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{{short description|Indian independence activist and wife of Jawaharlal Nehru (1899-1936)}}
⚫ {{use dmy dates|date=January 2013}}
{{Cleanup|reason=requires correct style and needs referencing|date=May 2020}}
⚫ {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
|name = Kamala | name = Kamala Nehru
|image = Kamala Nehru.jpg | image = Kamala Nehru 4cr.jpg
⚫ | caption = Undated photograph
⚫ |birth_date = {{birth date|1899|08|01|df=y}}
|birth_place = ], ] | alt = Kamala Kaul Nehru
|country = {{flag|India}} | predecessor =
| birth_name = Kamala Kaul
⚫ |death_date = {{death date and age|1936|02|28|1899|08|01|df=y}}
⚫ | birth_date = {{birth date|1899|08|01|df=y}}
|death_place = ], ]
| birth_place = ], British India {{small|(present-day ])}}
|nationality = Indian
⚫ | death_date = {{death date and age|1936|02|28|1899|08|01|df=y}}
|spouse = ]
|religion = ] | death_place = ], Switzerland
|children = ] | spouse = {{marriage|]|1916}}
| children = ] (daughter)
| occupation = ]
| parents =
| family = ]
| relatives = ] (brother)
}} }}


'''Kamala Kaul Nehru''' ({{audio|Kamla Nehru.ogg|pronunciation}}; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was a freedom fighter, wife of ] (leader of the ]), the first Prime Minister of ] and the mother of ]. '''Kamala Nehru''' ('']'' '''Kaul'''; {{audio|Kamla Nehru.ogg|pronunciation}}; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was an Indian independence activist and the wife of ], the first ]. Their daughter ] would go on to become the first and to date, the only female Prime Minister of India.


==Early life== == Early life and marriage ==
Kamala Kaul was born on 1 August 1899 to Rajpati and Jawahar Mull Atal-Kaul, who were from a ] family of ].<ref name=Jayakar1995>{{cite book|last1=Jayakar|first1=Pupul|title=Indira Gandhi, a biography|date=1995|publisher=Penguin|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-0140114621|edition=Rev.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gm5JGkb2rhkC}}</ref>{{rp|9–11}} She was the eldest child and had two brothers, Chand Bahadur Kaul and the botanist, ], and a sister, Swaroop Kathju.
::The information which is summarized in this section has been taken from the book "Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi" written by Katherine Frank.


]
Kamala Nehru was born on 1 August 1899, the eldest child of Jawahar Mull Kaul and his wife Rajpati Kaul. The family belonged to the ] community, but had been settled in ] for several generations. Kamala had two brothers named Chand Bahadur Kaul and ] (a botanist), and a sister named Swaroop Kathju (or Katju).


Kamala married ] at the age of 16 <ref name=Jayakar1995/>{{pageneeded|date=April 2024}} at the historic Haskar Haveli in Sitaram Bazar.<ref></ref> Her husband went to a trip in the ] shortly after their marriage.<ref name=windsor/> In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru, referring to his wife, stated, "I almost overlooked her."<ref name=windsor>{{cite news|title=From years 1916 to 1964...The man and the times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tzA_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=81AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4355,5162968&dq=kamala+nehru&hl=en|access-date=19 January 2013|newspaper=The Windsor Star|date=27 May 1964}}</ref> Nehru gave birth to a girl in November 1917, ], who later succeeded her father as prime minister and head of the Congress party.<ref name=windsor/>
Kamala and her siblings were raised in a traditional environment and with Indian values. She and her sister were schooled entirely at home, mostly under the guidance of a Pandit (Hindu priest) belonging to the ], who taught them to read and write Hindi, and also elementary mathematics. That era was a period of transition from traditional education to the new English education, and while the boys attended an English school, their father also wanted them to learn ] and a little ], which used to be the languages of superior education in his own childhood. Therefore, a Maulvi (Muslim cleric) was engaged to come and give home tuitions in ], and Kamala learnt to read and write ], although not with any great proficiency. Due to this traditional education and upbringing, Kamala did not know a single word of English at the time of her wedding.


⚫ ==Contribution to the Indian Independence Movement==
==Marriage==
⚫ Kamala was so involved with the Nehrus in the national movement that she emerged into the forefront. In the Non-Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups of women in ] and picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. When her husband was arrested to prevent him from delivering a "seditious" public speech, she decided to go in his place and read it out to a large crowd of onlookers (filled with her supporters). The colonial authorities soon realized the threat that Kamala Nehru posed to them and how popular she had become with women's groups all over India. She was arrested on two additional occasions for her involvement in Independence struggle activities, along with ], Kamala Nehru's mother, and many other women of the Indian independence struggle.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nehru|first1=Jawaharlal|title=An Autobiography|date=26 January 1936|publisher=Bodley Head|location=London}}</ref><ref name="iloveindia1">{{cite web|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/kamala-nehru.html|title=Kamala Nehru Biography|publisher=Iloveindia|access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref> During this period she started a dispensary in her house ], converting few rooms into a Congress Dispensary to treat wounded activists, their families, and other residents of Allahabad(now Prayagraj). After her death, ] with the help of other prominent leaders converted this dispensary into a proper hospital known as ] in her memory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.knmhospital.org/legacy.aspx|title=KNMH : The Legacy|website=www.knmhospital.org}}</ref>
::The information which is summarized in this section has been taken from the book "Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi" written by Katherine Frank.


⚫ Kamala Nehru spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with ] where she built a close friendship with ] – the wife of independence activist ].<ref name="Jayakar1995" />{{rp|90–92}}
In keeping with Indian custom, Kamala was married while yet a teenager to a man of her own community, in a match arranged by their parents. This was ], the future first ]. They were married in 1916, and he was at that time a recent law graduate, known only as the son of the wealthy lawyer ]. Immediately after the wedding, the entire family (including two of Nehru's cousins and a number of more distant relatives) went on a holiday to ], the region from which their distant ancestors had emigrated many generations ago. This was hardly a honeymoon for the newly-weds, because Jawaharlal left his bride and his parents in ] and went away for three weeks on a trekking trip with his cousins. However, the idea of a honeymoon was unknown in India at that time, and nobody thought the arrangements unusual.


⚫ ==Death==
Indeed, the idea of a vacation in the hills was a novel one in Indian society at that time, and had been borrowed by Motilal from the colonial British custom of escaping the heat of the plains in the summer and spending those months in the hills. The Nehru family had become extremely Anglicized within the space of one single generation. Motilal, who had grown up entirely in a traditional Indian environment, had taken to English manners, customs and language with as much gusto as he had taken to whiskey, cigars and that ], meat. Upon his insistence, his children had been raised by Irish nannies and Scottish governesses, spoke English to everyone except their servants, were fluent in French, dressed as did the English, and ate mostly "]" food, invariably using fork and knife.
Kamala Nehru died from ] in ], Switzerland, on 28 February 1936, with her daughter and mother-in-law by her side. During her last few years, Kamala Nehru was frequently ill and taken to a ] in Switzerland for treatment, though she returned to India as she got well. In early 1935, as Kamala Nehru's health again deteriorated, she was taken to ] in Germany by ] and admitted to a sanatorium for treatment. Her husband ] was in prison in India at that time. As her health worsened, Jawaharlal Nehru was released from prison and rushed to Germany in October 1935. While Nehru's health improved initially, it started to deteriorate again in 1936, and she died on 28 February. In the prologue to his autobiography, in a chapter added after Kamala's death, Jawaharlal Nehru recounts that he was devastated and remained in mourning for months.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nehru|first1=Jawaharlal|title=An Autobiography|date= 1940|publisher=Bodell Head|location=London|edition=2nd}}</ref>
]]]
The diffident and very Indian Kamala was thrown into this ultra-modern and highly westernized environment at the age of sixteen, to shift for herself and adjust as she could. She lived, as did all of India in those days, in a joint family with her husband's family. His parents were nice to her, especially her mother-in-law, who was herself of traditional disposition and did not like the extreme westernization which Motilal had imposed on the family. The case was very different with Motilal's daughters, two extremely Anglicized and high-faulting ladies of Kamala's own age, who subjected her to sniffy contempt, sneering and cutting remarks throughout the rest of her life. These girls ("]" and "]"), who spent an inordinate amount of their time in their parents' home (despite being married themselves, with homes of their own), looked down upon Kamala for being ''desi'' (a "country" girl), gauche and awkward, without European refinement, speaking little English (even later in life) and no French; very much a social inferior.


==Legacy==
Unfortunately, Kamala's husband (our future Prime Minister) was not sympathetic or understanding of her murmured complaints; he was as culturally distant from her as his sisters were. Also, he had little to say to her, not only because he spoke Hindi as badly as she spoke English, but also because he felt that they were not intellectual equals. This was In fact true, and it was not, in those days, a great problem: she ran the house, he built a glorious career for himself, she shared in that public glory, and her child inherited everything. Yet, there was some regret on both sides. In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru says in reference to his wife, "I almost overlooked her."<ref name=windsor>{{cite news|title=From years 1916 to 1964...The man and the times|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tzA_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=81AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4355,5162968&dq=kamala+nehru&hl=en|accessdate=19 January 2013|newspaper=The Windsor Star|date=27 May 1964}}</ref> For all this, Jawaharlal remained faithful to his wife as long as she lived. There was of course no question of an Indian wife being anything but entirely chaste. Their marriage soon fell into a workable groove: it was all about doing ones duty to each other and to family; being civil; keeping up appearances; and raising the children.
]
A number of institutions in India, and a road in Pakistan, have been named in Kamala Nehru's honor, including:


===India===
Of the children, there were very few by the standards of the day. In November 1917, Kamala gave birth to a daughter, who they named ]. She would later succeed her father as prime minister of India. In November 1924, Kamala gave birth to a son, but but he lived for only a week.<ref name=windsor/> There were no further pregnancies, and Indira was to be their only child.
⚫ *Kamla Nehru Park in ]
*Kamala Nehru health and wellness center in ]
*Kamla Nehru Balika High School in ]
*] at ]
*] in ]
*] in ]
*Kamala Nehru Degree Evening College in ]
* in ]
*] in ]
*Kamala Nehru Polytechnic in ]
*Kamala Nehru Park in ]
*] in ]
*Kamala Nehru Memorial Vocational Higher Secondary School Vatanappally in ]
*Kamala Nehru Women's College in ]
*Shaskiya Kamla Nehru Girls Higher Secondary School in ]
*Kamal Nehru Government Girl's High School in ] (])
*Kamala Nehru Park in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
*Kamala Nehru Nagar in ]
*Kamla Nehru Group of Institutions, Sultanpur UP


===Pakistan===
⚫ ==Contribution to the Indian Independence Movement==
In ], a road is still named after her, near the ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/blog/finding-kamala-nehru-in-pakistan-jinnah-in-guntur-764557|title=Blog: Finding Kamala Nehru in Pakistan, Jinnah in Guntur|work=NDTV.com|date=20 May 2015}}</ref><ref></ref>
⚫ Kamala was involved with the Nehrus in the national movement, that she emerged into the forefront. In the Non Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups of women in ] and picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. When her husband was arrested to prevent him delivering a "seditious" public speech, she went in his place to read it out. The British soon realized the threat that Kamala Nehru posed to them and how popular she had become with women's groups all over India. She was thus arrested on two occasions for involvement in Independence struggle activities.<ref name="iloveindia1">{{cite web|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/kamala-nehru.html|title=Kamala Nehru Biography|publisher=Iloveindia|accessdate=15 September 2012}}</ref>


=== In popular culture ===
==Friends==
''Kamala Nehru'' is a 1986 Indian ] directed by Ashish Mukherjee. Produced by the ]'s ], it provides an overview of her life and contributions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=KAMALA NEHRU {{!}} Films Division|url=https://filmsdivision.org/shop/kamala-nehru|access-date=2021-06-12|website=filmsdivision.org}}</ref>
⚫ Kamala Nehru spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with ] where she built a close friendship with ].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

⚫ ==Death and legacy==
Kamala died from ] in ], ] on 28 February 1936, with her daughter and her mother-in-law by her side. Kamala was cremated at the Lausanne Crematorium. A number of institutions in India, such as , ], ], , Kamala Nehru Park, ] (Sultanpur), Kamala Nehru Polytechnic (Hyderabad) are named after her.

==See also==
⚫ {{commons category}}
*]
⚫ *]


==References== ==References==
⚫ {{commons category|Kamala Nehru}}
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}

{{Indian independence movement}}


{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
⚫ | NAME = Nehru, Kamala
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Wife of Prime Minister of India
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1 August 1899
| PLACE OF BIRTH = ], ]
| DATE OF DEATH = 28 February 1936
| PLACE OF DEATH = ], ]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nehru, Kamala}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nehru, Kamala}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
⚫ ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
⚫ ]

Latest revision as of 18:07, 30 December 2024

Indian independence activist and wife of Jawaharlal Nehru (1899-1936)
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Kamala Nehru
Kamala Kaul NehruUndated photograph
BornKamala Kaul
(1899-08-01)1 August 1899
Delhi, British India (present-day India)
Died28 February 1936(1936-02-28) (aged 36)
Lausanne, Switzerland
OccupationIndian independence activist
Spouse Jawaharlal Nehru ​(m. 1916)​
ChildrenIndira Gandhi (daughter)
RelativesKailas Nath Kaul (brother)
FamilyNehru–Gandhi family

Kamala Nehru (née Kaul; pronunciation; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was an Indian independence activist and the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. Their daughter Indira Gandhi would go on to become the first and to date, the only female Prime Minister of India.

Early life and marriage

Kamala Kaul was born on 1 August 1899 to Rajpati and Jawahar Mull Atal-Kaul, who were from a Kashmiri Pandit family of Old Delhi. She was the eldest child and had two brothers, Chand Bahadur Kaul and the botanist, Kailas Nath Kaul, and a sister, Swaroop Kathju.

Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru on their wedding day, 8 February 1916

Kamala married Jawaharlal Nehru at the age of 16 at the historic Haskar Haveli in Sitaram Bazar. Her husband went to a trip in the Himalayas shortly after their marriage. In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru, referring to his wife, stated, "I almost overlooked her." Nehru gave birth to a girl in November 1917, Indira Priyadarshini, who later succeeded her father as prime minister and head of the Congress party.

Contribution to the Indian Independence Movement

Kamala was so involved with the Nehrus in the national movement that she emerged into the forefront. In the Non-Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups of women in Allahabad and picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. When her husband was arrested to prevent him from delivering a "seditious" public speech, she decided to go in his place and read it out to a large crowd of onlookers (filled with her supporters). The colonial authorities soon realized the threat that Kamala Nehru posed to them and how popular she had become with women's groups all over India. She was arrested on two additional occasions for her involvement in Independence struggle activities, along with Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Nehru's mother, and many other women of the Indian independence struggle. During this period she started a dispensary in her house Swaraj Bhavan, converting few rooms into a Congress Dispensary to treat wounded activists, their families, and other residents of Allahabad(now Prayagraj). After her death, Mahatma Gandhi with the help of other prominent leaders converted this dispensary into a proper hospital known as Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital in her memory.

Kamala Nehru spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with Kasturba Gandhi where she built a close friendship with Prabhavati Devi – the wife of independence activist Jayaprakash Narayan.

Death

Kamala Nehru died from tuberculosis in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 28 February 1936, with her daughter and mother-in-law by her side. During her last few years, Kamala Nehru was frequently ill and taken to a sanatorium in Switzerland for treatment, though she returned to India as she got well. In early 1935, as Kamala Nehru's health again deteriorated, she was taken to Badenweiler in Germany by Subhash Chandra Bose and admitted to a sanatorium for treatment. Her husband Jawaharlal Nehru was in prison in India at that time. As her health worsened, Jawaharlal Nehru was released from prison and rushed to Germany in October 1935. While Nehru's health improved initially, it started to deteriorate again in 1936, and she died on 28 February. In the prologue to his autobiography, in a chapter added after Kamala's death, Jawaharlal Nehru recounts that he was devastated and remained in mourning for months.

Legacy

Nehru on a 1974 stamp of India

A number of institutions in India, and a road in Pakistan, have been named in Kamala Nehru's honor, including:

India

Pakistan

In Karachi, a road is still named after her, near the Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam.

In popular culture

Kamala Nehru is a 1986 Indian documentary film directed by Ashish Mukherjee. Produced by the Government of India's Films Division, it provides an overview of her life and contributions.

References

  1. ^ Jayakar, Pupul (1995). Indira Gandhi, a biography (Rev. ed.). New Delhi, India: Penguin. ISBN 978-0140114621.
  2. The neglected Delhi 6 haveli of Indira Gandhi's mother
  3. ^ "From years 1916 to 1964...The man and the times". The Windsor Star. 27 May 1964. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  4. Nehru, Jawaharlal (26 January 1936). An Autobiography. London: Bodley Head.
  5. "Kamala Nehru Biography". Iloveindia. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. "KNMH : The Legacy". www.knmhospital.org.
  7. Nehru, Jawaharlal (1940). An Autobiography (2nd ed.). London: Bodell Head.
  8. "Blog: Finding Kamala Nehru in Pakistan, Jinnah in Guntur". NDTV.com. 20 May 2015.
  9. Kamala Nehru Rd, Karachi
  10. "KAMALA NEHRU | Films Division". filmsdivision.org. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
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