Mahatma Gandhi
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Mahātmā

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

2 October 1869

Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British-ruled India

Died 30 January 1948 (aged 78)

New Delhi, India

Cause of death Assassination

Monuments Raj Ghat, 

 Gandhi Smriti

Nationality Indian

Other names Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu ji, Gandhi ji

Education Bachelor of Laws

Alma mater University College London[1]

Inner Temple

Lawyer
Occupation
Politician

Activist

Writer

Years active 1893–1948

Era British Raj

Known for Indian Independence Movement,

Nonviolent resistance

Notable work The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Office President of the Indian National Congress

Term 1924–1925

Political party Indian National Congress

Movement Indian independence movement

Kasturba Gandhi
Spouse(s) (m. 1883; died 1944)

Children Harilal

Manilal

Ramdas

Devdas

Parents Karamchand Gandhi (father)

Putlibai Gandhi (mother)

Signature
 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (/ˈɡɑːndi, ˈɡændi/;[2] 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an
Indian lawyer,[3] anti-colonial nationalist,[4] and political ethicist,[5] who employed nonviolent
resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule,[6] and in turn
inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā(Sanskrit:
"high-souled", "venerable"),[7] first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa,[8] is now used throughout the
world.
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, at age 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]
Also in 1921, at age nearly 51, Gandhi adopted the Indian loincloth, or short dhoti and, in the winter,
a shawl, both woven with yarn hand-spun on a traditional Indian spinning wheel, or charkha, as a
mark of identification with India's rural poor. Thereafter, he lived modestly in a self-sufficient
residential community, ate simple vegetarian food, and undertook long fasts as a means of self-
purification and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi
led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in
1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years,
upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India.
Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early
1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out
of India.[10] In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian
Empire[10] was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
[11]
 As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious
violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official celebration of
independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the
months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to stop religious violence. The last of these,
undertaken on 12 January 1948 when he was 78,[12] also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to
pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.[12] Some Indians thought Gandhi was too
accommodating.[12][13] Among them was Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, who assassinated
Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest.[13]
Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and
worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is commonly, though not formally
considered the Father of the Nation in India.[14][15] Gandhi is also called Bapu[16] (Gujarati: endearment
for father,[17] papa[17][18]).

Contents

 1Biography
 o 1.1Early life and background
o 1.2Three years in London
o 1.3Civil rights activist in South Africa (1893–1914)
o 1.4Struggle for Indian independence (1915–1947)
o 1.5Assassination
 2Principles, practices and beliefs
o 2.1Influences
o 2.2On wars and nonviolence
o 2.3On inter-religious relations
o 2.4On life, society and other application of his ideas
 3Literary works
 4Legacy and depictions in popular culture
o 4.1Followers and international influence
o 4.2Global days that celebrate Gandhi
o 4.3Awards
o 4.4Film, theatre and literature
o 4.5Current impact within India
o 4.6Descendants
 5See also
 6References
 7Bibliography
o 7.1Books
o 7.2Primary sources
 8External links