Mahatma Gandhi

Biography

Gandhi turned weakness into method: the loincloth, the spinning wheel and the refusal to strike back disarmed an empire's moral authority. India won independence in 1947 — partitioned, to his grief — and his techniques travelled onward to civil-rights and anti-colonial movements worldwide.

Indian lawyer and leader whose philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience — satyagraha — inspired movements worldwide.

Known for

Nonviolent resistance that led India to independence.

Notable works & defining projects

• Satyagraha movement
• The Salt March (1930)
• Hind Swaraj (book, 1909)

Notable achievements

• Led the 1930 Salt March, a 240-mile protest against the British salt tax
• Led the Indian independence movement until Britain granted independence in 1947
• His birthday, 2 October, is observed by the UN as the International Day of Non-Violence

Timeline

1. 1893A first-class passenger thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg — the humiliation that radicalised him
2. 1930Walked 240 miles to the sea at Dandi to make salt in defiance of British law
3. 1948Assassinated in New Delhi on 30 January, months after independence

Did you know?

• He trained as a barrister at the Inner Temple in London and was called to the bar in 1891
• He first developed satyagraha during 21 years in South Africa, fighting discrimination against Indians there