Mahatma Gandhi
Indian independence activist (1869–1948)
About Mahatma Gandhi
Associated Events
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
On April 13, 1919 (Baisakhi Day), British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to fire without warning into a crowd of thousands of unarmed civilians gathered in an enclosed garden in Amritsar, Punjab. The official Hunter Commission recorded 379 dead and over 1,200 wounded; Indian estimates place the death toll considerably higher.
Salt March
On March 12, 1930, Gandhi led 78 followers on a 240-mile (385 km) march from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi to make salt from seawater, defying the British salt tax. The march swelled to tens of thousands and ignited the wider Civil Disobedience Movement across India.
Indian Independence
India gained independence from British rule on August 15, 1947, simultaneously partitioned into India and Pakistan (the latter comprising West Pakistan and East Bengal, later Bangladesh).
Partition of India
The division of British India into India and Pakistan (West Pakistan and East Bengal) along broadly religious lines, causing one of history's largest mass migrations (10-20 million displaced) and an estimated 1-2 million deaths in communal violence.
Non-Cooperation Movement
Gandhi's first nationwide mass resistance campaign called on Indians to boycott British institutions, goods, titles, and courts. Millions participated — surrendering British honors, withdrawing from government schools, and boycotting foreign cloth — paralyzing colonial administration.
Quit India Movement
On August 8, 1942, Gandhi called for immediate British withdrawal with his "Do or Die" speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay. Within hours the entire Congress leadership was arrested, but leaderless underground resistance, strikes, and sabotage paralyzed parts of British India in the most serious challenge to colonial rule since 1857.