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njdjhjkMohandas Karamchand Gandhi (/'g??ndi, 'gn-/;[2] Hindustani: ['mo???nd?a?s
'k?r?mt??nd? 'ga?nd??i] ( listen); 2 October 1869
30 January 1948) was the preem
inent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employi
ng nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired
movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma (
Sanskrit: "high-souled", "venerable")[3] applied to him first in 1914 in South Afr
ica,[4] is now used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for "f
ather",[5] "papa"[5][6]) in India. In common parlance in India he is often calle
d Gandhiji. He is unofficially called the Father of the Nation.[7][8]
Born and raised in a Hindu merchant caste family in coastal Gujarat, western Ind
ia, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed nonvio
lent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident
Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915
, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest agai
nst excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian Nat
ional Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expa
nding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability
, but above all for achieving Swaraj or self-rule.
Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the
400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British
to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in
both South Africa and India. Gandhi attempted to practise nonviolence and truth
in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in
a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti an
d shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food,
and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social pr
otest.
Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism, however, w
as challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demanding
a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.[9] Eventually, in August 1947,
Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire[9] was partitioned i
nto two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan.[10] As many displ
aced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious vio
lence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official cel
ebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting
to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto dea
th to promote religious harmony. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January 194
8 at age 78,[11] also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some
cash assets owed to Pakistan.[11] Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodat
ing.[11][12] Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Gandhi on 30 Janu
ary 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest at point-blank range.[12]
His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday,
and world-wide as the International Day of Nonviolence.
Contents
1 Early life and background
2 English barrister
3 Civil rights activist in South Africa (1893 1914)
3.1 Gandhi and the Africans
4 Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 47)

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Role in World War I

Champaran and Kheda
Khilafat movement
Non-cooperation
Salt Satyagraha (Salt March)
4.5.1 Women
4.5.2 Gandhi as folk hero
4.5.3 Negotiations
4.6 Untouchables
4.7 Congress politics
4.8 World War II and Quit India
4.9 Partition and independence, 1947
5 Assassination
5.1 Ashes
6 Principles, practices and beliefs
6.1 Influences
6.2 Tolstoy
6.3 Truth and Satyagraha
6.4 Nonviolence
6.4.1 Muslims
6.4.2 Jews
6.5 Vegetarianism, food, and animals
6.6 Fasting
6.7 Brahmacharya, celibacy
6.8 Nai Talim, basic education
6.9 Swaraj, self-rule
6.10 Gandhian economics
7 Literary works
8 Legacy and depictions in popular culture
8.1 Followers and international influence
8.2 Global holidays
8.3 Awards
8.3.1 Father of the Nation
8.4 Film, theatre and literature
8.5 Current impact within India
9 See also
10 References
11 Bibliography
11.1 Books
11.2 Primary sources
12 External links
Early life and background
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in his earliest known photo, aged 7, c. 1876[citation
needed]
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[13] was born on 2 October 1869[1] to a Hindu Modh Ban
iya family[14] in Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town on the Ka
thiawar Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the
Kathiawar Agency of the Indian Empire. His father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi
(1822 1885), served as the diwan (chief minister) of Porbandar state.
The Gandhi family originated from the village of Kutiana in what was then Junaga
dh State.[15] In the late 17th or early 18th century, one Lalji Gandhi moved to
Porbandar and entered the service of its ruler, the Rana. Successive generations
of the family served as civil servants in the state administration before Uttam
chand, Mohandas's grandfather, became diwan in the early 19th century under the
then Rana of Porbandar, Khimojiraji.[15][16] In 1831, Rana Khimojiraji died sudd
enly and was succeeded by his 12-year-old only son, Vikmatji.[16] As a result, R
ana Khimojirajji's widow, Rani Rupaliba, became regent for her son. She soon fel

l out with Uttamchand and forced him to return to his ancestral village in Junag
adh. While in Junagadh, Uttamchand appeared before its Nawab and saluted him wit
h his left hand instead of his right, replying that his right hand was pledged t
o Porbandar's service.[15] In 1841, Vikmatji assumed the throne and reinstated U
ttamchand as his diwan.
In 1847, Rana Vikmatji appointed Uttamchand's son, Karamchand, as diwan after di
sagreeing with Uttamchand over the state's maintenance of a British garrison.[15
] Although he only had an elementary education and had previously been a clerk i
n the state administration, Karamchand proved a capable chief minister.[17] Duri
ng his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, af
ter each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless. In
1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he m
arried Putlibai (1844 1891), who also came from Junagadh,[15] and was from a Prana
mi Vaishnava family.[18][19][20][21] Karamchand and Putlibai had three children
over the ensuing decade, a son, Laxmidas (c. 1860
March 1914), a daughter, Ralia
tbehn (1862 1960) and another son, Karsandas (c. 1866 1913).[22][23]
On 2 October 1869, Putlibai gave birth to her last child, Mohandas, in a dark, w
indowless ground-floor room of the Gandhi family residence in Porbandar city. As
a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury...ei
ther playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs'
ears."[24] The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Hari
shchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography,
he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It hau
nted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gan
dhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceab
le to these epic characters.[25][26]
The family's religious background was eclectic. Gandhi's father was Hindu[27] an
d his mother was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. Religious figures were frequen
t visitors to the home.[28] Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother Putlibai,
an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her da
ily prayers...she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. T
o keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her."[29]
In the year of Mohandas's birth, Rana Vikmatji was exiled, stripped of direct ad
ministrative power and demoted in rank by the British political agent, after hav
ing ordered the brutal executions of a slave and an Arab bodyguard. Possibly as
a result, in 1874 Karamchand left Porbandar for the smaller state of Rajkot, whe
re he became a counsellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a le
ss prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional political agency was l
ocated there, which gave the state's diwan a measure of security.[30] In 1876, K
aramchand became diwan of Rajkot and was succeeded as diwan of Porbandar by his
brother Tulsidas. His family then rejoined him in Rajkot.[31]
On 21 January 1879, Mohandas entered the local taluk (district) school in Rajkot
, not far from his home. At school, he was taught the rudiments of arithmetic, h
istory, the Gujarati language and geography.[31] Despite being only an average s
tudent in his year there, in October 1880 he sat the entrance examinations for K
athiawar High School, also in Rajkot. He passed the examinations with a creditab
le average of 64 percent and was enrolled the following year.[32] During his yea
rs at the high school, Mohandas intensively studied the English language for the
first time, along with continuing his lessons in arithmetic, Gujarati, history
and geography.[32] His attendance and marks remained mediocre to average, possib
ly due to Karamchand falling ill in 1882 and Mohandas spending more time at home
as a result.[32] Gandhi shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field
. One of the terminal reports rated him as "good at English, fair in Arithmetic
and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting".

While at high school, Mohandas came into contact with students of other castes a
nd faiths, including several Parsis and Muslims. A Muslim friend of his elder br
other Karsandas, named Sheikh Mehtab, befriended Mohandas and encouraged the str
ictly vegetarian boy to try eating meat to improve his stamina. He also took Moh
andas to a brothel one day, though Mohandas "was struck blind and dumb in this d
en of vice," rebuffed the prostitutes' advances and was promptly sent out of the
brothel. As experimenting with meat-eating and carnal pleasures only brought Mo
handas mental anguish, he abandoned both and the company of Mehtab, though they
would maintain their association for many years afterwards.[33]
In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makha
nji Kapadia (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionat
ely to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the regio
n at that time.[34] In the process, he lost a year at school.[35] Recalling the
day of their marriage, he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for
us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives.
" However, as was prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much t
ime at her parents' house, and away from her husband.[36] Writing many years lat
er, Mohandas described with regret the lustful feelings he felt for his young br
ide, "even at school I used to think of her, and the thought of nightfall and ou
r subsequent meeting was ever haunting me."[37]
In late 1885, Karamchand died, on a night when Mohandas had just left his father
to sleep with his wife, despite the fact she was pregnant.[38] The couple's fir
st child was born shortly after, but survived only a few days. The double traged
y haunted Mohandas throughout his life, "the shame, to which I have referred in
a foregoing chapter, was this of my carnal desire even at the critical hour of m
y father's death, which demanded wakeful service. It is a blot I have never been
able to efface or forget...I was weighed and found unpardonably wanting because
my mind was at the same moment in the grip of lust.[38][39] Mohandas and Kastur
ba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 189
2; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900.[34]
In November 1887, he sat the regional matriculation exams in Ahmedabad, writing
exams in arithmetic, history, geography, natural science, English and Gujarati.
He passed with an overall average of 40 percent, ranking 404th of 823 successful
matriculates.[40] In January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar
State, then the sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the reg
ion. During his first and only term there, he suffered from headaches and strong
feelings of homesickness, did very poorly in his exams in April and withdrew fr
om the college at the end of the term, returning to Porbandar.[41]
English barrister
Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902)
As the best-educated of his brothers, Gandhi was seen by his family as the best
candidate to one day succeed his father and his uncle Tulsidas as diwan.[42] Mav
ji Dave, a Brahmin priest and family friend, advised Gandhi and his family that
he should qualify as a barrister in London, after which he would be certain to a
chieve the diwanship.[43] Initially, Putlibai did not want her youngest son to l
eave India and travel across the "black waters", thereby losing his caste. Gandh
i's uncle Tulsidas also tried to dissuade his nephew. Finally, Gandhi made a vow
to his mother in the presence of a Jain monk to observe the precepts of sexual
abstinence as well as abstinence from meat and alcohol, after which Putlibai gav
e her permission and blessing.[41][44] In July, Kasturba gave birth to the coupl
e's first surviving son, Harilal.[45]
On 10 August, Gandhi left Porbandar for Bombay (Mumbai). Upon arrival in the por
t, he was met by the head of the Modh Bania community, who had known Gandhi's fa
mily. Having learned of Gandhi's plans, he and other elders warned Gandhi that h
e would be excommunicated if he did not obey their wishes and remain in India. A

fter Gandhi reiterated his intentions to leave for England, the elders declared
him an outcast.[45]
In London, Gandhi studied law and jurisprudence and enrolled at the Inner Temple
with the intention of becoming a barrister. His time in London was influenced b
y the vow he had made to his mother. Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, in
cluding taking dancing lessons. However, he could not appreciate the bland veget
arian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one
of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, he j
oined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee,[46] and st
arted a local Bayswater chapter.[20] Some of the vegetarians he met were members
of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universa
l brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literatu
re. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in tra
nslation as well as in the original.[46] Not having shown interest in religion b
efore, he became interested in religious thought.
Gandhi was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where
he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family h
ad kept the news from him.[46] His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bo
mbay failed because he was psychologically unable to cross-question witnesses. H
e returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, b
ut he was forced to stop when he ran foul of a British officer.[20][46] In 1893,
he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a
post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, also a part of the British Empire.[20
]
Civil rights activist in South Africa (1893 1914)
Gandhi in South Africa (1895)[citation needed]
Gandhi was 24 when he arrived in South Africa[47] in 1893 to work as a legal rep
resentative for the Muslim Indian Traders based in the city of Pretoria. He spen
t 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and p
olitical leadership skills.[48]
Indians in South Africa included wealthy Muslims, who employed Gandhi as a lawye
r, and impoverished Hindu indentured labourers with very limited rights. Gandhi
considered them all to be Indians, taking a lifetime view that "Indianness" tran
scended religion and caste. He believed he could bridge historic differences, es
pecially regarding religion, and he took that belief back to India where he trie
d to implement it. The South African experience exposed handicaps to Gandhi that
he had not known about. He realised he was out of contact with the enormous com
plexities of religious and cultural life in India, and believed he understood In
dia by getting to know and leading Indians in South Africa.[49]
In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people
. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the
first-class. He protested and was allowed on first class the next day.[50] Trave
lling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to move t
o make room for a European passenger.[51] He suffered other hardships on the jou
rney as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, t
he magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he re
fused to do.[52]
These events were a turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activis
m and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice, and
injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in
society and his people's standing in the British Empire.[53]
Gandhi with the stretcher-bearers of the Indian Ambulance Corps
Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in

opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. He asked Joseph Chamberlain, th
e British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill.[48] Thoug
h unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing atte
ntion to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal In
dian Congress in 1894,[20][50] and through this organisation, he moulded the Ind
ian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, w
hen Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him[54] and he esc
aped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. However,
he refused to press charges against any member of the mob, stating it was one o
f his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a court of law.[20]
In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration
of the colony's Indian and Chinese populations. At a mass protest meeting held i
n Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving meth
odology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, for the fi
rst time.[55] He urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments
for doing so. The community adopted this plan, and during the ensuing seven-yea
r struggle, thousands of Indians were jailed, flogged, or shot for striking, ref
using to register, for burning their registration cards or engaging in other for
ms of nonviolent resistance. The smaller population of Chinese in South Africa a
lso aligned themselves with the movement and were also jailed for defying regist
ration laws.[56] The government successfully repressed the protesters, but the p
ublic outcry over the harsh treatment of peaceful Indian protesters by the South
African government forced South African leader Jan Christiaan Smuts, himself a
philosopher, to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape, a
nd the concept of Satyagraha matured during this struggle.
When he returned to India in 1915, he was proficient at public speaking, fund-ra
ising, negotiations, media relations, and self-promotion.[57] Gandhi developed t
hese skills in the context of his South African law practice.[58]
Gandhi and the Africans
Gandhi photographed in South Africa (1909)
Gandhi focused his attention on Indians while in South Africa and opposed the id
ea that Indians should be treated at the same level as native Africans while in
South Africa.[59][60][61] He also stated that he believed "that the white race o
f South Africa should be the predominating race."[62] After several incidents wi
th Whites in South Africa, Gandhi began to change his thinking and apparently in
creased his interest in politics.[63] White rule enforced strict segregation amo
ng all races and generated conflict between these communities. Bhana and Vahed a
rgue that Gandhi, at first, shared racial notions prevalent of the times and tha
t his experiences in jail sensitised him to the plight of South Africa's indigen
ous peoples.[64]
During the Boer War, Gandhi volunteered in 1900 to form a group of stretcher-bea
rers as the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps. He wanted to disprove the British idea
that Hindus were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion.
Gandhi raised eleven hundred Indian volunteers. They were trained and medically
certified to serve on the front lines. They were auxiliaries at the Battle of Co
lenso to a White volunteer ambulance corps; then at Spion Kop Gandhi and his bea
rers moved to the front line and had to carry wounded soldiers for miles to a fi
eld hospital because the terrain was too rough for the ambulances. Gandhi was pl
eased when someone said that European ambulance corpsmen could not make the trip
under the heat without food or water. General Redvers Buller mentioned the cour
age of the Indians in his dispatch. Gandhi and thirty-seven other Indians receiv
ed the Boer War Medal.[65]
In 1906, when the British declared war against the Zulu Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi
encouraged the British to recruit Indians.[66] He argued that Indians should su
pport the war efforts to legitimise their claims to full citizenship.[66] The Br

itish accepted Gandhi's offer to let a

tretcher-bearer corps to treat wounded
d by Gandhi and operated for less than
it was hopeless to directly challenge
itish army he decided it could only be
of heart.[68]

detachment of 20 Indians volunteer as a s

British soldiers. This corps was commande
two months.[67] The experience taught him
the overwhelming military power of the Br
resisted in nonviolent fashion by the pure

In 1910, Gandhi established an idealistic community called 'Tolstoy Farm' near J

ohannesburg, where he nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance.[69]
In the years after blacks gained the right to vote in South Africa (1994), Gandh
i was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments.[70]
Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 47)
See also: Indian independence movement
At the request of Gokhale, conveyed to him by C.F. Andrews, Gandhi returned to I
ndia in 1915. He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationa
list, theorist and organiser. He joined the Indian National Congress and was int
roduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gopal Kris
hna Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his r
estraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi
took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transf
ormed it to make it look wholly Indian.[71]
Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands unti
l on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of I
ndia. The British did not recognise the declaration but negotiations ensued, wit
h the Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi
and the Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war
on Germany in September 1939 without consultation. Tensions escalated until Gan
dhi demanded immediate independence in 1942 and the British responded by impriso
ning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League
did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to d
emands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the Briti
sh partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on t
erms that Gandhi disapproved.[72]
Role in World War I
See also: The role of India in World War I
In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi
to a War Conference in Delhi.[73] Perhaps to show his support for the Empire an
d help his case for India's independence,[74] Gandhi agreed to actively recruit
Indians for the war effort.[75] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outb
reak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corp
s, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet enti
tled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of thing
s we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear a
rms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest poss
ible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."[76] He did, howe
ver, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personall
y will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."[77]
Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonvi
olence. Gandhi's private secretary noted that "The question of the consistency b
etween his creed of 'Ahimsa' (nonviolence) and his recruiting campaign was raise
d not only then but has been discussed ever since."[75]
Champaran and Kheda
Main article: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha
Gandhi in 1918, at the time of the Kheda and Champaran Satyagrahas

Gandhi's first major achievements came in 1918 with the Champaran and Kheda agit
ations of Bihar and Gujarat. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry
against their largely British landlords who were backed by the local administrat
ion. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been
declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters
at a fixed price. Unhappy with this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ash
ram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi took the adm
inistration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.[78]
In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding reli
ef from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad,[79] organising scores of
supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabh
bhai Patel.[80] Using non-cooperation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signatu
re campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat
of confiscation of land. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue o
fficials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to w
in public support for the agitation across the country. For five months, the adm
inistration refused but finally in end-May 1918, the Government gave way on impo
rtant provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the
famine ended. In Kheda, Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in negotiation
s with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prison
ers.[81]
Khilafat movement
In 1919, Gandhi, with his weak position in Congress, decided to broaden his poli
tical base by increasing his appeal to Muslims. The opportunity came in the form
of the Khilafat movement, a worldwide protest by Muslims against the collapsing
status of the Caliph, the leader of their religion. The Ottoman Empire had lost
the First World War and was dismembered, as Muslims feared for the safety of th
e holy places and the prestige of their religion.[82] Although Gandhi did not or
iginate the All-India Muslim Conference,[83] which directed the movement in Indi
a, he soon became its most prominent spokesman and attracted a strong base of Mu
slim support with local chapters in all Muslim centres in India.[84] As a mark o
f solidarity with Indian Muslims he returned the medals that had been bestowed o
n him by the British government for his work in the Boer and Zulu Wars. He belie
ved that the British government was not being honest in its dealings with Muslim
s on the Khilafat issue. His success made him India's first national leader with
a multicultural base and facilitated his rise to power within Congress, which h
ad previously been unable to influence many Indian Muslims. In 1920 Gandhi becam
e a major leader in Congress.[85][86] By the end of 1922 the Khilafat movement h
ad collapsed.[87]
Gandhi always fought against "communalism", which pitted Muslims against Hindus
in Indian politics, but he could not reverse the rapid growth of communalism aft
er 1922. Deadly religious riots broke out in numerous cities, including 91 in Ut
tar Pradesh alone.[88][89] At the leadership level, the proportion of Muslims am
ong delegates to Congress fell sharply, from 11% in 1921 to under 4% in 1923.[90
]
Non-cooperation
Main article: Non-cooperation movement
Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s
In his famous book Hind Swaraj (1909) Gandhi declared that British rule was esta
blished in India with the co-operation of Indians and had survived only because
of this co-operation. If Indians refused to co-operate, British rule would colla
pse and swaraj would come.[91]
With Congress now behind him in 1920, Gandhi had the base to employ non-cooperat
ion, nonviolence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle agains
t the British Raj. His wide popularity among both Hindus and Muslims made his le

adership possible; he even convinced the extreme faction of Muslims to support p

eaceful non-cooperation.[84] The spark that ignited a national protest was overw
helming anger at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (or Amritsar massacre) of hundred
s of peaceful civilians by British troops in Punjab. Many Britons celebrated the
action as needed to prevent another violent uprising similar to the Rebellion o
f 1857, an attitude that caused many Indian leaders to decide the Raj was contro
lled by their enemies. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj and
the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condol
ences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial
opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advoca
ting his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified.[92]
After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi began to focus on winning com
plete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturin
g soon into Swaraj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence.[93
] During this period, Gandhi claimed to be a "highly orthodox Hindu" and in Janu
ary 1921 during a speech at a temple in Vadtal, he spoke of the relevance of non
-cooperation to Hindu Dharma, "At this holy place, I declare, if you want to pro
tect your 'Hindu Dharma', non-cooperation is first as well as the last lesson yo
u must learn up."[94]
Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's home in Gujarat as seen in 2006.
In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the
Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganised wit
h a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opene
d to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of committees was set up to
improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of
mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his nonviolence platform to include the s
wadeshi policy the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked
to this was his advocacy that khadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indi