BIOGRAPHY OF MAHATMA GANDHI

BIOGRAPHY OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in
Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual
and political leaders of the 1900's. GandhiJi helped free the Indian
people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is
honored by Indians as the father of the Indian Nation. Gandhi was
a member of the Hindu religion which meant he wasn't allowed to
eat meat or drink wine. To Gandhi his religion and beliefs were
very important because he never broke his promise about eating
meat, drinking wine and other forbidden things throughout his life.
Even when he was small his brothers offered him meat but he
refused to try it which was the best decision he made. This action
showed that even though Gandhi was small he was responsible,
respectful and loyal to his religion.
Gandhi attended an all boy school when he was about seven years old in Rajkot. Once he finished
elementary school Gandhi attended a high school in Rajkot with other boys as well. As he was
finishing high school Gandhi began to wonder were he would attend collage. He wanted to study in a
different place besides India where he had lived all his life. His mother was really worried about his
decision especially since they didn't really have a lot of money to pay for his career. But she still
supported her son to do what he wanted to do and that was to study law in London. So in 1818
Mohandas Gandhi left his country and his family to study law in London.
There Gandhi adapted to the country's way of dressing and other things
involving school and work. But he never broke the promise he made to
his mother and that was never to eat meat, drink whine, or do anything
that was against his religion during his career in London. All Gandhi
did in London was focus in his career and the work he had to
accomplish just like he promised his mother and himself. After a four
year career Gandhi finally returned to India in 1891. With his return a
bad surprise was waiting for him, sadly when he was studyng in
London to have a good education and make his family proud, his
mother passed away shortly after he left.
The Indian people called Gandhiji 'Mahatma', meaning Great Soul. At the age of 13 Gandhi married
Kasturba, a girl the same age. Their parents arranged the marriage. The Gandh is had four children.
Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year
contract to do legal work in South Africa. At the time the British controlled South Africa. When he
attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered
similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian
people. He developed a method of action based upon the principles of courage, nonviolence and truth
called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve.
Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for
obtaining political and social goals. In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the
leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for
Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in
South Africa and India. He believed it was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent
seven years in prison for his political activities. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon
others the need to be nonviolent. India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India
and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a
united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace. On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78,

he began a fast with the purpose of stopping the bloodshed. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged
to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast. Twelve days later a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse who
opposed his program of tolerance for all creeds and religion assassinated him.
Arriving in South Africa
At age 23, Gandhi once again left his family behind and set off
for South Africa, arriving in British-governed Natal in May 1893.
Although Gandhi was hoping to earn a little bit of money and to
learn more about law, it was in South Africa that Gandhi
transformed from a very quiet and shy man to a resilient and
potent leader against discrimination. The beginning of this
transformation occurred during a business trip taken shortly after
his arrival in South Africa.
Gandhi had only been in South Africa for about a week when he
was asked to take the long trip from Natal to the capital of the
Dutch-governed Transvaal province of South Africa for his case.
It was to be a several day trip, including transportation by train
and by stagecoach. When Gandhi boarded the first train of his
journey at the Pietermartizburg station, railroad officials told
Gandhi that he needed to transfer to the third-class passenger car.
When Gandhi, who was holding first-class passenger tickets, refused to move, a policeman came and
threw him off the train.
That was not the last of the injustices Gandhi suffered on this trip. As Gandhi talked to other Indians in
South Africa (derogatorily called "coolies"), he found that his experiences were most definitely not
isolated incidents but rather, these types of situations were common. During that first night of his trip,
sitting in the cold of the railroad station after being thrown off the train, Gandhi contemplated whether
he should go back home to India or to fight the discrimination. After much thought, Gandhi decided
that he could not let these injustices continue and that he was going to fight to change these
discriminatory practices.
The Reformer
Gandhi spent the next twenty years working to better Indians' rights in South Africa. During the first
three years, Gandhi learned more about Indian grievances, studied the law, wrote letters to officials,
and organized petitions. On May 22, 1894, Gandhi established the Natal Indian Congress (NIC).
Although the NIC began as an organization for wealthy Indians, Gandhi worked diligently to expand
its membership to all classes and castes. Gandhi became well-known for his activism and his acts were
even covered by newspapers in England and India. In a few short years, Gandhi had become a leader
of the Indian community in South Africa.
In 1896, after living three years in South Africa, Gandhi sailed to India with the intention of bringing
his wife and two sons back with him. While in India, there was a bubonic plague outbreak. Since it
was then believed that poor sanitation was the cause of the spread of the plague, Gandhi offered to help
inspect latrines and offer suggestions for better sanitation. Although others were willing to inspect the
latrines of the wealthy, Gandhi personally inspected the latrines of the untouchables as well as the rich.
He found that it was the wealthy that had the worst sanitation problems.