Motilal Nehru

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.

Early life and education

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 the Mutiny of 1857, Gangadhar left Delhi with his family and moved in 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.