Mohandas+Karamchand+Gandhi

By: Amy Wu, 2012

==Overview== Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was one of the important figures in India's history in the Twentieth Century. Gandhi was also known as Mahatma Gandhi, a name later given to him by the Indian people who discovered they had a "great soul" (translates to Mahatma) among them. Along with Jinnah and Nehru, he shaped India's history up to its independence in 1947. He was a very inspirational man who led a non-violent revolution in India. Gandhi strived to give the people independence from Britain, but be believed firmly in non-aggression. When his followers were attacked by British troops, he ordered them not to fight back; he was able to initiate regime change without war.

Early Life
Ganhdi was born in Porbandar, in western India, on October 2, 1869. Since generations earlier, Gandhi's family had always been grocers. His grandfather, father and uncle, however, had served as prime ministers to the princes of many Indian states. The family was middle-class, cultured and deeply religious Hindus. Gandhi had recollections of his truthful, incorruptible father and his saint-like mother.

Gandhi started attending school at the age of six, at the local school in Porbander. He had difficulties learning how to multiply. His family moved to Rajkot the following year, but his studies did not improve. He was very sensitive toward the fact and often ran home from school because he was afraid of the other boys making fun of him. It was not until high school that young Gandhi's studies started improving. He won several small prizes as his learning progressed.

Gandhi and Kasturbai, a girl of the same age, were married at thirteen. The child marriage, then common in Indian, was arranged by their parents. To spare the cost of elegant, expensive Hindu weddings, the family married off Gandhi's older brother and cousin, along with him, at the same time.

At age sixteen, Gandhi's father passed away. Two years later, the youth graduated from high school and enrolled in a small Indian college. Though he initially wished to study medicine, he decided to go to England to get his degree in law. By doing so he could equip himself in succeeding his father's post as a prime minister.

Leaving his wife and their infant son with his family in Rajkot, he went to Bombay. There he purchased some English-style clothing and sailed for England on September 4, 1888, just one month short of his nineteenth birthday.

1947 Independence of India
The Muslim League passed a resolution for the British to divide and quit in 1943. Meanwhile, the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to quit India. Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain independence under a provisional government. The question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority. When Jinnah called for Direct __#|Action__, on 16 August 1946, Gandhi was angered and visited the most riot-prone areas to stop the massacres personally. He made strong efforts to unite the Indian Hindus, Muslims and Christians and struggled for the emancipation of the "untouchables" in Hindu society.

On August 14 and 15, 1947, the Indian Independence Act was invoked. India won its freedom from colonial rule, ending nearly 350 years of British presence in India. The northern, predominantly Muslim sections of India became the nation of Pakistan, while the southern and majority Hindu section became the Republic of India. Some 10—12 million people were moved from one side to another near the borders. Another half million were killed in communal riots against Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

media type="youtube" key="OuZXRN6Rct0" height="360" width="480" <<<<< Documentary on Gandhi, his life and his contributions.

Sources:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mahatma_ghandi.htm

http://www.progress.org/gandhi/gandhi01.htm

http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/aboutgandhi/biography_earlylife.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_independence_movement