Gandhi

Early Life Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. His father was the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar; his deeply religious mother was a devoted practitioner of Vaishnavism (worship of the Hindu god Vishnu), influenced by Jainism, an ascetic religion governed by tenets of self-discipline and nonviolence. At the age of 19, Mohandas left home to study law in London at the Inner Temple, one of the city’s four law colleges. Upon returning to India in mid-1891, he set up a law practice in Bombay, but met with little success. He soon accepted a position with an Indian firm that sent him to its office in South Africa. Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for nearly 20 years. Did you know? In the famous Salt March of April-May 1930, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from Ahmadabad to the Arabian Sea. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself. Gandhi was appalled by the discrimination he experienced as an Indian immigrant in South Africa. When a European magistrate in Durban asked him to take off his turban, he refused and left the courtroom. On a train voyage to Pretoria, he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment and beaten up by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his seat for a European passenger. That train journey served as a turning point for Gandhi, and he soon began developing an...

• Known For: Leader of India's independence movement • Also Known As: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma ("Great Soul"), Father of the Nation, Bapu ("Father"), Gandhiji • Born: October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India • Parents: Karamchand and Putlibai Gandhi • Died: January 30, 1948 in New Delhi, India • Education: Law degree, Inner Temple, London, England • Published Works: Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth , Freedom's Battle • Spouse: Kasturba Kapadia • Children: Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi, Devdas Gandhi • Notable Quote: "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members." Early Life Mohandas Gandhi was born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, the last child of his father Karamchand Gandhi and his fourth wife Putlibai. Young Gandhi was a shy, mediocre student. At age 13, he married Kasturba Kapadia as part of an arranged marriage. She bore four sons and supported Gandhi's endeavors until her 1944 death. In September 1888 at age 18, Gandhi left India alone to study law in London. He attempted to become an English gentleman, buying suits, fine-tuning his English accent, learning French, and taking music lessons. Deciding that was a waste of time and money, he spent the rest of his three-year stay as a serious student living a simple lifestyle. South Africa At 23, Gandhi again left his family and set off for the British-governed Natal province in South Africa in May 1893. After...

On January 21, 2017, the Women's March on Washington became the largest human rights protest in U.S. history, with an estimated 3.3 million demonstrators (and counting) in over 500 cities — with not a single arrest or act of violence recorded. The march was rooted in the nonviolent civil disobedience philosophies of Gandhi forged India's independence from British rule in 1947 by staging massive peaceful demonstrations against poverty and the fight for women's rights and religious tolerance. Despite his death, Gandhi has become immortalized in our psyche as a hero of human rights and synonymous with the act of peaceful protest. He continues to inspire nonviolent human rights movements all around the world and has influenced the leadership of contemporary heavyweights like In honor of Gandhi's legacy, we look at some surprising facts about his personal life, career, and politics. -Gandhi was not the best student. Although he was known for being highly ethical with good English skills, he was considered a mediocre student in math and poor in Geography. He also had bad handwriting, which he was embarrassed about. -Gandhi was a teenage newlywed. He was only 13 years old when he married his 14-year-old bride Kasturba in 1882. The young couple weren't too fond of each other but later found common ground. The death of their first child made him a strong opponent of child marriage. -Gandhi spoke English like an Irishman. (One of his first English teachers was from Ireland.) -Gandhi...

Mahatma Gandhi, known throughout India as the "father of the nation," was a powerful voice for peace during a very volatile time in India’s history. His famous hunger strikes and message of nonviolence helped to unite the country. Gandhi's actions sparked world attention and ultimately led to India’s independence from the British on August 15, 1947, and the country's rise to world superpower in South Asia. • Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Karamchand was the name of his father. The honorific title Mahatma, or "Great Soul," was given to him in 1914. • Gandhi is often called Bapu in India, a term of endearment that means "father." • Gandhi fought for much more than independence. His causes included civil rights for women, the abolition of the caste system, and the fair treatment of all people regardless of religion. His mother and father had different religious traditions. • Gandhi demanded fair treatment for the untouchables, India’s lowest caste; he underwent several fasts to support the cause. He called the untouchables harijans, which means "children of God." • Gandhi ate fruit, nuts, and seeds for five years but switched back to strict vegetarianism after suffering health problems. He maintained that each person should find their own diet that works best. Gandhi spent decades experimenting with food, logging the results, and tweaking his eating choices. He wrote a book named The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism. • Gandhi took an ea...

Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Gandhi circa 1935. Hulton Archive/Getty Images When Martin Luther King Jr. visited the villa in Mumbai, India, where Mohandas Gandhi stayed in the 1920s, he had a special request: He wanted to spend the night in Gandhi's bedroom. It was 1959, 11 years after Gandhi's death. The house, called "[King] was booked in a very good hotel. But he said, 'I am not going anywhere else. I am going to stay here, because I am getting vibrations of Gandhi,' " recalls curator So curators hauled in two cots, and the American civil rights leader and his wife, Coretta Scott King, spent the night next to Gandhi's vacant mattress. Afterward, Martin Luther King Gandhi's room in Mani Bhavan, the residence in Mumbai, India, where the leader planned political activities between 1917 and 1934. Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images Now, six decades later, many black Africans are calling Gandhi a racist. #MeToo activists are questioning his sexual practices. Hindu nationalists are rejecting Gandhi's vision of a pluralistic India that is strengthened by diversity. Gandhi is still revered. He helped win India freedom from British colonial rule in 1947. But as the world marks what would be his 150th birthday on Wednesday, some of his habits and teachings are facing fresh scrutiny. Gandhi was a racist Last year, a Gandhi statue was In 1903, when Gandhi was in South Africa, There's no way around it: Gandhi was a racist early in his life, says his biographer Rama...

Mahatma Gandhi, byname of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, (born Oct. 2, 1869, Porbandar, India—died Jan. 30, 1948, Delhi), Preeminent leader of Indian nationalism and prophet of nonviolence in the 20th century. Gandhi grew up in a home steeped in religion, and he took for granted religious tolerance and the doctrine of ahimsa (noninjury to all living beings). He studied law in England from 1888 to 1891, and in 1893 he took a job with an Indian firm in South Africa. There he became an effective advocate for Indian rights. In 1906 he first put into action satyagraha, his technique of nonviolent resistance. His success in South Africa gave him an international reputation, and in 1915 he returned to India and within a few years became the leader of a nationwide struggle for Indian home rule. By 1920 Gandhi commanded influence hitherto unattained by any political leader in India. He refashioned the Related Article Summaries