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Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in Indian state of Gujarat.
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Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma meaning Great-Souled One. He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa, in the early 1900s. Following World War I he became the most famous figure in India's struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Gandhi was jailed several times during his non-cooperation campaign, and led dozens of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India's poorest classes, British rule in India, and violence between Hindus and Muslims.
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Karamchand Gandhi’s father was the chief minister of Porbandar and a member of the Rajasthanik Court. He married four times, his fourth wife, Gandhi’s mother Putlibai was a devoted practitioner of worship of the Hindu god Vishnu. She was influenced by Jainism, a strict religion governed by tenets of self-discipline and nonviolence. When Gandhi was 12 his mother died then 4 years later his father died.
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At the age of 19, Mohandas left India to go to law school in London at one of the city's four law colleges. After returning to India in 1891, he set up a business in Bombay, but it ultimately failed. He later accepted a position in South Africa. Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for nearly 20 years.
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In late 1891, Gandhi accepted a job offer in South Africa. They packed and then Gandhi, Kasturbai, and his children moved to South Africa.
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Gandhi was shocked by the discrimination he experienced because he was an Indian. On a train ride he was thrown out of a first class room and beaten up by a 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 the passive resistance movement.
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In 1906 the African government passed a law regarding the registration of its Indian population, in response to it Gandhi led a passive resistance movement that would last for the next eight years. In 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South Africa were jailed, beat up, and even shot. The British and Indian governments forced the South Africa’s government to accept a negotiation by Gandhi and General Smuts, which included the recognition of Indian marriages and the nullification of the poll tax
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In July 1914, Gandhi returned to India.
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In 1919, Gandhi launched a campaign of passive resistance in response to Parliament's passage of the Rowlatt Acts (which gave authorities power to suppress illegal activities). He backed off after the massacre, in which British soldiers killed 400 Indians at a meeting in Amritsar. By 1920 he was the most famous figure in the movement for Indian independence.
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After violence started to spread, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance movement. British authorities arrested Gandhi in March 1922. He was sentenced to six years in prison but was released in 1924.
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“The Salt March”, which took place in March 1930 in India, was an act of disobedience against Britain. The Salt March was led by Mohandas Gandhi to protest British rule in India and Britain’s Salt Acts. On March 12, 1930, Gandhi set out from his religious retreat with several dozen followers. During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi for 240 miles, from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast.
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In January 1931, Gandhi was released from prison. After the Salt March, more people began to join Gandhi’s movement. In August 1931, Gandhi traveled to the conference as the only representative for India in the Indian National Congress. The meeting was a disappointment, nothing was solved, but British leaders had acknowledged they could not ignore Gandhi.
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In 1944, Indian independence seemed close. Unfortunately, huge disagreements between Hindus and Muslims had come to the surface, since the majority of Indians were Hindu; the Muslims feared not having any political power if there was an independent India.
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In 1947, Britain granted India its independence but split the country into two dominions: India and Pakistan.
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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.
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A year after the Partition, A Hindu man named Nathuram Godse shot Gandhi killing him while he was on his way to a prayer meeting along with two of his grandnieces. Despite being silenced by death, Gandhi’s peaceful stance for equality continues to inspire people around the world.
