Their non-violence policy, however, led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. On July 18, 1914, Gandhi returned to India and led his country to full independence after 30 years of opposition to British rule – without violence. The struggle lasted seven years, during which time Gandhi himself and thousands of other Indians went to jail. This caused outrage among the Indian population, who refused to register and, under Gandhi’s leadership, decided to resist passively. A law was passed making it compulsory for Indians over eight years of age to carry a pass bearing a thumbprint. The British victory in the war brought little relief to the Indians in South Africa.

He was awarded the Queen’s South Africa medal for this act. During the Second Boer War he organized a party of 1,100+ volunteers to carry wounded soldiers for miles to receive medical care. In 1894 Gandhi tried - but failed - to oppose a bill in court which would deny Indians the right to vote. Like his fellow Indians, he was not even allowed to walk on the pavement! He was thrown off a train, barred from hotels reserved “for whites only,” and assaulted by a white mob.

In South Africa, where the Indian population mainly worked as poor laborers, Gandhi experienced the oppression and racism in this country at first hand. This is also where he found his true passion for advocating civil rights. After attempting but failing to practice law in Bombay, India, Gandhi accepted a job offer in South Africa. He traveled to London in 1888 to study law and graduated in 1891. Today he is best known for being a symbol of peace, humility and willful poverty.Īt thirteen Gandhi was married to a girl who was the same age as he. He was a lawyer, politician, social activist and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to a Hindu family on October 2, 1869, in India.

Karamchand gandhi