The Discovery of India Author is Jawaharlal Nehru, a five-letter word. Nehru was an Indian independence activist and the first Prime Minister of India, serving from 1947 to 1964. He was also a central figure in the Indian National Congress, a political party that was instrumental in the Indian independence movement. He wrote The Discovery of India, a book about the history of India, in 1946 while he was imprisoned by the British.