List of 15 ‘First’ Indian Women Who Made History in Various Fields

These determined warriors, rocket scientists, and young athletes come from different regional and societal backdrops of the country, and their success glorifies the in-built motto of 'unity in diversity of the nation. 

1. Dr Tessy Thomas

Thomas, also known as the 'missile woman of India', hails from a humble background in Kerala, and carries the privilege of heading the successful launch of Agni-V missile project, is the first woman in the field to do so. Thomas is a scientist and Director General (Aero Systems) at Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

Dipa Karmakar

29-year-old is a native from north-eastern state of India, Tripura. She happens to be the first Indian gymnast in the country to have competed in the Olympics. Karmakar made her Olympic debut in 2016, wherein she nabbed the 4th position in the finals. 

3. Shanti Devi 

In a highly male dominated occupation, Shanti Devi is a picture of feminine strength in the modern era. 55-year-old Shanti Devi has been working as a truck mechanic in the chaotic streets of Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in the national capital New Delhi for the last two decades. 

4. Deepa Malik

Apart from being the President of the Paralympic Committee of India, Deepa Malik is the first Indian woman athlete to win a medal in Paralympic Games. The latter started her career in sports at the age of 30 and won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in shot put. Later, she also nabbed a gold in the Javelin event at the para-athletic Grand Prix held in Dubai in 2018.

5. Kavita Devi 

Former Haryana cop Kavita Devi made history after she become the first Indian wrestler to feature in the Mae Young Classic event in 2017. Devi made headlines for taking on New Zealand's popular fighter Dakota Kai.

6. Usha Kiran

Kiran is the youngest CRPF officer who joined the 232 Mahila Battalion of the force in 2014, and after several years of training and service, she became the first woman to be inducted into the commando battalion for resolute action (COBRA) unit and is currently posted in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-affected Bastar. 

7. Hima Das 

Das, also known as 'Dhing Express' is the first Indian woman athlete to clinch a gold medal in track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships. 22-year-old also holds a national record in 400 meters sprint running with a timing of 50.79 seconds.  

8. Gita Gopinath

American national Gopinath has Indian roots and is an economist by profession. She made the country proud by becoming the first woman Chief Economist at the IMF (International Monetary Fund). 

9. Mithali Raj

Also known as the 'Sachin Tendulkar of Indian women's cricket', Mithali happens to be the only women batter in the country to have played more than 200 ODI matches. The former India captain is also the highest run scorer in women's international cricket. 

10. Avani Chaturvedi 

Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi hails from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh becomes the first Indian woman pilot to fly a fight jet solo. Ealier, she was declared the first woman combat pilot along with two of her female colleagues. 

11. Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom became the first woman to win a gold medal for the country in the Olympic tournament in boxing. Former Rajya Sabha MP has been World Amateur Boxing Champion for 6 times and recently played her final Olympics in Tokyo. 

12. Garima Arora

Indian chef Garima Arora became the first Indian woman to win a Michelin star in November 2018. 36-year-old enjoys massive popularity in the Indian households through TV reality show MasterChef India. 

13. Arunima Sinha

Indian mountaineer world's first female amputee to scale difficult ranges of Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus, Mount Kosciusko, Mount Aconcagua, Mount Denali and Mount Vinson. She has also represented the country in volleyball at the international level. 

14. Kalpana Chawla

Now, who doesn't know Indian-origin mechanical engineer and NASA scientist Kalpana, the first woman of Indian descent to travel to the space. Chawla created history as she flew on Space Shuttle Columbia as mission specialist in 1997. 

15. Saina Nehwal 

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal holds multiple honours in international badminton and is the first Indian woman to secure rank 1 in the list of top woman shuttlers around the world. She further holds 24 international titles along with 10 Superseries titles.