Mahatma Gandhi Biography, Early Life, Education, Political Career, History and Family

In today’s article, we will tell you about Mahatma Gandhi biography, father’s name, family, Mahatma Gandhi’s death, Mahatma Gandhi’s wife’s name, Mahatma Gandhi’s political career, and other detailed information. You must read this article thoroughly if you also have thoughts like Mahatma Gandhi and want to know about him. Mahatma Gandhi is considered one of the great men in Indian history. Who had defied the British rule by following the path of truth and non-violence and ultimately played an important role in liberating India. Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of truth and non-violence also greatly influenced Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

Mahatma Gandhi is also addressed as ‘Father of the Nation’ and ‘Bapu.’ His birthday is celebrated every year as Gandhi Jayanti. Let us tell you that this is one of the officially declared national holidays of India. This year, on 02nd October, we will be celebrating the 154th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Let us know the life story of Mahatma Gandhi and some of his famous sayings.

Mahatma Gandhi Biography Overview

Name Of The Article	Mahatma Gandhi Biography
Full Name	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
DOB	October 2, 1869
Birth Place	Porband, Gujarat
Father’s name	Karamchand Gandhi
Mother’s name	Putlibai
Wife’s name	Kasturba Gandhi
Children	Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas
Death	30 January 1948
Place of death	Birla Mandir, New Delhi
Autobiography	‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’
Famous slogan	“do or die”
Memorial	Rajghat, Delhi

Mahatma Gandhi Early Life

Mahatma Gandhi Biography: Mahatma Gandhi’s full name was ‘Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi. He was born on 2 October 1869 in a middle-class family in Porbandar district of present-day Gujarat state. Gandhiji’s father’s name was ‘Karamchand Gandhi,’ the Diwan of a small princely state of Kathiawar during the British Raj. His mother’s name was Putlibai. She was a traditional Hindu woman who was religious and ascetic. He was the youngest among his three brothers.

Gandhiji was greatly influenced by ‘Raja Harishchandra Drama’ in his early life. Raja Harishchandra’s truthfulness and fantastic ability to escape a problematic life greatly impressed Gandhiji. Therefore, Gandhiji also decided to follow the path shown by Raja Harishchandra.

Gandhiji’s married life

Gandhiji was married to ‘Kasturba Gandhi at the age of just 13. Kasturba Gandhi’s father ‘Gokuldas Makhan’ was a wealthy businessman. Kasturba Gandhi was illiterate before marriage. After marriage, it was Gandhiji who taught her to read and write. But just two years after the wedding, Gandhiji’s father died in 1885, and a year later, he had his first child, but unfortunately, he died shortly after birth.

Kasturba Gandhi was a very religious woman. Following Gandhiji’s ideas, he also stopped caste discrimination. She was an outspoken, well-mannered, and disciplined woman. Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi had four sons: Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas, and Devdas.

Education of Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhiji’s early education was in Porbandar, Gujarat. He received education up to middle school from Porbandar. He had no interest in sports, nor did he have any unique talent. He always liked to be alone. After passing the 10th class examination from Rajkot High School in 1887, he was admitted to ‘Samaldas Mahavidyalaya’ of Bhavnagar. Still, he needed to find an environment conducive to his studies.

Gandhiji was very close to his elder brother, Laxmidas. After his father’s death, his elder brother helped him further his studies and sent him to London, England, to study law. On 4 September 1888, at eighteen, he left for Southampton. The first few days in London were extremely difficult for Gandhiji.

After completing his studies in England, Gandhiji returned to Rajkot, and after staying here for a few days, he decided to start practicing law in Bombay. However, while staying in Bombay, he did not get any success in his direction. After that, he returned to Rajkot and decided to pursue advocacy again. In this, Gandhiji got the support of his entire family.

Who called Gandhi ”Mahatma”?

South Africa was an essential stage in Gandhiji’s life. His life changed entirely from there, and he got a new direction. In 1893, he went to Durban, South Africa, to work as a legal advisor to Gujarati businessman ‘Sheikh Abdullah. While living here, he experienced racial discrimination for the first time as Indians and Africans were discriminated against by the British. Gandhiji also had to fall victim to this many times.

Once in the Durban court, the judge asked him to remove his turban. Which Gandhiji rejected, and he walked out of the court. Sometime after this, on 31 May 1893, Gandhiji was traveling to ‘Pretoria’ by first class, but an Englishman objected to his traveling in the first class compartment and asked him to go to the last goods compartment of the train because any Indian or black person was prohibited from traveling in first class.

Gandhiji refused to go to the train’s last compartment, saying he had a first-class ticket. But he was dropped at ‘Pietermaritzburg’ railway station in extreme cold. After this incident, he decided that he would fight against caste discrimination. This would be very costly for the British, not only in South Africa but also in India.

Beginning of Satyagraha

In South Africa, Gandhiji led many successful movements for the rights of expatriate Indians and Africans. He expressed his protest ‘non-violently’ in all these movements and forced the British government to change its oppressive policies. But the echo of these social movements reached not only in South Africa but also in India. In 1915, Gandhiji returned to India and decided that for the first year, he would tour different areas of the country and listen to the plight of the people.

After touring the country for a year, Gandhiji built his ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati River adjacent to Ahmedabad, which he named Satyagraha Ashram. After this, he started his ‘first Satyagraha’ against British rule in 1917 from Champaran district of Bihar. Here, Gandhiji freed thousands of farmers cultivating indigo from the exploitation of indigo plantation owners.

After this, Gandhiji and ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’ led the farmers’ movement in Kheda, Gujarat in 1918. Here, he supported the farmers’ demand for a waiver of land revenue and advised them only to pay revenue to the British government once their demand was met. Let us tell you that this movement continued till June 1918, and finally, the British government accepted the needs of the farmers.

Beginning of Gandhi era

Gandhiji’s political guru’ Gopal Krishna Gokhale’ died in 1915. He was the tallest leader of the moderate group in the Indian National Congress (INC). After him, ‘Bal Gangadhar Tilak’ was the most prominent leader of INC, known as ‘Lokmanya Tilak.’ He was the one who gave the famous slogan in which he said, “Freedom is my birthright, and I will have it.”

Gandhiji called him the ‘creator of modern India.’ But Bal Gangadhar Tilak also died in the year 1920. After this, Gandhiji emerged as the most prominent leader in the Indian National Congress, and this was the beginning of Gandhi Jung. In 1919, in Amritsar, Punjab, ‘Reginald Edward Dyer’ opened indiscriminate fire on the unarmed people attending the general meeting in ‘Jallianwala Bagh’ due to which thousands of innocent lives were lost. After this massacre, Gandhiji and other Indian freedom fighters returned their awards and titles to the British government.

Non-Cooperation Movement

In 1920, the ‘Non-cooperation Movement’ started under the leadership of Gandhiji. Its main goal was to express non-violent protest against British rule and start the civil disobedience movement. After this national movement, all the eminent people of the country returned the honors and titles given by the British government. The great litterateur ‘Rabindranath Tagore’ also bore the title of ‘Knighthood’ by the British King George V after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

In this movement, thousands of people working under the British government left their jobs, lawyers left their practice, and students stopped attending schools and colleges. At the same time, foreign clothes were boycotted, and people started weaving indigenous clothes by running charkhas in their homes. Gandhiji also conveyed his message to the ordinary people through two weekly newspapers, ‘Young India’ and ‘Navjeevan.’

Dandi March

On March 12, 1930, Gandhiji and other freedom fighters started the ‘Dandi March.’ Known as ‘Salt Satyagraha,’ it was a movement aimed at non-violent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India.

Gandhiji traveled 241 miles from Sabarmati to the Arabian Sea with 78 followers and broke the British law of not making salt. Shortly after this, Gandhiji was arrested, and prominent revolutionary leaders were imprisoned. But lakhs of people in the country joined and continued this movement. On January 26, 1931, Gandhiji and other freedom fighters were released.

Round Table Conference

On March 5, 1931, an agreement was reached between Gandhiji and the British Viceroy Lord Irwin. After this, he participated in the Round Table Conference held in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress (INC). However, this meeting was disappointing, and the British government renewed its policy of brutal rule. After this, in January 1932, Gandhiji again started the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’.

Quit India Movement

In 1942, Gandhiji gave the famous slogan ‘Quit India,’ a signal to end the British rule in India. Do you know the motto ‘Quit India’ was coined by ‘Yusuf Meharly,’ who later served as Mumbai’s mayor? Due to this movement, an unmatched feeling of unity and brotherhood was created in the country. The Quit India Movement demoralized the British government, and in June 1947, British Viceroy Lord Mountbatten announced that India would become independent on 15 August. However, with the independence of India, a new country ‘Pakistan’ was also born.

Death of Mahatma Gandhi

Only a few months had passed since India gained independence. On January 30, 1948, when Gandhiji came out of ‘Birla Mandir’ in Delhi after finishing his evening prayers, Nathuram Godse’ fired three bullets at his chest. In his last moments, only two words came out of his mouth, ‘Hey Ram’!

Published books of Mahatma Gandhi

• Hind Swaraj – 1909 

• First steps of nonviolence – 1910

• Satyagraha in South Africa – 1920

• Individual satyagraha – 1920

• ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’ – 1927

• Gita Bodh – 1929

• Religion for social change – 1936

• Towards independence – 1937

• India of my dreams  – 1942

Gandhiji’s Contribution in the Field of Journalism

• Nav Jeevan

• Young India

• Harijan

Inspiring Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi