Jawaharlal Nehru Biography

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

Jawaharlal
Nehru was an
Indian
nationalist who campaigned for Indian Independence. Under the tutelage
of Gandhi, Nehru became Indias first Prime Minister on gaining
independence in 1947. Nehru held this position until his death in 1964.
Nehru was born in Allabhad and was educated in England, going to
school at Harrow and later studying law at Trinity College Cambridge.
On returning to India in 1912, he practised law and got married to
Kamala Kaul. They had one daughter Indira Gandhi (who would later
succeed her father as Prime Minister of India).
In the wake of the Amritsar massacre and growing calls for Indian
independence, Nehru joined the Indian National Congress in 1919. He
was a supporter of complete independence for India. During the 1920s
and 1930s, he actively participated in the civil disobedience campaigns
and was jailed on several occasions. He was one of the rising stars of the
Indian independence movement and became closely allied toMahatma
Gandhi. Nehru soon became seen as Gandhis successor.
Nehru was initially opposed to the plan to separate India into two.
However, under pressure from Mountbatten (the last British Viceroy),
Nehru reluctantly agreed.

On gaining independence on August 15th 1947, Nehru was Indias first

Prime Minister. However, his joy at gaining independence was
overshadowed by the wave of sectarian killing and conflict over Kashmir
which continues to this day.
As Prime Minister, Nehru was one of the leading figures in the nonaligned movement. Nehru sought to keep India out of the Cold war; he
didnt want India to rely on foreign states be it Russia or America. On the
domestic front Nehru was in the tradition of Fabian socialism seeking to
use state intervention to redistribute resources throughout society. He
was a life long liberal and pursued policies to improve the welfare of the
untouchable class and Indian Women.
In 1962, India was involved in conflict with China over a border dispute.
Militarily India was defeated and this took a heavy toll on Nehru. Nehru
died in 1964. Two years later his daughter Indira Gandhi took office.