Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian Independence Movement

Study Notes

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Gujarat, India
He trained as a lawyer and moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit
Gandhi began to employ nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights in South Africa
In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination
Gandhi assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921 and led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving swaraj or self-rule
Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with Indias rural poor
In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the 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 a leader in the struggle for Indian independence from British rule. He began to employ nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights in South Africa. After returning to India, he assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress and led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving swaraj or self-rule. His efforts were met with resistance from Muslim nationalists who demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India. In 1948, British India was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. Gandhi did not participate in the official celebration of independence, but he did visit the affected areas to try and alleviate distress. He undertook several hunger strikes in an effort to stop religious violence. Mahatma Gandhi passed away on January 30, 1948.