Nehru was born in the city of Allahabad, situated along the banks of the Gages River. He was the eldest child of Swarup Rani and the wealthy barrister Motilal Nahru. The Nehru family descended from Kashmiri heritage and belonged to the Kashmiri saraswat brahmin cast of Hindus. His parents moved to Allahabad where he was raised with English customs, mannerisms and dress. While learning Hindi and Sanskrit, Nehru trained for fluent and regular converse in English. The son of the wealthy Indian barrister and politician Motilal Nehru, Nehru became a leader a leader of the left-wing of the Indian National Congress at a remarkably young age. Rising to Congress President under the mentor ship of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic, radical leader, advocating complete independence from the British Empire, and was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. A life-long liberal, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector.
Once elected, Nehru headed an interim government, which was impaired by outbreaks of communal violence and political disorder, and the opposition of the Musilim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding a separate Muslim state fo Pakistan. After failed bids to form coalitions, Nehru reluctantly supported the partition of India as per a plan released by the British on 3 June 1947.
Nehru raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, and served as Prime Minister. Nehru's appreciation for parliamentary democracy coupled with concerns for the poor and underprivileged enabled him to formulate policies that often reflected his socialist leanings. Both as prime minister and as Congress president, Nehru pushed through the India Parliament, dominated by members of his own party, a series of legal reforms intended to emancipate Hindu women and bring equality. these reforms included rising of the minimum marriageable age from twelve to fifteen, empowering women to divorce their husbands and inherit property, and declaring illegal the ruinous dowry system. His long tenure was instrumental in shaping the traditions and structures of independent India. His daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi served as the Prime Ministers of India.
Being the first prime mister, Nehru launched first Five-Year Plan in 1951, pursued land redistribution, pioneered a series of cottage industries, harnessed hydroelectricity and nuclear energy. He was a passionate advocate of education for India's children and youth, believing it essential for India's future progress. Under Nehru, the Indian Parliament enacted many changes to Hindu law to criminalize caste discrimination and increase the legal rights and social freedoms of women. a system of reservations in government services and educational institutions was created to eradicate the social inequalities and disadvantages faced by peoples of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Nehru also championed secularism and religious harmony, increasing the representation of minorities in government.
As India's first prime minister and external affairs minister, Jawaharalal Nehru played a major role in shaping modern India's government and political culture along with sound foreign policy. He is praised for creating a system providing universal primary education, reaching children in the farthest corners of rural India. Nehru is credited for establishing a widespread system of affirmative action to provide equal opportunities and rights for India's ethnic groups, minorities, women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Nehru's passion for egalitarianism meant that he put the state to work to try and end widespread practices of discrimination against women and depressed classes.
On the international scene, Nehru was a champion of pacifism and a strong supporter of the United Nations. He pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of nations professing neutrality between the ravel blocs led by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era.
In his lifetime, Jawaharlal Nehru enjoyed an iconic states in India and was widely admired across the world for his idealism and statesmanship. His birthday, 14 November, is celebrated in India as Children's Day in recognition of his life ling passion and work for the welfare, education and development of children and young people. Nehru remains a popular symbol of the Congress Party which frequently celebrates his memory. Nehru's ideals and policies continue to shape the Congress Party's manifesto and core political philosophy.
Nehru's health began declining steadily, and he was forced to spend months recuperating in Kashmir through 1963. upon his return from Kashmir in may 1964, Nehru suffered a stroke and later a heart attack. he died in the early hours of 27 May 1964. Nehru was cremated in accordance with Hindu rites at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, witnessed by hundreds of thousands of mourners who had flocked into the streets of Delhi and the cremation grounds.
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