Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Achievements

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Gujarat, India.
• He trained as a lawyer and began practicing in India in 1891 but was unsuccessful.
• In 1915, he moved to South Africa to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit.
• Gandhi became the leader 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 self-rule.
• Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with Indias rural poor.
• He 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.
• Gandhi 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 visited the affected areas following independence and attempted to alleviate distress.
• Gandhi fasted for 18 days in January 1948 to pressure India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.
• Gandhi died on January 30, 1948.

Test your knowledge of Mahatma Gandhi's life, from his early struggles as a lawyer to becoming a leader of the Indian National Congress and his role in India's independence movement. Learn about his advocacy for social reforms, his unique lifestyle, and his impact on India's history.