First Women in India – Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature

Mar 2020|🟢Current|3 min read|52 entries

First in India India Indian History Static GK

Key Takeaway

This is the third part of the series "A Comprehensive List of First Indian Women in Various Fields" including women who became fore bearers in the fields of Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature.

Last verified: 12 Feb 2026·Source: www.pscarivukal.com

First Women in India – Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature

This is the third part of the series "A Comprehensive List of First Indian Women in Various Fields" including women who became fore bearers in the fields of Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature.

A Comprehensive List of First Indian Women in Various Fields - Part III(52)

Item	Detail
Armed ForcesPoliceFirst 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 DGP (Director General of Police)	Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya(Uttarakhand, 2004)*
First Transgender Woman to be a Police Officer in India (Dharmapuri)	Prithika Yashini(2017)
First Woman Superintendent in Tihar Men’s Jail	Anju Mangla
ArmyFirst Woman Lieutenant General	Puneeta Arora
First Lady Cadet of Indian Army	Priya Jhingan(1992)
First Indian Woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan	Sapper Shanti Tigga
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 Woman to Receive a Sena Medal	Constable Beema Devi(1990)
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 woman officer deployed in Siachen	Captain Shiva Chouhan (Fire and Fury Corps)
First woman medical officer to be deployed at Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world	Captain Geetika Koul (Snow Leopard Brigade)
NavyFirst Woman Vice-admiral of Indian Navy	Puneeta Arora
First Woman Commanding officer in an Indian Naval Warship	Commander Prerna Deosthalee(2023)*
First Female Pilot in Indian Navy	Shivangi Swaroop(Member of the first female batch of Ezhimala Naval Academy)
Air ForceFirst Woman Air Vice-Marshal	Padmavathy Bandopadhyaya
First Woman Pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force	Harita Kaur Deol(1994)
First Female officer in India to become the Flight Commander of a flying unit	Wing Commander S. Dhami(2019)
First all-women crew to fly an Air Force Chetak Helicopter Flight Cadets	Cheryl Dutta & Simran Sodhi
The First Woman Air Force officer to win the Indian Air Force Gallantry Medal	Wing Commander Deepika Mishra
MiscellaneousFirst Indian Woman Merchant Navy Officer	Sonali Banerjee
India’s first Female Merchant Navy Captain	Radhika Menon(2012)
First Indian Female Pilot and Captain of Indian Airlines	Durga Banerjee(1966)
First Female Firefighter in India	Harshini Kanhekar
First Visually Impaired Woman Indian IAS Officer	Pranjal Patil
LiteratureFirst 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
AdventureFirst 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 & 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)

Armed ForcesPoliceFirst 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 DGP (Director General of Police)*

Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya(Uttarakhand, 2004)

First Transgender Woman to be a Police Officer in India (Dharmapuri)

Prithika Yashini(2017)

First Woman Superintendent in Tihar Men’s Jail

Anju Mangla

ArmyFirst Woman Lieutenant General

Puneeta Arora

First Lady Cadet of Indian Army

Priya Jhingan(1992)

First Indian Woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan

Sapper Shanti Tigga

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 Woman to Receive a Sena Medal

Constable Beema Devi(1990)

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 woman officer deployed in Siachen

Captain Shiva Chouhan (Fire and Fury Corps)

First woman medical officer to be deployed at Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world

Captain Geetika Koul (Snow Leopard Brigade)

NavyFirst Woman Vice-admiral of Indian Navy

Puneeta Arora

First Woman Commanding officer in an Indian Naval Warship*

Commander Prerna Deosthalee(2023)

First Female Pilot in Indian Navy

Shivangi Swaroop(Member of the first female batch of Ezhimala Naval Academy)

Air ForceFirst Woman Air Vice-Marshal

Padmavathy Bandopadhyaya

First Woman Pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force

Harita Kaur Deol(1994)

First Female officer in India to become the Flight Commander of a flying unit

Wing Commander S. Dhami(2019)

First all-women crew to fly an Air Force Chetak Helicopter Flight Cadets

Cheryl Dutta & Simran Sodhi

The First Woman Air Force officer to win the Indian Air Force Gallantry Medal

Wing Commander Deepika Mishra

MiscellaneousFirst Indian Woman Merchant Navy Officer

Sonali Banerjee

India’s first Female Merchant Navy Captain

Radhika Menon(2012)

First Indian Female Pilot and Captain of Indian Airlines

Durga Banerjee(1966)

First Female Firefighter in India

Harshini Kanhekar

First Visually Impaired Woman Indian IAS Officer

Pranjal Patil

LiteratureFirst 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

AdventureFirst 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 & 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)

* Time-sensitive data — verify for latest information

First Women in India – Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature

Key Takeaway

First Women in India – Armed Forces, Adventure & Literature

A Comprehensive List of First Indian Women in Various Fields - Part III(52)

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