Miss India title was bestowed by the Indian Press in 1940s and 1950s, through a small and conservative contest. In 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962, Miss India was selected by Eve's weekly.

However, in 1964, the Femina Miss India competition was organized as a small, closed-off event. From that year, Femina gained the local license to the international Miss Universe competition. Towards the end of the 1960s, it picked up licenses to both Miss World and the Miss Asia-Pacific Quest. In the early 1990's, it finally picked up the license for Miss International. Femina Miss India is an annual, national beauty pageant held in India and organized by Femina, a women's magazine published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, a media group that also houses the Times of India and Filmfare magazine.

Miss India has been participating in the Miss Universe pageant since 1952 and in the Miss World pageant since 1959. After the Femina Miss India pageant was established, the practice was to send the winner to the Miss Universe pageant and the runner-up to the Miss World contest.

However, from 1995, the practice of choosing a single winner or "Miss India" was changed and three winners who receive equal prizes, were chosen, and were called Miss India Winners. They were designated as Miss India Universe, Miss India World and Miss India Asia-Pacific and were sent to respective pageants. However, from 2002, the third winner is sent to the newly formed Miss Earth pageant.

In 1994, Miss India Universe Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title and Aishwarya Rai Miss India runner-up won the Miss World title. And in 2000, all the Miss India winners happened to win their respective international pageants - Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza (Miss Asia-Pacific).

Miss World pageant is an international beauty pageant founded in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Miss World has grown to be the most sought after and prestigious title in beauty pageantry. It is the most widely attended and broadcasted of such events, with over a hundred delegates in competition. The winner spends a year traveling the globe representing the Miss World Organization in its various causes. Traditionally, Miss World lives in London during her reign and uses it as her base for world travel.

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest and the title for the winner of the contest is founded in 1952 by California clothing company Pacific Mills. The pageant became part of Kayser-Roth and then Gulf and Western Industries, before being acquired by Donald Trump in 1996. Despite its historical rivalry with the Miss World contest, Miss Universe retains unparalleled prestige in many parts of the world, particularly Asia and Latin America.

However, an effort is made here to present the autographs of Miss India and Indian Miss World and Miss Universe who have won these Beauty titles.