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The Story of Tolstoy Farm By Kirti Menon1 Satyagraha gained momentum as Gandhi led the struggle against the recruitment of indentured labour for Natal, the poll-tax and the judgment of the Cape Supreme Court in 1913 declaring all marriages- other than those according to Christian rites and registered with the Registrar of Marriages - as illegal. This provoked strikes and marches and a sophisticated use of satyagraha as more Indians willingly courted arrest against the inequities and injustices of the times. News of Gandhi and Satyagraha spread across the continents and it was clearly the beginnings of a philosophy which would see Britain relinquish power in India and concede defeat a few decades later. The influence of the philosophy on other political movements No story of Tolstoy Farm can begin would continue to inspire the struggle for democracy in South Africa, the civil rights movement without detailing Mohandas Karamchand in America and many individuals. Gandhi attributed his spiritual awareness and growth to the Gandhi's arrival in South Africa as a young seminal work of Ruskin'sUnto The Last , which, he unequivocally stated as a book which lawyer. His engagement in South Africa "marked the turning point in my life" as well as Leo Tolstoy's (1828-1910) The Kingdom of God is commenced in 1893 with a legal case Within You in 1894. Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy and described himself as "a humble follower of representing Dada Abdulla & Company in yours." Henry D. Thoreau's (1817-1862) writings on civil disobedience shaped his thinking as Natal and he remained actively engaged and evolving, sharpening and honing his well. During Gandhi's period in Johannesburg he met with the Theosophists and began reading philosophy of non-violence, passive the Bhagvad Gita and the writings of Vivekananda. The reading at the time of courting resistance 'satyagraha'. He returned to imprisonment helped Gandhi refine and define Satyagraha. India in 1914 as a Mahatma after 21 years. His rise as a social and political Hermann Kallenbach was born in East Prussia (1871 – 1945) and studied architecture in activist had roots in the context of South Stuttgart and Munich. In 1896 he went to South Africa, where he practiced as an architect. He Africa as gradually he became conscious met Mohandas Gandhi in 1903 and became a friend, confidante and follower. Along with of the social injustices of the times. H.S.L. Polak, Kallenbach was integrally involved with Satyagraha and Gandhi's Phoenix and History narrates the progress of Gandhi's Tolstoy Farm experiments. In 1910 Kallenbach and Gandhi conceived of the idea of Tolstoy activist role as he gradually became Farm. The idea was to have a communal farm to serve several purposes: integrally involved with the struggle for social justice and became a voice in first Natal and then in the Transvaal. This · Training for new passive resisters activism found expression in the form of protest action, negotiations with the · Experiment in communal living government of the time and mobilization of the community. This period saw the · Haven for families of prisoners establishment of Phoenix Settlement (1906) and the Indian Opinion (1903), · Multi-denomination prayers and multilingual experiments both providing Gandhi with a vital and vibrant medium for communicating with The farm Roodepoort No. 49, 1100 acres of land was purchased by Kallenbach from the community on matters that would Johannesburg TownCouncillor L. V.Partridge for £2,000 on 30 May 1910 . One third, £666.13.4, impact on the rights of the people. was to be paid in advance for the transfer deeds. The balance was to be paid in monthly installments of £15 per month and with an interest of 6% per annum. For the security of the The Transvaal Government's "Black Act" payments, a bond was signed by Kallenbach with the farm itself serving as the collateral.2 They (Asiatic Registration Act) of 1906 which called it Tolstoy Farm in recognition of their deep admiration for Count Leo Tolstoy. Ironically, it made it compulsory for all Indians to be was on 31 May 1910 that the Union of South Africa came into being with General Jan Smuts as registered and finger-printed, propelled the Minister for Interior,Mines and Defence. Gandhi into defiance of the law and the evolution of a philosophy of protest and Gandhi described the farm: "It is nearly 1,100 acres in extent or 508 morgen, being nearly two resistance which he called 'Satyagraha'. miles long and three quarter broad. It slopes down a hill from South to North and is, therefore, This led to mass imprisonments and soon well protected from the South-East winds. There are nearly 1,000 fruit-bearing trees and with General Smuts retreated and released peaches, apricots, figs, almonds, walnuts, etc., and a small plantation of wattle [acacia] and prisoners and indicated that the Act eucalyptus trees. The ground is fertile. Water is supplied from two wells as also a spring. would be repealed in exchange for Beyond a shed and a dilapidated house containing four rooms and a kitchen, it contains no voluntary registration by the Indians. In structure worth naming. By rail, it generally takes about one and a half hours to reach it from 1908, the struggle intensified as the here. A cyclist has to cover a distance of about 18 miles [to the city] and he can cycle the Government of the day reneged on its distance in less than two hours. The boundary of the Farm is reached in about seven minutes promise and what ensued was the from Lawley Station and the dwelling place in about thirteen more minutes." Indian Opinion bonfire of certificates. Gandhi went to June 18, 1910, p.201. Britain in 1909 to convince the British government that self-government for South Africa was not a viable option. He Gandhi was inspired and moved by Tolstoy's writings and during 1910 an exchange of letters was unsuccessful as on 31 May 1910, the between the two reveals the depth of the influence. Tolstoy advocated non-resistance as an British government transferred power to appropriate response to aggression and foregrounded the need for equitable treatment of the the white minority in South Africa. poor and working class and called for the need to look into oneself and to God for answers on Ironically this transpired a day after the morality. Tolstoy wrote to Gandhi “Your activity is the most important essential work, the most 3 purchase of Tolstoy Farm. important of all the work being done in the world.” 1 Acknowledgement of input 2 James Hunt, Unpublished Manuscript on Tolstoy Farm by Professor Uma-Dhupelia Mesthrie 3Tolstoy to Gandhi, 7 September 1908 Gandhi was convinced that the success of the final phase of the satyagraha campaign in South Africa between 1908 and 1914 owed much to the "spiritual purification and penance" afforded by the Tolstoy Farm. He wrote: "I have serious doubts as to whether the struggle could have been prosecuted for eight years, whether we could have secured larger funds, and whether the thousands of men who participated in the last phase of the struggle would have borne their share of it, if there had been no Tolstoy Farm."4 "The Farm that Mr.Kallenbach has given for the use of the families of passive resisters he has named Tolstoy Farm. He has chosen an ambitious title and it is his intention, so far as possible, to live up to the ideals that Tolstoy has set forth. The greatest thing, however,that Mr.Kallenbach has done is to live with the passive resisters their life, to share their sorrows, and joys when there are any,and to comfort and protect the wives and families of the imprisoned passive resisters. Mr.Kallenbach considers that all this is part of his own training and that it gives him an insight into human nature which nothing else could have given",(Indian Opinion, 18 June 1910) . Kallenbach and his partner, Alexander Kennedy worked on the plans and supervised the building work at Tolstoy Farm. Inhabitants slept in tents while the first building was constructed, a shed. Mistri Narayandas Damania volunteered his services with no charge and brought with him several other carpenters. A house, a school and a workshop for carpentry and shoemaking was constructed. Early accounts indicate that there was a library at the farm. The primary objective of the Farm was to provide a safe haven for families whose breadwinners were in prison. Apart from, Gandhi's wife Kasturba and sons, there were also women like Veeramal Naidoo, the wife of resister Thambi Naidoo and their children, A Mrs John who had a little baby, a Mrs Lazarus, and Rambhaben Sodha the wife of resister Ratanshi Sodha. The farm catered for a fluid population of approximately 70 people at any given time. The communal family included Gujaratis, Tamils, Hindi-speakers, Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Parsis. There were also some African families on the farm one of them being known only as John. Many visitors went to the farm and were involved in providing classes or working at carpentry. "Tolstoy Farm was a family in which I occupied the place of the father," wrote Gandhi, “and that I should so far as possible shoulder the responsibility for the training of the young". Gandhi personally taught the young children Tamil grammar and Urdu and supervised a curriculum that challenged conventional colonial education. Many biographers have described the focus of Gandhi on education and manual labour. There was a strong emphasis on vocational training for both genders and a serious ‘experiment’ in communal living with tasks on the farm shared by all.