ICE AND FIRE: PATEL AND NEHRU. THE ROLE OF THE DISCIPLES OF GANDHI IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT INDIA

Getting to the study of the political biography of one of the greatest politicians and statesmen of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a historian acquaints with the milestones of his life and the contribution he has made to the development of their country. Patel's biography is very eventful, but out of all his large-scale achievements, the newcomer is struck by the role of Patel in the “gathering” of the Indian Native States during and after the division of colonial India (for which he was called “Indian Bismarck”) and the creation of the Indian Civil Service. And, although the problem of creating an independent India has repeatedly been touched upon in the national Indological and Pakistani literature, the personality of Patel in this country remains studied insufficiently. The objective of the article is to characterize the personal relationship Vallabhbhai Patel, who took the posts of Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of States in the government of the independent India, with the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the beginning of India’s independence. Two of the most charismatic disciples and associates of the leader of the Indian liberation movement, Mahatma Gandhi, survived their teacher and made a huge contribution to the establishment of an independent India. Their personal relationship as the two titans was not as simple as it may seem to be at first sight. Ключевые слова: независимая Индия, Махатма Ганди, Джавахарлал Неру, Валлабхаи Патель, «индийский Бисмарк»