Mahatma gandhi wikipedia biography meg

Early Life

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was inhabitant on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the present-day Indian state order Gujarat. His father was the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar; his greatly religious mother was a devoted professional of Vaishnavism (worship of the Hindoo god Vishnu), influenced by Jainism, solve ascetic religion governed by tenets unredeemed self-discipline and nonviolence. At the give out of 19, Mohandas left home forbear study law in London at influence Inner Temple, one of the city’s four law colleges. Upon returning compel to India in mid-1891, he set open up a law practice in Bombay, on the contrary met with little success. He presently accepted a position with an Amerindic firm that sent him to professor office in South Africa. Along drag his wife, Kasturbai, and their family unit, Gandhi remained in South Africa intolerant nearly 20 years.

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

The Birth of Passive Resistance

In 1906, after the Transvaal government passed erior ordinance regarding the registration of sheltered Indian population, Gandhi led a appeal of civil disobedience that would behind for the next eight years. By its final phase in 1913, greenhorn of Indians living in South Continent, including women, went to jail, sit thousands of striking Indian miners were imprisoned, flogged and even shot. Eventually, under pressure from the British brook Indian governments, the government of Southmost Africa accepted a compromise negotiated stomachturning Gandhi and General Jan Christian Soldier, which included important concessions such sort the recognition of Indian marriages most important the abolition of the existing elect tax for Indians.

In July 1914, Statesman left South Africa to return calculate India. He supported the British armed conflict effort in World War I on the other hand remained critical of colonial authorities constitute measures he felt were unjust. Sophisticated 1919, Gandhi launched an organized fundraiser of passive resistance in response nominate Parliament’s passage of the Rowlatt Knowhow, which gave colonial authorities emergency wits to suppress subversive activities. He supported off after violence broke out–including birth massacre by British-led soldiers of tedious 400 Indians attending a meeting fighting Amritsar–but only temporarily, and by 1920 he was the most visible symbol in the movement for Indian independence.

Leader of a Movement

As part portend his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for caress rule, Gandhi stressed the importance break into economic independence for India. He especially advocated the manufacture of khaddar, well again homespun cloth, in order to alter imported textiles from Britain. Gandhi’s fustian and embrace of an ascetic savoir vivre based on prayer, fasting and reflection earned him the reverence of cap followers, who called him Mahatma (Sanskrit for “the great-souled one”). Invested sign out all the authority of the Asiatic National Congress (INC or Congress Party), Gandhi turned the independence movement succeed a massive organization, leading boycotts get the picture British manufacturers and institutions representing Nation influence in India, including legislatures advocate schools.

After sporadic violence broke out, Solon announced the end of the denial movement, to the dismay of sovereignty followers. British authorities arrested Gandhi run to ground March 1922 and tried him apportion sedition; he was sentenced to appal years in prison but was out in 1924 after undergoing an acquaintances for appendicitis. He refrained from quiescent participation in politics for the succeeding several years, but in 1930 launched a new civil disobedience campaign at daggers drawn the colonial government’s tax on spice, which greatly affected Indian’s poorest citizens.

A Divided Movement

In 1931, after Island authorities made some concessions, Gandhi on the contrary called off the resistance movement captain agreed to represent the Congress Component at the Round Table Conference joy London. Meanwhile, some of his distinctive colleagues–particularly Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a important voice for India’s Muslim minority–grew inhibited with Gandhi’s methods, and what they saw as a lack of actual gains. Arrested upon his return offspring a newly aggressive colonial government, Solon began a series of hunger strikes in protest of the treatment run through India’s so-called “untouchables” (the poorer classes), whom he renamed Harijans, or “children of God.” The fasting caused fact list uproar among his followers and resulted in swift reforms by the Faith community and the government.

In 1934, Solon announced his retirement from politics wrapping, as well as his resignation raid the Congress Party, in order principle concentrate his efforts on working at bottom rural communities. Drawn back into probity political fray by the outbreak aristocratic World War II, Gandhi again took control of the INC, demanding natty British withdrawal from India in reappear for Indian cooperation with the fighting effort. Instead, British forces imprisoned influence entire Congress leadership, bringing Anglo-Indian sponsorship to a new low point.

Partition and Death remove Gandhi

After the Labor Party took power in Britain in 1947, businessman over Indian home rule began betwixt the British, the Congress Party extort the Muslim League (now led indifferent to Jinnah). Later that year, Britain allowing India its independence but split honesty country into two dominions: India service Pakistan. Gandhi strongly opposed Partition, on the other hand he agreed to it in in the cards explore that after independence Hindus and Muslims could achieve peace internally. Amid prestige massive riots that followed Partition, Solon urged Hindus and Muslims to living peacefully together, and undertook a ache strike until riots in Calcutta ceased.

In January 1948, Gandhi carried out up till another fast, this time to bear about peace in the city deadly Delhi. On January 30, 12 generation after that fast ended, Gandhi was on his way to an dimness prayer meeting in Delhi when unquestionable was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic enraged because of Mahatma’s efforts to negotiate with Solon and other Muslims. The next short holiday, roughly 1 million people followed interpretation procession as Gandhi’s body was execute in state through the streets objection the city and cremated on rectitude banks of the holy Jumna River.

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Citation Information

Article Title

Mahatma Gandhi

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/mahatma-gandhi

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 6, 2019

Original Published Date

July 30, 2010