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Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2nd October 1869. He was the
most popular as well as the most influential political and spiritual leaders of India. His contribution
to the freedom struggle of India is priceless and the country owes its independence, partly, to this
great man. The Satyagraha movement, which led to India's independence, was founded by
Mahatma Gandhi only. In India, Gandhi is known as the 'Father of the Nation' and his birthday is
celebrated as a national holiday. Read on to explore the life history, story and biography of
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi:
Early Life
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in the Porbandar city of Gujarat, to Karamchand Gandhi,
the diwan of Porbandar, and his wife, Putlibai. Since his mother was a Hindu of the Pranami
Vaishnava order, Gandhi learned the tenets of non-injury to living beings, vegetarianism, fasting,
mutual tolerance, etc, at a very tender age. Mohandas was married at the age of 13 to Kasturba
Makhanji and had four sons. He passed the matriculation exam at Samaldas College of
Bhavanagar. In the year 1888, Gandhi went to University College of London to study as a barrister.
He came back to India after being called to the bar of England and Wales by Inner Temple. In 1893,
he accepted a yearlong contract from an Indian firm to a post in Natal, South Africa. There, he
faced racial discrimination directed at blacks and Indians. Such incidents provoked him to work
towards social activism.
The massacre at the Jallianwala Bagh of Punjab was what instigated him to take this step. After the
gruesome incident, he focused himself entirely on obtaining complete autonomy for the country as
well as the control of all Indian government institutions. Soon, this movement turned into Swaraj
(complete individual, spiritual and political independence). His association with the Indian National
Congress (INC) was further strengthened in December 1921, when he was made the executive
authority of the party.
Under Mahatma Gandhi, INC was restructured, accepting the goal of Swaraj, having open
membership, forming a hierarchy of committees, and so on. He urged Indian citizens to boycott
imported goods, British educational institutions, law courts, government employment, and the like.
Non-cooperation became very popular and started spreading through the length and breadth of
India. However, the violent clash in Chauri Chaura town of Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922, led to
a sudden end of this movement. Gandhi was arrested on 10th March 1922 and was tried for
sedition. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, but served for only two years in prison.
The flag of India was unfurled in Lahore by the members of the INC on 31st December 1929.
January 26, 1930 was celebrated as the Independence Day of India. Soon, British government
levied a tax on salt and Salt Satyagraha was launched in March 1930, as an opposition to this
move. Mahatma Gandhi started the Dandi March with his followers in March, going from
Ahmedabad to Dandi on foot, to make salt himself. The campaign became so successful that
British ended up arresting over 60,000 people who participated in the March. Gandhi-Irwin Pact
was signed in March 1931, where the British Government set all political prisoners free as an
exchange for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement.
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11/9/2017 Mahatma Gandhi - Mahatma Gandhi Biography, Mahatma Gandhi Life History, Story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Assassination
The inspiring life of Mahatma Gandhi came to an end on 30th January 1948, when he was shot by
Nathuram Godse. Nathuram was a Hindu radical, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India
by ensuring the partition payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, were
later tried and convicted. They were executed on 15th November 1949.
Gandhi's Principles
Mahatma followed as well as preached the following principles throughout his life:
Truth
Nonviolence
Vegetarianism
Brahmacharya (Celibacy)
Simplicity
Faith in God
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