Mahatma Gandhi Events

1869 Oct 2 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is Born in Gujarat, India
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar, a coastal town in present-day Gujarat, India, on 2 October 1869. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822-1885), who belonged to the Hindu Mod...
1876 Mohandes Gandhi Begins Primary School in Rajkot
The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchandra from the Indian epics, had had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. The story of Harishchandra, a ...
1881 Mohandes Gandhi Enters High School in Rajkot
Gandhi was a shy and fearful child. Short and spindly, he shied away from athletics, and his lack of physical prowess was matched by his difficulties in school. Though in later years he w...
1883 May Mohandes Gandhi Marries Kasturbai Makhanji in an Arranged Child Marriage
In May 1883, the 13-year old Mohandas was married to 14-year old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba," and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child m...
1884 Mohandes Gandhi Enters Rebellious Adolescent Phase, Engaging in Activities He Will Soon Reject
Like most growing children he passed through a rebellious phase, but contrary to the impression fostered by his autobiography, Gandhi’s adolescence was no stormier than that of many of hi...
1885 Mohandes Gandhi's Father Dies at 63
Mohan passed the matriculation examination of Bombay University in 1887. His father’s death a year earlier had strained the means of the family. Being the only boy in the family who had p...
1888 Sep 4 Mohandes Gandhi Travels to London to Train as a Barrister
On 4 September 1888, less than a month shy of his 19th birthday, Gandhi traveled to London, England, to study law at University College London and to train as a barrister. His time in Lon...
1891 Jun 12 Mohandes Gandhi Returns to India from London After Passing the Bar
A great shock lay in store for him when he landed at Bombay. His mother had died while he was in England. It was only natural that he should have been anxious to justify the hopes of his ...
1893 Apr Mohandes Gandhi Travels to South Africa to Work Under a Year-Long Contract with Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian Firm
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a young man of 24 when he arrived in South Africa in 1893. Gandhi's work in South Africa dramatically changed him, as he faced the discrimination commonl...
1893 May Mahatma Gandhi is Ejected from a South African Train, Motivating Him to Fight for Indian Rights in the British Colony
Pietermaritzburg is also famous for an incident early in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. In May 1893, while Gandhi was on his way to Pretoria, a white man objected to Gandhi's presence in a f...
1894 Aug 22 Mohandes Gandhi Founds the Natal Indian Congress
Gandhi realized that what the India urgently needed was a permanent organization to look after their interests. Out of deference to Dadabhai Naoroji, Who had presided over the Indian Nati...
1897 Jan 10 Mohandes Gandhi is Nearly Lynched by White Settlers in Durban upon Returning from a Brief Trip to Fetch his Family in India
It is a measure of Gandhi’s success as a publicist that the Indian National Congress Recorded its protest against the disabilities imposed upon the Indian settlers in South Africa, and th...
1899 Gandhi Organizes an Indian Ambulance Corps of 1100 Men During His Service in the Boer War
At the onset of the South African War, Gandhi argued that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, organizing a volunteer ambulance cor...
1904 Nov Gandhi Founds the Phoenix Settlement
Influenced by the teachings of Ruskin, Gandhi purchased a farm at Phoenix, near Mount Edgecombe in 1904 in order to establish a communal settlement. The settlement was based on the ideals...
1906 Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance Requires Asians in Transvaal to Carry Fingerprinted Identification
At the onset of the South African War, Gandhi argued that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, organizing a volunteer ambulance cor...
1906 Gandhi Organizes Stretcher-Bearer Corps that Serves During the Zulu Uprising
"The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the [Zulu] 'rebellion' did. This was no war but a man-hunt, not only in my opinion, but al..." —Mohandes Gandhi
1906 Sep 11 Gandhi Introduces Non-Violent Protest Philosophy of Satyagraha
At the onset of the South African War, Gandhi argued that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, organizing a volunteer ambulance cor...
1908 Jan 10 Gandhi is Arrested for the First Time, for Refusing to Carry an Obligatory ID Card in South Africa
In January 1908, he was arrested for breach of the registration law and clapped into prison. The following month he was released after an understanding seemed to have been reached with t...
1910 May 30 Gandhi Establishes the Tolstoy Farm, which Serves as a Base of Operations for His Activities in South Africa
Since the centre of the campaign was in the Transvaal, the farm had to be close to Johannesburg. Herman Kallenbach, an architect until he became Gandhi's ardent follower, came to the resc...
1913 Nov 6 Gandhi Begins "Great March" to Gain Indian Rights in South Africa
Led at 6.30.a.m. the "great march", consisting of 2,037 men, 127 women and 57 children from Charlestown; addressed marchers halfway between Charlestown and Volksrust. At Volksrust border,...
1914 Jun Gandhi Suspends South African Struggle After Winning Passage of the Indian Relief Act
The treatment of Indians had reached pathetic limits. The prisons were too small to house the resisters. Mr Hult, a mine manager had flogged 300 Indian prisoners placed under his custody....
1915 Jan 9 Gandhi Receives Hero's Welcome Upon Returning to India from South Africa
In 1915, Gandhi returned from South Africa to live in India. He spoke at the conventions of the Indian National Congress, but was primarily introduced to Indian issues, politics and the I...
1917 Apr Gandhi Goes to Champaran to Investigate Conditions of Local Farmers
Bhumihar Brahmins in Champaran had earlier revolted against the conditions of indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia). Then Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla persuaded Mahatma Ga...
1917 Jun 17 Gandhi Establishes Sabarmati Ashram
Sabarmati Ashram (Gujarati: સાબરમતી આશ્રમ also known as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram) is located in the Ahmedabad suburb of Sabarmati adjoining to famous Ashram Roa...
1918 Jan Gandhi Begins Advocating on Behalf of Farmers in Kheda Subject to Oppressive Taxation During a Famine
In Gujarat, Gandhi was only the spiritual head of the struggle. His chief lieutenant, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and a close coterie of devoted Gandhians, namely Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pa...
1919 Mar British Government Passes the Rowlatt Act in Colonial India, Indefinitely Extending the Use of 'Emergency Measures'
The Rowlatt Act was a law passed by the British in colonial India in March 1919, indefinitely extending "emergency measures" (of the Defence of India Regulations Act) enacted during the F...
1919 Apr 13 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (Hindi: जलियांवाला बाग़ हत्याकांड جلیانوالہ باغ Jallianwala Bāġa Hatyākāṇḍ), alternatively known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Ba...
1920 Sep The Gandhi Era of the Indian Independence Movement Begins with the Non-Cooperation Movement
The non-cooperation movement (Hindi: असहयोग आन्दोलन), was the first-ever series of nationwide people's movements of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, led by Mahatma Gandhi and...
1921 Dec Gandhi is Given Exclusive Authority Over the Indian National Congress
In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganized with a new constitution, with ...
1922 Feb Nationalist Mob Sets Fire to a Police Station in Chauri Chaura Incident, Prompting Mahatma Gandhi to Call Off the Non-Cooperation Movement
On February 4, 1922, around 2,000 protesters gathered for picketing of the liquor shop at the local market in Chauri Chaura. Sensing the trouble, armed policemen were sent to the city pol...
1922 Mar 10 Gandhi is Arrested by the British Government on Charges of Inciting Violence at Chauri Chaura
The Government seized the opportunity for which it was waiting. On the evening of March 10, 1922, Gandhi was arrested in his ashram. The trial was held before Broomfield, District and Ses...
1924 Feb Gandhi is Released from Prison After Serving Only Two Years of a Six-Year Sentence Following Surgery for Appendicitis
In February, after he had served only two years in jail, Gandhi, after an operation for appendicitis, was released. He did not, as his faithful No-Changers hoped, throw his weight in thei...
1924 Sep Gandhi Begins Twenty-One Day Fast in an Attempt to Reconcile Hindus and Muslims
In September 1924, Gandhi went on a twenty-one day fast to "purify" himself and " to recover the power to react on the people." The fast had a soothing effect, but only for a while; India...
1925 Sep Gandhi Founds the All-India Spinners' Association
During the next three years, while national politics were dominated by communal issues and controversies in legislatures, Gandhi retired from the political scene; to be precise, he retire...
1927 Gandhi's 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' is Published
The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarātī "સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા" transliterated: Satyanā Prayogo athvā Ātmakathā) is the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, coverin...
1929 Dec 31 Indian National Congress Raises the Tricolor Flag of India
In December 1928, Congress held in Calcutta, Mohandas Gandhi proposed a resolution that called for the British to grant dominion status to India within two years. If the British failed to...
1930 Jan 26 Declaration of the Independence of India
The Declaration of the Independence of India was promulgated by the Indian National Congress on January 26, 1930, resolving the Congress and Indian nationalists to fight for Purna Swaraj,...
1930 Mar 12 Mahatma Gandhi Embarks on the Salt Satyagraha
The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of nonviolent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India which began with the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. It was the first act of...
1930 Apr 6 Mahatma Gandhi Arrives at Dandi, Gujarat, Concluding the Salt March
On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and 78 male satyagrahis set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, 390 kilometres (240 mi) from their starting point at Sabarmati Ashram. Accordi...
1931 Mar 5 Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, Signs the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Gandhi–Irwin Pact refers to a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5th March 1931. before this, the viceroy. Lord Irwin announced in O...
1931 Aug 29 Gandhi Sets Sail for England to Represent the Indian National Congress at the Second Round Table Conference
On August 29, 1931, Gandhi sailed for England in the SS Rajputana to attend the Second Round Table Conference, He went as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. All the...
1931 Dec 28 Gandhi Arrives in Bombay After His Visit to Europe
While Gandhi was on the high seas, the arrests of Jawaharlal Nehru and Abdul Ghaffar Khan, two of his ablest lieutenants, had created a crisis. Most of the British officers in India had r...
1932 Sep Gandhi Begins Six-Day Fast to Protest Separate Elections for Untouchables
A new twist to the civil disobedience movement came in September 1932 when Gandhi, who was in Yeravda Jail, went on a fast as a protest against the segregation of the so-called "untouchab...
1934 Sep 17 Gandhi Announces Retirement from Politics to Focus on Village Economics
In the summer of 1934, three unsuccessful attempts were made on his life. When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi decide...
1936 Apr 30 Gandhi Relocates Base of Operations to Sevagram, a Small Village Near Wardha in Central India
When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi decided to resign from party membership. He did not disagree with the party's move,...
1939 Mar 3 Gandhi Announces Fast-Unto-Death in the Effort to Form a People's Council in Rajkot
Before the convening of the plenary session of the Congress Party at Tripuri on March 11, India watched with interest and alarm the struggle between the Mahatma and Shri Dharmendrasinhji,...
1942 Mar 27 The Cripps' Mission
Upon his arrival in India, Cripps held talks with Indian leaders. There is some confusion over what Cripps had been authorised to offer India's nationalist politicians by Churchill and Le...
1942 Aug 8 The All India Congress Committee Launches the Quit India Movement
The "Quit India" resolution passed by the All-India Congress Committee brought it into a head-on collision with the Government in August 1942. The Viceroy, with the strong backing of the ...
1942 Aug 9 Gandhi is Arrested, Along with the Entire Congress Working Committee
World War II broke out in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Initially, Gandhi had favored offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other Congressional leaders ...
1942 Aug 15 Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's Personal Secretary, Dies From Heart Failure
Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. It was here that Ga...