Books, Authors and Firsts in India
Books, Authors and Firsts in India
Two of the most predictable static GK areas are "who wrote this book" and "who was the first Indian to do this". Classic books (ancient texts, freedom-movement books, Booker winners) repeat every cycle, and recent books by public figures are added each year. Firsts are best learned in groups: first in politics, first women, first in sport and space.
1. Books and Authors
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Arthashastra | Kautilya (Chanakya) |
| Indica | Megasthenes |
| Harshacharita | Banabhatta |
| Rajatarangini | Kalhana |
| Baburnama (Tuzuk-i-Baburi) | Babur |
| Akbarnama | Abul Fazl |
| Anandamath (source of Vande Mataram) | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee |
| Gitanjali | Rabindranath Tagore |
| Hind Swaraj and My Experiments with Truth | Mahatma Gandhi |
| The Discovery of India | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| India Wins Freedom | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad |
| Godaan | Munshi Premchand |
| Wings of Fire | A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (with Arun Tiwari) |
| Train to Pakistan | Khushwant Singh |
| Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie (Booker 1981) |
| India: A History | John Keay |
| India After Gandhi | Ramachandra Guha |
| Exam Warriors | Narendra Modi |
2. Firsts in India: Politics and Government
| First | Person |
|---|---|
| President of India | Rajendra Prasad |
| Indian Governor-General | C. Rajagopalachari |
| Chief Election Commissioner | Sukumar Sen |
| Woman Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Woman President | Pratibha Patil |
| Woman Governor | Sarojini Naidu (United Provinces) |
| Woman Chief Minister | Sucheta Kriplani (Uttar Pradesh) |
| Woman Lok Sabha Speaker | Meira Kumar |
| Woman Supreme Court judge | M. Fathima Beevi (1989) |
| Woman IPS officer | Kiran Bedi (1972) |
3. Firsts in Sport and Space
| First | Person or event |
|---|---|
| Indian in space | Rakesh Sharma (1984, Soyuz T-11) |
| Woman of Indian origin in space | Kalpana Chawla (1997, Space Shuttle Columbia) |
| Indian to visit the International Space Station | Shubhanshu Shukla (Axiom-4, 2025) |
| Indian satellite | Aryabhata (1975) |
| Indian woman to climb Everest | Bachendri Pal (1984) |
| Individual Olympic gold | Abhinav Bindra (shooting, Beijing 2008) |
| Indian woman Olympic medallist | Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting, Sydney 2000) |
| Athletics Olympic gold | Neeraj Chopra (javelin, Tokyo 2020) |
✗ Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian in space | ✓ Rakesh Sharma (1984) was the first Indian in space; Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin
✗ The Discovery of India was written by Gandhi | ✓ It was written by Nehru in Ahmednagar Fort prison; Gandhi wrote Hind Swaraj
हिंदी नोट: अर्थशास्त्र कौटिल्य का, इंडिका मेगस्थनीज की और राजतरंगिणी कल्हण की रचना है। अंतरिक्ष जाने वाले पहले भारतीय राकेश शर्मा (1984) और भारतीय मूल की पहली महिला कल्पना चावला (1997) थीं। शुभांशु शुक्ला 2025 में अंतरराष्ट्रीय अंतरिक्ष स्टेशन जाने वाले पहले भारतीय बने।
Exam Pointer: Verified NTPC patterns: a recent book by a public figure (March 2026 Graduate CBT-1), the author of a narrative history of India (January 2021 CBT-1) and the first woman of Indian descent in space (January 2021 CBT-1). Firsts in politics are tagged syllabus-based.
Pariksha Pattern: Every Way NTPC Asks This Topic
Pattern 1: Recent books by public figures
[PYQ: NTPC Graduate CBT-1 25-Mar-2026 Shift-1]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Which book for students, dealing with exam stress, was written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
Exam Warriors, first published in 2018 and later revised.
Answer: Exam Warriors
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Match the autobiography with its author: Wings of Fire, My Experiments with Truth, India Wins Freedom.
Wings of Fire is by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi and India Wins Freedom by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
Answer: Kalam, Gandhi, Azad
Pattern 2: Classic books and historians
[PYQ: NTPC CBT-1 4-Jan-2021 Shift-2]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Who wrote India After Gandhi?
The historian Ramachandra Guha.
Answer: Ramachandra Guha
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Which pair is wrongly matched: Rajatarangini and Kalhana, Indica and Megasthenes, Akbarnama and Babur, Harshacharita and Banabhatta?
The Akbarnama was written by Abul Fazl; Babur wrote the Baburnama. The other three pairs are correct.
Answer: Akbarnama and Babur
Pattern 3: Firsts in space and sport
[PYQ: NTPC CBT-1 9-Jan-2021 Shift-2]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Who was the first Indian to travel to space, and in which year?
Rakesh Sharma, in 1984, aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11.
Answer: Rakesh Sharma, 1984
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Who became the first Indian to reach the International Space Station, and who won India's first individual Olympic gold?
Shubhanshu Shukla reached the ISS on the Axiom-4 mission in 2025. Abhinav Bindra won India's first individual Olympic gold in shooting at Beijing 2008.
Answer: Shubhanshu Shukla; Abhinav Bindra
Pattern 4: Firsts in politics and public service
[Pattern: syllabus-based, PYQ-style]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Who was the first woman Chief Minister of an Indian state?
Sucheta Kriplani, Uttar Pradesh, 1963.
Answer: Sucheta Kriplani
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Who was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court, and who was India's first Chief Election Commissioner?
M. Fathima Beevi became the first woman Supreme Court judge in 1989. Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner and conducted the 1951-52 elections.
Answer: Fathima Beevi; Sukumar Sen
60-Second Revision
- Arthashastra Kautilya; Indica Megasthenes; Rajatarangini Kalhana; Akbarnama Abul Fazl.
- Discovery of India Nehru; Hind Swaraj Gandhi; Wings of Fire Kalam; India: A History John Keay.
- Space: Rakesh Sharma 1984, Kalpana Chawla 1997, Shubhanshu Shukla ISS 2025.
- Women firsts: Indira Gandhi PM, Pratibha Patil President, Sucheta Kriplani CM, Fathima Beevi SC judge.