First in India

First in India (Men)

>First American President to visit India: Dwight David Eisenhower)
> First British Prime Minister to visit India: Harold Macmillan
> First Chairman of the University Grants Commission: S.S.Bhatnagar
> First Chief Election Commissioner of India: Sukumar Sen (21.03.1950 to 19.12.1958)
> First Chief Justice of India: Harilal J.Kania (26.1.1950 to 6.11.1951)
> First Chief Minister of the tri-lingual Bombay Presidency: B.G.Kher
> First Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshall Sir Thomas Elmherst (1947-1950)
> First Chief of Army Staff: Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Sinhji (1.4.1955 to 14.5.1955)
> First Commander-in-Chief: Gen.Sir Roy Bucher (1.1.1948 - 14.1.1949)
> First Dalit Lok Sabha Speaker: G M C Balayogi 

> First Photographer in India: Raja Deendayal

> First President of India: Dr Rajendra Prasad (1950 to 1962)
> First President of the Indian Union of Civil Liberties: Rabindranath Tagore (1930).
> First Prime Minister of India: Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 to 1964)
> First Prime Minister to win a popular entertainment award: Atal Behari Vajpayee (when he won the Screen-Videocon "Best Lyricist" prize in the non-film music category for his collection of poems titled "Nayi Disha" in February 2000)
> First Defence Minister of Independent India: Sardar Baldev Singh
> First Deputy Prime Minister of India: Sardar Vallabhai Patel
> First Director General of ICAR: B.P.Pal
> First Eunuch to be elected as a Mayor of an Indian city: Kamla Jaan, who elected Mayor of Katni city in Madhya Pradesh in January 2000.
> First Eunuch to get elected to a State legislature: Shabnam Mausi, won the Sohagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh in the February 2000 elections.
> First European to invade India: Alexander
> First Field Marshal: Gen. S.H.F.J. Manekshaw
> First fighter pilot to win the Param Vir Chakra: Flying Officer Nirmaljeet Singh Sekhon (posthumous) for IAF in 1971 Indo-Pak conflict.
> First Foreign Secretary of Free India: K.P.S.Menon
> First Governor General of Independent India: Lord Mountbatten
> First Indian bowler to get a hattrick in Test cricket: Harbhajan Singh
> First Indian Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee (April 1, 1954).
> First Indian Chief of Naval Staff: Vice Admiral R.D.Katari (1958 to 1962).
> First Indian Governor General of India: C.Rajagopalachari
> First Indian to be awarded with the 'Victoria Cross': Khuda Dad Khan (for Gallantry in Belgium during the first World War)
> First Indian to be elected a member of British Parliament: Dadabhoi Naoroji
> First Indian to be elected to the US House of Representatives: Dilip Singh Saund
> First Indian to go in space: Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma.

> First Indian to hoist the National Flag over the North Pole: Squadron Leader Sanjay Thapar.
> First Indian to record a song on a gramophone Disc: Sashi Mukhi of Classic Theatres, Calcutta (1902)
> First Indian to swim across the English Channel: Mihir Sen
> First Indian to win an Olympic Bronze: Khashaba Jadhav (wresting; 1952, Helsinki Olympics)
> First Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Tournament: Pullela Gopi Chand (March 11,2001)
> First Indian to win the World Billiards Championship: Wison Jones
> First Jnanpith Award Winner: G.Sankara Kurup (1965), for his work ‘Ottakkuzhal’ in Malyalam.
> First Minister without Portfolio: N.Gopalswami Ayengar in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet.

> India's longest serving Chief Minister: Jyoti Basu
> Only Army Chief to be awarded with Maha Vir Chakra twice: Late Gen. A.S.Vaidya

> First Secretary General of South-South Commission: Dr Manmohan Singh
> First Surveyor General of India: Sir George Everest
> First Vice-President of India: Dr S.Radhakrishnan (1952 to1962)
> First Winner of Param Vir Chakra: Maj.Somnath Sharma (posthumously) in November, 1947
> India's first Test Tube Baby: Harsha (born on August 6, 1986).
> Indian Johann Sebastian Bach: Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

First in India (Women)

> First Woman President of India : Pratibha Patil
> Delhi’s First Mayor: Aruna Asaf Ali (1958)
> Delhi's First woman chief secretary: Shailja Chandra
> Fastest Asian to swim across the English Channel: Anita Sood
> First all-women crew to fly an air Force Chetak Helicopter: Flight Cadets Cheryl Dutta and Simran Sodhi of IAF (December, 1995).
> First Indian woman President of Indian National Congress: Sarojini Naidu (1925)
> First Indian woman producer and director: Fatima Begum, who produced and directed Bulbul-e-Parastan in 1926.
> First Indian woman to become Miss Universe: Sushmita Sen (1994)
> First Indian woman to become Miss World: Reita Faria (1966)
> First Indian woman to climb Mt. Everest: Bachendri Pal
> First Indian Woman to go in Space: Kalpana Chawla
> First Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event: P.T.Usha
> First Indian woman to win a medal in an Olympic event: Karnam Malleshwari (bronze medal, Sydney Olympics)
> First Indian woman boxer to win an international event : M.C.Merykom
> First Indian woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha
> First Miss Universe of the new millennium: Lara Dutta
> First woman Ambassador from India: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (to USSR from 1947-49)
> First woman Central Minister: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
> First woman chief justice of a High Court: Leila Seth (CJ of Himachal Pradesh, 1991)
> First woman Chief Minister of an Indian state: Sucheta Kriplani (Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967)
> First woman film star to be a member of Rajya Sabha: Nargis Dutt
> First woman Governor of an Indian state: Sarojini Naidu (Uttar Pradesh from 1947 to 1948)
> First woman Governor of Tamil Nadu: Justice M. Fatima Beevi (1997)
> First woman IPS Officer of India: Kiran Bedi
> First woman Judge of the Supreme Court: Justice M. Fatima Beevi (1989)
> First woman Minister of an Indian State: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (Uttar Pradesh)
> First woman officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be promoted to the rank of air commodore: Padma Bandhopadhyay( IAF in 1968)
> First woman President of Indian National Congress: Annie Besant (1917)
> First woman President of UN General Assembly: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (1953-54)
> First woman Prime Minister of India: Late Indira Gandhi (1966 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984).
> First woman Speaker of an Indian state: Shano Devi
> First woman Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly: Kavali Prathibha Bharati
> First woman winner of the Bharat Ratna: Indira Gandhi (1971)
> Grandma Madonna from India: Asha Bhonsle
> India's first Commercial pilot: Durba Banerjee (1966, Indian Airlines)
> Youngest Indian to swim across the English Channel:  Arati Pradhan

> India's first Test-Tube Baby: Kruti Parekh
> India's first woman Railway driver: Surekha Yadao
> India's first woman Tabla maestro: Dr Aban Mistry

First in India (Miscellaneous)

> First Air Force in Asia to fly jets: Indian Air Force (1948)
> First Book in any Indian Language: It was printed in 1578 in Tamil.
> First Census in India: 1901
> First Cinema House in India: It was built by J.F.Madan in 1907 in Calcutta.
> First complete Technicolor film: Jhansi Ki Rani (1953)
> First Constitutional Amendment: 1950
> First Country wide agricultural census: 1970-71
> First English Newspaper in India: Bengal Gazette printed in 1790
> First Film Centre: Nandan. Located in Calcutta, it was inaugurated in September 1985.
> First Film with an all-female cast: Marathi Film Bindhast
> First Five-Year Plan: Started in 1951
> First General Elections: They were held in 1952.
> First hydroelectric project in India: Shivasamudram, across the River Kaveri in 1902
> First Indian State to set up a women’s court: Andhra Pradesh
> First Marine National Park: Jamnagar
> First Moonlit Animal House in Asia: Located in the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.
> First Navodaya School: Navegao, Khairi in Nagpur
> First Printing Press: It was set up in Goa in 1556 by the Portuguese.
> First Railway Line: It was opened on April 16, 1853 between Bombay and Thane.
> First Rupee in India: It was minted during the reign of Sher Shah Suri in 1542.
> First ship built in India: Jala Usha built by Vishakapatnam Shipyard
> First silent feature film in India: Pundalik made in 1912 by N.G. Chitre and R.G. Torney
> First solar Crematorium: It is proposed to be set up in Valsad, Gujarat.
> First Solar Energy Centre: Gwalpahar, Gurgaon, Haryana
> First song-less film: JBH Wadia's Naujawan (1937).
> First south Indian film to be released in Korea: Tamil Film Muthu Maharaja (June, 2000)
> First Talkie Film: Alam Ara (1931)
> First Telefilm: Satyajit Ray's Sadgati (telecast on Doordarshan in April 1981)
> First Telegraph Line: It was laid between Calcutta and Agra in 1854
> First Telephone system: It was started in 1881 from Calcutta.
> First Television Reception Centre: Arvi, located in Maharashtra
> First veterinary college: Opened in Parel in Bombay in 1885
> First Wind farm: Mandvi, Kutch in Gujarat
> Highest Airfield in the world: Thoise, Ladakh
> Highest road in India: Khardung La Pass
> India’s first Antartica expedition: January 11, 1982
> India’s first Satellite: Aryabhatta, April 19, 1975
> India's first Colour film: Prabhat's Sairandhri, which was processed and printed in Germany in 1933.
> India's first fully indigenous silent feature film: Raja Harishchandra produced by Dada Saheb Phalke on May 3, 1913.
> India's first indigenously built missile destroyer: INS 'Delhi' (commissioned on November 15, 1997 at Mumbai).
> India's first indigenously built submarine: INS 'Shakti' (commissioned on February 7, 1992)
> India's first indigenously made colour film: Ardashir Irani’s Kisan Kanya made in 1937.
> India's first manufacturer of light bulbs and electrical equipment: Bengal Lamps, Calcutta (1933)
> India's First Oil well: Digboi (1890)
> India's first Radio programme: This was broadcast privately with a 40w transmitter by the Madras Presidency Club Radio in 1924.
> India's largest inland lake: Lake Chilika, Orissa
> Largest circulated multi-edition daily in India: Roudramukhi Swar in Hindi
> Largest circulated periodical in India: Malayala Manorama (11,27,414 copies)
> Largest circulated single edition newspaper in India: Hindustan Times from Delhi
> Largest Nandi in India: Nandi of the Leepakshi Temple at Andhra Pradesh
> Largest Stupa in India: Mahachaitya Stupa, Amravati, Andhra Pradesh
> Oldest era in the world: Hindu Era
> Oldest Paramilitary force in India: Assam Rifles (1835) in Shillong

> Youngest paramilitary force in India: Coast Guard (1978)
> Earliest School of medicine known to humans: Ayurveda