Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 2 October 1869 Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal

Gujarat, western India, Gandhi was trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and called to the
bar at age 22 in June 1891. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a
successful law practice, he moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a
lawsuit. He went on to stay for 21 years. It was in South Africa that Gandhi raised a family, and
first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned
to India. He set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against
excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in
1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building
religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and above all for achieving Swaraj or self-
rule.[9]

Gandhi was a freedom fighter who became the leader of our nationalism under British rule. He is
being called ‘Mahatma’ due to his great works. He was a great freedom fighter and a non-violent
activist who followed the path of non-violence and truth as his tools against British rule.
Mahatma Gandhi was profoundly influenced by the life of the ‘King Harishchandra’.

He always followed the path of non-violence, truth, and peace. He also guided his fellow citizens
to follow Ahimsa(non-violence). Satya(truth) and Shanti(peace). He adopted the idea of
Satyagraha for the Indian Independence Movements. He proved that non-violence is the most
powerful sword.

His father Karamchand was a noble and a pious man. He was the Chief-Dewan of the State of
Rajput. His mother Putlibai was a straightforward and religious lady. Gandhiji was greatly
influenced by his mother. Gandhiji married to Kasturba in 1883. When he was 18 years old, he
completed his matriculation exam and went to England to study Barrister in Law.

At the age of 24, Gandhi went to British Colony, South Africa to practice law. He spent his one
years there from 1893 till 1914. As a lawyer, he was mainly employed by the Indians. While he
was practicing there, he saw that the Indians are getting discriminated for their complexion. He
got insulted so many times, but he continued his struggle. Once, he was disallowed to travel in
the first-class and was thrown out of the train. He was moved by the poor condition of Indians
and thus decided to fight against injustice. He fought for the civil rights and privileges of Indians.
He also taught people to fight for their rights and that too through non-violence. Thus, he
decided to become a political activist.

Gandhi returned to India in 1915. After his arrival, he helped people in their problems and started
a powerful yet non-violent movement against the misrule of the Britishers. Later, he joined
Indian National Congress as a member and soon became the president. His moves brought
spirituality in Indian politics. He worked for the removal of social problems like untouchability,
upliftment of the backward society and also raised voice to develop villages.

Gandhi Ji inspired people to make use of Swadeshi goods. He also emphasizes on manual labor
and motivated his people for being self-reliant for cotton and related goods. He started waving
cotton clothes using Charkha.

Gandhi also received widespread participation of women in freedom movements.Gandhi Jayanti

is celebrated every year to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This is the day we all
remember him for his great deeds. This day has been declared as a National holiday by the
government of India. The day is known as the International Day of non-violence and celebrated
all around the world with great enthusiasm.

One of the greatest and the most successful movements led by Gandhiji was the Champaran
Movement.When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India, he came to know about the problems,
peasants were facing. Champaran is a small district situated in Northern Bihar. Here, the
peasants were forced to grow indigo on their smaller pieces if land even if it was not possible to
do so. In fact, the peasants were bearing huge losses by cultivating indigo on their fertile lands.

Gandhi also led the struggle for the poor peasants to increase in their wages and got success in it
as well. There was an increase of 35% in their wages after the moveGandhi is an inspiration to so
many Indians. He launched various movements against British rule.

It was proved to be an excellent weapon against British people. It included non-violent protests
against Brtish goods & services and inspiring our countrymen to put all their emphasis on using
Swadeshi goods.Satyagraha or Salt Satyagraha was a protest against the tax regime by the
Britishers. Gandhi produced salt at Dandi without paying any tax.
His Civil Disobedience Movement was also supported by millions of people.Under this
movement, Quit India slogans were launched to force Britishers to leave India. It has been
considered as the most powerful movement by Mahatma Gandhi. Who can forget Gandhi’s
famous slogan “Do or die’ and that too was comprised during this campaign.All of these
movements by Gandhi shocked the British rule so badly and inspired common citizens to come
forward and encouraged them to fight for their rights.

However, Gandhi also got arrested and jailed so many times, but he continued his struggle
against injustice. All his initiatives brought people together to participate in the National
movements,Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by the Hindu activist ‘Nathuram Godse’ on 30th
January 1948, and since 1948 this day has been named as “Martyr of the Nation” by
Rabindranath Tagore.

Conclusion
Mahatma Gandhi was a practical leader of his compatriot. He was always an outstanding
personality. He inspired millions of people through his work and became a legacy of greatness,
idealness, and noble life. He has been playing a great and unforgettable role. Being a non-violent
personality, he always followed the path of Satyagraha. He was very successful in eradicating
untouchability and worked hard for the distressed section of the society. He also generated mass
employment through charkha.