Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was a political and spiritual leader who played a key role in India’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule. Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, a coastal town in present-day Gujarat, India, Gandhi was the son of a local chief minister and grew up in a middle-class family.
Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to work as a lawyer. In 1915, he became involved in India’s nationalist movement, and by the early 1920s, he had become the leader of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, or satyagraha, became the hallmark of the Indian independence movement.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Gandhi led a series of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns against British rule. He organized boycotts of British goods and institutions, led mass demonstrations and strikes, and engaged in hunger strikes to protest British policies. He was imprisoned several times, but his protests ultimately helped to force the British government to negotiate India’s independence.
After India gained independence in 1947, Gandhi worked to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and to end the violence that had erupted during the partition of India. However, his efforts were cut short when he was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist on January 30, 1948.
Gandhi’s legacy as a leader and a thinker has had a lasting impact on India and the world. His philosophy of nonviolence and his advocacy for human rights and social justice have inspired countless movements for change, including the civil rights movement in the United States. Gandhi’s teachings on self-discipline, self-reliance, and the power of truth have influenced people from all walks of life and continue to be studied and admired today.
