Biography of Mahatma Gandhi
Who Was Mahatma Gandhi?
Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of India’s non-violent independence movement against British rule and in South Africa who advocated for the civil rights of Indians. Born in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.
Information of Mahatma Gandhi
Full Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Born: 2 October, 1869
Place of Birth: Porbandar, Gujarat
Death: 30 January, 1948
Place of Death: Delhi, India
Cause of Death: Shot by Gun or assassination
Father: Karamchand Gandhi
Mother: Putlibai Gandhi
Nationality: Indian
Spouse: Kasturba Gandhi
Children: Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi and Devdas Gandhi
Professions: Lawyer, Politician, Activist, Writer
Early Life and Education
Indian nationalist leader Gandhi (born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India, which was then part of the British Empire.
Gandhi’s father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a chief minister in Porbandar and other states in western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a deeply religious woman who fasted regularly.
Young Gandhi was a shy, unremarkable student who was so timid that he slept with the lights on even as a teenager. In the ensuing years, the teenager rebelled by smoking, eating meat and stealing change from household servants.
Although Gandhi was interested in becoming a doctor, his father hoped he would also become a government minister and steered him to enter the legal profession. In 1888, 18-year-old Gandhi sailed for London, England, to study law. The young Indian struggled with the transition to Western culture.
Upon returning to India in 1891, Gandhi learned that his mother had died just weeks earlier. He struggled to gain his footing as a lawyer. In his first courtroom case, a nervous Gandhi blanked when the time came to cross-examine a witness. He immediately fled the courtroom after reimbursing his client for his legal fees.
Salt March & Demand for Swaraj
The British government appointed a new constitutional reform under Sir John Simon which did not include any Indian and the result was a boycott of the commission by all Indian political leaders. In December 1928 Gandhi demanded the British government to grant India a dominion status and warned them to face a new non- cooperation campaign with a complete freedom as its goal, if their demands were not met. On 31st December 1929 Indian flag was unfurled in Lahore and next year, 26 January was celebrated as the Independence Day by the National Congress Party which was commemorated by almost every Indian organization. In 1930, Gandhi launched a new Satyagraha protesting the tax on salt. He marched from Ahmadabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. T housands of Indian people joined him in this 400km march which was marked as his most successful campaign against the British hold.
In March 1931 the Irwin-Gandhi pact was signed according to which the British government agreed to free political prisoners if Gandhi denounced the civil disobedience movement. In 1932, the government granted untouchables separate electorates under the new constitution. Gandhi started a new campaign to improve the lives of untouchables, whom he called Harijan, the children of God. Equality and justice for Untouchables became his prime goal and it was a result of Gandhi's constant effort that in September 1932 the government agreed to adopt a more unbiased and fair arrangement via negotiation.
Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 on the grounds of Birla house, New Delhi. T he assassin, Nathuram Godse, who had links to the extremist Hindu group Hindu Mahasabha shot him dead because he was against Gandhi's sympathy for Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were tried and executed on 15 November 1949. Gandhi's memorial on rajghat, New Delhi bears his last words He Ram!