Mahatma Gandhi October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948 Born and raised in a Hindu family in Bombay Presidency – Father was a senior government official 1888: Went to London to study law 1893: Moved to South Africa to work in an Indian law firm

Gandhi in South Africa Spent 21 years working in South Africa Considered wealthy Muslim leaders & impoverished Hindu laborers all Indian – Believed “Indianness” goes beyond religion or caste – Understood complexities of religion and class systems of India through the Indians in Africa. Faced discrimination and prejudice while in South Africa

Gandhi in South Africa Stayed in India to help Indians in South African fight against discrimination – Founded Natal Indian Congress (1894) Created unified Indian political force 1906: First act of non-violent protest – New law required Indian colonies to register – Gandhi urged Indians to fight the law by refusing to register or burn registration cards – Thousands were jailed, beaten, or shot

Gandhi in India Returns to India in 1915 – Part of Indian National Congress Made to allow a greater level of government ‘sharing’ between Indians and British Soon became more radical, opposing the British moving towards independence – Gandhi Lead non-violent protest that helped peasants find relief from high taxes and forced cash crop production of British government Became leader of INC in 1920 – Goal: use non-violence & non-cooperation to attain full independence for India

Amritsar Massacre April 13, 1919 Amritsar: holy city of Sikhism – Many recent demonstrations caused British to ban gatherings in the city 15,000-20,000 people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to for religious festival Fear of rebellion caused British general to order 50 riflemen to shoot into the crowd – Shots lasted for 10 minutes – 1650 rounds fired – According to British:~400 killed – According to Indians: ~1000 killed

Gandhi’s Plan for Swaraj Swaraj: complete individual, spiritual, political independence Non-violence extended into swadeshi policy – Boycott of foreign made goods, especially British – Included boycotts of British institutions & courts, and abandonment of all British titles Swadeshi gained popularity, but not all had the same discipline of non-violence as Gandhi…

Chauri Chaura February 5, 1922: 2,000 protesters marched towards Chauri Chaura center to protest against police brutality. Police fired warning shots above the crowd – In response, crowd threw stones at officers Police opened fire on crowd – Crowd infuriated, attacked police, torched police shelter

Response Gandhi fasted for 5 days – Felt he was wrong to push mass swaraj movement without training people in non-violence INC halted the mass noncooperation campaign Gandhi was arrested for treason – Sentenced to 6 years in jail

Another Push for Independence 1928: Gandhi called for the British government to grant India “Dominion Status” – Would become self-governing colony – Threatened a new campaign of non-cooperation – No British response January 26, 1930: Indian National Congress celebrates India’s Independence Day

Salt March British Salt Acts prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt – All salt had to be bought from Britain – British had very high tax on salt March 12, 1930: Gandhi began the 388 kilometer journey to the sea to make his own salt – Hundreds of thousands joined in the civil disobedience – Over 60,000 arrested – Gandhi arrested May 5; campaign continued

Salt March As Salt March grew, additional marches & peaceful protests also continued. After Gandhi’s arrest, an Indian poet lead 2,500 protesters on a march toward a salt depot – Approached 400 policemen – Policemen beat the unarmed, nonviolent protesters with clubs None fought back

Gandhi-Irwin Pact British Viceroy, Lord Irwin, released Gandhi from prison – The two had 8 meetings, lasted 24 hours total Pact released all political prisoners in exchange for civil obedience – Signed March 1931

Focus on Untouchability 1932: British government set up a separate electorate for the Untouchables of India – Gandhi fasted for 6 days Yerwada Pact ended fast: reserved seats in the electorate for the “Depressed Class” 1933: toured India to help end untouchability

Quit India: World War II Gandhi felt India could not support a war being fought for “democratic freedom” when India, itself, was denied freedom. – Declares British should “Quit India” – Called on Congressmen and Indians to maintain a “do or die” mentality for independence Between more than 100,000 Indians are jailed, injured, and killed by police for engaging in “Quit India” protests.

Break before Independence 1942: Muslims in India begin to align themselves with the British – Feared their interests would be ignored by Hindu majority of INC – Tensions grew between Muslims and Hindus in India Gandhi & INC: Quit India; Muslim League: Divide India, then Quit – Many riots between groups until Independence

Indian Independence: 1947 India Independence Act – Created two new independent nations: India and Pakistan million people moved from one side of the newly created border to the other Violence and riots during displacement killed up to a million people Gandhi wanted independence, but did not want India “carved up” and divided