr. Sachchida Nand Sinha
• First Indian Nobel Laureate - Rabindra Nath Tagore
• First Indian Judge of the International Court of Justice Dr Nagendra Singh
• First Indian to get Bharat Ratna Award - Dr. S Radhakrishnan
• The President of Constituent Assembly - Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• First Indian to swim across the English Channel - Mihir Sen
• First Indian to get Jnanpeeth Award - G Shankar Kurup
• First Muslim President of Indian Republic - Dr. Zakir Hussain
• First Indian to win Palk-Strait Ocean Swimming Contest - Baidyanath Nath
• First Speaker of Lok Sabha - G V Mavlankar (1952-57)
• First person to make Printing Press popular in India - James Hicky
• Fist Education Minister of Independent India Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
• First President of Indian Republic - Dr Rajendra Prasad
• First Prime Minister of Independent India - Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
• First Home Minister of Independent India - Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
• First Finance Minister – R.K. Shanmukham Chetty
• First Vice- President of Independent India - Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
• First Field Marshal - General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw
• First Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army – General Rob Lockhart (1947-48)
• First Indian Commander-in-Chief of Free India - General K.M. Cariappa (1949-53)
• First Chief of Air Staff - Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst
• First Indian Air Chief of India - Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee
• First Chief of Army Staff - General M. Rajendrasinhji
• First Chief of Naval Staff – Sir Charles Pizey
• First Indian Chief of Naval Staff of India - Vice Admiral R.D. Katari
• First Person to get Paramvir Chakra - Major Somnath Sharma
• First Indian Scientist to get Nobel Prize - CV Raman
• First Chinese pilgrim to visit India - Fa- hien
• First Scientist of Indian origin to win Nobel Prize in Physics - Subrahmanium Chandrashekhar
• First scientist of Indian origin, to get Nobel Prize in the field of Med - Dr Hargovind Khurrana
• First Indian to win Stalin Award - Saiffudin Kichlu
• First Indian to win Magsaysay Award - Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1958)
• India's first Lok Sabha Member to be elected with a record max number of votes - PV Narasimha Rao
• India's first minister to resign from Union Cabinet - Shyama Prasad Mukheree (1950)
• First British to visit India - Hawkins
• First Muslim President of Indian National Congress -  Badruddin Tayab
• India's first Election Commissioner - Sukumar Sen
• First Chief Justice of India - Justice Hitalal J. Kania
• First Person to submit the proposal of Indian Independence in a Congress Session - Hasrat Mohan
• First Indian to climb Mt. Everest without Oxygen cylinder - Sherpa Phu Dorji
• First foreign recipient of Bharat Ratna - Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan
• First Indian recipient of Nobel Prize in Economics - Dr. Amartya Sen
• First Test Tube Baby of India – Durga (Kanupuriya Agarwal)
• First Indian Physician to perform the In Vitro Fertilisation in India – Subhash Mukhopadhyay
• First Indian Pilot - J.R.D. Tata (1929)
• First Indian to reach Antarctica - Lt Ram Charan (1960)
• First Deputy Prime Minister of India - Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel
• First Law Minister of India – B.R. Ambedkar
• First Sikh President – Giani Zail Singh
• First Sikh Prime Minister – Manmohan Singh
• First Indian Prime Minister to resign from office - Morarji Desai
• First Indian Prime Minister to loose an Election - Indira Gandhi
• First President of India to die in office - Dr. Zakir Hussain
• First Man to climb Mt. Everest twice - Nawang Gombu
• First Indian to reach the South Pole - Col. LK. Bajaj
• First Indian recipient of 'Oscar Award' - Bhanu Athaiva
• First American President to visit India - Dwight David Eisenhower
• First British Prime Minister to visit India - Harold Mc Millon
• First Indian author to get Anderson Award - Ruskin Bond
• First Indian to win World Billiards Trophy - Wilson Jones
• First Indian Space Tourist - Santhosh George Kulangara
• First Formula One driver – Narain Karthikeyan
• First Chess Grandmaster – Vishwanath Anand
• First join Indian Medical Services – Surjo Kumar Chakraborty

First Women in India 

• India's first Woman President - Smt. Pratibha Patil
• India's first Woman Prime Minister - Smt. Indira Gandhi
• India's first Woman Governor - Sarojini Naidu
• India's first Woman ruler (on Delhi's throne) - Razia Sultan
• India's first Woman I.PS. Officer - Kiran Bedi
• First Woman Chief Minister of a state - Sucheta Kripalani (U.P)
• First Woman Union Minister - Rajkumari Amrita Kaur
• First Woman President of INC - Annie Besant
• First Woman Judge of the Supreme Court - Meera Sahub Fatima Bibi
• First Woman to get Ashok Chakra - Nirja Mishra
• First Indian Woman Ambassador at United Nations - Vjayalakshi Pandit
• First Indian Woman to swim across English Channel - Arati Saha (Gupta)
• First Indian Woman to get the Noble Prize - Mother Teresa (1979)
• First Indian Woman to climb the Mt. Everest - Bachendri Pal
• First Indian Woman to become 'Miss World' - Miss Reita Faria
• First Indian Woman to climb the 'Mt. Everest' twice - Santosh Yadas
• First Indian Woman to become 'Miss Universe - Sushmita Sen
• First Indian Woman to get Bharat Ratna - Smt Indira Gandhi
• First Woman to get Jnanpith Award - Ashapuma Devi
• First Indian Woman to win WTA Title - Sania Mirza
• First Indian Woman Airline Pilot - Durga Banerjee
• First Indian Woman to win Gold in Asian Games - Kamaljeet Sandhu
• First Woman President of I.N.C. – Annie Besant
• First Indian Woman President of I. N. Congress - Sarojini Naidu (1925)
• First Indian Woman to win the Booker Prize - Arundhati Roy
• First Woman Musician to get Bharat Ratna - MS. Subbulakshmi
• First Indian Woman to go into space - Kalpana Chawla
• First Women Supreme Court Judge – Justice M. Fathima Beevi
• First Female Judge of High Court – Anna Chandy
• First Speaker of Lok Sabha – Meira Kumar
• First Female Indian Air Force Pilot – Harita Kaur Deol
• First Female fly an aircraft – Sarla Thakral
• First women Railway Minister of India – Mamta Banerjee
• First Women Chess Grandmaster in India – Bhagyashree Thipsay
• First Women Gymnast compete in Olympics – Dipa Karmakar
• First Indian Golfer – Aditi Ashok
• First Female Bus Driver at Delhi Transport Corporation – Sarita
• First Women IAS Officer – Isha Basant Joshi
• First Women won Magasasay Award – Mother Teresa  

 First in India (place)

• First partition of Indian state – Bengal
• First District achieved 100% literacy rate – Kottayam, Kerela
• First District to be polio free – Pathanamathitta, Kerela
• First state become a  fully organic state – Sikkim
• First rapid transit metro rail – Kolkata Metro (under Indian Railway in 1984)
• First Passenger train – Mumbai to Thane
• First Expressway – Mumbai-Pune Expressway (2000)
• First large-scale Atomic Reactor of India (1956) – Apsara, Mumbai (Maharashtra)
• First Post-Office opened in India - Kolkata (1727)
• India's first Open University - Andhra Pradesh Open University
• India's first Nuclear Centre - Tarapur
• India's first University - Nalanda University
• First Asian Games organised - Delhi (in 1951)
• First Wi-Fi city – Kolkata
• First Hydroelectric Plant – Sidrapong, Darjeeling (W.B.)
• First Satellite Launched – Aryabhatta (1975)
• First Central Battery of Telephones – Kanpur (U.P).
• First dam in India – Kallanai Dam, Kerela

 Others 

• First Indian Missile – Prithvi
• First Medium Range Missile – Agni
• First Indigenous Tank of India Army - Vijayanta
• First Indian Submarine - INS Cauveri
• First Aircraft Carrier Indian Ship - INS. Vikrant
• First Atomic Submarine of India - INS Chakra
• First e-business News Paper of India - Financial Express
• First Supercomputer of India – PARAM 8000
• First Bank of India – Bank of Hindustan (1770)
• First Airport of India – Juhu Aerodrome (Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra)