Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, political thinker and anti-colonial leader whose philosophy of non-violent resistance reshaped the Indian independence movement and influenced struggles for civil rights across the world. Revered by many as Mahātmā, meaning “great-souled” or “venerable”, Gandhi became a global symbol of moral courage and mass political mobilisation. Born in Gujarat in 1869, he trained in law in London and later developed his socio-political ideas during two decades in South Africa before returning to India, where he led nationwide campaigns against colonial rule, social discrimination and economic injustice. His advocacy of swarāj (self-rule), religious pluralism and non-violence formed a central part of India’s freedom struggle until his assassination in 1948.

Early Life, Family Background and Education

Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula, then part of a small princely state under the British Raj. He was the youngest of four children born to Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi, a capable administrator who served as the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar and later of Rajkot, and Putlibai, a devout woman from a Pranami Vaishnava family. The household’s religious outlook was broad and eclectic, blending Hindu devotional traditions with influences from varied scriptural sources.
Gandhi grew up within the Modh Bania community of traders, a group belonging to the Vaishya varna. His mother’s intense piety, discipline and frequent observances of vows left a profound impression on him from childhood. Stories from Indian classics—particularly the accounts of Shravana Kumara and King Harishchandra—shaped his early understanding of truth, sacrifice and moral duty.
In 1876 the family moved to Rajkot after Karamchand was appointed dewan there. Gandhi attended local schools, studying arithmetic, geography, Gujarati and basic history. By temperament he was shy, serious and introspective, more drawn to books than to games or social activities. At eleven he entered Alfred High School in Rajkot, where he performed adequately though without distinction.

Marriage and Personal Formation

In May 1883, at the age of thirteen, Gandhi was married in an arranged union to Kasturba (Ba), who was fourteen. The wedding was a joint ceremony shared with other family members, reflecting the customary practice of collective marriages. The young couple spent long periods apart, with Kasturba often residing at her parental home As Gandhi later wrote, he initially understood marriage chiefly in terms of companionship, new attire and family celebrations. His early recollections also reveal the emotional intensity of adolescent marriage in nineteenth-century western India, including the jealousy and possessiveness he later regretted.
Two major bereavements shaped his youth. Gandhi’s father died in 1885, shortly after Gandhi had briefly left his bedside to visit Kasturba, a moment he later recalled with lasting sorrow. Their first child died soon after birth, adding to the family’s grief. Four sons—Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas—were born in the following years.
Although Gandhi enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar in 1888, he soon found the curriculum unsuited to him and returned home. His informal education during these years was enriched by reading Gujarati writers such as Narmad and Govardhanram Tripathi, whose reformist ideas broadened his understanding of society and public life.

Legal Training and Experiences in South Africa

In late 1888 Gandhi travelled to London to study law at the Inner Temple, where he trained for the bar. Despite early difficulties adjusting to dietary and cultural expectations, he completed his legal studies and qualified at the age of twenty-two. Returning to India in 1891, he struggled to establish himself professionally and accepted an offer to represent an Indian merchant in South Africa in 1893.
Gandhi’s twenty-one years in South Africa were formative. Facing racial discrimination firsthand, he organised the local Indian community, founded political associations and pioneered non-violent resistance as a method for securing civil rights. During these years he developed the principles that would later form the basis of his political campaigns in India: truthfulness, self-discipline, communal harmony and non-cooperation with injustice.

Leadership of the Indian Freedom Struggle

Gandhi returned to India in 1915 as a respected figure within overseas Indian communities. He soon began mobilising farmers, labourers and marginalised groups against oppressive taxation and discriminatory policies. His actions in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad demonstrated the effectiveness of peaceful mass activism and propelled him to national prominence.
As leader of the Indian National Congress from 1921, Gandhi launched major movements aimed at:

• alleviating rural poverty,
• expanding women’s participation in public life,
• promoting interfaith and inter-caste harmony,
• opposing untouchability, and
• asserting India’s right to self-rule.

Central to his political programme was the principle of satyagraha—a disciplined form of non-violent protest based on truth and moral steadfastness. Gandhi adopted a distinctive public lifestyle to embody his ideals: wearing a simple hand-spun dhoti, living in the Sabarmati Ashram, and undertaking fasts as a method of ethical reflection and social persuasion.
Two mass movements marked turning points in the struggle: the Salt March of 1930, a dramatic act of civil disobedience against the colonial salt tax, and the Quit India Movement of 1942, which demanded an end to British rule. Gandhi was repeatedly imprisoned for long periods during these campaigns.

Partition, Final Years and Assassination

Gandhi’s vision of an independent India was grounded in religious pluralism and mutual respect between communities. During the 1940s, however, rising communal tensions and the demand for a separate Muslim homeland challenged this ideal. When independence was granted in August 1947, the subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan, triggering widespread violence and mass displacement, particularly in Punjab and Bengal.
Gandhi spent the months surrounding independence travelling through riot-affected regions, appealing for peace and providing comfort to displaced and injured civilians. He undertook several fasts to quell communal hatred, the final one in January 1948 in Delhi.
His willingness to defend the rights of Muslims and advocate fair treatment for Pakistan drew criticism from some Hindu nationalists. On 30 January 1948 Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, who fired three shots at close range during an interfaith prayer meeting.

Legacy and Commemoration

Gandhi’s birthday, 2 October, is observed in India as Gandhi Jayanti, and globally as the International Day of Non-Violence. He is widely regarded in India as the Father of the Nation, and popularly remembered as Bapu (“father”), a title expressing affection and respect.
Gandhi’s ethical ideals, political strategies and personal example continue to inspire global movements for justice, freedom and equality. His philosophy of non-violent resistance influenced civil rights leaders, anti-colonial activists and social reformers around the world, leaving a legacy that extends far beyond the historical moment of India’s independence.