 After WWI, increasing nationalism in India led to harsher laws that limited rights  General Reginald Dyer banned all public gatherings after five British officials were murdered  On April 13 th, 1919, 10,000 Indians assembled in Amritsar in northwest India › General Dyer ordered troops to open fire on the crowd › 379 Indians died and 1,100 were wounded › The Amritsar Massacre was the turning point the struggle for freedom and many Indians called for separation from Britain

 Sparked nationalism in India › United groups of people › Inspired the people to work for change  Formed ideas about the use of nonviolent resistance › Named his method Satyagraha or “truth force”  Inspired by American Henry David Thoreau, who practiced civil disobedience, or the refusal to obey unjust laws  Hoped to spread awareness about British injustice by accepting punishment without striking back  Wanted to awaken a sense of their own wrongdoing to the British

 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a middle-class Hindu family  At 13, he married Kasturba  Studied law in England, leaving behind his wife and few-month-old son  He worked at a law firm in South Africa › Appalled by the treatment of Indians there and set out gain rights for them › Where he developed policy of satyagraha  Gandhi was sent to jail several times during the 20 years he lived in South Africa

 In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and lived there for the rest of his life  In 1919, Britain imposed the Rowlatt Acts, and Gandhi became known for his opposition and leadership  In 1925, after several years of jail, he devoted himself to the relations between Muslims and Hindus

 His ideas appealed to Hindus of all classes  Encouraged traditional industries  His followers called him Mahatma, or “Great Soul”  Like Buddha, he rejected some factors of the caste system  Reached out to Muslims  Thought everyone had potential for ethical and spiritual growth  Urged non-violent resistance to British rule

 In 1930, Gandhi used satyagraha to protest salt tax › Salt was heavily taxed by the government, and Indians were not allowed to make salt  Indians protested by making salt with sea water on a 200-mile march led by Gandhi  Protest spread across India › 50,000 Indians were involved and arrested › Gained support around the world  British responded with force

 Indian National Congress refused to support Britain in WWII unless they were granted immediate independence › Britain refused  Gandhi and Congress created a “Quit India” movement › Urged Indians not to cooperate with Britain › The British responded by arresting over 20,000 Congress members

 In the early days of nationalism, Hindus and Muslims cooperated  During the 1920s and 1930s, conflict arose between the Hindu Congress party and the Muslim League › Britain hoped the fighting would weaken the nationalists  Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for a separate Muslim nation  Gandhi hoped for cooperation between Hindus and Muslims › However, many Hindus distrusted Muslims and saw them as foreign conquerors

 In 1946, rioting broke out between Hindus and Muslims › Britain realized Civil War could result  In 1947, Britain passed the Indian Independence Act  Ended British rule in India  Partition, or division, of India into two separate nations › Hindu-dominated India led by Jawaharlal Nehru › Pakistan with a Muslim majority led by Jinnah

 An explosion of violence erupted › More than 500,000 people died fighting  Muslims fled from India and Hindus fled from Pakistan to avoid death › 15 million people were involved in this migration  On August 15, 1947 Gandhi refused to celebrate India’s independence › He held prayer meetings in the following months  In January 1948, Gandhi was shot by a Hindu extremist who felt that Gandhi had betrayed them

 For the last few months of his life, Gandhi had been in Delhi to try to control the violence between Muslims and Hindus  A bomb was thrown in the meeting house where Gandhi was holding his evening prayer, but nobody was hurt › Gandhi refused additional security  A few days later, Gandhi was shot by Nathuram Godse  Gandhi was killed during one of his prayer meetings and died symbolically still praying