Who among the following was the first Indian to qualify for the Indian Civil Service?

Satyendranath Tagore, the elder brother of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, was the first Indian to qualify for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) [1]. He achieved this feat in 1863 after traveling to England to compete in the rigorous examination, which was previously dominated by British candidates [1]. Following his selection and probationary training, he returned to India in 1864 and was posted in the Bombay Presidency. While other notable figures like Surendranath Banerjee and R.C. Dutt also qualified for the service later in 1869, Satyendranath remained the pioneer who broke the racial barrier in the covenanted civil services. Subhas Chandra Bose also qualified much later in 1920 but resigned to join the nationalist movement. Satyendranath's success was significant as the British had historically maintained a policy of excluding Indians from higher administrative roles to consolidate their rule [2][3].

Sources

1. [1] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 26: Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Developments > Indian Civil Service Act, 1861 > p. 515
2. [2] Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Civil Service > p. 109
3. [3] Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Civil Service > p. 108