Mahatma Gandhi: Life and Impact

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Gujarat, in western India.
• He attended the Inner Temple in London, where he studied law.
• In 1893, he moved to South Africa to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit.
• He lived in South Africa for 21 years.
• During this time, he campaigned for civil rights and nonviolent resistance.
• In 1915, he returned to India and soon led the Indian National Congress.
• Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving self-rule.
• He adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with Indias rural poor.
• Gandhi began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest.
• He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.
• In 1947, Britain granted independence to India and the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.
• Gandhi did not celebrate independence, instead visiting the affected areas to try to stop religious violence.
• In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to pressure India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.
• Gandhi died on January 30, 1948.

Test your knowledge about the life and impact of Mahatma Gandhi, from his early years in India to his leadership of the Indian National Congress and his role in India's independence movement. Learn about his campaigns for civil rights, nonviolent resistance, and his influence on Indian society.