Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Achievements

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the city of Porbandar in Gujarat, India.
• He trained as a lawyer and began his career in India, but was unable to make a significant impact in his field.
• In 1893, Gandhi moved to South Africa to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit.
• Gandhi began using nonviolent resistance to campaign for civil rights in South Africa.
• In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and soon assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress.
• Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving self-rule.
• Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a sign 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.
• 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 chose not to celebrate independence and visited the affected areas to try to alleviate the distress caused by the partition.
• In the months following, Gandhi undertook several hunger strikes to try to stop religious violence.
• The last of these, begun in Delhi on January 12, 1948, had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the city of Porbandar in Gujarat, India. He trained as a lawyer and began his career in India, but was unable to make a significant impact in his field. In 1893, Gandhi moved to South Africa to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. Gandhi began using nonviolent resistance to campaign for civil rights in South Africa. In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and soon assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a sign 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. 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 chose not to celebrate independence and visited the affected areas to try to alleviate the distress caused by the partition. In the months following, Gandhi undertook several hunger strikes to try to stop religious violence. The last of these, begun in Delhi on January 12, 1948, had

Test your knowledge about Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in India's struggle for independence, and his significant contributions to civil rights and nonviolent resistance.