Mahatma Gandhi's Life and Legacy

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the town of Porbandar in Gujarat, India.
• Gandhi trained as a lawyer and began practicing in India in 1891 but was unsuccessful.
• In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and began leading campaigns for civil rights and freedom.
• Gandhi was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.
• 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 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 after the independence, attempting to alleviate distress.
• Gandhi undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these, begun in Delhi on January 12, 1948, also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.
• Mahatma Gandhi died on January 30, 1948.

Test your knowledge about the life of Mahatma Gandhi, his struggles for Indian independence, and his efforts to promote peace and religious harmony.