Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, British India. Mahatma Gandhi's background is described as Gujarati Hindu; merchant-caste family. Growing up, the family was affluent — his father served as diwan (chief minister) of the Porbandar princely state; a prosperous, devout household. A shy lawyer who couldn't speak in court; a train ejection in South Africa set the course.

Born

1869 · Porbandar, Gujarat, British India

Roots

Gujarati Hindu; merchant-caste family

Family

Affluent

His father served as diwan (chief minister) of the Porbandar princely state; a prosperous, devout household.

Education

Law at the Inner Temple, London

Started with

A first-class ticket

Thrown off a South African train at Pietermaritzburg in 1893 despite holding one — the night he later marked as the turning point.

Affiliations & societies

Indian National CongressDocumented

Led the party's independence campaigns from 1921 onward.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1891 · age 21
   A failed law practice

   Back from London, he is too shy to speak in his first Bombay court case and returns the client's fee.

2. 1893 · age 23
   Pietermaritzburg

   Takes a one-year clerk's contract in South Africa; is ejected from a first-class carriage for his skin color and stays 21 years to fight such laws.

3. 1906 · age 36
   Satyagraha

   Launches nonviolent resistance against pass laws in the Transvaal.

4. 1915 · age 45
   Returns to India

   Tours the country third-class before entering politics.

5. 1930 · age 60
   The Salt March

   390 km on foot to make salt in defiance of the British monopoly; some 60,000 arrests follow.

6. 1947 · age 77
   Independence — and partition

   Spends independence day fasting in Calcutta against communal violence rather than celebrating in Delhi.

7. 1948 · age 78
   Assassinated

   Shot by a Hindu nationalist at a prayer meeting.