Mahatma Gandhi Biography

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on October 2nd, 1869 (Datta 7). Advantageously, Gandhi was born into the Vaishya (merchant) caste thus this allowed him to acquire an all-inclusive education. Gandhi’s parents arranged for him and Kasturba to be married at 13. Gandhi’s father was a political figure in Porbandar. His mother, a religious devout, taught Gandhi the fundamentals of Hinduism, most notably the notion of ahimsa, tolerance and vegetarianism. After attending copious schools, Gandhi eventually ended up at the University of London in 1888 to study law (Datta 10). Three years later Gandhi returns to India to commence his occupation as a lawyer. In 1893, Gandhi travels to South Africa to work

However, Gandhi decides to peacefully resist and urges all Indians to join him in his efforts. Soon thereafter, he gets arrested for the first time and reads Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” in prison which only inspires him further (Gier). 1913 is the year when Gandhi is first given the title “Mahatma” meaning “Great Soul” and ventures back to India as a bonafide hero in 1915 (Datta 19). Gandhi rejects his new-fangled name insisting that all men are equal, but it sticks to him like glue, despite his best efforts. “Truth to me is infinitely dearer than the ‘Mahatmanship,' which is purely a burden“ (Gandhi and Kripalani 48). Leading the movement to depart from Great Britain’s iron fist, in 1930 Gandhi begins his quest for Indian Independence. He publishes the Declaration of Independence of India and leads the Salt March. “My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through non-violence, and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India” (Ray

He even attempts to rename them “Harijans” which means “God’s Children” and continues to promote “Nai Talim” or “Basic Education for all” (Gandhi, Prabhu and Rao 363). Finally, 1947 marks the year of India's independence from England. Unfortunately, the country is split between the Muslims of Pakistan and the Hindus of India which results in mass hysteria and indubitably leads to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948. Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings heavily inspired Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King was enamored by Gandhi’s message. In 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott occurs and King has an epiphany due to his eyewitness account of peaceful protest in action. After the evidence of a successful non-violent protest, King determines oppressed people need to fully establish non-violent resistance as their main course of action. “A votary of ahimsa therefore remains true to his faith if the spring of all his actions is compassion, if he shuns to the best of his ability the destruction of the tiniest creature, tries to save it, and thus incessantly strives to be free from the deadly coil of himsa” (Gandhi