List of First Indian Women in Various Fields !!

 India is known for its glorious history. India is a country where women is equally a part of the glory. Many women inspired us with their work and broke all the social barriers. They worked hard and shine their name in the field of art, politics, law etc. So here I am with a list of the women who were first in their field. The list is huge so I am sharing 10 famous women's work here.

Set 1 | | A Comprehensive List of First Indian Women in Various Fields !!

Armed Forces

• First Female IPS Officer of India – Kiran Bedi (1972).
  • First Woman to be appointed as the United Nations Civil Police Adviser – Kiran Bedi (2003).
• First Woman Lieutenant General – Puneeta Arora.
• First Woman Vice-admiral of Indian Navy – Puneeta Arora.
• First Woman Air Vice-Marshal – Padmavathy Bandopadhyaya.
• First Lady Cadet of Indian Army – Priya Jhingan (1992).
• First Indian Woman Merchant Navy Officer – Sonali Banerjee.
• First Visually Impaired Woman Indian IAS Officer – Pranjal Patil.
• First Woman Director General of Police (DGP) – Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya (Uttarakhand, 2004).
• First Indian Female Pilot and Captain of Indian Airlines – Durga Banerjee (1966).
• First Woman Pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force – Harita Kaur Deol (1994).
• First Transgender Woman to be a Police Officer in India (Dharmapuri) – Prithika Yashini (2017).
• First Female JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer of the Indian Army to be deployed on a foreign mission – Lt. Col. Jyoti Sharma (2019, Seychelles).
• India’s First Female military diplomat to be posted in any of the Indian missions abroad – Wing Commander Anjali Singh (2019).
• First Female officer in India to become the Flight Commander of a flying unit – Wing Commander S. Dhami (2019).
• First Indian Woman to receive a Gallantry award within the Indian Army (Sena Medal for her acts of bravery in Afghanistan) – Major Mitali Madhumita.
• First Indian Woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan – Sapper Shanti Tigga.
• First all-women crew to fly an Air Force Chetak Helicopter Flight Cadets – Cheryl Dutta & Simran Sodhi.
• India’s first Female Merchant Navy Captain – Radhika Menon (2012).
• First Woman Superintendent in Tihar Men’s Jail – Anju Mangla.
• First Female Firefighter in India – Harshini Kanhekar.
• First Woman to Receive a Sena Medal – Constable Beema Devi (1990).

Literature

• First Indian Woman to win Booker Prize – Arundhati Roy (1997, God of Small Things).
• First Woman to receive Jnanpith Award – Ashapurna Devi (1976 - "Prothom Protishruti" written in 1964).
• First Woman to receive Magsaysay Award – Kamladevi Chattopadhyay.
• First Indian Woman to win Sahitya Akademi Award – Amrita Pritam.

Adventure

• First Indian Woman to climb Everest – Bachendri Pal (1984).
• First Woman amputee to scale Everest (in World as well) – Arunima Sinha.
• First Woman to conquer Mt. Everest Twice – Santosh Yadav (ITBP Officer, 1993).
• First Indian Woman to scale Mt. Everest for the fifth time - Anshu Jamsenpa.
• First Indian twins (Women) ever to conquer Mount Everest – Tashi and Nancy Malik.
• First Woman to cross the English Channel – Arati Saha (1959).
• Fastest Indian as well as Asian to swim across the English Channel – Anita Sood.
• First Indian Woman who swam across the Gibraltar Strait – Arti Pradhan.
• First Woman in the world to swim across sea channels of five continents – Bula Choudhury.
• First Indian Woman to cross Gobi Desert – Sucheta Kadethankar.
• First Indian Woman who reached Antarctica – Mahel Moos* (1977).
• First Indian Woman Scientist who reached Antarctica – Aditi Pant (Oceanographer, 1983).
• First Indian Woman Mountaineer to scale the 7 Continental Peaks (Seven Summits) – Premlata Agrawal.
  • First Indian Woman to step on the Highest Peak of North America – Premlata Agrawal (2013).
  • Oldest Indian woman to scale Mount Everest – Premlata Agrawal (53 years old).
• First Indian Woman to ski across the South Pole – Reena Kaushal Dharmashaktu.
• First Indian Woman to reach the North Pole – Preeti Sen Gupta.
• First Woman to sail around the World in a Yacht – Ujwala Patil Dhar (1987-1988).
• First Indian Woman Airline Pilot – Sarla Thakral (1936).
• First Indian Woman Commercial Pilot – Prem Mathur.

📝 SideNotes:

• Seven Summits – Highest peaks of 7 Continents.
  • First person who conquered 7 summits was – Richard Bass (1985).

Awards & Honors

• First Indian Woman to win Nobel Peace Prize – Mother Teresa (1979).
• First Indian Woman who won Ramon Magsaysay award – Mother Teresa (1962).
• First Woman to receive Bharat Ratna – Indira Gandhi (1971).
• First Indian Woman Musician to receive Bharat Ratna – M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998).
• First woman to be awarded Padma Shri – Arati Saha (1960).
• First Indian Actress to win the Padma Shri – Nargis Dutt (1958).
• First Woman Sportsperson to be decorated with the Padma Vibhushan – MC Mary Kom (25 January 2020).
• First Indian Woman to win an Oscar award – Bhanu Athaiya (Best Costume Design, Gandhi, 1983).
• First Indian Woman to win a Grammy Award – Tanvi Shah (“Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire, 2010).
• First Woman to receive Dadasaheb Phalke award – Devika Rani Roerich (1969).
• First Woman to receive Ashoka Chakra – Niraja Bhanot (1987).
• First Indian Woman to get Arjuna Award – Stephie D'Souza (Hockey, 1963).
• First Woman to receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – Karnam Malleswari (1995).
• First Indian Woman to become Member of Legion of Honour (France) – Asha Pande (2010, for the pioneering French language in Rajasthan).
• First Woman to win Norman Borlaug award – Dr. Amrita Patel (1991).
• First Indian Woman to win both Arjuna & Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – Kunjarani (Grand Old Lady, Arjuna Award - 1990 & Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - with Leander Paes in 1996-1997).
• First Woman Coach to win Dronacharya Award – Sunil Dabas (2012, Kabaddi).
• First Woman to appear on Postal Stamp – Mirabai (October 1, 1952 - stamp for 2 annas).
• First Indian Woman to win at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year – Aishwarya Sridhar (2020).

Sports

• First Indian Woman to qualify for Olympic Games – Sini Abraham.
• First Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic event – Shiny Abraham.
• First Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event – P.T. Usha (400m hurdles, 1984).
• First Indian Gymnast to qualify for Olympics – Dipa Karmakar (2016).
• First Woman to win a Medal in Olympics – Karnam Malleswari.
• First Woman to win a medal at the Paralympics – Deepa Malik (Rio, 2016).
• First Indian woman to win a medal in Badminton at Olympic Games – Saina Nehwal (2012).
• First Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal – P.V Sindhu (2016).
• First Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal – Sakshi Malik (58Kg, 2016).
• First Indian woman Boxer to win an Olympic Medal – MC Mary Kom.
• First Woman who become an individual member of the International Olympic Committee – Nita Ambani (2016).
• First Woman to score a double hundred in Test Cricket (in World as well) – Mithali Raj ( 214 against New Zealand at Wellington, 2004).
• First Woman to win the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) title – Sania Mirza (2005).
• First Indian Woman to win Gold in Asian Games – Kamaljeet Sandhu (400 m. Race, 1970).
• First Indian Woman Boxer to win a gold medal in Asian Games – Mary Kom (2014).
• First & Only Woman Boxer who has won a medal in each of the six World Championships – Mary Kom.
• India's first-ever gold medalist in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 – Geeta Phogat.
• First Woman to win Gold Medal on International Track – Hima Das.
• First Woman to make hat-trick in international football – Yolanda D’Souza.
• First Woman to win International Grand Master- Chess – Bhagyashree Thipsay.
• First Indian Woman to to hold The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) titles- International Master and Woman Grandmaster – Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi.
  • Youngest Indian woman to become Chess Grandmaster – Koneru Humpy (2002, at the age of 15).
• First Indian Woman to win a medal at an international athletics competition – Anju Bobby George (Paris, 2003).
• First Indian Woman to win the Gold medal at Asian Wrestling Championship – Navjot Kaur.
• First woman to win Gold in World Cup Shooting – Heena Sidhu (2013).
• India’s first F1 woman racer and national racing champion – Alisha Abdullah.
• First Indian Woman to participate in WWE – Kavita Dalal.

Entertainment

• First Miss World from India – Reetha Faria (1966).
• First Indian woman to win the Miss Universe title – Sushmita Sen (1994).
• First Miss India – Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham, 1947).
• First Indian Woman to win the Miss Asia-Pacific title – Zeenat Aman (1970).
• First Indian Woman to win the Miss Earth title – Nicol Faria (2010).
• First Actress of Indian Cinema – Durgabai Kamat (Film 'Mohini Bhasmasur', 1913).
• First Female child actress of Indian cinema – Kamalabai Gokhale*.
• First Indian Woman who appeared on Time Magazine cover – Parveen Babi.
• First Female Actress to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha – Vyjayanthimala.
• First Female Actress to be a member of Rajya Sabha – Nargis Dutt.
• First Doordarshan Newsreader – Pratima Puri.
• First Lady Editor – Kamala Swaminathan (Indian Ladies Magazine).
• First Woman Editor of an English Newspaper – Dina Vakil.
• First Indian Woman producer and director – Fatima Begum.
• First Female Singer to be honored by House Of Commons, British Parliament, United Kingdom – K.S. Chitra

📝 SideNotes:

• Légion d'honneur/Legion of Honour (France) award established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
• The Borlaug Award is an award created in 1972 for outstanding Indian scientists for their research and contributions in the field of agriculture and the environment in honor of Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug.
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize – science award in India given annually by the CSIR for outstanding research in biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and Physics.
• Tessy Thomas – also known as ‘Missile Woman of India’ and ‘Agniputri’.
• Test tube baby – Durga is the first test-tube baby and world's second, but media publicity was given to Harsha, being the first test-tube by Dr. Indira Hinduja who was born on 6 August 1986, another claim being Kruti Parekh born 1984.
• Kamalabai Gokhale – Daughter of Durgabai Kamat, debuted in 1913, film 'Mohini Bhasmasur' directed by Dadasaheb Phalke.
• Padma Vibhushan recipients (7) of 25 January 2020 – George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley, Anerood Jugnauth, Mary Kom, Chhannulal Mishra, Sushma Swaraj & Vishwesha Teertha