life of mahatma gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, pictured in the 1930s
Born	October 2, 1869(1869-10-02) Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British India
Died	January 30, 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi, Union of India
Cause of death	Assassination
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Mahatma Gandhi
Education	University College London
Known for	Indian Independence Movement
Political party	Indian National Congress
Religious beliefs	Hinduism
Spouse(s)	Kasturba Gandhi
Children	Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas
Signature

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Hindi (listen) (help·info); Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, pronounced [moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmtʂən̪d̪ ɡän̪d̪ʱi]) (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and has inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi (Sanskrit: महात्मा mahātmā or 'Great Soul', an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore),^[1] and in India also as Bapu (Gujarati: બાપુ bāpu or "Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (249 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. Later he campaigned for the British to Quit India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India.

As a practitioner of ahimsa, he swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. Gandhi lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protes.