156 Facts About Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule.

Mahatma Gandhi inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

The honorific Mahatma Gandhi, first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is used throughout the world.

Mahatma Gandhi went on to live in South Africa for 21 years.

Mahatma Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India's rural poor.

Mahatma Gandhi began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest.

Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.

The belief that Mahatma Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims spread among some Hindus in India.

Mahatma Gandhi is considered to be the Father of the Nation in post-colonial India.

Mahatma Gandhi's family originated from the then village of Kutiana in what was then Junagadh State.

In 1874, Mahatma Gandhi's father, Karamchand, left Porbandar for the smaller state of Rajkot, where he became a counsellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a less prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional political agency was located there, which gave the state's diwan a measure of security.

Mahatma Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the varna of Vaishya.

Mahatma Gandhi's mother came from the medieval Krishna bhakti-based Pranami tradition, whose religious texts include the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and a collection of 14 texts with teachings that the tradition believes to include the essence of the Vedas, the Quran and the Bible.

At the age of nine, Mahatma Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot, near his home.

At the age of 11, Mahatma Gandhi joined the High School in Rajkot, Alfred High School.

Mahatma Gandhi was an average student, won some prizes, but was a shy and tongue-tied student, with no interest in games; Gandhi's only companions were books and school lessons.

In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mahatma Gandhi was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia in an arranged marriage, according to the custom of the region at that time.

Mahatma Gandhi's wedding was a joint event, where his brother and cousin were married.

Mahatma Gandhi had left his father's bedside to be with his wife mere minutes before his passing.

In November 1887, the 18-year-old Mahatma Gandhi graduated from high school in Ahmedabad.

However, Mahatma Gandhi dropped out and returned to his family in Porbandar.

Outside school, Mahatma Gandhi's education was enriched by exposure to Gujarati literature, especially reformers like Narmad and Govardhanram Tripathi, whose works alerted the Gujaratis to their own faults and weaknesses such as belief in religious dogmatism.

Mahatma Gandhi had dropped out of the cheapest college he could afford in Bombay.

Mahatma Gandhi's mother was not comfortable about Mahatma Gandhi leaving his wife and family and going so far from home.

Mahatma Gandhi enrolled at the Inns of Court School of Law in Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister.

Mahatma Gandhi retained these traits when he arrived in London, but joined a public speaking practice group and overcame his shyness sufficiently to practise law.

Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated a keen interest in the welfare of London's impoverished dockland communities.

Mahatma Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons.

Some vegetarians Mahatma Gandhi met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature.

Mahatma Gandhi had a friendly and productive relationship with Hills, but the two men took a different view on the continued LVS membership of fellow committee member Thomas Allinson.

Mahatma Gandhi believed vegetarianism to be a moral movement and that Allinson should therefore no longer remain a member of the LVS.

Mahatma Gandhi shared Hills' views on the dangers of birth control, but defended Allinson's right to differ.

Mahatma Gandhi's shyness was an obstacle to his defence of Allinson at the committee meeting.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote his views down on paper, but shyness prevented Mahatma Gandhi from reading out his arguments, so Hills, the President, asked another committee member to read them out for him.

Mahatma Gandhi returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but Gandhi was forced to stop after running afoul of British officer Sam Sunny.

Mahatma Gandhi accepted it, knowing that it would be at least a one-year commitment in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, a part of the British Empire.

Mahatma Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa where he developed his political views, ethics, and politics.

Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi faced discrimination due to his skin colour and heritage.

Mahatma Gandhi was not allowed to sit with European passengers in the stagecoach and was told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere, Mahatma Gandhi was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class.

Mahatma Gandhi sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights.

Mahatma Gandhi chose to protest and was allowed to board the train the next day.

Mahatma Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning.

Mahatma Gandhi found it humiliating, struggling to understand how some people can feel honour or superiority or pleasure in such inhumane practices.

Mahatma Gandhi began to question his people's standing in the British Empire.

Mahatma Gandhi planned to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote, a right then proposed to be an exclusive European right.

Mahatma Gandhi asked Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill.

Mahatma Gandhi helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, and through this organisation, Gandhi moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force.

In January 1897, when Mahatma Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him, and Mahatma Gandhi escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent.

However, Mahatma Gandhi refused to press charges against any member of the mob.

Mahatma Gandhi urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so.

Mahatma Gandhi focused his attention on Indians and Africans while he was in South Africa.

Mahatma Gandhi suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa.

In some cases, state Desai and Vahed, Mahatma Gandhi's behaviour was one of being a willing part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation.

Mahatma Gandhi cited race history and European Orientalists' opinions that "Anglo-Saxons and Indians are sprung from the same Aryan stock or rather the Indo-European peoples" and argued that Indians should not be grouped with the Africans.

In 1903, Mahatma Gandhi started the Indian Opinion, a journal that carried news of Indians in South Africa, Indians in India with articles on all subjects -social, moral and intellectual.

The medical unit commanded by Mahatma Gandhi operated for less than two months before being disbanded.

In 1910, Mahatma Gandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbach, an idealistic community they named Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg.

Mahatma Gandhi brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and community organiser.

Mahatma Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gokhale.

Mahatma Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look Indian.

Mahatma Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India.

Tensions escalated until Mahatma Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942, and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders.

In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Mahatma Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants.

Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi felt that Indians needed to be willing and capable of using arms before they voluntarily chose non-violence.

In July 1918, Mahatma Gandhi said that he could not persuade even one individual to enlist for the world war.

Mahatma Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad, organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai Patel.

Mahatma Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country.

In 1919, following World War I, Mahatma Gandhi sought political co-operation from Muslims in his fight against British imperialism by supporting the Ottoman Empire that had been defeated in the World War.

Mahatma Gandhi had already vocally supported the British crown in the first world war.

Mahatma Gandhi felt that Hindu-Muslim co-operation was necessary for political progress against the British.

In February 1919, Mahatma Gandhi cautioned the Viceroy of India with a cable communication that if the British were to pass the Rowlatt Act, he would appeal to Indians to start civil disobedience.

Mahatma Gandhi emphasised the use of non-violence to the British and towards each other, even if the other side used violence.

Mahatma Gandhi demanded that the Indian people stop all violence, stop all property destruction, and went on fast-to-death to pressure Indians to stop their rioting.

Investigation committees were formed by the British, which Mahatma Gandhi asked Indians to boycott.

In 1921, Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian National Congress.

Mahatma Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement.

Mahatma Gandhi thus began his journey aimed at crippling the British India government economically, politically and administratively.

Mahatma Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.

Mahatma Gandhi was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only two years.

Mahatma Gandhi pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of non-cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal.

Mahatma Gandhi led Congress in a celebration on 26 January 1930 of India's Independence Day in Lahore.

Mahatma Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the British salt tax in March 1930.

However, other scholars such as Marilyn French state that Mahatma Gandhi barred women from joining his civil disobedience movement because Mahatma Gandhi feared he would be accused of using women as a political shield.

When women insisted on joining the movement and participating in public demonstrations, Mahatma Gandhi asked the volunteers to get permissions of their guardians and only those women who can arrange child-care should join him.

On 5 May, Mahatma Gandhi was interned under a regulation dating from 1827 in anticipation of a protest that he had planned.

In complete silence the Mahatma Gandhi men drew up and halted a hundred yards from the stockade.

Mahatma Gandhi criticised Western civilisation as one driven by "brute force and immorality", contrasting it with his categorisation of Indian civilisation as one driven by "soul force and morality".

Mahatma Gandhi captured the imagination of the people of his heritage with his ideas about winning "hate with love".

Mahatma Gandhi campaigned hard going from one rural corner of the Indian subcontinent to another.

Mahatma Gandhi expected to discuss India's independence, while the British side focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power.

Mahatma Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.

Churchill often ridiculed Mahatma Gandhi, saying in a widely reported 1931 speech:.

Mahatma Gandhi called Gandhi as the one who was "seditious in aim" whose evil genius and multiform menace was attacking the British empire.

Mahatma Gandhi vehemently opposed a constitution that enshrined rights or representations based on communal divisions, because he feared that it would not bring people together but divide them, perpetuate their status, and divert the attention from India's struggle to end the colonial rule.

The Second Round Table conference was the only time Mahatma Gandhi left India between 1914 and his death in 1948.

Mahatma Gandhi was accompanied by his secretary Mahadev Desai, son Devdas Gandhi and British supporter Mirabehn.

Mahatma Gandhi declined the government's offer of accommodation in an expensive West End hotel, preferring to stay in the East End, to live among working-class people, as he did in India.

Mahatma Gandhi based himself in a small cell-bedroom at his friend Muriel Lester's "People's House" at Kingsley Hall for the three-month duration of his stay.

Mahatma Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned at the Yerwada Jail, Pune.

In protest, Mahatma Gandhi started a fast-unto-death, while he was held in prison.

Mahatma Gandhi did not disagree with the party's position, but felt that if he resigned, Gandhi's popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make themselves heard.

Mahatma Gandhi wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with the Raj.

In 1936, Mahatma Gandhi returned to active politics again with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress.

Mahatma Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack of faith in nonviolence as a means of protest.

Mahatma Gandhi opposed providing any help to the British war effort and he campaigned against any Indian participation in World War II.

Mahatma Gandhi condemned Nazism and Fascism, a view which won endorsement of other Indian leaders.

The British government responded quickly to the Quit India speech, and within hours after Mahatma Gandhi's speech arrested Mahatma Gandhi and all the members of the Congress Working Committee.

Mahatma Gandhi's countrymen retaliated the arrests by damaging or burning down hundreds of government owned railway stations, police stations, and cutting down telegraph wires.

In 1942, Mahatma Gandhi now nearing age 73, urged his people to completely stop co-operating with the imperial government.

Mahatma Gandhi's arrest lasted two years, as he was held in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.

Gelder then composed and released an interview summary, cabled it to the mainstream press, that announced sudden concessions Mahatma Gandhi was willing to make, comments that shocked his countrymen, the Congress workers and even Mahatma Gandhi.

The latter two claimed that it distorted what Mahatma Gandhi actually said on a range of topics and falsely repudiated the Quit India movement.

At this point, Mahatma Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.

Mahatma Gandhi opposed the partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines.

The Indian National Congress and Mahatma Gandhi called for the British to Quit India.

Mahatma Gandhi visited the most riot-prone areas to appeal a stop to the massacres.

Wavell accused Mahatma Gandhi of harbouring the single-minded idea to "overthrow British rule and influence and to establish a Hindu raj", and called Mahatma Gandhi a "malignant, malevolent, exceedingly shrewd" politician.

Wavell feared a civil war on the Indian subcontinent, and doubted Mahatma Gandhi would be able to stop it.

Mahatma Gandhi was involved in the final negotiations, but Stanley Wolpert states the "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Mahatma Gandhi".

Mahatma Gandhi spent the day of independence not celebrating the end of the British rule, but appealing for peace among his countrymen by fasting and spinning in Calcutta on 15 August 1947.

In other accounts, such as one prepared by an eyewitness journalist, Mahatma Gandhi was carried into the Birla House, into a bedroom.

Over a million people joined the five-mile-long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, and another million watched the procession pass by.

Mahatma Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of Gandhi's body.

Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services.

In 1997, Tushar Mahatma Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad.

Some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event.

The Birla House site where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated is a memorial called Mahatma Gandhi Smriti.

Mahatma Gandhi's spirituality was greatly based on his embracement of the five great vows of Jainism and Hindu Yoga philosophy, viz.

Mahatma Gandhi based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realisation, ahimsa, vegetarianism, and universal love.

Mahatma Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities.

For example, Muslim leaders such as Jinnah opposed the satyagraha idea, accused Mahatma Gandhi to be reviving Hinduism through political activism, and began effort to counter Mahatma Gandhi with Muslim nationalism and a demand for Muslim homeland.

Mahatma Gandhi explains his philosophy and ideas about ahimsa as a political means in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote letters almost every day to individuals and newspapers.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote several books, including his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, of which Mahatma Gandhi bought the entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted.

Mahatma Gandhi's other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last which was an early critique of political economy.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc.

Mahatma Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he revised the Hindi and English translations of his books.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi wrote Songs from Prison while prisoned in Yerawada jail in Maharashtra.

Mahatma Gandhi is noted as the greatest figure of the successful Indian independence movement against the British rule.

Mahatma Gandhi is hailed as the greatest figure of modern India.

In 1999, Mahatma Gandhi was named "Asian of the century" by Asiaweek.

Mahatma Gandhi was publicly bestowed with the honorific title "Mahatma" in July 1914 at farewell meeting in Town Hall, Durban.

Florian asteroid 120461 Mahatma Gandhi was named in his honour in September 2020.

In October 2022, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was installed in Astana on the embankment of the rowing canal, opposite the cult monument to the defenders of Kazakhstan.

In 1931, physicist Albert Einstein exchanged letters with Mahatma Gandhi and called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a letter writing about him.

Mahatma Gandhi has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion.

Farah Omar, a political activist from Somaliland, visited India in 1930, where he met Mahatma Gandhi and was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent philosophy, which he adopted in his campaign in British Somaliland.

Mahatma Gandhi inspired Dr King with his message of nonviolence.

Mahatma Gandhi ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics.

In 2003, Mahatma Gandhi was posthumously awarded with the World Peace Prize.

In 2011, Mahatma Gandhi topped the Times list of Top 25 Political Icons of All Time.

Mahatma Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee, though Mahatma Gandhi made the short list only twice, in 1937 and 1947.

Mahatma Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but was assassinated before nominations closed.

That year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate", and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Mahatma Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi could do without the Nobel Peace prize, whether Nobel committee can do without Mahatma Gandhi is the question.

Mahatma Gandhi's image appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by Reserve Bank of India, except for the one rupee note.