Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi “Gandhi” redirects here. For other uses, see Gandhi into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Mus- (disambiguation). lim Pakistan.[8] As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious vio- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (/ˈɡɑːndi, ˈɡæn-/;[2] lence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Es- chewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Hindustani: [ˈmoːɦənd̪aːs ˈkərəmtʃənd̪ ˈɡaːnd̪ʱi]; 2 Octo- ber 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled In- fasts unto death to promote religious harmony. The last dia. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi [9] led India to independence and inspired movements for of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 at age 78, also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific [9] [3] cash assets owed to Pakistan. Some Indians thought Mahatma (Sanskrit: “high-souled”, “venerable”) — [9][10] applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa,[4]—is now Gandhi was too accommodating. Nathuram Godse, used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: en- a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Gandhi on 30 January [5] [5][6] 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest at point-blank dearment for “father”, “papa” ) in India. In com- [10] mon parlance in Bharat (India) he is called Gandhiji; ref- range. erence as Gandhi can be considered lacking in good form Indians widely describe Gandhi as the father of the nation [11][12] and respect. (Hindi: राष्ट㔰िपता). The title “The Father of the Na- Born and raised in a Hindu merchant caste family in tion” for Gandhi is not an official title and has not been of- coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the ficially accorded by Government of India. An RTI query Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed nonvio- filed by a 10-year-old girl from Lucknow in February lent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South 2012 revealed that PMO has no records of ever according such title to Gandhi. MHA and National Archives of In- Africa, in the resident Indian community’s struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set dia also communicated of not having any records. Origin of this title is traced back to a radio address (on Singapore about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. radio) on 6 Jul 1944 by Subhash Chandra Bose where Bose addressed Gandhi as “The Father of the Nation”. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing On 28 Apr 1947, Sarojini Naidu during a conference also referred Gandhi as “Father of the Nation”.[13][14] The poverty, expanding women’s rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for RTI applicant had also pleaded for Gandhi to be officially achieving Swaraj or self-rule. declared as “Father of the Nation” to which the MHA informed that Gandhi cannot be accorded with the ti- Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British- tle by Government of India since the Indian constitution imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt does not permit any titles except educational and military March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit titles.[14] India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi attempted to practise nonviolence and truth in all situa- Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the tions, and advocated that others do the same. He lived International Day of Nonviolence. modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian 1 Early life and background food, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[15] was born on 2 Oc- Gandhi’s vision of an independent India based on tober 1869[1] to a Hindu Modh Baniya family[16] in religious pluralism, however, was challenged in the early Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demand- on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the small ing a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.[7] princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of Eventually, in August 1947, Britain granted indepen- the Indian Empire. His father, Karamchand Uttamchand dence, but the British Indian Empire[7] was partitioned Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the diwan (chief minister) of Porbandar state. 1 2 1 EARLY LIFE AND BACKGROUND hand over the state’s maintenance of a British garrison.[17] Although he only had an elementary education and had previously been a clerk in the state administration, Karamchand proved a capable chief minister.[19] During his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, after each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless. In 1857, Karamc- hand sought his third wife’s permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh,[17] and was from a Pranami Vaishnava family.[20][21][22][23] Karamchand and Putlibai had three children over the ensuing decade, a son, Laxmidas (c. 1860 – March 1914), a daughter, Raliatbehn (1862– 1960) and another son, Karsandas (c. 1866–1913).[24][25] On 2 October 1869, Putlibai gave birth to her last child, Mohandas, in a dark, windowless ground-floor room of the Gandhi family residence in Porbandar city. As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as “rest- less as mercury...either playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs’ ears.”[26] The In- dian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his child- hood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: “It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number.” Gandhi’s early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.[27][28] The family’s religious background was eclectic. Gandhi’s father was Hindu[29] and his mother was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. Religious figures were frequent visi- tors to the home.[30] Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother Putlibai, an extremely pious lady who “would not Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in his earliest known photo, think of taking her meals without her daily prayers...she aged 7, c. 1876 would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her.”[31] The Gandhi family originated from the village of Kutiana In the year of Mohandas’s birth, Rana Vikmatji was ex- in what was then Junagadh State.[17] In the late 17th or iled, stripped of direct administrative power and demoted early 18th century, one Lalji Gandhi moved to Porban- in rank by the British political agent, after having ordered dar and entered the service of its ruler, the Rana. Suc- the brutal executions of a slave and an Arab bodyguard. cessive generations of the family served as civil servants Possibly as a result, in 1874 Karamchand left Porbandar in the state administration before Uttamchand, Mohan- for the smaller state of Rajkot, where he became a coun- das’s grandfather, became diwan in the early 19th century sellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a under the then Rana of Porbandar, Khimojiraji.[17][18] less prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional In 1831, Rana Khimojiraji died suddenly and was suc- political agency was located there, which gave the state’s ceeded by his 12-year-old only son, Vikmatji.[18] As a re- diwan a measure of security.[32] In 1876, Karamchand sult, Rana Khimojirajji’s widow, Rani Rupaliba, became became diwan of Rajkot and was succeeded as diwan of regent for her son. She soon fell out with Uttamchand Porbandar by his brother Tulsidas. His family then re- and forced him to return to his ancestral village in Juna- joined him in Rajkot.[33] gadh. While in Junagadh, Uttamchand appeared before On 21 January 1879, Mohandas entered the local taluk its Nawab and saluted him with his left hand instead of his (district) school in Rajkot, not far from his home. At right, replying that his right hand was pledged to Porban- school, he was taught the rudiments of arithmetic, his- dar’s service.[17] In 1841, Vikmatji assumed the throne tory, the Gujarati language and geography.[33] Despite and reinstated Uttamchand as his diwan. being only an average student in his year there, in Oc- In 1847, Rana Vikmatji appointed Uttamchand’s son, tober 1880 he sat the entrance examinations for Kathi- Karamchand, as diwan after disagreeing with Uttamc- 3 awar High School, also in Rajkot. He passed the exams in Ahmedabad, writing exams in arithmetic, his- aminations with a creditable average of 64 percent and tory, geography, natural science, English and Gujarati. was enrolled the following year.[34] During his years at He passed with an overall average of 40 percent, ranking the high school, Mohandas intensively studied the En- 404th of 823 successful matriculates.[42] In January 1888, glish language for the first time, along with continuing his he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State, then lessons in arithmetic, Gujarati, history and geography.[34] the sole degree-granting institution of higher education His attendance and marks remained mediocre to average, in the region.

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