Motilal Nehru was born on 6 May, 1861 to Gangadhar Nehru and Jeorani Nehru.
Gangadhar Nehru was the last Kotwal of Delhi (chief of Police) under the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II.
Gangadhar died three months before Motilal was born. Owing to financial hardships, the family moved from Delhi to Agra, then to Khetri in Rajasthan and finally to Allahabad. Motilal was brought up by his brother Nandlal who trained as a lawyer. Showing exemplary brilliance as a young scholar, Motilal followed in his brother Nandlal’s footsteps and became a barrister.
In 1883 he began practising in Kanpur and after three years moved to Allahabad to join his brother Nandlal. Following his brother’s death a year later, Motilal became the sole breadwinner of the Nehru family.
Motilal proved to be extremely successful and many of his suits were civil cases involving large land-owning families. He was also actively involved in the Indian independence movement and was elected president of the Indian National Congress held in Amritsar, in 1919.
In 1923 Motilal was one of the founders of the Swaraj Party, which sought to gain entry to the Central Legislative Assembly and obstruct its proceedings from within. He participated in the civil disobedience movement of 1930 and was actively involved in the Salt March, for which he was imprisoned.
Motilal Nehru died soon after his release.
Picture Credit : Google
