Great Women in India Overview
Over the course of Indian history that has been chronicled, the status of women has undergone numerous transformations. Their social standing began to decline throughout India's ancient era, notably in the Indo-Aryan speaking areas, and their subjection persisted long into the country's early modern era.
Improvement-focused laws were passed during the British Raj (1858–1947) and the British East India Company (1757–1857), including the Bengal Sati Regulation (1829), Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act (1856), Female Infanticide Prevention Act (1870), and Age of Consent Act (1891). The Indian constitution forbids sex-based discrimination and gives the government the authority to implement particular measures for them. The Indian Constitution's key provisions for women's rights include equality, respect for human rights, and freedom from discrimination.
The President of India, the Prime Minister of India, and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha are just a few of the senior official posts held by women in the Indian government.
Below is all the information that you need to know about the top 10 great women in India in different fields who have set the bar high and made India very proud:
In the field of Science and Technology
1. Kalpana Chawla: First Woman Astronaut of India
The first woman of Indian descent to travel to space was Kalpana Chawla. She was an American astronaut and an engineer. She made her maiden space shuttle flight on Columbia in 1997 while serving as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. She was born in Karnal, Punjab, on March 17, 1962. One of the seven crew members that perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 was her.
It was a catastrophe when the spaceship exploded upon re-entering the atmosphere of the Earth. The Congressional Space Medal of Honour was presented to her posthumously. Numerous buildings, institutions, and universities bear her name. In India, Chawla is revered as a national hero.
Read more about the Mody University of Science and Technology, Rajasthan.
In the field of Politics
2. Indira Gandhi: First Female Prime Minister of India
The Indian National Congress was led by Indira Gandhi. She was a politician from India.
She was India's first and only female prime minister up until this point. She was born on November 19th, 1917 in Allahabad to a Kashmiri Pandit family. Her parents were Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru was a key player in Indian politics, an advocate for Indian independence, and the nation's first prime minister. From January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her murder in October 1984, she presided as prime minister of India.
After her father, she served as prime minister of India for the second-longest period.
She was regarded as one of Nehru's most important assistants from 1947 to 1964, when he served as prime minister. She traveled with him when he went abroad. She was chosen to lead the Indian National Congress in 1959. In 1964, she was appointed to the Rajya Sabha following Nehru's passing. As the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, she joined Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet. She started a war with Pakistan, which ended with an Indian triumph and the founding of Bangladesh.
India's influence grew to the point that it was the only regional power in South Asia as a result.
The state of emergency was imposed by her between 1975 and 1977. Basic civil liberties were curtailed and press censorship took place during that period. Following the 1980 election, she reclaimed her position as leader. She was given the command to conduct an operation by the military called Blue Star in the Golden Temple. She was murdered on October 31, 1984, by her own bodyguards and Sikh nationalists as a result.
She won the BBC's 1999 online poll to be crowned "Woman of the Millennium."
Also read more about the- Greatest Mathematicians of India.
3. Pratibha Patil: First Female President of India
Pratibha Patil is a politician from India. She served as India's 12th president from 2007 to 2012.
She is the only female member of the Indian National Congress to hold the position. She held the position of Governor of Rajasthan from early 2004 to early 2007.
She received the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico's highest civilian honour, in 2019. She was born on December 19th, 1934 in the Maharashtrian village of Nadgaon. She graduated from Jalgaon with a master's degree in political science and economics and from Bombay with a bachelor's degree in law. From 1986 to 1988, she served as the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
In the field of Civil Services
4. Kiran Bedi: First Female Indian Police Service Officer
Kiran Bedi is a former tennis player, politician, social activist, and member of the Indian Police Service. She now serves as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. In 1975, she commenced her service. She is the first female IPS officer. Kiran spent 35 years in the military. She voluntarily retired in 2007 as Director General of Police, Bureau of Police Research and Development. She was born in Amritsar, Punjab, on June 9th, 1949. She won the title of national junior tennis champion in 1966 while still a teen. Between 1965 and 1978, she won a number of championships at the national and state levels. She served in Delhi, Mizoram, Goa, and Chandigarh after joining the IPS. In Chanakyapuri, Delhi, she began her career as an assistant superintendent of police.
In 1979, she was awarded the President's Police Medal. In West Delhi, she contributed to a decrease in crime against women. She started an anti-drug misuse campaign when she was a DCP in North Delhi. In 1993, she was appointed IG of Delhi Prisons. She implemented a number of changes at Tihar Jail. She received her Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, she was appointed as the first Indian woman to serve as the Secretary-General of the UN's police advisor. She left her position in 2007 and now focuses on writing and social activities. She has authored a number of novels. She presided over the court show Aap Ki Kacheri from 2008 until 2011. She was a pivotal figure in the 2011 anti-corruption campaign in India. Bedi competed as the party's candidate for chief executive in the 2015 Delhi Assembly election, but he was unsuccessful. On May 22, 2016, she was chosen to serve as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.
Also read more about- Women Empowerment.
In the field of Sports
5. Mary Kom: Only Indian Female Boxer
Boxer Chungneijang Mangte Mary Kom was born in India on March 1, 1983. Kom belong to the Kom tribe in northeastern India. She was born in Churachandpur, Manipur, in Kangathei. Kom has enjoyed and excelled at athletics and boxing since he was a little child. She started following boxing in 2000 after witnessing Dingko Singh. She started working out with M. Narjit Singh, the Manipur State Boxing Coach, at Khuman Lampak in Imphal the same year. Five times in a row, Kom has won the World Boxing Championship. In each of the six world championships, she is the only female to win a medal and a trophy. Additionally, she is the only Indian woman to have qualified for the Olympics in London in boxing. She competed in the flyweight 51 kg division at the 2013 Games and took home a bronze medal. She also held the top spot in the AIBA World Women's Ranking Light Flyweight division.
Read more about the MKM Group of Colleges for Girls (Haryana).
In the field of Social Activist
6. Mother Teresa: Founder of the Missionaries of Charity
Saint of Calcutta and Catholic nun, Mother Teresa. She was revered as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in the Catholic Church. She was born on August 26, 1910, in the current capital of North Macedonia, Skopje. Teresa left Skopje after eight years and then relocated to India. She spent the majority of her life in India. She established the Missionaries of Compassion in 1950. It was a Roman Catholic religious order with more than 4,500 nuns spread throughout more than 133 nations. They oversee residences for those suffering from leprosy, TB, and HIV/AIDS. Additionally, they operate soup kitchens, orphanages, schools, mobile clinics, child and family counselling programmes, etc.
She received multiple honours, including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was declared a saint on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5, which commemorates the anniversary of her passing. Her official biography was written by Navin Chawla. In 1992, it was published.
Also read more about- Women Education in India.
7. Sarojini Naidu: Indian Political Activist
Sarojini Naidu was a feminist, poet, and political activist from India. She played a significant role in India's fight for independence from colonial control as a supporter of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialist beliefs. She was also the first Indian woman to be selected as governor of an Indian state and to serve as president of the Indian National Congress (United Provinces). Because of the color, imagery, and lyrical nature of her poems, Naidu received the moniker "Nightingale of India" or "Bharat Kokila" from Mahatma Gandhi.
He was raised in a Bengali household in Hyderabad, attended school in Madras, London, and Cambridge. After working as a suffragist in England, she was lured to the Indian National Congress' campaign for the country's independence from British domination. She joined the Indian nationalist movement and adopted Gandhi's swaraj philosophy as her own. In 1898, she tied the knot with general practitioner Govindarajulu Naidu. The first woman to assume the position of governor in the Dominion of India, she was chosen as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and then elevated to that position in 1947 to become the Governor of the United Provinces.
In the field of Entrepreneurship
8. Indra Nooyi: Most Influential Woman Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Indra Nooyi is an American of Indian descent. She previously held the positions of chair and CEO at PepsiCo. She was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, on October 28, 1955. On Forbes' 2014 list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, she came in at number 13. She came up at number two on Fortune's list of most powerful women in 2015. In addition, she was again rated second on Forbes' list of the 19 most powerful women in India in 2017. She holds positions on the boards of both Amazon and the International Cricket Council.
9. Falguni Nayar: Self-Made Woman Billionaire of India
In India, one of the top CEOs is Falguni Nayar. The entrepreneur is credited with founding the online platform Nykaa for beauty and wellbeing. She surpassed Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the creator of Biocon, to take the title of richest self-made Indian woman on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India wealthy list in September 2022. Her father owned a bearing company, so she hailed from a business family.
In the field of Revolutionising
10. Rani Lakshmibai: A Revolutionary Freedom Fighter
On November 19, 1828, in the city of Varanasi, Rani Lakshmibai was born. She went by the name Manikarnika Tambe and went by the moniker Manu. Her mother, Bhagirathi Sapre (also known as Bhagirathi Bai), was from modern-day Maharashtra, and her father was Moropant Tambe. Her mother passed away when she was four years old. Her father served as Peshwa Baji Rao II of the Bithoor District's Commander of War. She had her education at home, learned to read and write, and was more independent as a child than other children her age. In opposition to the cultural expectations for women at the period in Indian society, she studied things like shooting, equestrian, and fencing. Rani Lakshmi Bai, who played a significant role in the Freedom Struggle against the British, was renowned for her exceptional bravery. This section focuses on her most significant actions taken against the British government in order to realise the dream of a free India.
