Nehru–Gandhi family


The Nehru–Gandhi family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have traditionally led the party. Three members of the family—Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi—have served as the prime minister of India, while several others have been members of parliament (MP).
The family is not related to that of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Guardian wrote in 2007, "The Gandhi brand has no peer in the world—a member of the family has been in charge of India for 40 of the 60 years since independence. The allure of India's first family blends the right to rule of British monarchy with the tragic glamour of America's Kennedy clan."

Family trees

Earliest record

  • Raj Kaul a Kashmiri Pandit. He is the earliest recorded ancestor of the Nehru family. He is believed to have moved from Kashmir to Delhi in 1716 AD. A Jagir with a house situated on the banks of a canal was granted to Raj Kaul, and, from the fact of this residence, 'Nehru' came to be attached to his name. Kaul was the original family name; this changed to Kaul-Nehru; and, in later years, Kaul was dropped out and the family name became only "Nehru".
  • During the early part of the 19th century, Gangadhar Nehru's father, Lakshmi Narayan Nehru, worked as a clerk in Delhi for the East India Company. Lakshmi Narayan Nehru was the son of Mansa Ram Nehru who was the son Vishwanath Kaul Nehru who in turn was the son of Raj Kaul.

First generation

Second generation

  • Bansi Dhar Nehru, Gangadhar's eldest son. He worked in the judicial department of the British Government and, after being appointed successively to various places, was partly cut off from the rest of the family.
  • Nandlal Nehru, older brother of Motilal Nehru. He was the Diwan of the princely state of Khetri in Rajputana.
  • Motilal Nehru, patriarch of Nehru–Gandhi family. He was a lawyer and a prominent leader of the Indian independence movement. He also served as the president of Congress twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929.
  • Swarup Rani Nehru, wife of Motilal Nehru. She played a prominent role in India's freedom movement in the 1920s–30s as an advocate of civil disobedience against the British Raj and its salt laws.

Third generation

Fourth generation

Fifth generation

  • Arun Nehru, great-grandson of Nandlal Nehru. He was a politician and union minister during the 1980s.
  • Rajiv Gandhi, eldest son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi. He became the 6th prime minister of India after Indira's death.
  • Sanjay Gandhi, second son of Indira. He was also one of the most trusted lieutenants of his mother during the 1970s and was widely expected to succeed his mother as prime minister of India, but met with an untimely death in a plane crash.
  • Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv Gandhi. She was born in Italy and took Indian citizenship, 11 years after marrying Rajiv Gandhi. She was the president of the Indian National Congress from 1998 to 2017, from 2019 to 2022 and has served as the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance from 2004 until 2023.
  • Maneka Gandhi, widow of Sanjay Gandhi. She is a noted environmentalist and animal welfare activist. She is a prominent member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She has served as a cabinet minister in four government. She also served as the Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development in the BJP led Government of 2014–2019.
  • Subhadra Nehru, wife of Arun Nehru.
  • Sunil Nehru, eldest son of Balwant Kumar Nehru. Engineer and corporate strategist, senior company executive at Max India, adventurer, scuba diver, and ardent trekker.
  • Neena Nehru, wife of Sunil Nehru. Artist, poet, architect.
  • Nikhil Nehru, second son of Balwant Kumar Nehru. He had a stellar career in advertising, rising to become the president of McCann-Erickson and Chairman of Results International Group, India.
  • Samhita Nehru, wife of Nikhil Nehru.
  • Vikram Nehru, third son of Balwant Kumar Nehru. Entered the field of international development with a career at the World Bank. Became the World Bank's Chief Economist and Director for Poverty Reduction, Economic Management, Private and Financial Sector Development for East Asia and the Pacific. Subsequently, became the chair in Southeast Asian Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., and then Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Sixth generation

Seventh generation