Introduction

The man in the loincloth was a unique individual who changed the face of India when British
rule had been onerous and difficult for many decades. British territorial expansion was efficient, if
ruthlessly conducted over a period of several hundred years 1. Many of the territories were
annexed if a ruler did not have an heir (easily accomplished if he were killed), or in the case of
Awadh in 1856, it was considered justified because the native prince was "of evil disposition,
indifferent to the welfare of his subjects" 2. Subsequent to the area being taken over, harsh taxes
were imposed and the peasantry was cruelly exploited, leading to uprisings and mutinies,
particularly one in 1857 known as the Sepoy Mutiny. The next year the East India Company was
dissolved and control was handed over to the Crown. Into a long-standing atmosphere of
oppression and cultural humiliation rose a hero, the like of which we will not see again. This
essay will discuss the character and life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through its many
stages, pausing along the way to touch more deeply on various of his projects.
Family Background
Mohandas Gandhi, the prophet who led the vast and varied population of India along the long
road to Independence in 1947 from under the yoke of British imperialism under the banner of the
"soul-force," "love force," and "truth force," was the youngest child of his fathers fourth wife, born
on October 2, 1869, in the capital of Porbandar in the small principality of Gujarat in western
India. This area was under the suzerainty of Britain, which exercised paramount control over the
locally autono-mous region. The father, Karamchand Gandhi, was the dewan (chief/prime
minister) of the city, skilled in administering its affairs and negotiating between the inconsistent
princes and the autocratic British officials. The boys mother, Potlibai, was a deeply religious
woman who spent her time between her duties as a wife and mother and the temple. Fasting was
an integral part of her religious practices. She was noted for performing long-standing and
devoted nursing care whenever members of the family fell ill.
The Gandhi household was fervently devoted to Vaishnavism and the boy Gandhi was required
to attend temple on a regular basis. Under this faith with its wealth of images and stories, the
Hindu god Vishnu was considered the worlds keeper and protector, able to restore moral order
(dharma), a theme which Gandhi pursued from an early age. By means of syncresis (like
Hinduisms other major god Shiva), Vishnu, through his avatars, incarnations such as the fish, the
tortoise and the bear, exhibits the qualities of many less important gods and goddesses as well as
local heroes. The Gandhi family also professed a deep respect for Jainism, which preaches
nonviolence and the belief that each thing in the universe is eternal. As part of his boyhood,
Gandhi followed ahimsa (a resolution not to hurt any living creature), vegetarianism, self-purifying
through fasting, and a sense of tolerance for all humans practicing different beliefs and religions.
A famous quote of Gandhis in defence of nonviolence is: "An eye for an eye makes the whole
world blind."
Gandhis Youth
Mohandas first attended a primary school with very few facilities, for the children there practiced
their letters by writing in the dust. Fortunately, his father became the dewan at Rajkot, another
princely state, where he attended a better school. "Though India was then under British rule, over
500 kingdoms, principalities, and states were allowed autonomy in domestic and internal affairs:
these were the so-called native states. Rajkot was one such state." 4 The student Gandhis report
card lists his standing as "good at English, fair in Arithmetic, and weak in Geography; conduct
very good, bad handwriting." 5 His skills in English would later make it easier to confront the
authorities with well-worded legal arguments, but his poor knowledge of the geographical features
of his own country would impel him to travel as much of India as time would allow so that he
could know the soul of the enormous country and draw the support of its multilingual tribes. At
age 13 his arranged marriage to a pretty, self-willed young girl named Kasturbai, variously
reported as 7, 10, or 13 at the time, caused him to lose an entire year at school. "At thirteen he

was married to Kasturbai who was even younger." 6 Still a boy, Gandhi preferred to take long
walks by himself when he found a few hours away from caring from his sick father or assisting his
mother like a dutiful son with the chores. He was later to pass on the sense of faithfully carrying
out homely chores such as tending the goats to the younger members of his family, as charmingly
portrayed in the Oscar Award-winning 1982 movie Gandhi.
A number of sources during this research mentioned his youthful rebellion in exploring atheism,
committing petty thefts, smoking behind the bushes, and even meat-eating, which would have
caused his Vaishnava family much anguish. It can be concluded, then, that he was indeed human
in wishing to test the waters of his coming manhood, but he was remarkable in promising that he
would do these things "never again" and that he kept these promises. He undertook to copy the
behaviour of certain Hindu mythological heroes such as Prahlada and Harishcandra who were
known for their truthfulness and sacrifice.
By 1887 he was of an age to attend university. He barely passed the entrance examinations to
the University of Bombay and because the lectures were given in English, he found following the
content difficult because his mother tongue was Gujarati. There was considerable pressure for
him to follow in his fathers high-office footsteps rather than a career in medicine (vivisection was
not acceptable); therefore, it was decided to make him into a barrister by sending him to London.
Gandhi thought of England as "a land of philosophers and poets, the very centre of civilization",
but his mother was fearful of negative influences of big city life on her youngest child. She made
him swear off wine, women and meat while he was there and he kept his promise. Since the
father had died when he was seventeen and not left enough money to fund his education abroad,
an older brother stepped in to finance the venture. Also, the Vaisya creed to which the Gandhi
family belonged prohibited travel to England as being contrary to Hindu beliefs, but this was
overlooked by his mother. Gandhi arrived in London in September 1888 by ship, leaving behind
his wife and young son Harilal, then a few months old. After only ten days he enrolled in one of
the four law colleges in London called the Inner Temple.
Gandhis Legal Training in London
Gandhi spent three years in London making a great effort to improve his English and studying
the Latin he would need for law studies and practice and to become "a perfect gentleman". He
must have seemed a country bumpkin with the awkwardness he displayed in wearing English
clothing, his insistence on practicing vegetarianism, and strange manners. He was of fairly small
stature and wore round wire-rimmed spectacles which made him look owlish. For students,
especially young men preparing for the professions, it was absolutely necessary to eat "good red
meat" to help them learn, they advised him. Gandhi, fortunately, found a nearby restaurant which
provided vegetarian meals, as well as a book defending the practice. By learning to defend his
vegetarian eating habits, Gandhi overcame his shyness and others learned to respect his
zealously firm views on the subject. His joining the executive committee of the Vegetarian Society
of London resulted in his attendance at conferences and in writing journal articles which were
published.
Gandhis behaviour soon drew the attention of many young men and women who were idealists
and committed to a number of causes. Many were disenchanted with the effects of rampant
industrialism, reflecting the Enlightenment viewpoint. From them he learned about the Bible and
the Bhagavadgita (a famous Hindu poem) which he read in the form of the English translation by
Sir Edwin Arnold. A sample of the Bhagavad-Gita follows: One is understood to be in full
knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages
to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect
knowledge (Transcendental Knowledge 4:20) and Such a man of understand-ing acts with mind
and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions,
and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions
(Transcendental Knowledge 4:21).7 Gandhi was in London during the time of the late Victorian
Establishment, when the English reveled in the achievements of core Empire-building at the

expense of peripheral countries, all in a severely restrictive religious atmosphere of sexual

repression (Puritanism) in which even the carved legs of pianos were covered in petticoat frills for
the sake of "decency".8 Many of Gandhis new friends and acquaintances preached the simple life
and renounced acquisitiveness; in other words, they stressed the value of morals over material
values. It was through them that Gandhi was introduced to Edward Carpenter, Thoreau ("Civil
Disobedience", Tolstoy (writings on Christianity), and John Ruskin (admonishing people "to give
up industrialism for the simple life") and other serious thinkers.
The Tentative Launching of Gandhis Career
Gandhi was called to the Bar in 1891 "and was even enrolled in the High Court of London" 9 but
he returned to India in July of that year, expecting to join the profession and make a lucrative
salary. His mother had died while he was in England and things were very difficult for Gandhi
because he was extremely shy and jobs were scarce. He resorted to preparing petitions for
litigants, a glorified clerks role, after being turned down for a part-time teaching position at a
Bombay secondary school. Subsequent to offending a British officer and being let go, he jumped
at the promise of a year-long but low-paying contract with a firm in Natal, South Africa. He would
be working for an Indian businessman, Dada Abdulla, as a legal adviser. What was supposed to
be a job lasting only a year would stretch out to over twenty years. 10 He would soon learn the
derogatory names such as "coolie", "fakir", and a myriad of others, all humiliating and describing
the "Asiatic Cancer".
Gandhi in South Africa
In Durban, a European magistrate ordered Gandhi to take off his turban, but he refused and left
the courtroom perturbed that the judge could wear a ridiculous-looking wig but he himself could
not wear the symbol of his race. A short while later when traveling by train on a first-class ticket to
Pretoria, he was ejected onto the platform at Pietermaritz-burg Station because he refused to go
to the third class quarters reserved for "coloureds" like himself. Later on the same journey a white
stagecoach driver beat him for not riding outside on the running-board when a European
passenger "needed" his seat. At his destination, he found that (as in America and in Canada not
many decades ago), there were doors barring his entrance marked "for Europeans only". 11
Considered a "black", he was not allowed on the streets after 9:00 p.m., and he was supposed to
get off the sidewalk to let Europeans walk there. He must never walk beside a white man, any
white man, but walk respectfully in the rear. Blacks and Indians could not enter hotels reserved
for whites. They could not own land except in restricted areas and live in quarters which Gandhi
would describe not as "homes" but simply as "dwellings" or "hovels", with no running water or
plumbing. Labourers had to pay an annual residence tax that was exorbitant, considering their
pittance wages and the long distances they had to travel each day to get to work. Profits were
being siphoned back to Europe as part of the imperialist system. The movie Gandhi explains the
humiliations endured by traders and others who always had to show their passes as a mark of
white control.
The Beginning of Protests and Petitions
For Gandhi the journey to Pretoria from Durban served as his moment of truth. He resolved to
seek justice for Indians and for all men in these unfair surroundings. He set out to educate his
countrymen concerning their rights and duties. His year in South Africa was drawing quickly to a
close and Gandhi prepared to go back to Durban to take the ship home to India. While attending
a farewell party in his honour he noticed an article in the Natal newspaper declaring that the
government there intended to take the vote from all Indians in the country. Others said the
situation was hopeless, but Gandhi was incensed and agreed to stay and take up their cause. He
sent a petition with 10,000 signatures to the Colonial Office in London protesting against the
proposed bill.
As a shy man, Gandhi had never considered a career in politics, but in July 1894 at the young
age of twenty-five, Gandhi learned quickly how to draft petitions to the Natal Legislature and the
British government, and also how to indicate support for those petitions by having thousands of

signatures affixed. By the time the bill was passed, the public and the press in Natal, India and
England were well aware of the injustices going on. In 1894, Gandhi formed the Natal Indian
Congress based on the model of the National congress in India started in 1885 and became their
hard-working secretary. It was an organization which galvanized a spirit of cooperation in a very
diverse community. He urged the Indians to improve themselves in the fields of education,
sanitation and cooperation. They would need to appear more "civilized" when dealing with the
whites. There were two types of Indians in South Africa: (1) those professionals and businessmen
who freely came, and (2) those who came as indentured labourers, badly exploited by their white
employers. His reasoned statements in very clear English appeared to flood the press and were
soon the subject of discussion at dinner tables throughout the world, for it was considered a
disgrace to treat British subjects who were Indian this way in a British colony in Africa. Gandhis
ongoing cryptic remarks were faithfully reported in major newspapers. When Gandhi became
aware of the conditions under which Indians were operating, he took wages from the affluent
business-class Indians and served the poor class members free of charge.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1896 to retrieve his wife and children and return to South
Africa, he took the opportunity to gather support for the plight of Indians overseas. While in India,
however, back in Natal, the news of his activities was not received lightly and when he returned
he was almost lynched by a white crowd of insurgents. In British fashion, Joseph Chamberlain,
the Colonial Secretary from the British Cabinet demanded that those guilty of attacking Gandhi be
charged, but Gandhi refused, declaring that he would not seek redress for a personal wrong
through the courts.
Working for Indian Civil Rights during the Boer War
The South African War (known as the Boer War) broke out in 1899. Gandhi stated that Indians
in Natal, in claiming rights of citizenship, must support the war efforts as their duty. Gandhi
organized an ambulance corps of 1,100 Indian volunteers drawn from all social levels and
encouraged these diverse men to concentrate on their essential service, even if they were giving
their efforts to help the people they considered their oppressors. Gandhi was reported in The
Pretoria News as being indefatigable, a leader of men who brought out the best in them. Several
news items report that Gandhis ambulance corps bravely operated under the direct fire of the
enemy, meaning that they carried stretchers over rough and muddy terrain.
Satyagraha (Devotion to Truth)
The resolution of the war brought about a coalition between the Boers (Dutch) and the British
officials, but no relief for the Indians living there. In 1906 the Transvaal government issued a hard
and denigrating law which required Indians to register. They were to be fingerprinted and carry a
Certificate of Registration at all times. The police could turn up at any dwelling door to inspect the
premises, invading the sacred right of privacy. In addition, all marriages outside the Christian faith
were to be considered invalid, making every wife a whore and every child of those marriages a
bastard, strong and deeply insulting terms intolerable to the entire Indian community no matter
how poor they were. At a meeting in Johannesburg in September 1906, Gandhi organized a
protest meeting to pledge defiance of the law and indicated he was willing to suffer the
consequences. This was the beginning of satyagraha (devotion to truth) as a means of redressing
evils by inviting suffering instead of fighting back and in this unique way to resist a strong political
opposing force without anger or violence. Gandhi well understood the nature of imperialism which
was always backed by armies (force) and he wished to replace that system by swadeshi
(interdependence without exploitation). When Gandhi and his followers refused to comply with the
provisions of the new Asiatic Registration Act, they were thrown into prison, a move which drew
further support for Gandhi. The government was forced to offer a compromise by stating that if
the Indians registered voluntarily, the government would withdraw the bill. But the government
reneged on their promise and Gandhi retaliated by meeting in an open space with a gathering of
3000 Indians along with several police officers and burning their certificates one by one in a
bonfire as a mark of protest. He was badly beaten but even when he was laid low bleeding on the
ground he continued to reach up and throw the offending papers into the fire. He was then

dragged off to prison. When many of his supporters who were breadwinners of their families were
also imprisoned, Gandhi arranged to set up communal farms to support the dependants. Gandhi
continued to work hard to resist unfair measures and finally in 1914 the Government reached an
agreement with Gandhi by passing the Indian Relief Act which legalized non-Christian marriages
and abolished some of the taxes payable by industries, labourers and others. This struggle had
lasted for seven years, causing hundreds of Indians to lose their businesses and freedom rather
than lose their dignity in submitting to the humiliating new laws. By 1913, hundreds of Indians,
including women, faced jail and those who went on strike from the mines were thrown into prison,
faced beatings and even being shot. However, the dirty laundry of the South African government
was evident for all the world to see. Finally, pressure from the governments of Britain and India
forced Gandhi to sign a one-sided compromise agreement with the formidable South African
General Jan Christian Smuts. Gandhis famous quote concerning this difficult time was: "They will
have my dead body but not my obedience. We will not submit to this law!" 12 Gandhi was quick to
recognize that it was the British who decided how they lived and asked others to think of the
question, "Do we fight to change things or to punish?" It is notable that Gandhi while imprisoned
made General Smuts a pair of sandals as a symbol of there being no ill feeling between the two
of them so that peace could eventually be established. 13 Peace in South Africa was not a
permanent arrangement, however, for the problems of the "coloureds" (Indians and blacks) in that
country have endured until this day, in spite of many changes in the government and the devoted
work of such men as President Mandela and Archbishop Tutu. It is said that the efforts and
experiences of Gandhi did involve him deeply in the racial problems in South Africa and prepared
him for even greater challenges in his native country for the next thirty-five years until his death at
the hands of an assassin.
Gandhis Return to India and His Religious Quest
Gandhis exposure to religious workers of many faiths including Quakers in Pretoria and others
in London created in him a thirst for knowledge and an appetite for religious studies. He slaked
his thirst by delving into the Koran and Hindu teachings, particularly as a way of passing the time
constructively while incarcerated. From his dedicated readings he came to the conclusion that
religions were all leading in the same true path, only limited by being "interpreted with poor
intellects, sometimes with poor hearts, and more often misinterpreted". 14 The most profound
religious influence in Gandhis life came from the Bhagavadgita, particularly two concepts: (1)
apargraha (nonpossession, or getting rid of the clutter of material goods which interfered with the
development of the spirit) and (2) samabhava (equability) which taught him, notwithstanding all
forces, to stay unruffled by either success or failure.
Home Life/Business Life
Upon his return to India in 1915, he was advised by his political mentor, Gokhale, to familiarize
himself with Indian conditions through travel. As a lawyer, his mission was to bring together two
opposing parties in working towards a solution. Because of his generous nature, his clients
became his friends, and many would call him up at all hours of the day or night to ask his advice
on even homely matters. Thus, he was a teacher of humanity as well as a source of legal
counsel. We know that he tried his hand as many home-based occupations as part of his daily
life. He says, "I regard myself as a house-holder, leading a humble life of service and, in common
with my fellow-workers, living upon the charity of friends. . . . The life I am living en entirely very
easy and very comfortable, if ease and comfort are a mental state.. I have all I need without the
slightest care of having to keep any personal treasures." 15
At the most, Gandhis earnings reached only 5,000 per annum, which most often he turned
back into his public activities. Living a frugal life of simplicity, Gandhi and his household always
welcomed guests and became a hostel for colleagues and coworkers who attached themselves
to his causes. By stripping his life of possessions and encumbrances and by taking a vow of
celibacy at the relatively early age of 37, he could concentrate on being of service to others. This
he did under the principle of brahmacarya (complete renunciation of the pleasures of the flesh or
celibacy, striving towards God).

Gandhis Faithful Wife Kasturbai (Ba) and Adopted Daughter Mirabenn Slade
Gandhi as a male expected his wifes obedience and her devotion in promoting his causes. It
was she who garnered the support of many wives and drew them to attend conferences and
protests. When Gandhi was imprisoned it was she who spoke to the public in his place. A very
poignant scene in the movie shows her rebelling against the lowly task of dealing with the issue of
sanitation. She refuses to rake and cover the latrines, a job usually relegated to the untouchables
or outcasts. Gandhi is shown in this scene at first as being fierce with her, threatening to expel
her from the household, but he reasons with her and apologizes. In turn, Kasturbai with the
beautiful doe eyes asks querulously "Where would I go?" and then promises to do that part of her
duty to support his efforts to live a humble life, one that follows his religious principles closely and
makes it possible to gather in all classes of society. "He has written how ashamed he was of
himself [for chastising her so harshly], and how he took care not to hurt her anymore for the rest
of his life."16 As a mark of his devotion, when Ba was ready to deliver one of their children and the
midwife was missing, Gandhi delivered the child himself. He records that he helped his wife in
feeding, bathing and changing the infant, an unusual thing for an Indian male to do over ninety
years ago.
Kasturbai bore her first child Harilal at age 16 (according to some records), and then four years
later came Manilal in 1892. Ramdas was born in 1897, and Devadas, the last of the four boys,
was born in 1900. The undertaking of brahamacharya (chastity) in 1906 precluded having further
children. Sources wonder if this decision was shared by both Mohandas and Kasturbai, but many
feel that Gandhi was overbearing. She did, however, decide to work alongside her husband for
the achievement of causes and in 1913 she was herself arrested and sentenced to three months
in prison at hard labour. This must have been extremely hard for her. She was good at recruiting
women volunteers and made speeches when Gandhi was not able to appear at meetings.
Kasturbai was deeply distressed at the situation which caused Gandhi to be absent from his
children and when her oldest son appeared at her bedside when she was laid low with a heart
condition, she burst out crying.17
Although they were married for sixty-two years, a very long time, not much is known about the
personal side of their relationship, even though Gandhi wrote profusely about his own efforts and
causes. Researchers, therefore, question how Kasturbai felt about the many women who hovered
about as followers and devotees and eventually took over the duties of caring for Gandhis
personal needs when she was too weary to do so. Critics warn that this question may not reflect a
concern of the true Indian culture. Those who were there readily testify to the affectionate bonds
they exhibited and point to the fact that she accompanied him voluntarily to his house arrest at
the Aga Khans Palace in Poona. In 1944 she died there and the photo taken of her moments
after her death show Gandhi a shrunken figure crowded into the corner of the room, obvious
distraught.18
In the movie Gandhi, mention of the character of Mirabenn Slade, daughter of an English
admiral, played by Geraldine Jones, does not appear in the printed resources examined, but she
does represent Gandhis many connections with individuals of all races in many countries,
through whom his message is portrayed. They give him an avenue to express his reasoning in his
quest for Independence and a dignified life for all Indians. At the same time Mirabenn
demonstrates the great sense of bonding Gandhi had, for when she says on first meeting him that
they have corresponded for a long time and coming here was a fulfillment of her dream, he
immediately replies that she can become his adopted daughter. Even so, her hugeness not at all
flattered by her flat features and the clumsy white woven cotton garb on screen is jarring and
might suggest that the diminutive Gandhi will still slay the British icon she may represent. The
later appearance of a young and attractive Candice Bergen as an American photographer
provides a contrast for the anemic Miss Slade. The famous photo which records at rest kneeling
Gandhi while reading beside his spinning wheel in his sparsely furnished room was, in fact, taken
by Margaret Bourke-White for Life Magazine in 1947 (see following page). Perhaps these

characters were added to the screen to let us see how patient Gandhi must have had to be to put
up with us, generally.
Gandhis Work Involving the Role of Women in Society
During Gandhis early years, the average life-span of an Indian was only 27 years, and even
less for women. Widowhood was very common and the rate of deaths during childbirth was high,
considering many expectant mothers were just children themselves. Only 2 percent of women
had the privilege of an education, and in the North many practiced Purda (veil), traveling to school
in closely covered carts (tangas), much as they are forced to do in present-day Taliban controlled
Afghanistan. Under these conditions, the fact that Gandhi taught that women were equal to men
was remarkable. He recognized that their support was very important in the fight for Indias
Independence. Gandhi never went half-way with any project, and so it was he who advocated
complete reform called Sarvodaya (comprehensive progress). Believing that the difference
between males and females is merely physical, he went further and stressed that in matters of
tolerance, patience and sacrifice women are better than men. It is notable that women played an
integral role in all his projects. According to Gandhi, women are equal to men intellectually,
mentally and spiritually.19 The work of Gandhi has made a tremendous difference in the way
women are treated in India, although some negative practices still exist.
Significantly, Gandhi wished to abolish the dowry system, saying simply, "The evil system has
to go, since is dishonours women."20 At the same time he urged women to give up their jewelry
and gifts which had been given to the family at their wedding, so that the proceeds could be
directed to helping the poor. "Tearfully Kasturbai would give up jewels and gifts." 21 He believed
that women had great potential to do good. "He felt that women were naturally more non-violent
and had the potential to do more against war than men. He felt that women had greater intuition
and greater courage and . . . they should be educated just as men were." 22
Gandhi thought it wrong to wish only for male children, stating that "as long as we dont consider
girls as natural as our boys our nation will be in a dark eclipse". 23 News media reports about two
years ago reported that as many as 90 million females were missing from the population of South
Asia because of scientific advancements allowing for fetus gender choice of boys over girls, as
well as consideration of the conditions many unwanted baby girls are placed in to hinder their
ability to survive (some are left by the side of the road to starve). This population imbalance will
cause a national crisis in less than fifteen years when an overpopulation of males seek mates that
are not there.
Gandhi called for young men to marry the widows who were in plentiful supply and to leave the
child brides alone. Many of the very young widows after the early death of their husbands were
condemned to an awful life shunned by society and forced to shave their heads and live in
isolation. Gandhi felt that they deserved their childhood free from pregnancy and other heavy
responsibilities.24
Gandhi was very disturbed by the Devadasis, the low-caste untouchables, particularly by the
cruel and neglectful treatment of children of the brothels. He foresaw that after Independence the
institution of temple women and brothels would be abolished when people realized that protecting
womens honour was as sacred as the Hindu belief in the protection of cows. The fact that
millions of Indian women today can go to work in offices, schools, and factories freely is due to
Gandhis preparatory work ninety years ago. It was through the hard-fought Constitution that
women in India gained the right to vote and be treated as equals, yet women in the West were
still struggling for a degree of autonomy as late as the 1930s. We must remember and
incorporate social services, job dignity, and a sense of self-reliance as natural elements in our
society, the ones that Gandhi recommended.
Details of Communal Lifestyle
Gandhi had for a long time been drawn to the simple life of an ashram (ashramas), a sort of

communal village. After reading Ruskins Unto This Last, which was a criticism of the evils of
capitalism, Gandhi in 1904 had set up a communal farm near Durban in 1904. Six years later the
Tolstoy Farm began as a colony near Johannesburg, followed years later by two others in India,
Sabarmati near Ahmedabad and Sevagram near Wardha.25 When Gandhi began the ashram in
Gujarat in his native region, the residents began calling him "Bapu", meaning "father" and soon
after that the revered name of "Mahatma" (Great Soul) began to be used. This name was initially
used by Indias most renowned writer, Rabindranath Tagore 26 and it followed him wherever he
went.
Gandhis Response to Peasant Hardships
An Indian peasant in 1916 from Champaran, a village in the Himalayan foothills, contacted
Gandhi to address the fact that they had to pay a share of profits from their indigo crops to their
British landowners and were now being asked to pay more money in rents, in spite of the fact that
indigo was no longer to be sent to England for the cloth manufacturing industry there because
they were producing their own dyes. This left the Champaran farmers destitute and in a hopeless
situation. When Gandhi went to investigate, the local authorities ordered him to go away, in spite
of the fact that he was surrounded by thousands of people who had descended on the location to
greet him, having heard by word of mouth the short phrase "He is coming!" Gandhi refused to do
what the officious officer ordered and stated that he was prepared to pay the penalty for
disobeying the statute. This confounded the officials. The officers of the court, when they saw the
local support given to Gandhi, released him instead of penalizing him and this constituted a small
but significant victory for Gandhi.
The Work of the Indian National Congress
In December 1916, an agreement was put forth at the Indian National Congress and the AllIndia Muslim League called the Lucknow Pact. It was adopted on December 29th by Congress
and on December 31st by the League. The Maratha leader, B. G. Tilak, was prominent in stating
how the reunion of the moderate and radical wings of Congress would work together. This
agreement also marked the beginnings of nationalist efforts and was the start of Gandhis Noncooperation Movement of 1920-22. The Lucknow Pact meeting in 1916 discussed how the new
government of India would be set up and how Muslim and Hindu communities would operate
together. According to the Pact it was proposed that:
"Four-fifths of the provincial and central legislatures were to be elected on a broad franchise,
and half the executive council members, including those of the central executive council, were to
be Indians elected by the councils themselves. "27
Except for the provision of the central executive, these same proposals were to appear largely
intact in the Government of India Act of 1919. The Congress also agreed to separate electorates
for Muslims in provincial council elections and for representation in their favour (beyond the
proportions indicated by population) in all provinces except the Punjab and Bengal, where they
gave favoured somewhat the Hindu and Sikh minorities. This Pact paved the way for HinduMuslim cooperation in the Khilafat Movement and Gandhis Non-cooperation Movement from
1920.