Modern Indian History
Jawaharlal Nehru
Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964
Overview
Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years and 286 days. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.
Source: Wikipedia — Jawaharlal Nehru (CC BY-SA)
Key concepts
How Jawaharlal Nehru connects to the ideas, people and events around it.
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, and represent individuals in legal matters.
Nationalism is an ideology or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state.
Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system, and life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and methodological naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, mysticism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making.
Social democracy is a broad, centre-left social, economic, and political ideology. Some academics view social democracy as distinct from socialism, whilst other academics purport that social democracy lies within the wider socialist movement.
Statecraft is the art of conducting public affairs. A statesman, stateswoman, or statesperson is someone who practices statecraft. As a contested concept, statecraft is difficult to define.
The Indian independence movement was a series of political efforts from the mid-1880s to 1947 that took place in the Indian subcontinent with the aim of ending British colonial rule.
The prime minister of India is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and the Union Council of Ministers, despite the President of India being the nominal head of state.
India is considered to be the world's most populous democracy. Elections in the country started with the 1951–52 Indian general election.
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What is Jawaharlal Nehru?
Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years and 286 days.
What are the key concepts related to Jawaharlal Nehru?
The main concepts connected to Jawaharlal Nehru include Lawyer, Nationalism, Secular humanism, Social democracy, Statecraft, Indian independence movement, Prime Minister of India, Democracy in India. Each is linked on the map above with its own summary.
Which exams cover Jawaharlal Nehru?
Jawaharlal Nehru is part of Modern Indian History, which appears in the syllabus of UPSC CSE, UPSC CAPF, NDA, CDS, AFCAT, SSC CGL and 48 more exams.