Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru |
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Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947
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1st Prime Minister of India | |
In office 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964 |
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Monarch |
George VI (until 26 January 1950) |
President |
Rajendra Prasad Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
Governor General |
The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (until 26 January 1950) |
Deputy | Vallabhbhai Patel |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) |
Minister of Defence | |
In office 31 October 1962 – 14 November 1962 |
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Preceded by | V. K. Krishna Menon |
Succeeded by | Yashwantrao Chavan |
In office 30 January 1957 – 17 April 1957 |
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Preceded by | Kailash Nath Katju |
Succeeded by | V. K. Krishna Menon |
In office 10 February 1953 – 10 January 1955 |
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Preceded by | N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar |
Succeeded by | Kailash Nath Katju |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 13 February 1958 – 13 March 1958 |
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Preceded by | Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar |
Succeeded by | Morarji Desai |
In office 24 July 1956 – 30 August 1956 |
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Preceded by | Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh |
Succeeded by | Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar |
Minister of External Affairs | |
In office 2 September 1946 – 27 May 1964 |
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Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Gulzarilal Nanda |
Vice President of Executive Council | |
In office 2 September 1946 – 15 August 1947 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India) |
14 November 1889
Died | 27 May 1964 New Delhi, India |
(aged 74)
Cause of death | Heart attack |
Resting place | Shantivan |
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse(s) | Kamala Nehru (m. 1916; d. 1936) |
Relations | See Nehru–Gandhi family |
Children | Indira Gandhi |
Parents |
Motilal Nehru Swaruprani Thussu |
Alma mater |
Trinity College, Cambridge Inns of Court |
Occupation |
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Awards | Bharat Ratna (1955) |
Signature |
Jawaharlal Nehru (/ˈneɪruː, ˈnɛruː/;Hindustani: [ˈdʒəʋaːɦərˈlaːl ˈneːɦru]; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics before and after independence. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and ruled India from its establishment as an independent nation in 1947 until his death in 1964. He is considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation-state: a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic. He was also known as Pandit Nehru due to his roots with the Kashmiri Pandit community while many Indian children knew him as Chacha Nehru (Hindi, lit., "Uncle Nehru").
The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and nationalist statesman and Swaroop Rani, Nehru was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge and the Inner Temple, where he trained to be a barrister. Upon his return to India, he enrolled at the Allahabad High Court, and took an interest in national politics, which eventually replaced his legal practice. A committed nationalist since his teenage years, he became a rising figure in Indian politics during the upheavals of the 1910s. He became the prominent leader of the left-wing factions of the Indian National Congress during the 1920s, and eventually of the entire Congress, with the tacit approval of his mentor, Gandhi. As Congress President in 1929, Nehru called for complete independence from the British Raj and instigated the Congress's decisive shift towards the left.