Test Your Knowledge of Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Legacy

The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian nationalist leader and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule.
He was born into a Gujarati Hindu Modh Bania family in Porbandar, a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the British Raj.
Gandhi trained in the law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891.
After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, he moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit.
It was in South Africa that Gandhi first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights.
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 led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule.
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.
Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942.
Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India.
In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist from Pune, western India, who fired three bullets into his chest at an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948.Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Activism in South Africa
In 1893, Gandhi was hired as a lawyer for a distant cousin of a Muslim merchant in South Africa, where he faced discrimination and began to question his people's standing in the British Empire.
Gandhi protested against discriminatory practices, such as being forced to sit on the floor of a stagecoach and kicked off a train for refusing to leave the first-class.
He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 and led a group of Indian stretcher-bearers during the Boer War.
Gandhi focused on Indians and Africans in South Africa and initially did not show interest in politics until he was discriminated against and bullied.
Gandhi's views on racism are contentious, as he was once willing to be part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation, but later served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism.
Gandhi established Tolstoy Farm in 1910, where he nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance.
In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress, where he escalated demands for independence until it was declared in 1930.
Tensions with the British escalated, and Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942, resulting in his imprisonment.
The Muslim League co-operated with Britain and moved towards demands for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan, which Gandhi opposed.
Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants during World War I, bringing into question his consistency on nonviolence.
Gandhi's major achievements in India include the Champaran agitation in Bihar and the Kheda agitations, where he used non-co-operation as a technique for winning concessions from the authorities.
In 1919, Gandhi supported the Ottoman Empire in his fight against British imperialism, leading to the Khilafat movement, which initially led to strong Muslim support for Gandhi but also drew criticism from Hindu leaders.Gandhi's Leadership and Activism in India
Gandhi's joint Rowlatt satyagraha demonstration rallies showcased inter-communal harmony and raised his stature as a political leader to the British.
His support for the Khilafat movement helped him sideline Muhammad Ali Jinnah and gain Muslim support, but their disagreement on means of achieving independence led to communal conflicts.
Gandhi's non-cooperation movement aimed at crippling the British India government economically, politically, and administratively, and included the boycott of foreign-made goods and the wearing of khadi.
The Salt Satyagraha campaign was one of Gandhi's most successful at upsetting British hold on India, resulting in his arrest and imprisonment, along with over 60,000 others.
Gandhi's ideas, including winning "hate with love," resonated deeply with Indian culture and historic values, making him a folk hero in Telugu speaking villages.
Negotiations between Gandhi and the British government led to the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, in which the government agreed to free political prisoners, but the Round Table Conferences were a disappointment.
Churchill became a prominent critic of Gandhi and opponent of his long-term plans, attempting to isolate him and increase support for the British empire.
During the Round Table Conferences, Gandhi sought constitutional reforms as a preparation for self-rule by Indians, opposing a constitution that enshrined rights or representation based on communal divisions.
After returning from the Second Round Table conference, Gandhi started a new satyagraha and was imprisoned, leading to the Communal Award and the Poona Pact.
Gandhi's resignation from Congress party membership in 1934 was due to his belief in the importance of individual conscience and his desire to focus on social reform.
Gandhi's leadership and activism were characterized by his emphasis on non-violent civil disobedience, his promotion of Indian self-sufficiency and cultural values, and his commitment to social justice and equality.
Gandhi's legacy continues to inspire movements for non-violent social change worldwide, and his ideas and methods remain influential in fields such as civil rights, anti-colonialism, and peacebuilding.The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent Indian nationalist leader who advocated for nonviolent civil disobedience to achieve independence from British rule.
He was born in 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, and grew up in a Hindu and Jain religious atmosphere that influenced his principles and beliefs.
Gandhi studied law in London and practiced law in South Africa, where he became involved in political activism and developed his philosophy of satyagraha.
Satyagraha is a nonviolent resistance movement that advocates for truth and moral force to achieve social and political change.
Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and became the leader of the Indian National Congress, advocating for Indian independence from British rule.
His political views and leadership style were diverse, including communists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business convictions.
Gandhi opposed Indian participation in World War II, campaigned for the Quit India movement, and was arrested along with other Congress leaders.
Despite his opposition to violence, some nationalists carried out violent attacks against the British government during the Quit India movement.
Gandhi opposed the partition of India along religious lines, which led to the creation of Pakistan, and was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist.
His death was mourned nationwide, and he is remembered for his principles of nonviolence, truth, and moral force, which influenced civil rights movements around the world.
Gandhi's legacy continues to be debated and analyzed by scholars and political leaders, who examine his principles, practices, and beliefs.
Gandhi's ashes were scattered in various locations, and memorials and museums have been established in his honor, including the Gandhi Smriti in Delhi and the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.
Gandhi's life and legacy continue to inspire people around the world to advocate for social and political change through nonviolent means.

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