India’s First Personalities & Facts

First Governor of Bengal

Lord Clive (1757-60)

Last Governor of Bengal

Warren Hastings (1772-74)

First Governor-General of Bengal

Warren Hastings (1774–85)

First Governor-General and First Viceroy of India

Lord Canning (1856-62)

First President of Indian National Congress

W.C. Banerjee

First and Last Indian Governor-General of Independent India

C. Rajagopalachari (21.06.1948–25.01.1950)

First Indian to pass ICS

Satyendra Nath Tagore (1863)

First Indian I.C.S officer

Satyendra Nath Tagore (YOJ*1864)

First Governor-General of India (after independence, the last British Governor-General of India)

Lord Louis Mountbatten (15 Aug, 1947–20 June, 1948)

First Indian Cosmonaut (to go into space)

Sqn. Ldr. Rakesh Sharma

First temporary President of the Constituent Assembly

Dr Sachchida Nand Sinha

First Commander-in-chief of Free India

General K.M. Cariappa

First Indian Nobel Laureate

Rabindranath Tagore

First Indian Judge of the International Court of Justice

Dr Nagendra Singh

First Indian to get Bharat Ratna Award

Dr S. Radhakrishnan

First Field Marshal

General S.F.J. Manekshaw

The President of Constituent Assembly

Dr Rajendra Prasad

First Indian to swim across the English Channel

Mihir Sen

First Indian to get the Jnanpith Award

G. Shankar Kurup

First Muslim President of Indian Republic

Dr Zakir Hussain

First Indian to win the Palk Strait Ocean Swimming Contest

Baidyanath Nath

First Speaker of Lok Sabha

G.V. Mavlankar (1952–57)

The first person to make the printing press popular in India

James Hicky

First 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 Vallabhbhai Patel

First Vice-President of Independent India

Dr S. Radhakrishnan

First Chief of Air Staff

General Maharaja Sri Rajendra Singh Ji Jadeja

First Chief of Naval Staff of India

Vice-Admiral R.D. Katari

First CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) of India

Gen. Bipin Rawat

First Person to get Paramvir Chakra

Major Somnath Sharma

First Indian Scientist to get Nobel Prize

C.V. Raman (Physics)

The first scientist of Indian origin, to get Nobel Prize in the field of Medical Science

Dr Hargobind Khorana

First Chinese pilgrim to visit India

Fa-hien

First Scientist of Indian origin to win Nobel Prize in Physics

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar

First Indian to win Stalin Award

Saifuddin Kitchlew

First Indian to win Magsaysay Award

Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1958)

India’s first Election Commissioner

Sukumar Sen

First Muslim President of Indian National Congress

Badruddin Tayab Ji

First Chief Justice of India

Justice Hiralal J. Kania

First Person to submit the proposal of Indian Independence in a Congress Session

Maulana Hasrat Mohani

First Indian to climb Mt Everest without an oxygen cylinder

Sherpa Phu Dorji (Climbed on 9th May, 1984)

First foreign recipient of Bharat Ratna

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan

First Indian recipient of Nobel Prize in Economics

Dr Amartya Sen

First Indian Pilot

J.R.D. Tata (1929)

First Indian to reach Antarctica

Lt Ram Charan (1960)

First Deputy Prime Minister of India

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

First Indian Prime Minister to resign from office

Morarji Desai

First President of India to die in office

Dr Zakir Hussain

First man to climb Mt Everest twice

Nawang Gombu Sherpa

First Indian to reach the South Pole

Col. J.K. Bajaj

First American President to visit India

Dwight David Eisenhower

First British Prime Minister to Visit India

Harold Macmillan

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 Chief Justice of India (Born in Independent India)

Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia (September 29, 1947)

First Indian to win Golden Globe Award

A.R. Rahman

First Russian Prime Minister to visit India

Nikolai A. Bulganin

First Individual Gold Medalist at Olympics

Abhinav Bindra

First Indian member of British Parliament

Dadabhai Naoroji

First Indian to win a medal at World Badminton Championship

Prakash Padukone