MAHATMA GANDHI

1869-1948

Early Life/Background Info• Born in Porbandar,

India• Born on October 2,

1869• Father was Diwan

(Prime Minister) of Porbander

• Porbander was a small state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India

Early Life/Background Continued

• Mother was Putlibai• Grew up with the Jain

traditions• Jainism is an ancient

religion of India• Traditions were

vegetarianism, religious tolerance, fasting, and compassion

Life As a Teenager• Married Kasturbai

Makhanji at 13 years old

• This was an arranged child marriage

• Had 4 sons with Kasturbai Makhanji

Education• Average student in

school• Went to England in 1888

to study law at University of London

• Also learned to become a barrister

Attempting to Establish a Career in India: 1891-1893

• His attempts at establishing a law practice in Mumbai failed. Later, after failing to secure a part-time job as a high school teacher, he ended up returning to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, a business he was forced to close when he ran afoul of a British officer. In his autobiography, he refers to this incident as an unsuccessful attempt to lobby on behalf of his older brother. It was in this climate that, in April 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire

Gandhi in South Africa: 1893- 1914• In South Africa, Gandhi faced

discrimination directed at Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket. Traveling farther on by stagecoach he was beaten by a driver for refusing to travel on the foot board to make room for a European passenger. These events were a turning point in his life, awakening him to social injustice and influencing his subsequent social activism.

Gandhi while serving in the Ambulance Corps during the Boer War.

South Africa Continued• Stayed in Africa longer to

assist Indians in opposing a bill that did not let them vote

• Helped found Natal Indian Congress in 1894

• This was a political force

South Africa Continued• Adopted satyagraha• This means “devotion to

the truth”• Told Indians to defy the

law and suffer through punishments instead of resisting

• Satyagraha began to mature

Accusations of Racism• In one report, Gandhi said

that Kaffirs are dirty and troublesome

• He also said the white race should be the predominant race in South Africa

• This lead people to the idea that he was racist

Maturing in South Africa

Gandhi and his wife Kasturba in South Africa (1902)

The South Africa YearsGandhi and his legal colleagues.

Gandhi and his South African friends.

Gandhi served in and lead an Ambulance Corps Unit in both the Boer War 1899-1892 and the Zulu War of 1906. By supporting the British government, Gandhi hoped to gain full citizenship for Indians in South Africa, a goal he did not achieve.

STRUGGLE FOR INDIAN INDEPENDENCE (1915–1945)

Returning to India in 1915• In 1915, Gandhi returned

from South Africa to live in India. He spoke at the conventions of the Indian National Congress, but was primarily introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a respected leader of the Congress Party at the time.

Attitudes towards Gandhi

• Moderates did not like the use of satyagraha.• Extremist leaders repelled by his studied

moderation towards the government. • British attitude was deeply suspicious of his

motives and actions.

Role in World War I• In April 1918, during the latter part of World

War I, Gandhi was invited by the Viceroy to a War Conference in Delhi. Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help his case for India's independence, Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort. In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants.

Initial Areas of Satyagraha

• Champaran – Bihar• Kheda – Gujrat• Ahmadabad - Gujrat

Champaran Satyagraha: 1917

• 10th Apr 1917 : Gandhiji arrives Patna in way to Champaran with Raj Kumar Shukla. Started for Muzafferpur. Prof J. B. Kriplani welcomes at Muzafferpur Station. Stayed in Hostel during Night.

• 15th Apr : Gandhiji arrives Motihari at 3P.M. and stayed at the residence of Gorakh Prasad, advocate.

• 16th Apr : Gandhiji was served order by government  of leaving district by first available train. Gandhiji returned to Motihari and gave letter of his intension of not obeying the order to District Magistrate.

• 17th Apr : Wrote a letter to District Magistrate showing his willingness to go to nearby village.

• 18th Apr 1917 :Appeared in the court of Sub Divisional Magistrate of Motihari and gave Historic Statement of reason for not obeying the order. Case was adjourned till 21st Apr.

• 19th Apr : In protest against the order of leaving the district, executive committee of Bihar Provincial Union decided to send a letter to viceroy.

• 20th Apr : Government ordered for withdrawal of case against Gandhiji and instructed the District Collector for making arrangements during his enquiry period. First Victory of Satyagrah in Champaran.

• 10th Jun : Formation of Enquiry Committee. Subject and name of seven members announced. Gandhiji was one of the member.

• 11th Jul :Gandhiji attended the primary meeting for deciding the legality and subject of his Champaran enquiry in Ranchi.

• 25th Jul : Meeting of Enquiry Committee in front of committee the District Magistrate and manager of Rajepur Kothi (Neel Factory) E.A. Hudson.

• 23rd Sep :Met Lt. Governer and talked about Champaran.

• 6th Oct :Lt. Governor accepted the report of Champaran Enquiry Committee.

• 18th Oct 1917 : Government accepted the recommendation of Champaran Enquiry Committee and published his opinion. AND THIS WAS THE VICTORY OF FIRST PEACEFUL MOVEMENT (SATYAGRAH) BY GANDHIJI IN CHAMPARAN.

• 8th Nov : Gandhiji arrives with his wife Kasturba and volunteer in Motihari for educating people.

• 14th Nov 1917 : Gandhiji started first school at Barharwa Lakhansen near Dhaka.

• 4th Mar 1918 : Governor General of India signed on Agreain Bill and all black law along with 'Tinkathia ' abolished.

• 1st May 1918 :Governor General finally signed the Act and thus the end of "NEEL KA ABHISHAP“

• 24th May 1918

Layed the Foundation of Ashram at Motihari and left for Ahmedabad. THUS THE END OF CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAH ANDOLAN(MOVEMENT).

Ahmedabad Mill Strike :1918

The next scene of Gandhiji's activity was in 1918 at Ahmedabad where an agitation had been going on between the labourers and the owners of a cotton textile mill for an increase of pay.

While Gandhiji was negotiating with the millowners, he advised the workers to go on strike and to demand 35% increase in wages.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike:Continue

Having advised the strikers to depend upon their conscience, Gandhiji himself went on a "fast unto death" to strengthen the workers resolved to continue the strike.

The mill owners gave away and a settlement was reached after 21 days of strike. The millowners agreed to submit the whole issue to a tribunal.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike:Continue

The strike was withdrawn and retrieval later awarded the 35% increase that the workers had demanded.

Ambalal Sarabhai's sister, Anasuya Behn, was one of the main lieutenants of Gandhiji in this struggle in which her brother and Gandhiji's friend was one of the main advisories.

Kheda Satyagraha: 1918in 1918, Gandhiji learned that the

peasants of Kheda district in Gujarat were in extreme distress due to the failure of crops, and that their appeals for the remission of land revenue were being ignored by the government.

As the crops were less than one fourth of the normal yield, the peasants were entitled under the revenue code to a total remission of the land revenue.

Kheda Satyagraha: Continue• Gandhiji organised Satyagraha and asked

the cultivators not to pay land revenue till their demand for remission was met.

• The struggle was withdrawn, when the government issued instructions that revenue should be recovered only from those peasants who could afford to pay.

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the many young persons who became Gandhiji's follower during the Kheda peasant struggle.

Gandhi’s Tactics• Gandhi employed non-cooperation,

non-violence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against British. In Punjab, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of civilians by British troops (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) caused deep trauma to the nation, leading to increased public anger and acts of violence. Gandhi criticized both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliatory violence of Indians. When he was arrested, he continued his non-violent protest through hunger strikes.

Gandhi on the Salt March.

Gandhi on Dandi March

As the Rowlatt act was hurriedly passed by the imperial Legislative Council, Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against the unjust laws, which would start with a hartal on 6 April. On 10 April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful processions. As Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. On 13 April the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place. Hundreds were killed and injured. His object, as he declared later, was to ‘produce a moral effect’, to create in the minds of satyagrahis a felling of terror and awe.

On April 13, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus gathered in the Jallianwalla Bagh (garden) near the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 4:30 pm, General Dyer--without warning the crowd to disperse--blocked the main exits. He explained later that this act "was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience." Dyer ordered his troops to begin shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd (including women and children). Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. Many people died in stampedes at the narrow gates or by jumping into the solitary well on the compound to escape the shooting. A plaque in the monument at the site, set up after independence, says that 120 bodies were pulled out of the well. The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew was declared; and many more died during the night.

As the news of Jallianwalla Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings. The government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorise people: satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets, and do salaam (salute) to all sahibs; people were flogged an villages (around Gujranwala in Punjab) were bombed. Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.

Non-cooperation-Khilafat Movement

Background and Causes

Mahatma Gandhi led his non-violent nationalist movement

satyagraha, as a protest against government repression such as the Rowlatt Act of 1919, and the Jalian Wallah Bagh Massacre of April 1919. To enlist Muslim support in his movement, Gandhi supported the Khilafat cause and became a member of the Central Khilafat Committee.

Time and aim• Began in January 1921 and ended in

February 1922 with the chauri chaura incident.

• It aimed to resist British occupation of India through non-violent means.

Participants• Various social groups participated in the

movement with its own aspiration and views –

• Students,teachers,laywers,headmasters,traders,merchants etc. in towns .

• Peasants and tribals in the villages with their own views of swaraj.

• Workers(e.g.plantation workers )

What Happened ?• Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor

shops picketed, and foreign cloth bunt. Merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods.

Students left government schools and colleges, teachers and head masters resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices. Council elections were boycotted in provinces.

In the countryside the struggles of peasants and tribals came under the label of non co-operation movement.

In Awadh peasants led by Baba Ramachandra were struggling for reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, social boycott of opressive landlords.

By october 1920 the Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up headed by Jawaharlal Nehru,Baba Ramachandra and few others.

When the non cooperation movement began, the peasant movement developed under its label but the movement was somewhat violent – houses of merchants and landlords were attacked, bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were taken over.

AT LASTChauri Chaura is a town near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, known most for an event in February 1922 during the British Raj when a police station)was set on fire by a mob of angry citizens, killing 23 policemen inside. Due to this incident mahatma Gandhi called a halt to the non-cooperation movement.

Imprisonment • Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried

for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only 2 years. Without Gandhi's uniting personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the non-violence campaign, was breaking down. Gandhi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.

Gandhi on a “fast.”

World War II interrupted the independence process.

• After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, drafting a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India.

Jawaharlal Nehru sitting next to Gandhi at the AICC General Session, 1942.

Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru work to prepare for independence.

Gandhi-Nehru in a happy mood Gandhiji and Nehruji on serious discussions for attaining independence to India

Gandhiji with Jinnah, leader of the Muslim faction in 1944

Gandhiji addressing a huge gathering

Gandhi led a very simple life

Gandhi spinning thread Gandhi reading a newspaper

Mahatma Gandhi's room at Sabarmati Ashram

Much older, but still together

Independence• When the moment of

freedom came, on 15 August 1947, Gandhi was nowhere to be seen in the capital, though Nehru and the entire Constituent Assembly were to salute him as the architect of Indian independence, as the 'father of the nation'.

Partitioning India into India & Pakistan.

• Hindu and Sikh refugees had streamed into the capital from what had become Pakistan, and there was much resentment, which easily translated into violence, against Muslims. It was partly in an attempt to put an end to the killings in Delhi, and more generally to the bloodshed following the partition, which may have taken the lives of as many as 1 million people, besides causing the dislocation of no fewer than 11 million, that Gandhi was to commence the last fast unto death of his life. The fast was terminated when representatives of all the communities signed a statement that they were prepared to live in "perfect amity", and that the lives, property, and faith of the Muslims would be safeguarded.

Gandhi’s response to threats• Gandhi, quite characteristically, refused additional

security, and no one could defy his wish to be allowed to move around unhindered. In the early evening hours of 30 January 1948, Gandhi met with India's Deputy Prime Minister and his close associate in the freedom struggle, Vallabhai Patel, and then proceeded to his prayers. Gandhi commenced his walk towards the garden where the prayer meeting was held. As he was about to mount the steps of the podium, Gandhi folded his hands and greeted his audience with a namaskar; at that moment, a young man came up to him and roughly pushed aside Manu. Nathuram Godse (a Brahmin Hindu) bent down in the gesture of an obeisance, took a revolver out of his pocket, and shot Gandhi three times in his chest.

Mahatma Gandhi – The Father of India (1869-1948)