Indra Gandhi was 4th Prime
Minister of India and first woman Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi was
born Indira Nehru in a Kashmiri Pandit family on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad.
Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a leading figure in India's political
struggle for independence from British rule, and became the first Prime
Minister of the Union (and later Republic) of India. She was the only child (a
younger brother was born, but died young), and grew up with her mother, Kamala
Nehru, at the AnandBhavan; a large family estate in Allahabad. She had a lonely
and unhappy childhood. Her father was often away, directing political
activities or being incarcerated in prison, while her mother was frequently
bed-ridden with illness, and later suffered an early death from tuberculosis.
She had limited contact with her father, mostly through letters.
Indra Gandhi was mostly taught at
home by tutors, and intermittently attended school until matriculation in 1934.
She was a student at the Modern School in Delhi, St Cecilia's and St Mary's
Christian convent schools in Allahabad, the EcoleInternationale in Geneva, the
Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, and the Pupils' Own School in Poona and Bombay. She went
on to study at the ViswaBharati University in Shantiniketan. It was during her
interview that Rabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini, and she came to be
known as Indira Priyadarshini Nehru. A year later, however, she had to leave
university to attend to her ailing mother in Europe. While there, it was
decided that Gandhi would continue her education at the University of Oxford.
After her mother died, she briefly attended the Badminton School before
enrolling at Somerville College in 1937 to study history. Gandhi had to take
the entrance examination twice, having failed at her first attempt with a poor
performance in Latin. At Oxford, she did well in history, political science and
economics, but her grades in Latin—a compulsory subject—remained poor.
During her time in Europe, Gandhi was plagued with ill-health and was constantly attended by doctors. She had to make repeated trips to Switzerland to recover, disrupting her studies. She was being treated there in 1940, when the Nazi armies rapidly conquered Europe. Gandhi tried to return to England through Portugal but was left stranded for nearly two months. She managed to enter England in early 1941, and from there returned to India without completing her studies at Oxford. The university later awarded her an honorary degree. In 2010, Oxford further honoured her by selecting her as one of the ten Oxasians, illustrious Asian graduates from the University of Oxford.
During her stay in Great Britain, young Gandhi frequently met her future husband Feroze Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi), whom she knew from Allahabad, and who was studying at the London School of Economics. The marriage took place in Allahabad according to AdiDharm rituals though Feroze belonged to a ZorastrianParsi family of Gujarat.
In the 1950s, Indira, now Mrs. Indira Gandhi after her marriage, served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India. Towards the end of the 1950s, Indira Gandhi served as the President of the Congress. In that capacity, she was instrumental in getting the Communist led Kerala State Government dismissed in 1959. That government had the distinction of being India's first ever elected Communist Government. After her father's death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and became a member of LalBahadurShastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. In 1966, after Shastri's death, the Congress legislative party elected Indira Gandhi over Morarji Desai as their leader. Congress party veteran, Kamaraj was instrumental in achieving Indira's victory.
As the Prime Minister of India, Indra Gandhi was known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralization of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as increasing India's influence to the point where it became the regional hegemon of South Asia. Gandhi also presided over a controversial state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 during which she ruled by decree. She was assassinated in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards a few months after she ordered the storming of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar to counter the Punjab insurgency. Gandhi, who served from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984,Indra Gandhi is the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of India and the only woman to hold the office.
Indra Gandhi was mostly taught at
home by tutors, and intermittently attended school until matriculation in 1934.
She was a student at the Modern School in Delhi, St Cecilia's and St Mary's
Christian convent schools in Allahabad, the EcoleInternationale in Geneva, the
Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, and the Pupils' Own School in Poona and Bombay. She went
on to study at the ViswaBharati University in Shantiniketan. It was during her
interview that Rabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini, and she came to be
known as Indira Priyadarshini Nehru. A year later, however, she had to leave
university to attend to her ailing mother in Europe. While there, it was
decided that Gandhi would continue her education at the University of Oxford.
After her mother died, she briefly attended the Badminton School before
enrolling at Somerville College in 1937 to study history. Gandhi had to take
the entrance examination twice, having failed at her first attempt with a poor
performance in Latin. At Oxford, she did well in history, political science and
economics, but her grades in Latin—a compulsory subject—remained poor.During her time in Europe, Gandhi was plagued with ill-health and was constantly attended by doctors. She had to make repeated trips to Switzerland to recover, disrupting her studies. She was being treated there in 1940, when the Nazi armies rapidly conquered Europe. Gandhi tried to return to England through Portugal but was left stranded for nearly two months. She managed to enter England in early 1941, and from there returned to India without completing her studies at Oxford. The university later awarded her an honorary degree. In 2010, Oxford further honoured her by selecting her as one of the ten Oxasians, illustrious Asian graduates from the University of Oxford.
During her stay in Great Britain, young Gandhi frequently met her future husband Feroze Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi), whom she knew from Allahabad, and who was studying at the London School of Economics. The marriage took place in Allahabad according to AdiDharm rituals though Feroze belonged to a ZorastrianParsi family of Gujarat.
In the 1950s, Indira, now Mrs. Indira Gandhi after her marriage, served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India. Towards the end of the 1950s, Indira Gandhi served as the President of the Congress. In that capacity, she was instrumental in getting the Communist led Kerala State Government dismissed in 1959. That government had the distinction of being India's first ever elected Communist Government. After her father's death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and became a member of LalBahadurShastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. In 1966, after Shastri's death, the Congress legislative party elected Indira Gandhi over Morarji Desai as their leader. Congress party veteran, Kamaraj was instrumental in achieving Indira's victory.
As the Prime Minister of India, Indra Gandhi was known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralization of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as increasing India's influence to the point where it became the regional hegemon of South Asia. Gandhi also presided over a controversial state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 during which she ruled by decree. She was assassinated in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards a few months after she ordered the storming of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar to counter the Punjab insurgency. Gandhi, who served from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984,Indra Gandhi is the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of India and the only woman to hold the office.
