Mahatma Gandhi biography

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is not only the name of a human being, but it is the name of a principle that a person who believes in it can never deviate from his path. Gandhi is a character who lives in the soul of Indians. Wearing eyeglasses and carrying sticks in his hands, Gandhi had not only liberated the country from the slavery of the British, but had also proved that every battle could be won only through the path of non-violence and truth.

Mahatma Gandhi: Birth and Family

Name: Mohandas Gandhi

Birthday: 2 October 1869

Birthplace: Porbandar, Gujarat

Father: Karamchand Gandhi

Mother: Mannequin

Wife: Kasturba

son: Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Devdas Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi

According to the practice of that time, Gandhi’s father also had four marriages. Diwan Karamchand himself did not know that by the time his fourth wife would give birth to his youngest child, that son would become the main character of India’s independence and In the pages of history, the name of the entire family will be recorded with itself.

Gandhiji’s mother Putlibai spent her entire life in religious work, she never gave importance to things in material life. Most of his time was spent in temple or domestic work.

In fact, she was a spiritual woman dedicated to the family, serving the sick, doing fasting and fasting were included in her daily life. In this way, Gandhiji grew up in an environment where Vaishnavism was the atmosphere and the Morrals of Jainism, that is why he believed in the lifestyle of vegetarian food, non-violence, fast-fasting, so that the mind could be purified.

On 4 September 1888, Gandhi went to England to study law and become a barrister at University College London.

He returned to India after being called back to the England and Wales Bar Association but did not have much success in advocating in Bombay.

Later, when the application for a part-time job as a high school teacher was rejected, he started writing suit applications for the needy but he did not mind there.

In 1893, accepted the work of advocacy from an Indian firm on a one-year contract in Natal (South Africa).

Due to lack of adequate education facilities in Porbandar, Mohandas completed his primary education under difficult circumstances. He learned the alphabet by engraving with his fingers in clay. Luckily his father got a civil in Rajkot, which reduced his problems to a great extent.

Mohandas won a lot of prizes during his school days, according to his education records, he was good in English, was good in mathematics but was weak in geography, his hand writing was not particularly good either.

In 1887, Gandhiji passed the matriculation examination from the University of Bombay and joined Samaldas College in Bhavnagar, where he learned English, leaving his mother tongue, Gujrati, due to which he had difficulty in understanding the lecture.

Mahatma Gandhi: Early Life and Education

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in western India in a coastal town of present-day Gujarat in a place called Porbandar.

His father Karamchand Gandhi was the Diwan of a small princely state (Porbandar) of Kathiawar during the British Raj.

His mother was Putlibai.

In May 1883, Gandhiji was married to Kasturba.

His four sons were Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi and Devdas Gandhi 1900.

At the same time his family was very worried about his future, because he wanted to become a doctor, but due to being from the Vaishnav family, he could not work as a doctor, so his family felt that he had to follow the tradition of his family. To be appointed as an officer in a high-office in Gujarat, for this he will have to become a barrister. And at that time Mohandas too was not happy in Samaldas College, he became very happy to hear this. His youth of that time also showed him many dreams of England, a land where there would be many philosophers and poets, he would be the center of civilization. Although his father left very little property and money for him, and his mother was also afraid to send him abroad, but Gandhiji was firm in his decision that he would go to England. His brother arranged for the necessary money, and he persuaded his mother that he would never touch liquor, see any woman or eat meat, even while away from home. However, Mohandas refused to accept the last conditional obstacle in this path, according to which he could not travel to the sea and thus he left on September 1888. 10 days after arriving there, he joined one of the “Inner Temple” in London Law College. Read here to know about Madan Mohan Malaviya

Gandhiji’s marriage

They were married at 13, which is why they left school for a year. Gandhi was married to Kasturba Makanji. His wife was the daughter of a businessman.

Gandhiji’s journey to South Africa

After struggling for some time as a lawyer in India, he received a one-year contract of legal service in South Africa, so in April 1893 he left for the Durban of the South African State of Natal.

There he had to face apartheid, in the courtroom of Durban, he was asked to remove his turban, which he refused and he left the courtroom. Natal Advertiser mocked him in print (probably in a newspaper) and wrote “An unwelcome visitor”.

On 7 June 1893, during the train trip, an incident occurred in his life which changed his life. While he was going to Pretoria, an Englishman objected to sitting in his first-class railway compartment, because he had a ticket, he refused to get off the train, so he was thrown down the train at the Pietermaritzburg station. His insult impressed him deeply and he prepared himself to fight against this apartheid. He vowed that night that he would end this problem from the root. In this way, on that night, from a normal man, the great man Gandhi was born. Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 to fight apartheid. When he started preparing to return to India after a year’s contract, the Natal Legislative Assembly denied Indians the vote. His colleagues also convinced him to continue the fight against Legislation, in this way Gandhiji raised the issue to the international level.

After staying in India for some time, Gandhiji returned to South Africa with his wife and children, where he practiced legally. During the Boer War, he helped the British government in South Africa, he believed that if Indians wanted their basic civil rights in the British Empire, they would also have to fulfill their duties. Read here to know about Sarojini Naidu

In fact, for the first time in his life Gandhiji took out a rally for civil equality in South Africa and named his Non-Violent Protest as Satyagraha, due to which he was jailed for some time, he supported British in some circumstances. Also, he was also recommended by the British government for his efforts for the Boer War and the Zulu rebellion.

Satyagraha, Non-violent and Non-Cooperation Movement

In 1906, Gandhiji organized the first non-cooperation movement of his life, which he named Satyagraha. This non-cooperation movement was done in response to the restrictions imposed on the Indians of the Transvaal Government of South Africa (which included not accepting Hindu marriage). After running this struggle for many years, the government had put many Indians in jail with Gandhi. Finally, under pressure, the government of South Africa accepted the agreement between Gandhi and General Jane Christian Smut, according to which Hindu marriages were also recognized there and the Poll Tax for Indians was abolished. When Gandhiji returned to India in 1914, Smut wrote, “The saint has left us, I always pray for him”. After this, Gandhiji spent a few months in London during World War I. Read here to know about Lala Lajpat Rai

Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution to India’s independence

Mahatma Gandhi fought a lot for the independence of India. He always believed in agitating peace. He made many movements which shook the British rule.

Champaran and Kheda Movement

In 1918, Gandhiji led the Champaran movement against the British Land Lords. Distressed by the rules that were being imposed on the farmers in relation to indigo cultivation by the British at that time, finally, these farmers sought help from Gandhiji, which resulted in the non-violent movement in which Gandhiji won.

When there was a flood in Kheda in 1918, the farmers there were in dire need of tax exemption. At that time also Gandhiji gave his talk to the British from non-violent movement, Gandhiji got a lot of public support in this movement and finally, in May 1918, the government gave tax exemption.

Gandhiji’s first non-cooperation movement in India

When the British were ruling India in 1919, Gandhiji was making a political movement, at the same time, an English Rowlatt Act was brought by the British according to which the revolutionaries could be punished without hearing, such a provision was made by the British, Gandhiji Strongly opposed it. They carried out satyagraha and peaceful movements against it.

At the same time, there was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in which British Brigadier General Dyer faked hundreds of people with bullets, Gandhiji got angry and returned the medals which he had won for military service in South Africa and he was given by the British Government They also opposed the imperative for Indians to participate in the World War.

In this way Gandhi became the major face of the Indian Home-Rule Movement, he called for complete boycott of the British, he inspired the government officials to stop working for the British Crown, not to let the students go to the government schools, soldiers He also encouraged the citizens to leave their posts and not pay taxes and buy British goods. He himself focused on the manufacture of Khadi by running a spinning wheel instead of a cloth made by the British. And this charkha soon became a symbol of Indian independence and autonomy. Gandhi led the Indian National Congress and laid the foundation for the non-violence and non-cooperation movement for home-rule.

In 1922, the British Government arrested Gandhiji by arraigning 3 cases of treason and arrested him and put him in prison for 6 years. Gandhiji was released after his appendix surgery in February 1924. When he became independent, he saw that Hindus and Muslims in India had stood against each other. So that year he fasted for 3 months, after that he stayed away from politics for the next few years.

Khilafat Movement

Gandhiji paid attention to protecting the interests of Muslims in 1919 because he felt that the Congress was very weak in this situation at that time the Khilafat Movement was started for the struggle against the Muslim Caliphate around the world.

Gandhiji attended the All India Muslim Conference and became the main member of the event. This movement received a lot of support from the Muslims, and the success of this movement not only gave them a place in the mainstream of Indian politics, but their position in the Congress party became even stronger.

Gandhiji and Salt Satyagraha

Gandhi returned to active politics in 1930, and he revolted the British government’s salt movement, according to this act Indians could neither make salt or sell it. And salt was also taxed, due to which poor Indians were facing problems. Gandhiji organized a new kind of Satyagraha to oppose this, in which he walked 390 kilometers / 240 miles to the Arabian Sea, where he symbolically collected salt. The day before this March, he wrote to Lord Irwin “My only aim is to make the British government feel non-violently how wrong they are doing to Indians”. On March 12, Gandhiji, wearing a dhoti and a shawl, started this march from Sabarmati with the help of a wooden, after which 24 days later he reached the coastal town of Dandi, and there he broke the British made rule by making salt from the evaporating sea water. . In this way, this salt journey sparked a revolution in the whole country, about 60,000 Indians were imprisoned for breaking the Salt Act, including Gandhiji himself. Due to this, he became famous not only in India but worldwide and in 1930, Time magazine gave him the title of Man of the Year. He was released from prison in January 1931, and 2 months after this he compromised with Lord Irwin and ended the Salt Satyagraha. According to this agreement, thousands of political prisoners were released, with the hope that this satyagraha would prove to be a milestone for self-rule. Gandhiji participated in the Round Table Conference held in London in 1931 as the Chief Representative of the Indian National Congress, although this conference proved to be fruitless, its purpose was to reform the Indian Constitution.

Quit India Movement

When Gandhi returned from London, he was imprisoned in 1932, at that time a new Viceroy of India came to Lord Willington, after this, when Gandhiji came out, he left the leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1934, and was replaced by Jawaharlal Nehru took over, and thus Gandhiji again turned away from politics, focusing his attention on education, poverty and other problems that were affecting the rural areas of India. Imposed.

World War II broke out in 1942, when Great Britain was engaged in this war, Gandhiji started the Quit India Movement. In August 1942, the British arrested Gandhi, his wife and other leaders of the Indian National Congress, all of whom were kept in Agakhan Palace, Pune. Gandhi was released after 19 months but his wife died in prison, in February 1944, his wife breathed his last.

India became free

The British Government arrested Gandhiji and all the members of the Congress Working Committee on 9 August 1942 in Mumbai and Gandhiji was taken to Aga Khan Mahal in Pune where he was held captive for two years. Meanwhile, his wife Kasturba Gandhi died and after some time Gandhiji also suffered from malaria. The British could not release him in jail in this condition, so he was released on 6 May 1944 for necessary treatment. Despite the partial success, the Quit India movement mobilized India and by the end of World War II, the British government had given a clear indication that power would soon be handed over to the Indians. Gandhiji ended the Quit India movement and the government released about 1 lakh political prisoners.

India and Pakistan

Along with the movement for independence of India, the demand for a ‘separate Muslim majority country’ (Pakistan) under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah was intensified and in the 40s these forces demanded the demand for a separate nation ‘Pakistan’ Was turned into reality. Gandhiji did not want the partition of the country because it was completely different from his doctrine of religious unity but it did not happen and the British divided the country into two pieces – India and Pakistan.

In 1945, when the British Party defeated Churchill’s Conservative Party in the British General Election, Mohammed Ali Jinnah of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League intensified the country’s independence. In which Gandhi played an important role, but he India could not stop the partition, and on the basis of religion, India was divided into two parts, India and Pakistan. During this period, Hindu-Muslim riots broke out, Gandhiji visited the riot affected area and appealed for peace to stop this bloodshed and also fasted. Some Hindus felt that Gandhiji’s inclination was more towards the Muslim class.

Interesting facts related to Gandhiji

Initially he started trying to make his place in advocacy, he was very nervous in his first court case. And when the time came for him to speak in front of the witness, he was blank, and he came out of the court, due to which he also returned his legal fees to his client.

Gandhiji has been nominated for the Nobel Prize 5 times so far, and the committee has expressed regret that he has not received the award yet.

World-wide respect for him and the number of his followers can be gauged from the fact that Mahatma Gandhi’s corpse journey was 8 kilometers long. The day before his death, he was thinking of ending the Congress.

During his lifetime, Mahatma Gandhi used to travel eighteen kilometers a day, which is like traveling around the world twice. Mahatma Gandhi had also corresponded with big personalities like Tolstoy, Einstein and Hitler.

Steve Jobs is a big fan of Gandhiji, his round glasses are not only like Gandhiji’s glasses but they are also a tribute to Gandhiji of Jobs.

Gandhiji also had fake teeth which he used to carry around in his clothes. Mahatma Gandhi’s first English teacher was Irish, so he spoke English only in Irish Ascent.

Gandhiji opposed untouchability in India, he called the exploited class as Harijan which means son of God, he recommended equal treatment with them.

Gandhiji spent 5 years of his life on fruits, nuts and seeds, then gave up due to declining health. He did not even initially accept food items made from milk but later due to poor health of goat. Had started drinking milk. He used to travel with his goat many times so that he could get fresh milk and no one would give him cow or buffalo milk.

The government was called to tell the nutritionist how Gandhi could stay for 21 days without food. When Gandhiji used to fast, his photographs were not taken, because of this there was a risk of ordinary citizens getting excited.

Gandhi was actually a philosophical anarchist who did not want to establish any government in India, he believed that if everyone adopts non-violence, the country can be self-governing. Read here to know about Jawaharlal Nehru

Gandhi’s Assassination

On 30 January 1948, 78-year-old Gandhi, who had been shattered by the hunger strike, left Birla House in New Delhi for a meeting. At that time a man Nathuram Godse who was angry with Gandhi’s attitude on partition and tolerance towards Muslims, shot Mahatma Gandhi with semi-automatic pistol by shooting him 3 times at Point Blank range. It is said that Gandhiji’s last words were O Ram. The end of the violence of the priest of non-violence brought sad news for the whole country, Godse and his accomplice were hanged in this crime in November 1949, and the other comrades who met them were sentenced to life imprisonment.

On 4 June 1944, Subhash Chandra Bose, while broadcasting a message from Singapore radio, addressed Mahatma Gandhi as the father of the nation (father of the nation).

Heritage in India and abroad in the name of Mahatma Gandhi

Great Britain, where he fought for the independence of the country, had stamped his name after 21 years of his death.

In India, there are 53 major roads named after him, while 48 roads outside India are named after him. Apart from this, many small and big roads are also named after Mahatma Gandhi.

In India, a lot has been made in memory of Gandhiji, which includes names from the airport to the road, colleges, universities, hospitals can be found in almost every city. Nevertheless, if one wants to visit Gandhiji’s life in India, then one must visit the following places.

On the banks of river Yamuna in Delhi, where Gandhiji was cremated, Gandhi’s tomb has been built with black marble at Raj Ghat.

There is also Gandhi Ashram or Sabarmati Ashram on the banks of Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, the purpose of this ashram is to portray the life of Mahatma Gandhi and show his works.

In 1963, Gandhi’s associate and then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru established this museum, where Gandhiji spent 12 years with his wife. Apart from this, his birthplace and house in Porbandar have also been made museums, Kasturba’s house was also preserved as a memorial place at some distance from there.

Apart from some of his items left in the memory of Gandhiji, there are also the clothes which he was wearing when he was shot, all of them have been kept safe at Gandhi Museum, Madurai.