Why was Mahatma Gandhi never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Mahatma Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize despite being nominated five times in 1937-1948. Until 1960, the Prize was awarded "almost exclusively" to Europeans and Americans, its website says. However, considering Gandhi's work during the 1947 India-Pakistan separation and murder days after his 1948 nomination, the year's award was respectfully left blank as Nobel is rarely given posthumously.