LIFE OF MAHATMA GANDHI
One of the greatest men in the history of India is unarguably Mahatma
Gandhi.
TIMELINE
:
October 2, 1869 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in
Porbandar, Gujarat (India).
1883 - A marriage is arranged between Gandhi and Kasturbai Makhanji.
1888 to 1891 - The young Gandhi studies law in London, where his relatively high level of religious asceticism, his vegetarianism, his sexual fidelity to his wife, and his overall refusal to conform to British norms earns him respect from some quarters and ridicule from others.
1893 to 1915 - Gandhi works as an attorney in South Africa, where the discrimination he faces at the hands of the apartheid-era white government wears down his patience, transforming him from a principled but gregarious and timid young man into an advocate for social justice. In 1914, the Indian civil rights movement in South Africa successfully abolishes the Indian poll tax and requires the South African government to accept Indian marriages. Gandhi, already known as "Mahatma," becomes the most visible Indian civil rights activist on Earth.
1916 - Gandhi returns to India, advocating for independence and civil rights.
1921 - Gandhi becomes de facto leader of the Indian National Congress, the primary organization advocating for independence. Though never officially serving as president of the organization, he unofficially leads the Indian independence movement for the rest of his life.
1922 to 1924 - Gandhi is imprisoned by the British government for "sedition."
1937 to 1939 - Gandhi is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, but never becomes a laureate, presumably because this would force the Nobel Committee to stand in opposition to the British government.
1942 to 1944 - Gandhi and his wife are imprisoned by the British colonial government for leading the "Quit India" movement. Gandhi's wife dies while he is in prison, and his own health eventually fails to the point where the British government is forced to release him.
January 30, 1948 - Gandhi is assassinated by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse.
1883 - A marriage is arranged between Gandhi and Kasturbai Makhanji.
1888 to 1891 - The young Gandhi studies law in London, where his relatively high level of religious asceticism, his vegetarianism, his sexual fidelity to his wife, and his overall refusal to conform to British norms earns him respect from some quarters and ridicule from others.
1893 to 1915 - Gandhi works as an attorney in South Africa, where the discrimination he faces at the hands of the apartheid-era white government wears down his patience, transforming him from a principled but gregarious and timid young man into an advocate for social justice. In 1914, the Indian civil rights movement in South Africa successfully abolishes the Indian poll tax and requires the South African government to accept Indian marriages. Gandhi, already known as "Mahatma," becomes the most visible Indian civil rights activist on Earth.
1916 - Gandhi returns to India, advocating for independence and civil rights.
1921 - Gandhi becomes de facto leader of the Indian National Congress, the primary organization advocating for independence. Though never officially serving as president of the organization, he unofficially leads the Indian independence movement for the rest of his life.
1922 to 1924 - Gandhi is imprisoned by the British government for "sedition."
1937 to 1939 - Gandhi is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, but never becomes a laureate, presumably because this would force the Nobel Committee to stand in opposition to the British government.
1942 to 1944 - Gandhi and his wife are imprisoned by the British colonial government for leading the "Quit India" movement. Gandhi's wife dies while he is in prison, and his own health eventually fails to the point where the British government is forced to release him.
January 30, 1948 - Gandhi is assassinated by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse.
Born: October 2, 1869, Porbandar
Assassinated: January 30, 1948
Children: Harilal Gandhi, Devdas Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi
Education: University College London, Alfred High School, Rajkot
Parents: Karamchand Gandhi, Putlibai Gandhi
a
coastal town on the Kathiawar
Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the British Indian
Empire. His father, Karamchand
Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the diwan (chief minister) of Porbander state. His mother, Putlibai, who was from
a Pranami Vaishnava family, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the
first three wives having apparently died in childbirth. In May 1883, the
13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji
In
1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only
a few days. Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had also died earlier that year
In
1888, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at University
College London, where he
studied Indian law and jurisprudence and trained as a barrister
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA (1893–1914) :
Gandhi
was 24 when he arrived in South Africa to work as a legal representative for
the Muslim Indian Traders based in the city of Pretoria. He spent 21
years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and
political leadership skills. Guha argues that when he returned to India in 1914.
GANDHI
IN SOUTH AFRICA (1895) :
Indians in South Africa In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all
coloured people. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from
the first-class. He protested and was allowed on first class the next day.
Travelling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to
move to make room for a European passenger. He suffered other hardships on the
journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another
incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do. These events were a turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in society and his people's standing in the British Empire.
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT :
In early 1920 the Indian Muslims started
an agitation to bring pressure on the Brits to change her policy towards
Turkey. This is known as the Khilafat (K) Movement, received enormous strength
because of Gandhi’s support. Said
he to the Muslims, “Arise, awake or forever be fallen. If the Hindus wish
to cultivate eternal friendship of the Muslims, they must perish with them in
the attempt to vindicate the honor of Islam”. He felt that the Muslims demand
was justified and he was bound to secure the due fulfillment of the pledge the
British PM had given to the Indian Muslims during the war.
Thus Gandhi had
equated the Khilafat movement with India’s freedom movement. It was not suprising that Gandhi was elected president of the All India
Khilafat Conference on 24/11/1919. The Conference asked the Muslims to hold
threats of boycott and non-cooperation if the Brits did not resolve the Turkish
problem to their satisfaction.
The release of
the Ali brothers towards the end of December 1919 gave a great fillip to the K
movement. Gandhi had a soft corner for them and they took full advantage of it.
Swami Shraddananda narrates one such incident at the Khilafat Conference at Nagpur.
Since the Viceroy
did not respond favorably to their requests, Gandhi issued a Manifesto on March
10 outlining his course of action if their demands were not met. The Manifesto
is important as it contains the first elaboration of Gandhi’s Non-violent
non-cooperation movement. “The power that an individual or a nation forsaking
violence can generate is a power that is irresistible, non-cooperation is
therefore the only remedy available to us. England cannot expect a meek
submission by us to an unjust usurpation of rights which to Muslims is a matter
of life and death”. Lofty, idealistic
sentiments no doubt, but is not pertinent to ask whether
England’s treatment of Turkey was a greater humiliation to Indian than
England’s treatment of India during the last 150 years and even the recent
atrocities in Punjab (Jallianwala Bagh massacre).
NON CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT :
One of the first series of non violent protests nationwide was the non cooperation movement started by Mahatma Gandhi. This movement officially started the Gandhian era in India. In this freedom struggle, the non cooperation movement was basically aimed at making the Indians aware of the fact that the British government can be opposed and if done actively, it will keep a check on them. Thus, educational institutions were boycotted, foreign goods were boycotted, and people let go off their nominated seats in government institutions. Though the movement failed, Indians awakened to the concept of going against the British.
One of the first series of non violent protests nationwide was the non cooperation movement started by Mahatma Gandhi. This movement officially started the Gandhian era in India. In this freedom struggle, the non cooperation movement was basically aimed at making the Indians aware of the fact that the British government can be opposed and if done actively, it will keep a check on them. Thus, educational institutions were boycotted, foreign goods were boycotted, and people let go off their nominated seats in government institutions. Though the movement failed, Indians awakened to the concept of going against the British.
SALT MARCH (1930) :
On March 12, 1930, Gandhi set out from his ashram, or religious retreat,
at Sabermanti near Ahmedabad with several dozen followers on a trek of some 240
miles to the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. There, Gandhi and his
supporters were to defy British policy by making salt from seawater. All along
the way, Gandhi addressed large crowds, and with each passing day an increasing
number of people joined the salt satyagraha. By the time they reached Dandi on
April 5, Gandhi was at the head of a crowd of tens of thousands. He spoke and
led prayers and early the next morning walked down to the sea to make salt.
He had planned to work the salt flats on the beach,
encrusted with crystallized sea salt at every high tide, but the police had
forestalled him by crushing the salt deposits into the mud. Nevertheless,
Gandhi reached down and picked up a small lump of natural salt out of the
mud--and British law had been defied. At Dandi, thousands more followed his
lead, and in the coastal cities of Bombay (now called Mumbai) and Karachi,
Indian nationalists led crowds of citizens in making salt. Civil disobedience
broke out all across India, soon involving millions of Indians, and British
authorities arrested more than 60,000 people. Gandhi himself was arrested on
May 5, but the satyagraha continued without him.
On May 21, the poet Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) led 2,500
marchers on the Dharasana Salt Works, some 150 miles north of Bombay. Several
hundred British-led Indian policemen met them and viciously beat the peaceful
demonstrators. The incident, recorded by American journalist Webb Miller,
prompted an international outcry against British policy in India.
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT :
The Quit India Movement was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942. The main aim for launching this movement was to bring the British to negotiate with the Indian leaders. It was a call for immediate independence of India and the slogan of "Do or Die" was adopted for the same. However the leaders were arrested soon after Gandhi's speech and were put in jail by British officials. Gandhi went on a fast for 21 days demanding the release of the leaders despite his failing health. The British had to secure the release of the leaders.
The Quit India Movement was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942. The main aim for launching this movement was to bring the British to negotiate with the Indian leaders. It was a call for immediate independence of India and the slogan of "Do or Die" was adopted for the same. However the leaders were arrested soon after Gandhi's speech and were put in jail by British officials. Gandhi went on a fast for 21 days demanding the release of the leaders despite his failing health. The British had to secure the release of the leaders.
REORGANIZATION OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS :
When the Indian National Congress was reorganized in 1916,
Gandhi represented a new generation of reformers. The father of the radical
Indian independence movement, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, had just defeated a moderate
faction for control of the INC. And Gandhi, fresh on the heels of his Indian
civil rights work in South Africa and his efforts at organizing laborers in
Champaran, became the new face of a new movement. When he wasn't in prison, Gandhi
was the unofficial leader of the INC--and with it, the independence
movement--from 1916 until his own death in 1948.
ASSASSINATION OF GANDHI :
the history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity.
By mahatma gandhi