Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869–1948)

Abstract

Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi was a foremost Indian nationalist and considered by many as the founder of modern non‐violent resistance. Born in Porbandar, Gujarat State in 1869, Gandhi was married to Kasturbai when he was 13 and she slightly younger, an experience that turned him into a bitter opponent of child marriage. Gandhi left for England in 1888 to study law, after which he went to South Africa in search of a job. In 1907, fighting against a Transvaal law imposing the compulsory registration and fingerprinting of Indians, Gandhi developed a unique non‐violent method of agitation known as satyagraha . This non‐violent form of protest involved the peaceful violation of specific laws, courting mass arrests, occasional hartals (a form of general strike or closing shops and markets), and spectacular rallies. The protest was followed by another satyagraha of Indian women and miners against the imposition of a poll tax, refusal to recognize Indian marriages, immigration regulations, and indentured labor. In 21 years in South Africa, Gandhi's ideas were formulated, inspired by Ruskin, Tolstoy, and Thoreau. Motivated by Ruskin, Gandhi lived an austere life in a commune, first in Phoenix Farm in Natal, and then in Tolstoy Farm just outside Johannesburg. During this period certain experiments involving diet, childrearing, nature cure, and his personal and professional life convinced Gandhi that a political leader must also be morally pure.