UPSC Prelims Strategy

For historical positions (like Governors-General and Viceroys), remember the Acts associated with their titles (e.g., Regulating Act of 1773, Charter Act of 1833, Government of India Act 1858).

1. British Administration (Historical Underpinnings)

Governors and Viceroys

  • Robert Clive: First British Governor of the Bengal Presidency.
  • Warren Hastings: First Governor-General in India (of Bengal). (Context: Under the Regulating Act of 1773).
  • Lord William Bentinck: First official Governor-General of British India. (Context: Under the Charter Act of 1833).
  • Lord Canning: First Viceroy of India. (Context: Under the Government of India Act 1858).
  • Lord Mountbatten: First Governor-General of the Dominion of India and the first Governor-General of independent India (15 Aug 1947 - 21 Jun 1948).
  • Chakravarti Rajagopalachari: First Indian Governor-General of the country (21 Jun 1948 – 26 Jan 1950).

2. Polity and Governance

Constitutional Posts

  • Rajendra Prasad: First President of India (1950 - 1962).
  • Jawaharlal Nehru: First Prime Minister of India (1947 - 1964).
  • Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: First Vice President of India (1952 - 1962).
  • Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel: First Deputy Prime Minister and first Home Minister of India.
  • Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar: First Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
  • Sukumar Sen: First Chief Election Commissioner of India (1950 to 1958).

Other Political Firsts

  • Morarji Desai: First Non-Congress Prime Minister of India, and the first to resign from office.
  • Zakir Husain: First Muslim President of India, and the first Indian President to die in office.
  • Womesh Chandra Bannerjee: First President of the Indian National Congress (1885).
  • Dadabhai Naoroji: First Indian (and Asian) to be elected as a Member of Parliament to the UK House of Commons.

Judiciary

  • Benegal Narsing Rau (B. N. Rau): First Indian to serve as a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.
  • Nagendra Singh: First Indian to serve as President of the International Court of Justice.

3. Defense and Military

Leadership & Gallantry

  • Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa: First Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army.
  • Sam Manekshaw: First Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.
  • General Bipin Rawat: First Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
  • Major Somnath Sharma: First recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, awarded posthumously.

4. Awards and Honours

Nobel Laureates

  • Rabindranath Tagore: First Indian (and Asian) to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1913).
  • C. V. Raman: First Indian to win the Nobel Prize in Physics (1930).
  • Dr. Har Govind Khorana: First Indian to get the Nobel Prize in Medicine (1968).
  • Dr. Amartya Sen: First Indian recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics (1998).

Civilian and Literary Awards

  • First Bharat Ratna Recipients (1954): C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and C. V. Raman.
  • Lal Bahadur Shastri: First individual to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna posthumously.
  • Abdul Ghaffar Khan: First foreigner to be awarded the Bharat Ratna (1987).
  • Acharya Vinoba Bhave: First Indian to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1958).
  • G. Sankara Kurup: First winner of the Jnanpith Award (1965 for 'Odakkuzhal').
  • Ruskin Bond: First Indian author to get the Anderson Award.

5. Sports and Adventure

Olympics & Global Events

  • Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav: First individual athlete from India to win an Olympic medal (Bronze, 1952).
  • Abhinav Bindra: First Indian to win an Individual Olympic Gold Medal (2008 Beijing).
  • Viswanathan Anand: First Chess Grandmaster from India (1988).
  • Wilson Jones: First Indian to win the World Billiards Trophy.
  • Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan: First Formula One driver from India.

Cricket Firsts

  • C. K. Nayudu: First captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches.
  • Sachin Tendulkar: First player to score 10,000 runs in ODIs and the first batsman to score a double century in ODI cricket.
  • Virender Sehwag: First Indian batsman to score a triple century in Test cricket.
  • K. Srikkanth & Ravi Shastri: First Test and ODI captains for the U-19 team respectively.

6. Other Historic Milestones

Exploration and Science

  • Rakesh Sharma: First Indian to go into space.
  • Col. Jatinder Kumar (JK) Bajaj: First Indian (and Asian) to reach the South Pole.
  • Mihir Sen: First Indian (and Asian) to conquer the English Channel (1958).
  • J. R. D. Tata: First Indian Pilot.
  • James Augustus Hicky: Launched the first printed newspaper in India (Bengal Gazette).
  • Devi Ram: First Heart Transplant patient of India.