Mahatma Gandhi, born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on Oct. 2, 1869, became known as 'the father of the nation' in his home country of India. Gandhi was the leader of the nationalist movement against British rule using a non-violent approach. His peaceful protests inspired many world leaders for years after his death, from Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela to former President Barack Obama. On Jan. 30, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi at the age of 78. Take a look back at the life and legacy of India's prime leader in independence and nonviolence.
On Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi, was assassinated by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse before a prayer meeting. More than 70 years later, the Indian nationalist leader’s legacy still lives on as he continues to influence everyone from leaders to civilians to this day. Take a look back at the life and career of Mahatma Gandhi.
Here, Mahatma Gandhi (r.) sits with his brother Laxmidas in 1886 at the age of 17. Mahatma was the youngest of three older siblings born in a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula in India. As a child, Gandhi was an avid reader, especially particular to the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra.
By the time Gandhi was 13-years-old, he was already married to 14-years-old Kasturba Kapadia in an arranged child marriage, common to the custom of the region. Two years later, the couple had their first child who died days later around the same time as Gandhi’s father Karamchand. In 1888, they had their first son Harilal, followed by three more sons in the years that followed.
In 1888, Gandhi traveled to England to study law while also enrolling at the Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister. It was also in London that Gandhi was introduced to members of the Theosophical Society, a group devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature, and became interested in religion for the first time. Gandhi, center, is pictured in front of a window with his name on it as he was practicing law in South Africa in 1902.
After failing to establish a law practice in Bombay, in 1893, Gandhi accepted a contract from an Indian firm in South Africa. Gandhi spent the next 21 years in South Africa developing his political views and skills as well as ethics. In South Africa, Gandhi was faced with discrimination against his skin color and turban. He was kicked off buses, beaten by drivers and was barred from hotels.
Gandhi stands with his wife Kasturba in 1915 on a visit from South Africa to India. His frequent trips to and from India helped Gandhi realize just how poorly minorities were being treated in South Africa and pushed him towards social activism. He even extended his stay in South Africa to help Indians oppose a bill that would deny them the right to vote. Although he was not successful, he certainly drew attention to the grievances of Indians in the country.
Starting in 1906, the “seven-year struggle” began starting a new act that forced the colony’s Indian population to register. They composed a mass protest where Gandhi’s methodology of “Satyagraha” (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, was born. Gandhi urged Indians to defy the new law and suffer the punishments which included jailing, flogging and even death for refusing to register. The public was so outraged by the treatment of such peaceful protests that the South African leader actually negotiated a compromise with Gandhi. Here, Gandhi leads a protest march for better rights and conditions for Indian mineworkers in 1913.
Eventually, Gandhi began taking peaceful protests to the next level with boycotts of goods, particularly British goods. Indians were to wear homespun cloth instead of British-made textiles as he encouraged Indian men and women to spin their own clothes. Unfortunately, protests took a turn for violence during the Chauri Chaura clash, leaving some Indians and police dead. Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience and was arrested in 1922 and sentenced to six years imprisonment. However, due to an appendicitis operation, he only served two. Here, Gandhi is in recovery at a seashore resort near Bombay, weighing only 90 pounds, in 1924.
Gandhi was out of commission due to his illness for a couple of years. Here, Gandi is on a public platform in Bangalore, India in 1927 for the first time since his illness. Gandhi spent most of the 1920s staying out of active politics and focused on resolving the divide between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National Congress. Gandhi also focused his efforts to fix alcoholism, poverty and ignorance.
In March of 1930, Gandhi launched a new march against the tax on salt. Gandhi marched 241 miles to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians, along with Manilal Kothari (L), joined Gandhi on his march to the sea as Britain imprisoned over 60,000 people.
Indian poet and politician Sarojini Naidu, right, walks alongside Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi during the Salt March protesting against the government monopoly on salt production.
Here, Gandhi lets out a laugh around April of 1930. By 1931, Gandhi was attending the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. In 1946, he negotiated with the Cabinet Mission which recommended the new constitutional structure. After independence in 1947, Gandhi went on to try to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal.
Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian Nationalist Party, is cheered on by women during his visit to Greenfield Mills in Darwen, England in 1931.
Indian statesman Mahatma Gandhi fasts in protest against British rule after his release from prison in Poona, India in 1933.
In this photo dated 1946, Mahatma Gandhi (C), poses during his tour of Bengal province.
Gandhi’s association with the Hindu conflict eventually led to his assassination in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic. Gandhi was outside a building where he was to attend a prayer meeting with part of his family and followers when he was shot. Here is the front page of the New York Daily News the day after his death on Jan. 31, 1948.
Gandhi’s death was mourned nationwide with more than two million people joining the five-mile-long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach the funeral location. All Indian-owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands gathered to pay respects. Gandhi’s ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services.
Even after his death, Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence and his beliefs in simple living have carried on for generations to come. Leaders from around the world, including Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Cesar Chavez, have followed Gandhi’s views on nonviolence. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, as “International Day of Nonviolence.”
