Jawaharlal Nehru Indian politician, Prime Minister since 1947 Date of Birth: 14.11.1889 Country: India

1. Biography of Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Family Background and Political Career
3. International Relations and Literary Contributions

Biography of Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru, an Indian politician, served as the Prime Minister from 1947. He was born on November 14, 1889, in Allahabad. Nehru received home education before studying at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge University. In 1912, he returned to India and was soon elected as a delegate to the Bankipore Congress of the Indian National Congress (INC). For some time, he practiced law. Nehru first met Mohandas Gandhi in 1916. In 1920 and 1921, he became interested in peasant movements and from 1923 to 1925, he served as the General Secretary of the INC and as one of the chairmen of the Allahabad Municipality. In 1927, he traveled to Brussels as a delegate from the INC to the Congress of Oppressed Nations.

Family Background and Political Career

Nehru was born into a Kashmiri Brahmin family and, therefore, belonged to the upper caste, but he was a democrat by nature. A significant portion of the family fortune went into supporting his political activities and the INC, of which he was elected president in 1929 and again in 1936, 1937, 1946, and 1951-1954. In September 1946, he was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Interim Government of India, where he simultaneously held the position of Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Affairs. On August 15, 1947, Nehru became the first Prime Minister of the newly formed Dominion of India and remained the head of the cabinet after the country attained the status of an independent republic in January 1950. Nehru retained this position even after the first general elections in 1951-1952, which brought the INC back to power.

International Relations and Literary Contributions

In 1959, India's border dispute with China almost led to an armed conflict between the two countries, and Nehru took a firm stance, warning that India would use force if necessary to protect its territorial integrity. Relations with China further deteriorated when Nehru provided sanctuary to the Dalai Lama after the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the same year. In March 1957, he was elected to the parliament for the next five years. In April 1958, Nehru expressed his desire to temporarily step away from politics to gain "fresh thinking." The leaders of the INC were so concerned about this that Nehru had to abandon his plans and retain the position of Prime Minister. In March 1962, he was re-elected as a member of parliament. Among his notable books are "Glimpses of World History" (1934), "An Autobiography" (1936), "Toward Freedom" (1941), and "The Discovery of India" (1946). Nehru passed away in Delhi on May 27, 1964.