mahatma gandhi ji ki biography

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Mahatma Gandhi

By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 6, 2019 | Original: July 30, 2010

Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one.” He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India’s struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. His father was the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar; his deeply religious mother was a devoted practitioner of Vaishnavism (worship of the Hindu god Vishnu), influenced by Jainism, an ascetic religion governed by tenets of self-discipline and nonviolence. At the age of 19, Mohandas left home to study law in London at the Inner Temple, one of the city’s four law colleges. Upon returning to India in mid-1891, he set up a law practice in Bombay, but met with little success. He soon accepted a position with an Indian firm that sent him to its office in South Africa. Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for nearly 20 years.

Did you know? In the famous Salt March of April-May 1930, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from Ahmadabad to the Arabian Sea. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself.

Gandhi was appalled by the discrimination he experienced as an Indian immigrant in South Africa. When a European magistrate in Durban asked him to take off his turban, he refused and left the courtroom. On a train voyage to Pretoria, he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment and beaten up by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his seat for a European passenger. That train journey served as a turning point for Gandhi, and he soon began developing and teaching the concept of satyagraha (“truth and firmness”), or passive resistance, as a way of non-cooperation with authorities.

The Birth of Passive Resistance

In 1906, after the Transvaal government passed an ordinance regarding the registration of its Indian population, Gandhi led a campaign of civil disobedience that would last for the next eight years. During its final phase in 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South Africa, including women, went to jail, and thousands of striking Indian miners were imprisoned, flogged and even shot. Finally, under pressure from the British and Indian governments, the government of South Africa accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts, which included important concessions such as the recognition of Indian marriages and the abolition of the existing poll tax for Indians.

In July 1914, Gandhi left South Africa to return to India. He supported the British war effort in World War I but remained critical of colonial authorities for measures he felt were unjust. In 1919, Gandhi launched an organized campaign of passive resistance in response to Parliament’s passage of the Rowlatt Acts, which gave colonial authorities emergency powers to suppress subversive activities. He backed off after violence broke out–including the massacre by British-led soldiers of some 400 Indians attending a meeting at Amritsar–but only temporarily, and by 1920 he was the most visible figure in the movement for Indian independence.

6 Things You Might Not Know About Gandhi

The iconic Indian activist, known for his principle of nonviolent resistance, had humble beginnings and left an outsized legacy.

When Gandhi’s Salt March Rattled British Colonial Rule

In March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers set off on a brisk 241‑mile march to the Arabian Sea town of Dandi to lay Indian claim to the nation's own salt.

Assassination of Gandhi

Passive Resistance For some 50 years, Gandhi, born on October 2, 1869, and called “Mahatma” (“great‑souled” in Sanskrit), fought for India’s independence from Britain, practicing civil disobedience and peaceful protests that included fasting, boycotts and marches. He was an adherent of satyagraha (“truth‑force”), a passive political resistance he defined as “a weapon of the strongest […]

Leader of a Movement

As part of his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for home rule, Gandhi stressed the importance of economic independence for India. He particularly advocated the manufacture of khaddar, or homespun cloth, in order to replace imported textiles from Britain. Gandhi’s eloquence and embrace of an ascetic lifestyle based on prayer, fasting and meditation earned him the reverence of his followers, who called him Mahatma (Sanskrit for “the great-souled one”). Invested with all the authority of the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress Party), Gandhi turned the independence movement into a massive organization, leading boycotts of British manufacturers and institutions representing British influence in India, including legislatures and schools.

After sporadic violence broke out, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance movement, to the dismay of his followers. British authorities arrested Gandhi in March 1922 and tried him for sedition; he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released in 1924 after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He refrained from active participation in politics for the next several years, but in 1930 launched a new civil disobedience campaign against the colonial government’s tax on salt, which greatly affected Indian’s poorest citizens.

A Divided Movement

In 1931, after British authorities made some concessions, Gandhi again called off the resistance movement and agreed to represent the Congress Party at the Round Table Conference in London. Meanwhile, some of his party colleagues–particularly Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a leading voice for India’s Muslim minority–grew frustrated with Gandhi’s methods, and what they saw as a lack of concrete gains. Arrested upon his return by a newly aggressive colonial government, Gandhi began a series of hunger strikes in protest of the treatment of India’s so-called “untouchables” (the poorer classes), whom he renamed Harijans, or “children of God.” The fasting caused an uproar among his followers and resulted in swift reforms by the Hindu community and the government.

In 1934, Gandhi announced his retirement from politics in, as well as his resignation from the Congress Party, in order to concentrate his efforts on working within rural communities. Drawn back into the political fray by the outbreak of World War II , Gandhi again took control of the INC, demanding a British withdrawal from India in return for Indian cooperation with the war effort. Instead, British forces imprisoned the entire Congress leadership, bringing Anglo-Indian relations to a new low point.

Partition and Death of Gandhi

After the Labor Party took power in Britain in 1947, negotiations over Indian home rule began between the British, the Congress Party and the Muslim League (now led by Jinnah). Later that year, Britain granted India its independence but split the country into two dominions: India and Pakistan. Gandhi strongly opposed Partition, but he agreed to it in hopes that after independence Hindus and Muslims could achieve peace internally. Amid the massive riots that followed Partition, Gandhi urged Hindus and Muslims to live peacefully together, and undertook a hunger strike until riots in Calcutta ceased.

In January 1948, Gandhi carried out yet another fast, this time to bring about peace in the city of Delhi. On January 30, 12 days after that fast ended, Gandhi was on his way to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi when he was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic enraged by Mahatma’s efforts to negotiate with Jinnah and other Muslims. The next day, roughly 1 million people followed the procession as Gandhi’s body was carried in state through the streets of the city and cremated on the banks of the holy Jumna River.

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Mahatma Gandhi

Date of Birth: October 2, 1869

Place of Birth: Porbandar, British India (now Gujarat)

Date of Death: January 30, 1948

Place of Death: Delhi, India

Cause of Death: Assassination

Professions: Lawyer, politician, activist, writer

Spouse : Kasturba Gandhi

Children: Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi and Devdas Gandhi

Father: Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi

Mother: Putlibai Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an eminent freedom activist and an influential political leader who played a dominant role in India's struggle for independence. Gandhi is known by different names, such as Mahatma (a great soul), Bapuji (endearment for father in Gujarati) and Father of the Nation. Every year, his birthday is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday in India, and also observed as the International Day of Nonviolence. Mahatma Gandhi, as he is most commonly referred to, was instrumental in liberating India from the clutches of the British. With his unusual yet powerful political tools of Satyagraha and non-violence, he inspired several other political leaders all over the world including the likes of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and Aung San Suu Kyi. Gandhi, apart from helping India triumph in its fight for independence against the English, also led a simple and righteous life, for which he is often revered. Gandhi's early life was pretty much ordinary, and he became a great man during the course of his life. This is one of the main reasons why Gandhi is followed by millions, for he proved that one can become a great soul during the course of one’s life, should they possess the will to do so. 

M. K. Gandhi was born in the princely state of Porbandar, which is located in modern-day Gujarat. He was born into a Hindu merchant caste family to Karamchand Gandhi, diwan of Porbandar and his fourth wife, Putlibai. Gandhi’s mother belonged to an affluent Pranami Vaishnava family. As a child, Gandhi was a very naughty and mischievous kid. In fact, his sister Raliat had once revealed that hurting dogs by twisting their ears was among Maohandas’ favorite pastime. During the course of his childhood, Gandhi befriended Sheikh Mehtab, who was introduced to him by his older brother. Gandhi, who was raised by a vegetarian family, started eating meat. It is also said that a young Gandhi accompanied Sheikh to a brothel, but left the place after finding it uncomfortable. Gandhi, along with one of his relatives, also cultivated the habit of smoking after watching his uncle smoke. After smoking the leftover cigarettes, thrown away by his uncle, Gandhi started stealing copper coins from his servants in order to buy Indian cigarettes. When he could no longer steal, he even decided to commit suicide such was Gandhi’s addiction to cigarettes. At the age of fifteen, after stealing a bit of gold from his friend Sheikh’s armlet, Gandhi felt remorseful and confessed to his father about his stealing habit and vowed to him that he would never commit such mistakes again.

In his early years, Gandhi was deeply influenced by the stories of Shravana and Harishchandra that reflected the importance of truth. Through these stories and from his personal experiences, he realized that truth and love are among the supreme values. Mohandas married Kasturba Makhanji at the age of 13. Gandhi later went on to reveal that the marriage didn’t mean anything to him at that age and that he was happy and excited only about wearing new set of clothes. But then as days passed by, his feelings for her turned lustful, which he later confessed with regret in his autobiography. Gandhi had also confessed that he could no more concentrate in school because of his mind wavering towards his new and young wife.

After his family moved to Rajkot, a nine year old Gandhi was enrolled at a local school, where he studied the basics of arithmetic, history, geography and languages. When he was 11 years old, he attended a high school in Rajkot. He lost an academic year in between because of his wedding but later rejoined the school and eventually completed his schooling. He then dropped out of Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State after joining it in the year 1888. Later Gandhi was advised by a family friend Mavji Dave Joshiji to pursue law in London. Excited by the idea, Gandhi managed to convince his mother and wife by vowing before them that he would abstain from eating meat and from having sex in London. Supported by his brother, Gandhi left to London and attended the Inner Temple and practiced law. During his stay in London, Gandhi joined a Vegetarian Society and was soon introduced to Bhagavad Gita by some of his vegetarian friends. The contents of Bhagavad Gita would later have a massive influence on his life. He came back to India after being called to the bar by Inner Temple.

Gandhi in South Africa

After returning to India, Gandhi struggled to find work as a lawyer. In 1893, Dada Abdullah, a merchant who owned a shipping business in South Africa asked if he would be interested to serve as his cousin’s lawyer in South Africa. Gandhi gladly accepted the offer and left to South Africa, which would serve as a turning point in his political career. 

In South Africa, he faced racial discrimination directed towards blacks and Indians. He faced humiliation on many occasions but made up his mind to fight for his rights. This turned him into an activist and he took upon him many cases that would benefit the Indians and other minorities living in South Africa. Indians were not allowed to vote or walk on footpaths as those privileges were limited strictly to the Europeans. Gandhi questioned this unfair treatment and eventually managed to establish an organization named ‘Natal Indian Congress’ in 1894. After he came across an ancient Indian literature known as ‘Tirukkural’, which was originally written in Tamil and later translated into many languages, Gandhi was influenced by the idea of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth) and implemented non-violent protests around 1906. After spending 21 years in South Africa, where he fought for civil rights, he had transformed into a new person and he returned to India in 1915. 

Gandhi and the Indian National Congress

After his long stay in South Africa and his activism against the racist policy of the British, Gandhi had earned the reputation as a nationalist, theorist and organiser. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, invited Gandhi to join India’s struggle for independence against the British Rule. Gokhale thoroughly guided Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi about the prevailing political situation in India and also the social issues of the time. He then joined the Indian National Congress and before taking over the leadership in 1920, headed many agitations which he named Satyagraha.

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/17029304817074165/

Champaran Satyagraha

The Champaran agitation in 1917 was the first major success of Gandhi after his arrival in India. The peasants of the area were forced by the British landlords to grow Indigo, which was a cash crop, but its demand had been declining. To make the matters worse, they were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. The farmers turned to Gandhiji for help. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent agitation, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and was successful in getting concessions from the authorities. This campaign marked Gandhi’s arrival in India!

Kheda Satyagraha

Farmers asked the British to relax the payment of taxes as Kheda was hit by floods in 1918. When the British failed to pay heed to the requests, Gandhi took the case of the farmers and led the protests. He instructed them to refrain from paying revenues no matter what. Later, the British gave in and accepted to relax the revenue collection and gave its word to Vallabhbhai Patel, who had represented the farmers.  

Image source: YouTube.com

Khilafat Movement Post World War I

Gandhi had agreed to support the British during their fight in World War I. But the British failed to grant independence post the war, as promised earlier, and as a result of this Khilafat Movement was launched. Gandhi realized that Hindus and Muslims must unite to fight the British and urged both the communities to show solidarity and unity. But his move was questioned by many Hindu leaders. Despite the opposition from many leaders, Gandhi managed to amass the support of Muslims. But as the Khilafat Movement ended abruptly, all his efforts evaporated into thin air.

Non-cooperation Movement and Gandhi

Non-cooperation Movement was one of Gandhi’s most important movements against the British. Gandhi’s urged his fellow countrymen to stop co-operation with the British. He believed that the British succeeded in India only because of the co-operation of the Indians. He had cautioned the British not to pass the Rowlatt Act, but they did not pay any attention to his words and passed the Act. As announced, Gandhiji asked everyone to start civil disobedience against the British. The British began suppressing the civil disobedience movement by force and opened fire on a peaceful crowd in Delhi. The British asked Gandhiji to not enter Delhi which he defied as a result of which he was arrested and this further enraged people and they rioted. He urged people to show unity, non-violence and respect for human life. But the British responded aggressively to this and arrested many protesters. 

On 13 April 1919, a British officer, Dyer, ordered his forces to open fire on a peaceful gathering, including women and children, in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh. As a result of this, hundreds of innocent Hindu and Sikh civilians were killed. The incident is known as ‘Jallianwala Bagh Massacre’. But Gandhi criticized the protesters instead of blaming the English and asked Indians to use love while dealing with the hatred of British. He urged the Indians to refrain from all kinds of non-violence and went on fast-to-death to pressure Indians to stop their rioting.  

Image source: Wikimedia.org

The concept of non-cooperation became very popular and started spreading through the length and breadth of India. Gandhi extended this movement and focused on Swaraj. He urged people to stop using British goods. He also asked people to resign from government employment, quit studying in British institutions and stop practicing in law courts. However, the violent clash in Chauri Chaura town of Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922, forced Gandhiji to call-off the movement all of a sudden. Gandhi was arrested on 10th March 1922 and was tried for sedition. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, but served only two years in prison. 

Simon Commission & Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March)

During the period of 1920s, Mahatma Gandhi concentrated on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National Congress. In 1927, British had appointed Sir John Simon as the head of a new constitutional reform commission, popularly known as ‘Simon Commission’. There was not even a single Indian in the commission. Agitated by this, Gandhi passed a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928, calling on the British government to grant India dominion status. In case of non-compliance with this demand, the British were to face a new campaign of non-violence, having its goal as complete independence for the country. The resolution was rejected by the British. The flag of India was unfurled by the Indian national Congress on 31st December 1929 at its Lahore session. January 26, 1930 was celebrated as the Independence Day of India. 

But the British failed to recognize it and soon they levied a tax on salt and Salt Satyagraha was launched in March 1930, as an opposition to this move. Gandhi started the Dandi March with his followers in March, going from Ahmedabad to Dandi on foot. The protest was successful and resulted in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact in March 1931.

Negotiations over Round Table Conferences

Post the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhi was invited to round table conferences by the British. While Gandhi pressed for the Indian independence, British questioned Gandhi’s motives and asked him not to speak for the entire nation. They invited many religious leaders and B. R. Ambedkar to represent the untouchables. The British promised many rights to various religious groups as well as the untouchables. Fearing this move would divide India further, Gandhi protested against this by fasting. After learning about the true intentions of the British during the second conference, he came up with another Satyagraha, for which he was once again arrested.

Quit India Movement

As the World War II progressed, Mahatma Gandhi intensified his protests for the complete independence of India. He drafted a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. The 'Quit India Movement' or the 'Bharat Chhodo Andolan' was the most aggressive movement launched by the Indian national Congrees under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was arrested on 9th August 1942 and was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, where he lost his secretary, Mahadev Desai and his wife, Kasturba. The Quit India Movement came to an end by the end of 1943, when the British gave hints that complete power would be transferred to the people of India. Gandhi called off the movement which resulted in the release of 100,000 political prisoners. 

Freedom and Partition of India

The independence cum partition proposal offered by the British Cabinet Mission in 1946 was accepted by the Congress, despite being advised otherwise by Mahatma Gandhi. Sardar Patel convinced Gandhi that it was the only way to avoid civil war and he reluctantly gave his consent. After India's independence, Gandhi focused on peace and unity of Hindus and Muslims. He launched his last fast-unto-death in Delhi, and asked people to stop communal violence and emphasized that the payment of Rs. 55 crores, as per the Partition Council agreement, be made to Pakistan. Ultimately, all political leaders conceded to his wishes and he broke his fast. 

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

The inspiring life of Mahatma Gandhi came to an end on 30th January 1948, when he was shot by a fanatic, Nathuram Godse, at point-blank range. Nathuram was a Hindu radical, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by ensuring the partition payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, were later tried and convicted. They were executed on 15th November 1949. 

Mahatma Gandhi’s Legacy

Mahatma Gandhi proposed the acceptance and practice of truth, peace, non-violence, vegetarianism, Brahmacharya (celibacy), simplicity and faith in God. Though he would be remembered forever for his great contribution to the Indian freedom movement, his greatest legacies are the tools of peace and non-iolence that he preached and used in India's struggle for freedom against the British. He was for peace and non-violence all over the world, as he truly believed that only these virtues can save the mankind. Mahatma Gandhi once wrote a letter to Hitler , before the World War II, pleading him to avoid war. These methods inspired several other world leaders in their struggle against injustice. His statues are installed all over the world and he is considered the most prominent personality in Indian history.

Gandhi in Popular Culture

The word Mahatma is often mistaken in the West as Gandhi’s first name. His extraordinary life inspired innumerable works of art in the field of literature, art and showbiz. Many movies and documentaries have been made on the life of the Mahatma. Post the Independence, Gandhi’s image became the mainstay of Indian paper currency. 

Source: Mahatma Gandhi Quotes @ FamousQuotes123

Biography Online

Mahatma Gandhi Biography

Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent Indian political leader who was a leading figure in the campaign for Indian independence. He employed non-violent principles and peaceful disobedience as a means to achieve his goal. He was assassinated in 1948, shortly after achieving his life goal of Indian independence. In India, he is known as ‘Father of the Nation’.

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.”

Short Biography of Mahatma Gandhi

Around this time, he also studied the Bible and was struck by the teachings of Jesus Christ  – especially the emphasis on humility and forgiveness. He remained committed to the Bible and Bhagavad Gita throughout his life, though he was critical of aspects of both religions.

Gandhi in South Africa

On completing his degree in Law, Gandhi returned to India, where he was soon sent to South Africa to practise law. In South Africa, Gandhi was struck by the level of racial discrimination and injustice often experienced by Indians. In 1893, he was thrown off a train at the railway station in Pietermaritzburg after a white man complained about Gandhi travelling in first class. This experience was a pivotal moment for Gandhi and he began to represent other Indias who experienced discrimination. As a lawyer he was in high demand and soon he became the unofficial leader for Indians in South Africa. It was in South Africa that Gandhi first experimented with campaigns of civil disobedience and protest; he called his non-violent protests satyagraha . Despite being imprisoned for short periods of time, he also supported the British under certain conditions. During the Boer war, he served as a medic and stretcher-bearer. He felt that by doing his patriotic duty it would make the government more amenable to demands for fair treatment. Gandhi was at the Battle of Spion serving as a medic. An interesting historical anecdote, is that at this battle was also Winston Churchill and Louis Botha (future head of South Africa) He was decorated by the British for his efforts during the Boer War and Zulu rebellion.

Gandhi and Indian Independence

After 21 years in South Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement campaigning for home rule or Swaraj .

Gandhi also encouraged his followers to practise inner discipline to get ready for independence. Gandhi said the Indians had to prove they were deserving of independence. This is in contrast to independence leaders such as Aurobindo Ghose , who argued that Indian independence was not about whether India would offer better or worse government, but that it was the right for India to have self-government.

Gandhi also clashed with others in the Indian independence movement such as Subhas Chandra Bose who advocated direct action to overthrow the British.

Gandhi frequently called off strikes and non-violent protest if he heard people were rioting or violence was involved.

In 1930, Gandhi led a famous march to the sea in protest at the new Salt Acts. In the sea, they made their own salt, in violation of British regulations. Many hundreds were arrested and Indian jails were full of Indian independence followers.

“With this I’m shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”

– Gandhi – after holding up a cup of salt at the end of the salt march.

However, whilst the campaign was at its peak some Indian protesters killed some British civilians, and as a result, Gandhi called off the independence movement saying that India was not ready. This broke the heart of many Indians committed to independence. It led to radicals like Bhagat Singh carrying on the campaign for independence, which was particularly strong in Bengal.

In 1931, Gandhi was invited to London to begin talks with the British government on greater self-government for India, but remaining a British colony. During his three month stay, he declined the government’s offer of a free hotel room, preferring to stay with the poor in the East End of London. During the talks, Gandhi opposed the British suggestions of dividing India along communal lines as he felt this would divide a nation which was ethnically mixed. However, at the summit, the British also invited other leaders of India, such as BR Ambedkar and representatives of the Sikhs and Muslims. Although the dominant personality of Indian independence, he could not always speak for the entire nation.

Gandhi’s humour and wit

During this trip, he visited King George in Buckingham Palace, one apocryphal story which illustrates Gandhi’s wit was the question by the king – what do you think of Western civilisation? To which Gandhi replied

“It would be a good idea.”

Gandhi wore a traditional Indian dress, even whilst visiting the king. It led Winston Churchill to make the disparaging remark about the half naked fakir. When Gandhi was asked if was sufficiently dressed to meet the king, Gandhi replied

“The king was wearing clothes enough for both of us.”

Gandhi once said he if did not have a sense of humour he would have committed suicide along time ago.

Gandhi and the Partition of India

After the war, Britain indicated that they would give India independence. However, with the support of the Muslims led by Jinnah, the British planned to partition India into two: India and Pakistan. Ideologically Gandhi was opposed to partition. He worked vigorously to show that Muslims and Hindus could live together peacefully. At his prayer meetings, Muslim prayers were read out alongside Hindu and Christian prayers. However, Gandhi agreed to the partition and spent the day of Independence in prayer mourning the partition. Even Gandhi’s fasts and appeals were insufficient to prevent the wave of sectarian violence and killing that followed the partition.

Away from the politics of Indian independence, Gandhi was harshly critical of the Hindu Caste system. In particular, he inveighed against the ‘untouchable’ caste, who were treated abysmally by society. He launched many campaigns to change the status of untouchables. Although his campaigns were met with much resistance, they did go a long way to changing century-old prejudices.

At the age of 78, Gandhi undertook another fast to try and prevent the sectarian killing. After 5 days, the leaders agreed to stop killing. But ten days later Gandhi was shot dead by a Hindu Brahmin opposed to Gandhi’s support for Muslims and the untouchables.

Gandhi and Religion

Gandhi was a seeker of the truth.

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”

Gandhi said his great aim in life was to have a vision of God. He sought to worship God and promote religious understanding. He sought inspiration from many different religions: Jainism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and incorporated them into his own philosophy.

On several occasions, he used religious practices and fasting as part of his political approach. Gandhi felt that personal example could influence public opinion.

“When every hope is gone, ‘when helpers fail and comforts flee,’ I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where. Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal.”

– Gandhi Autobiography – The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Biography of Mahatma Gandhi” , Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net 12th Jan 2011. Last updated 1 Feb 2020.

The Essential Gandhi

The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas at Amazon

Gandhi: An Autobiography – The Story of My Experiments With Truth at Amazon

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• Nehru Biography

He stood out in his time in history. Non violence as he practised it was part of his spiritual learning usedvas a political tool. How can one say he wasn’t a good lawyer or he wasn’t a good leader when he had such a following and he was part of the negotiations thar brought about Indian Independance? I just dipped into this ti find out about the salt march.:)

• February 09, 2019 9:31 AM
• By Lakmali Gunawardena

mahatma gandhi was a good person but he wasn’t all good because when he freed the indian empire the partition grew between the muslims and they fought .this didn’t happen much when the british empire was in control because muslims and hindus had a common enemy to unite against.

I am not saying the british empire was a good thing.

• January 01, 2019 3:24 PM
• By marcus carpenter

Dear very nice information Gandhi ji always inspired us thanks a lot.

• October 01, 2018 1:40 PM

FATHER OF NATION

• June 03, 2018 8:34 AM

Gandhi was a lawyer who did not make a good impression as a lawyer. His success and influence was mediocre in law religion and politics. He rose to prominence by chance. He was neither a good lawyer or a leader circumstances conspired at a time in history for him to stand out as an astute leader both in South Africa and in India. The British were unable to control the tidal wave of independence in all the countries they ruled at that time. Gandhi was astute enough to seize the opportunity and used non violence as a tool which had no teeth but caused sufficient concern for the British to negotiate and hand over territories which they had milked dry.

• February 09, 2018 2:30 PM
• By A S Cassim

By being “astute enough to seize the opportunity” and not being pushed down/ defeated by an Empire, would you agree this is actually the reason why Gandhi made a good impression as a leader? Also, despite his mediocre success and influence as you mentioned, would you agree the outcome of his accomplishments are clearly a demonstration he actually was relevant to law, religion and politics?

• November 23, 2018 12:45 AM

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was the primary leader of India’s independence movement and also the architect of a form of non-violent civil disobedience that would influence the world. He was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.

(1869-1948)

Who Was Mahatma Gandhi?

Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of India’s non-violent independence movement against British rule and in South Africa who advocated for the civil rights of Indians. Born in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.

Early Life and Education

Indian nationalist leader Gandhi (born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India, which was then part of the British Empire.

Gandhi’s father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a chief minister in Porbandar and other states in western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a deeply religious woman who fasted regularly.

Young Gandhi was a shy, unremarkable student who was so timid that he slept with the lights on even as a teenager. In the ensuing years, the teenager rebelled by smoking, eating meat and stealing change from household servants.

Although Gandhi was interested in becoming a doctor, his father hoped he would also become a government minister and steered him to enter the legal profession. In 1888, 18-year-old Gandhi sailed for London, England, to study law. The young Indian struggled with the transition to Western culture.

Upon returning to India in 1891, Gandhi learned that his mother had died just weeks earlier. He struggled to gain his footing as a lawyer. In his first courtroom case, a nervous Gandhi blanked when the time came to cross-examine a witness. He immediately fled the courtroom after reimbursing his client for his legal fees.

Gandhi’s Religion and Beliefs

Gandhi grew up worshiping the Hindu god Vishnu and following Jainism, a morally rigorous ancient Indian religion that espoused non-violence, fasting, meditation and vegetarianism.

During Gandhi’s first stay in London, from 1888 to 1891, he became more committed to a meatless diet, joining the executive committee of the London Vegetarian Society, and started to read a variety of sacred texts to learn more about world religions.

Living in South Africa, Gandhi continued to study world religions. “The religious spirit within me became a living force,” he wrote of his time there. He immersed himself in sacred Hindu spiritual texts and adopted a life of simplicity, austerity, fasting and celibacy that was free of material goods.

Gandhi in South Africa

After struggling to find work as a lawyer in India, Gandhi obtained a one-year contract to perform legal services in South Africa. In April 1893, he sailed for Durban in the South African state of Natal.

When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, he was quickly appalled by the discrimination and racial segregation faced by Indian immigrants at the hands of white British and Boer authorities. Upon his first appearance in a Durban courtroom, Gandhi was asked to remove his turban. He refused and left the court instead. The Natal Advertiser mocked him in print as “an unwelcome visitor.”

Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

A seminal moment occurred on June 7, 1893, during a train trip to Pretoria, South Africa, when a white man objected to Gandhi’s presence in the first-class railway compartment, although he had a ticket. Refusing to move to the back of the train, Gandhi was forcibly removed and thrown off the train at a station in Pietermaritzburg.

Gandhi’s act of civil disobedience awoke in him a determination to devote himself to fighting the “deep disease of color prejudice.” He vowed that night to “try, if possible, to root out the disease and suffer hardships in the process.”

From that night forward, the small, unassuming man would grow into a giant force for civil rights. Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 to fight discrimination.

Gandhi prepared to return to India at the end of his year-long contract until he learned, at his farewell party, of a bill before the Natal Legislative Assembly that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. Fellow immigrants convinced Gandhi to stay and lead the fight against the legislation. Although Gandhi could not prevent the law’s passage, he drew international attention to the injustice.

After a brief trip to India in late 1896 and early 1897, Gandhi returned to South Africa with his wife and children. Gandhi ran a thriving legal practice, and at the outbreak of the Boer War, he raised an all-Indian ambulance corps of 1,100 volunteers to support the British cause, arguing that if Indians expected to have full rights of citizenship in the British Empire, they also needed to shoulder their responsibilities.

In 1906, Gandhi organized his first mass civil-disobedience campaign, which he called “Satyagraha” (“truth and firmness”), in reaction to the South African Transvaal government’s new restrictions on the rights of Indians, including the refusal to recognize Hindu marriages.

After years of protests, the government imprisoned hundreds of Indians in 1913, including Gandhi. Under pressure, the South African government accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts that included recognition of Hindu marriages and the abolition of a poll tax for Indians.

Return to India

When Gandhi sailed from South Africa in 1914 to return home, Smuts wrote, “The saint has left our shores, I sincerely hope forever.” At the outbreak of World War I , Gandhi spent several months in London.

In 1915 Gandhi founded an ashram in Ahmedabad, India, that was open to all castes. Wearing a simple loincloth and shawl, Gandhi lived an austere life devoted to prayer, fasting and meditation. He became known as “Mahatma,” which means “great soul.”

Opposition to British Rule in India

In 1919, with India still under the firm control of the British, Gandhi had a political reawakening when the newly enacted Rowlatt Act authorized British authorities to imprison people suspected of sedition without trial. In response, Gandhi called for a Satyagraha campaign of peaceful protests and strikes.

Violence broke out instead, which culminated on April 13, 1919, in the Massacre of Amritsar. Troops led by British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators and killed nearly 400 people.

No longer able to pledge allegiance to the British government, Gandhi returned the medals he earned for his military service in South Africa and opposed Britain’s mandatory military draft of Indians to serve in World War I.

Gandhi became a leading figure in the Indian home-rule movement. Calling for mass boycotts, he urged government officials to stop working for the Crown, students to stop attending government schools, soldiers to leave their posts and citizens to stop paying taxes and purchasing British goods.

Rather than buy British-manufactured clothes, he began to use a portable spinning wheel to produce his own cloth. The spinning wheel soon became a symbol of Indian independence and self-reliance.

Gandhi assumed the leadership of the Indian National Congress and advocated a policy of non-violence and non-cooperation to achieve home rule.

After British authorities arrested Gandhi in 1922, he pleaded guilty to three counts of sedition. Although sentenced to a six-year imprisonment, Gandhi was released in February 1924 after appendicitis surgery.

He discovered upon his release that relations between India’s Hindus and Muslims devolved during his time in jail. When violence between the two religious groups flared again, Gandhi began a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924 to urge unity. He remained away from active politics during much of the latter 1920s.

Gandhi and the Salt March

Gandhi returned to active politics in 1930 to protest Britain’s Salt Acts, which not only prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt—a dietary staple—but imposed a heavy tax that hit the country’s poorest particularly hard. Gandhi planned a new Satyagraha campaign, The Salt March , that entailed a 390-kilometer/240-mile march to the Arabian Sea, where he would collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly.

“My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India,” he wrote days before the march to the British viceroy, Lord Irwin.

Wearing a homespun white shawl and sandals and carrying a walking stick, Gandhi set out from his religious retreat in Sabarmati on March 12, 1930, with a few dozen followers. By the time he arrived 24 days later in the coastal town of Dandi, the ranks of the marchers swelled, and Gandhi broke the law by making salt from evaporated seawater.

The Salt March sparked similar protests, and mass civil disobedience swept across India. Approximately 60,000 Indians were jailed for breaking the Salt Acts, including Gandhi, who was imprisoned in May 1930.

Still, the protests against the Salt Acts elevated Gandhi into a transcendent figure around the world. He was named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1930.

Gandhi was released from prison in January 1931, and two months later he made an agreement with Lord Irwin to end the Salt Satyagraha in exchange for concessions that included the release of thousands of political prisoners. The agreement, however, largely kept the Salt Acts intact. But it did give those who lived on the coasts the right to harvest salt from the sea.

Hoping that the agreement would be a stepping-stone to home rule, Gandhi attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform in August 1931 as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference, however, proved fruitless.

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Protesting "Untouchables" Segregation

Gandhi returned to India to find himself imprisoned once again in January 1932 during a crackdown by India’s new viceroy, Lord Willingdon. He embarked on a six-day fast to protest the British decision to segregate the “untouchables,” those on the lowest rung of India’s caste system, by allotting them separate electorates. The public outcry forced the British to amend the proposal.

After his eventual release, Gandhi left the Indian National Congress in 1934, and leadership passed to his protégé Jawaharlal Nehru . He again stepped away from politics to focus on education, poverty and the problems afflicting India’s rural areas.

India’s Independence from Great Britain

As Great Britain found itself engulfed in World War II in 1942, Gandhi launched the “Quit India” movement that called for the immediate British withdrawal from the country. In August 1942, the British arrested Gandhi, his wife and other leaders of the Indian National Congress and detained them in the Aga Khan Palace in present-day Pune.

“I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside at the liquidation of the British Empire,” Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Parliament in support of the crackdown.

With his health failing, Gandhi was released after a 19-month detainment in 1944.

After the Labour Party defeated Churchill’s Conservatives in the British general election of 1945, it began negotiations for Indian independence with the Indian National Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League. Gandhi played an active role in the negotiations, but he could not prevail in his hope for a unified India. Instead, the final plan called for the partition of the subcontinent along religious lines into two independent states—predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Violence between Hindus and Muslims flared even before independence took effect on August 15, 1947. Afterwards, the killings multiplied. Gandhi toured riot-torn areas in an appeal for peace and fasted in an attempt to end the bloodshed. Some Hindus, however, increasingly viewed Gandhi as a traitor for expressing sympathy toward Muslims.

Gandhi’s Wife and Kids

At the age of 13, Gandhi wed Kasturba Makanji, a merchant’s daughter, in an arranged marriage. She died in Gandhi’s arms in February 1944 at the age of 74.

In 1885, Gandhi endured the passing of his father and shortly after that the death of his young baby.

In 1888, Gandhi’s wife gave birth to the first of four surviving sons. A second son was born in India 1893. Kasturba gave birth to two more sons while living in South Africa, one in 1897 and one in 1900.

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

On January 30, 1948, 78-year-old Gandhi was shot and killed by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse, who was upset at Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims.

Weakened from repeated hunger strikes, Gandhi clung to his two grandnieces as they led him from his living quarters in New Delhi’s Birla House to a late-afternoon prayer meeting. Godse knelt before the Mahatma before pulling out a semiautomatic pistol and shooting him three times at point-blank range. The violent act took the life of a pacifist who spent his life preaching nonviolence.

Godse and a co-conspirator were executed by hanging in November 1949. Additional conspirators were sentenced to life in prison.

Even after Gandhi’s assassination, his commitment to nonviolence and his belief in simple living — making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest — have been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.

Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today. Gandhi’s actions inspired future human rights movements around the globe, including those of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

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QUICK FACTS

• Name: Mahatma Gandhi
• Birth Year: 1869
• Birth date: October 2, 1869
• Birth City: Porbandar, Kathiawar
• Birth Country: India
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Mahatma Gandhi was the primary leader of India’s independence movement and also the architect of a form of non-violent civil disobedience that would influence the world. Until Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, his life and teachings inspired activists including Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
• Civil Rights
• Astrological Sign: Libra
• University College London
• Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat
• Nacionalities
• Interesting Facts
• As a young man, Mahatma Gandhi was a poor student and was terrified of public speaking.
• Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 to fight discrimination.
• Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse, who was upset at Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims.
• Gandhi's non-violent civil disobedience inspired future world leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
• Death Year: 1948
• Death date: January 30, 1948
• Death City: New Delhi
• Death Country: India

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Mahatma Gandhi Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/mahatma-gandhi
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: September 4, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
• Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
• Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals.
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman.
• Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.
• A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
• There are many things to do. Let each one of us choose our task and stick to it through thick and thin. Let us not think of the vastness. But let us pick up that portion which we can handle best.
• An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.
• For one man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.
• If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.

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Lee Harvey Oswald

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• Civil Disobedience
• Dandi March
• Gandhi in South Africa

Non-Cooperation Movement

• Quit India Movement
• Non-Violence
• Emergence of Gandhi
• Gandhi and Women
• Sabarmati Ashram
• Gandhi and Secularism
• Role in Indian National Congress
• Childhood to Assassination
• Economic Ideas of Gandhi
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• Places Related to Mahatma Gandhi
• Message to Nation
• Childhood and Family
• Nehru and Gandhi
• Foreign Policies
• Nehru's Nationalism
• Nehru's Last Day's
• Nehru as Prime Minister
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• Biography of Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi's Struggle for India's Independence

Gandhi's secularism.

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Mahatma Gandhi summary

Explore the life of mahatma gandhi as a political and social activist.

Mahatma Gandhi , byname of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , (born Oct. 2, 1869, Porbandar, India—died Jan. 30, 1948, Delhi), Preeminent leader of Indian nationalism and prophet of nonviolence in the 20th century.

Gandhi grew up in a home steeped in religion, and he took for granted religious tolerance and the doctrine of ahimsa (noninjury to all living beings). He studied law in England from 1888 to 1891, and in 1893 he took a job with an Indian firm in South Africa. There he became an effective advocate for Indian rights.

In 1906 he first put into action satyagraha, his technique of nonviolent resistance. His success in South Africa gave him an international reputation, and in 1915 he returned to India and within a few years became the leader of a nationwide struggle for Indian home rule. By 1920 Gandhi commanded influence hitherto unattained by any political leader in India.

He refashioned the Indian National Congress into an effective political instrument of Indian nationalism and undertook major campaigns of nonviolent resistance in 1920–22, 1930–34 (including his momentous march to the sea to collect salt to protest a government monopoly), and 1940–42. In the 1930s he also campaigned to end discrimination against India’s lower-caste “ untouchables ” (Dalits; officially designated as Scheduled Castes) and concentrated on educating rural India and promoting cottage industry.

India achieved dominion status in 1947, but the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan was a great disappointment to Gandhi, who had long worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. In September 1947 he ended rioting in Calcutta (Kolkata) by fasting. Known as the Mahatma (“Great-Souled”), Gandhi had won the affection and loyalty of millions. In January 1948 he was shot and killed by a young Hindu fanatic.

Biography of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was a freedom fighter, a nationalist, a visionary and mass leader. His followers cut across the demographic divisions of caste, religion or culture. They came and still are from different classes of society, from poor to the affluent. Every word of Gandhiji was followed devotedly as a command by millions of Indians. His biography isn’t only a biography but also a rule book of morality and conduct, teaching us how to deal with adversities in the strongest way possible, yet at the same time clinging to our principles.

Facts about Mahatma Gandhi

Full Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Date of Birth : October 2, 1869

Place of Birth : Porbandar, British India (now Gujarat)

Date of Death : January 30, 1948 (aged 78)

Place of Death : Delhi, India

Cause of Death : Assassination by Nathuram Godse

Professions : Lawyer, politician, freedom activist, writer

Religion : Hindu

Spouse : Kasturba Gandhi (m: 1883; died: 1944)

Children : Harilal Gandhi (1888-1948), Manilal Gandhi (1892-1956), Ramdas Gandhi (1897-1969) and Devdas Gandhi (1900-1957)

Father : Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822-1885)

Mother : Putlibai Gandhi (1839-1891)

Schooling : Primary School in Rajkot

Law Degree : From University College London (1888-1891)

In South Africa : As a Civil Rights Activist (1893-1914)

Indian Independence Struggle : 1915-1947

Political Party : Indian National Congress

Childhood, Early Life and Adolescent

Gandhiji was born on 2 nd October 1869 at Porbandar Gujarat in a Gujarati modh baniya family. He was the youngest of the four children of Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai. Though his father was the Diwan of Porbandar, Gandhi’s weren’t rich, yet they ate and lived well.

As a child Gandhi is known to a restless kid, who wouldn’t spare an opportunity to play or roam around. He wasn’t easy to be found at home and often was playing outside.

As Gandhiji aged he started manifesting his principles and values in the influence of his devotedly religious mother. As an adolescent Gandhiji avoided bad company and spend most of his time either playing with his kin or reading books.

Gandhiji’s elementary education up to matriculation was completed in a school at Rajkot. At school he was a shy student who didn’t interact much with other students. He was also average in studies and had no interest in sports and other activities. After school, he would directly rush to home to eat meal and play.

Gandhi enrolled for Higher Education in Samaldas College in January 1888, Bhavnagar but dropped out a session later as he couldn’t understand the lectures.

On the advice of a family friend Gandhiji made up his mind to pursue law at London. Initially facing resistance from his mother, Gandhiji somehow managed to convince her and set sail for London on 4 th October 1888.

He completed his law degree from the University College London, and return to India in 1891 at the age of 22.

His Principles, Practices, Religion and Beliefs

Truth and non-violence were the two fundamental principles of Gandhiji’s life and his philosophy. He was also deeply religious and a staunch Hindu, in his own words.

Gandhiji’s religious beliefs stem from his mother’s life and her everyday conduct. She would never ever take a meal before completing her ritualistic prayer. She was the one who introduced Gandhiji to one of Hindu’s revered epics – Bhagavad Gita.

He had said on many occasions that when in distress and confusion he refers to a relevant verse of Bhagavad Gita and instantly found relief. The influence of his religiously pious mother has helped Gandhiji to delve into religion and understand it.

His religious beliefs also marked the foundation of his philosophy of truth and non violence, which he started practicing as a civil rights activist in South Africa. Gandhiji was wise enough to realize that the opponents are formidable and an act of violence will be dealt with double blow, leading to fatal consequences.

Therefore, Gandhiji used non violent protests to fight against injustice. This way the enemy wouldn’t be offended and will gradually concede to the demands.

Three Years of His Life in London

While studying law in London, Gandhi was as shy as he was in India and usually would only limit himself to lectures. Understanding the fact that audacity is essential for his career as a lawyer, he joined public speaking group in London.

In London, Gandhi stuck to the promise he made to his mother and abstained from consuming liquor and consuming meat. During initial days he remained constantly hungry until he found a suitable vegetarian restaurant.

He joined London Vegetarian Society under the President ship of Arnold Hills. Gandhi also joined the Theosophical society and read Bhagavad Gita for the society.

Gandhi left London in June 1981 when he was called for the Bar in India.

His Struggle in South Africa

Circumstances that Gandhiji faced in South Africa played a critical role in setting the path for his struggle in South Africa as well as later in India and transforming him into the world leader as we see him today.

He was called to South Africa to work as a lawyer for an Indian merchant there. Upon his arrival he had hands on experience of the oppression faced by the Indian community there. He was thrown out of a train’s first class compartment despite having a valid ticket, just because he was an Indian. He could have stopped his South African journey then and there, but he rather chose to fight against the oppression. Gandhiji’s first non violent, non cooperation movement was in South Africa.

During his struggle in South Africa, Gandhi had limited himself towards fighting for the rights of Indian community there. He kept native black Africans initially out of his political agenda; though, later he went on to provide them medical aid during war with the British Empire.

His Struggle for Indian Independence/Indian Independence Movements

Gandhiji came back to India in 1915 and remained politically active until his assassination on 30 th January 1948. Gandhiji’s principles that he applied into the Independence Movement had already proven their mettle in South Africa.

His struggle for Civil Rights in Africa had made him a popular figure in India and Britain as well; therefore, he was readily accepted as a leader by Indian political clout and the masses.

Gandhi’s political conduct was quite different from other politicians. He wouldn’t spare any chance to criticize them for misuse of power or for other immoral acts. For him, morality came before to any political gain.

Role of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian National Movements for Independence

He spearheaded many movements and undergo fast unto death three times in his lifetime. A bulleted list of all the independence movements of Mahatma Gandhi is listed below.

• Champaran Satyagraha
• Kheda Agitation
• Khilafat Movement
• Non co-operation Movement
• Salt Satyagraha (Salt March)
• Quit India Movement
• Civil Disobedience
• Boycott Mission

His movements initially were against the oppressive policies of the British Empire. He rallied from villages to villages throughout the length and breadth of the country to understand the real condition of farmers and poor Indians. He wanted to know the exact effects of unjust taxation and other laws on the Indian marginalized sections.

His Followers and International Influence

Due to his huge mass appeal Gandhi was instantly recognized and respected in Indian political circles. He was at the centre stage of national politics and presided over all the meetings of Indian National Congress. Despite of being closely linked to Congress, his image was more like a nonpolitical social reformer. Some of the influential political followers of Mahatma Gandhi were – Pt. Nehru, J. B. Kriplani, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Jai Prakash Narayan, Maulana Abdul Kalam Ajad, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Kamla Devi Chattopadhyay, J. C. Kumarappa, Meera Ben, Mridula Sarabhai, and C Rajgopalachari).

Awards in His Life

No number of awards can equate Gandhiji’s contribution in the Indian freedom struggle. Awards are too small in comparison to his personality and leadership qualities. Some of the most acclaimed awards and honor received by Gandhiji are listed below-

• Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1930.
• Doctorate level academic degree in Law by the Nagpur University in 1937.
• In 2011 named by the Time magazine among the top 25 political icons of all times.
• Inducted into the vegetarian hall of fame by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1995.

Gandhi was also nominated for Nobel Peace Prize in 1948, but was assassinated before the name could be finalized.

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi was carried out by Nathuram Godse on 30 th January 1948 at Birla House, New Delhi.

Gandhi was heading for his evening prayer flanked by his female caretakers on both side and surrounded by followers. Evening prayers were a routine for Gandhiji and he would perform it in presence of hundreds of disciples.

But that evening the prayer was never delivered. While on his way to the dais Gandhi at around 5:17 P.M. Gandhi was stopped by Godse, who pretended to bend down for touching Gandhi’s feet. Gandhiji was a highly respected figure and he was accustomed to this respectful gesture.

One of the nieces of Gandhiji accompanying him is known to have told Nathuram – “Brother, Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) is getting late”. It was at the end of her sentence, that Nathuram pushed her away and pumped three bullets in chest of Mahatma Gandhi with his Beretta M1934 pistol. He was immediately apprehended by the policemen present there and taken into custody.

Gandhiji was taken to a bedroom in Birla House where he died 20 to 30 minutes later.

Mahatma Gandhi’s Legacy

Mahatma Gandhi had left an infinite legacy in terms of principles, methods and the values he professed. Thousands of streets in India and some even in foreign countries are named after him. Almost every city in India has at least one statue of Gandhiji at a road crossing or a public park. But, he can do without all his statues and the streets named after him; such big is the legacy of principles and morality that he left behind.

Speaking of the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, there are two of its main constituents – truth and non violence. No one else could have better explained truth and non violence, through his/her deeds as Gandhiji did it. His whole life was nothing but the application of these two basic foundation blocks of humanity.

He left behind a legacy that would inspire millions for ages to come and continue providing strength to the weak and suppressed.

Current Impact of Bapu in India and Abroad

Mahatma Gandhi is still a highly revered figure in India, yet not all of his principles are practiced either by the people or the political parties.

His policy of economic liberation through villages by making them self sustainable, was deserted in a rush to modernization. His principles of non violence became irrelevant over time with external threats and a need to safeguard the nation with larger military power.

Though, time to time his views on communal harmony and casteism are presented in order to promote peace and unity.

An image of Gandhiji also appears on currency notes of all the denominations. His birthday on 2 nd October is celebrated as a national holiday with much enthusiasm.

At least three temples in India are dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi – one at Sambalpur in Orissa, another in Chikmagalur in Karnataka and the third and last in Nalgonda District, Telangana.

Gandhiji is also a highly revered figure in South Africa and he is credited to spark the protests that finally culminated in the black’s right to vote.

There are also Gandhiji’s statues at prominent locations in Brazil, Spain and United Kingdom.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the greatest leader ever born in India or in the world. So great was his command over his countrymen that millions gathered in just a matter of hours on his one call. He knew the religions, cultures, people and the land of his country much better than any of his political counterparts. He was indeed an epitome of morality and always stuck to his principles of truth and non-violence, come what may. His teachings and principles have led us to freedom and still show us the way to live in harmony and be progressive. Gandhiji and his legacy will remain deeply engraved in Indian culture and into every Indian’s heart.

More about Mahatma Gandhi:

Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s Views on Environment and Its Protection

Life of Mahatma Gandhi from Childhood to Adolescent

How Mahatma Gandhi is Still Alive among us

Why Mahatma Gandhi was not Awarded Bharat Ratna or Nobel?

Struggle of mahatma gandhi in south africa.

For Students:

Gandhi Jayanti

Essay on Mahatma Gandhi’s Educational Philosophy

Gandhi Jayanti Essay

Essay on Gandhi Jayanti Celebration

Essay on Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi Jayanti Speech

Speech on Mahatma Gandhi

Famous Speeches by Mahatma Gandhi

Paragraph on Gandhi Jayanti

Paragraph on Mahatma Gandhi

Slogans on Gandhi Jayanti

Slogans on Mahatma Gandhi

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How mahatma gandhi is still alive among us, gandhi’s views on environment and its protection, gandhian philosophy.