Motilal Nehru
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Pandit ramanand Motilal Nehru |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Congress President | |
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In office 1919–1920 |
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| Preceded by | Ramanand |
| Succeeded by | Lala Lajpat Rai |
| Congress President | |
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In office 1928–1929 |
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| Preceded by | Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari |
| Succeeded by | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 May 1861 Agra,British India |
| Died | 6 February 1931 (aged 69) Lucknow, British India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse(s) | Bhonashuri Swaroop Rani Thussu |
| Relations | See Nehru–Gandhi family |
| Children |
Jawaharlal Nehru Sarup Krishna |
| Parents | Gangadhar Nehru and Jeevarani |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Barrister Activist |
| Religion | hinduism |
Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, an activist of the Indian National Movement and an important leader of the Indian National Congress, who also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was the founder patriarch of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Motilal Nehru was born on May 6, 1861, the posthumous son of Gangadhar Nehru and his wife Jeevarani (or Jeorani). The Nehru family had been settled for several generations in Delhi, and Gangadhar Nehru was a kotwal in that city. During India's independence struggle of 1857, Gangadhar left Delhi with his family and moved to Agra, where some of his relatives lived. By some accounts, the Nehru family home in Delhi had been looted and burnt down during the Mutiny. In Agra, Gangadhar quickly arranged the weddings of his two daughters, Patrani and Maharani, into suitable Kashmiri Brahmin families. He died in February 1861 and his youngest child, Motilal, was born three months later.
At this time, Motilal's two older brothers, Bansidhar Nehru (b. 1842) and Nandlal Nehru (b. 1845), were nineteen and sixteen years old respectively. Since the family had lost nearly all its assets in the upheaval of 1857, Jeorani turned to her brother, Amarnath Zutshi of Bazaar Sitaram in old Delhi, for support until her sons could begin earning. She did receive some support from him, but all of Delhi had suffered hugely during the recent mutiny and assistance could not be open-ended. Within a couple of years, Nandlal secured a job as a scribe in the court of a Raja of Khetri and began supporting his mother and brother.
Thus, Motilal came to spend his childhood in Khetri, second largest thikana (feudal estate) within the princely state of Jaipur, now in Rajasthan. His elder brother, Nandlal gained the favour of Raja Fateh Singh of Khetri, who was the same age as him, and rose to the position of Diwan (Chief Minister; effectively the manager) of the vast feudal estate. In 1870, Fateh Singh died childless and was succeeded by a distant cousin, who had little use for his predecessor's confidants. Nandlal left Khetri for Agra and found that his prior career at Khetri equipped him to advise litigants regarding their legal suits. Once he realised this, he exhibited his industry and resilience again by studying for and passing the necessary examinations so that he could practice law in the British colonial courts. He then began practising law at the provincial High Court at Agra. Subsequently, the High Court shifted base to Allahabad, and the family (including Motilal) moved to that city.
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