بیوگرافی
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on October 2, 1869, into a Hindu Modh family in Porbandar, Gujarat, India. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as the Chief Minister (diwan) of Porbandar. His mother, Putlibai, was his father's fourth wife, after three previous wives had died in childbirth. Gandhi belonged to the Vaishya (business) caste. At 13, he married Kasturbai (Ba) Makhanji in an arranged marriage by his parents. They had four sons. From a young age, Gandhi embraced tolerance and non-violence towards all living beings, abstaining from meat, alcohol, and promiscuity.
Gandhi studied law at the University of Bombay for one year before continuing at University College London, graduating in 1891 and being admitted to the English bar. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience, he committed himself to non-violence. After practicing law in Bombay for a year, he moved to South Africa to work for an Indian firm in Natal. There, he faced racial discrimination: he was forcibly removed from a first-class train compartment despite holding a valid ticket and demoted to third class; he was beaten by a stagecoach driver for refusing to travel on the footboard to make way for a European passenger; and he was denied entry to many hotels due to his race. In 1894, Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress to address Indian rights and oppose British discrimination in South Africa. In 1897, he brought his wife and children there. He survived an attack by a racist mob intent on lynching him but chose not to press charges. Gandhi became the first non-white lawyer admitted to the South African bar.
During the South African War, Gandhi served as a stretcher-bearer, organizing the Indian Ambulance Corps of 300 volunteers to aid wounded black South Africans. He was honored for bravery at the Battle of Spion Kop. Corresponding with Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi expressed admiration for Tolstoy’s non-violent principles. In 1906, he led his first nonviolent protest against the Transvaal government's registration act, urging Indians to defy the law peacefully and accept punishment. He was jailed multiple times alongside thousands of supporters. Their peaceful protests pressured South African General J.C. Smuts to negotiate a compromise. Despite this, Gandhi supported the British during World War I, encouraging Indians to enlist to qualify for full citizenship.
Returning to India, Gandhi became a prominent leader in the Indian independence movement, speaking at Indian National Congress conventions. In 1918, he opposed British-imposed taxes during a devastating famine and was arrested in Champaran, Bihar, for organizing civil resistance among landless farmers and serfs. While imprisoned, he undertook a hunger strike in solidarity with the famine victims, drawing hundreds of thousands of supporters. Revered as Mahatma (Great Soul) and Bapu (Father), he was released and successfully negotiated suspension of the tax and release of prisoners. After the 1919 Amritsar massacre, where British troops killed 379 civilians, Gandhi declared all violence evil. As Congress leader, he launched the Swaraj campaign for independence and non-cooperation with British authorities, urging Indians to boycott British goods and promote indigenous products. Imprisoned from 1922 to 1924, he was released after an appendectomy. During his imprisonment, a Swaraj party briefly formed but later reintegrated with Congress.
On December 31, 1929, the Indian National Congress raised the flag of independence. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru issued the Declaration of Independence on January 26, 1930. Gandhi aimed to unify Hindus and Muslims through secularism amid growing religious divisions exacerbated by British colonial rule, which profited from monopolizing the salt trade—a necessity for all. Writing to Viceroy Lord Irwin, Gandhi stated: "If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of March I shall proceed with co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil."
Between March 12 and April 6, 1930, Gandhi led the famous Salt March (Satyagraha, meaning "truth" and "insistence"), walking on foot to the sea in protest against the British salt monopoly and tax. He and thousands of followers marched 240 miles (400 km) from Ahmedabad Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi to make salt. The 23-day procession was witnessed by residents along the route. On April 6, Gandhi held up a grain of salt, declaring, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." The campaign united people across regions, classes, religions, and ethnicities. The British government responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people for making or selling untaxed salt and violently suppressing protests, killing hundreds. Gandhi was arrested in his sleep on May 4, 1930. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931, freeing political prisoners. Gandhi was invited to London as Congress leader but was disappointed by British attempts to undermine his influence by sowing divisions.
Gandhi worked to improve the status of the untouchables, whom he called Harijans ("children of God"), advocating for equal rights including voting in common electorates. In 1934, he survived three assassination attempts. In 1936, he briefly resigned from Congress to allow greater diversity among members—ranging from communists and socialists to religious conservatives and pro-business groups—but returned as leader with Jawaharlal Nehru as president. At the start of World War II, Gandhi declared India would not participate unless granted independence. His "Quit India" campaign triggered mass arrests; Gandhi was imprisoned in Bombay (Mumbai) for two years. During his imprisonment, his wife and secretary passed away. He was released in May 1944 after surgery. His campaign led to the release of over 100,000 political prisoners before the war ended.
India gained independence in 1947, followed by the Indo-Pakistani War and partition. Gandhi declared, "Before partitioning India, my body will have to be cut into two pieces." Over one million perished in brutal riots until Gandhi reluctantly accepted partition as the only way to halt civil war. He urged Congress to accept partition and launched his final "fast unto death" in Delhi, calling for an end to violence. Gandhi also urged honoring the partition agreement by giving Pakistan 550 million rupees, striving to prevent instability and resentment toward India.
On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated, shot three times in the chest while on his way to a prayer meeting. His killers were convicted and executed a year later. Gandhi's ashes were divided and sent across India to be scattered in rivers; some rest at Raj Ghat near Delhi, while a portion is preserved at the Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.
