Who was Mahatma Gandhi?
Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of India's independence movement against British rule. He used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, inspiring civil rights movements around the world.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, India. He studied law in London and then worked in South Africa for about 21 years, where he experienced racial discrimination and developed his method of nonviolent resistance, called satyagraha, meaning truth force.
Returning to India in 1915, Gandhi led campaigns against British rule. In 1930, he led the Salt March, walking about 390 kilometers to the sea to make salt in protest against a British tax. He promoted simple living, spinning his own cloth, and called for unity between Hindus and Muslims. Mahatma, meaning great soul, was an honorary title.
Independence and death
India gained independence in August 1947, but it was partitioned into India and Pakistan, amid terrible violence. Gandhi worked to stop the fighting. On January 30, 1948, he was assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu nationalist. His birthday, October 2, is the International Day of Non-Violence.
Did You Know?
Martin Luther King Jr. called Gandhi's nonviolent methods the guiding light of his own approach to the civil rights movement.