Police
Who was the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option A — Bachendri Pal
Detailed Solution
Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest (8,849 m), on 23 May 1984. She was also the fifth woman in the world to reach the summit. She was part of the Indian expedition "Everest '84".
About Bachendri Pal:
- She was born in 1954 in Nakuri village, Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, into a family of modest means.
- She earned a B.Ed. and an MA in Sanskrit, but chose mountaineering as a career despite opposition from her family.
- She trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi.
- During the 1984 expedition, she survived an avalanche at her camp, but continued to the summit.
- She later led many expeditions, including the first all-women Indian expedition to Everest (1993) and a women's rafting expedition on the Ganga.
- She headed the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) in Jamshedpur for many years, where she trained many mountaineers, including Arunima Sinha and Premlata Agarwal.
Her honours:
- Padma Shri (1985).
- Arjuna Award (1986).
- Padma Bhushan (2019).
- National Adventure Award.
Other Everest "firsts" by Indians:
Tenzing Norgay: with Edmund Hillary, the first to climb Everest (29 May 1953).
Avtar Singh Cheema: the first Indian man to climb Everest (1965), in the expedition led by Captain M. S. Kohli.
Santosh Yadav: the first woman in the world to climb Everest twice (1992 and 1993).
Premlata Agarwal: the oldest Indian woman to climb Everest (2011, aged 48).
Arunima Sinha: the world's first female amputee to climb Everest (2013).
Malavath Purna: the youngest girl in the world to climb Everest (2014, aged 13).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Santosh Yadav was the first woman to climb Everest twice.
- ✗Premlata Agarwal was the oldest Indian woman to climb Everest.
- ✗Arunima Sinha was the first female amputee to climb Everest.
Quick tip
Remember: First Indian woman on Everest = Bachendri Pal (23 May 1984, Uttarkashi; trained at NIM); first Indian man = Avtar Singh Cheema (1965); first woman in the world = Junko Tabei (1975).
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Firsts in India & World Questions
View all ›More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.