Jawahalal+Nehru

The first Prime Minister of India was Jawahalal Nehru. He led the newly independent India out of colonial rule into self-government within the Commonwealth of Nations and was largely responsible for shaping both domestic and foreign policy. He is the longest serving Prime Minister of India, holding that position for almost 17 years, until his death in May, 1964. Nehru sought to bring India out of poverty as a Third-World nation through a program of economic development that emphasised large-scale industry while protecting local manufacturing and small-scale handicraft industries from foreign imports.

Jawahalal Nehru was born on 14 November, 1889 into a wealthy family. His father, a lawyer and politician, sent Nehru to England at the age of 16 to obtain a good education at an exclusive private school and University. Nehru became a barrister following his return from England and joined the Indian National Congress, an organisation led by Mohandas Gandhi. Nehru, however, started his own militant section on the Congress in order to promote full independence from British rule. Nehru was imprisoned nine times by the British government for various activities seeking Indian independence. Following the end of world War II, the British government attempted to give some control back to the Muslim majority. Riots between the Hindus in the south and the Muslims in the north eventually led to the division of the country into the two separate states of India and Pakistan. India remained under British rule until 1947, when Britain withdrew, leaving India as a self-determining nation. It was then that Jawahalal Nehru was elected India’s first Prime Minister.