Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Legacy

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in the coastal Gujarat region of western India
• He was educated at the Inner Temple in London, and became a lawyer at the age of 22
• After two years in India, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893, where he represented an Indian merchant in a lawsuit
• In 1915, aged 45, Gandhi returned to India and soon became the leader of the Indian National Congress
• Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving swaraj or self-rule
• In the months following independence in 1947, Gandhi undertook several hunger strikes to stop religious violence
• In 1948, aged 78, Gandhi embarked on his last hunger strike, also aimed at pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in the coastal Gujarat region of western India. He was educated at the Inner Temple in London, and became a lawyer at the age of 22. After two years in India, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893, where he represented an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. In 1915, aged 45, Gandhi returned to India and soon became the leader of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding womens rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving swaraj or self-rule. In the months following independence in 1947, Gandhi undertook several hunger strikes to stop religious violence. In 1948, aged 78, Gandhi embarked on his last hunger strike, also aimed at pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.