Mrs Patil's backers say her election will be a boost to women

Mrs Patil, 72, won nearly two-thirds of votes cast in state assemblies and in India's parliament, they said.

The former governor of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan described her win as "a victory of the people".

Mrs Patil's supporters say her election to the largely ceremonial role will be a boost to millions of Indian women.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder, in Delhi, says that while some see her victory as an important step towards gender equality in India, many view it as only a symbolic gesture.

Millions of women in India face discrimination and poverty often linked to age-old traditions which require the parents of a bride to pay a large dowry to the family of her eventual husband.

Women's landmark

Mrs Patil emerged as a surprise, last-minute candidate after left-wing parties in the Congress-led coalition opposed the Congress Party's first choice.

She was backed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, but was mocked by opponents and by some sections of India's media.

This is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold

Pratibha Patil

Profile: Pratibha Patil

But Mrs Gandhi, the Congress Party leader, hailed her candidate's win.

"In the 60th year of our independence, for the first time we have a woman president," she said.

"I am grateful to the people of India and the men and women of India and this is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold," the Reuters news agency quoted Mrs Patil as saying after her victory was confirmed.

There was also support at a hostel Mrs Patil established in Mumbai, in her home state of Maharashtra.

"It is encouraging for other women who want to step out of their homes and make something out of their careers or do something in the world," said one resident, Priya Mehra.

Balancing role

Mrs Patil has courted controversy, recently telling a Muslim congregation that the veil was introduced to protect their women from Mughal invaders, a comment she later retracted.

She also faced allegations that a bank she helped set up gave out cheap loans to her relatives before it folded up.

The Congress Party has rejected those allegations and was highly critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition candidate, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, an 83-year-old party veteran.

The presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but plays a key role with a fragmented electorate often throwing up precariously placed coalition governments.

Around 4,500 MPs and state legislators were eligible to vote in the election.

Mrs Patil will succeed A P J Abdul Kalam, a popular missile scientist, as president.