The making of the Gandhi dynasty

Indira Nehru and Feroze Gandhi during their wedding, 1942. Seen as tough and authoritarian Indira gave the family the Gandhi name by marrying Feroze Gandhi, a firebrand leftwing MP. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her guards after her government ordered a raid on the Sikh religion's holiest temple. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Pandit Nehru in Delhi with his grandson Rajiv Gandhi, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India in 1947. He never wanted a dynasty to prevail in a democracy and he never lived to see his daughter Indira become the first woman to lead the country in 1966 Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Indira Gandhi stands with her two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, in the garden of their Delhi home, 1967. Indira had groomed her son Sanjay to take over but he died in a plane crash in 1980. Instead airline pilot Rajiv Gandhi became PM in 1984. He was blown up by suspected Tamil Tigers in 1991. Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis

Indira Gandhi Photograph: Baldev/Corbis

Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi, 1989 Photograph: Shepard Sherbell/Corbis

Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia campaign in the Indian city of Amethi, 1984 Photograph: Alain Nogues/Corbis

Sonia Gandhi, her daughter Priyanka. and son Rahul during the funeral of Rajiv Photograph: Raveendran/Getty

Chair of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi waves to cheering supporters in New Delhi, 2004. Rajiv's widow, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, finally agreed to enter politics and save the Congress party in the 90s. She confounded critics to win the 2004 elections. Her son Rahul was elected to the lower house in 2004. Her daughter Priyanka is a formidable campaigner. Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of India's Congress party president Sonia Gandhi Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

Rahul Gandhi visits the Jagdishpur area of his constituency, 2004 Photograph: Kamal Kishore/Corbis