GANDHIS INFLUENCE IN

INDIA AND THE WORLD

Mohandas Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi
was born in the
seaside town of
Porbandar.

Gandhi learned
basic ideas of
nonviolence from
Hinduism, and
Jainism.

Mohandas Gandhi

As Gandhi grew
older, his family
suggested he study
law in London.

In the fall of 1888,

Gandhi left for
London.

His wife Kasturbai

and son, Harilal,
stayed with his
parents.

Mohandas Gandhi

In London, Gandhi first

read the Bhagavad-Gita,
the wisdom of Hinduism.

From this he took its

ideal of the active but
selfless human being.
Gandhi obtained his law
degree in 1891, then
returned to India.

Accepted an offer to
work in South Africa.

Mohandas Gandhi
Untouchables

Gandhi first employed civil disobedience while an

expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the
resident Indian communitys struggle for civil
rights.

After his return to India in 1915, he organized

protests by peasants, farmers, and urban laborers
concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination.

After assuming leadership of the Indian National

Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide
campaigns to ease poverty, expand womens
rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end
untouchability, and increase economic selfreliance.

Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the

independence of India from foreign domination.

Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi earnestly believed

that a person involved in
public service should lead a
simple life.
When he returned to India
he renounced the western
lifestyle he led in South
Africa, where he had enjoyed
a successful legal practice.

Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi famously led his followers in the

Non-cooperation movement that protested
the British-imposed salt tax with the 240
mile Dandi Salt March in 1930.
He launched the
Quit India Movement in
1942, demanding immediate
independence for India.

Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in

India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi).

He and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their

own clothes from thread they themselves spun on a
charkha, and encouraged others to do so.

While Indian workers were often idle due to unemployment,

they had often bought their clothing from industrial
manufacturers owned by British interests.

Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He

believed that abstaining from speaking brought him
inner peace and made him a better listener.

This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles of

mauna and shanti.

On such days he communicated with others by writing

on paper.

For three and a half years, from the age of 37, Gandhi
refused to read newspapers.

Gandhi and Nonviolence

Throughout this time in Gandhis life he

was imprisoned repeatedly by the
British.

For Gandhi, nonviolence was a

fundamental part of his teachings.
Gandhi believed that nonviolence gave a
great moral power to its followers, as
well as possibly sway the thoughts and
actions of those who were viewed as
cruel, thoughtless, and violent.

Gandhi and Nonviolence

Gandhi named this power satyagraha(reality

forceorholding onto truth).

Gandhi made use of every nonviolent technique

imaginable.
These techniques included marches, hunger strikes, and
demonstrations.

Turning Point

Seashore
communities
throughout India
began to do the
same.
Many, including
Gandhi, were
arrested.
This march became
the turning point of
the Indian
independence
movement.

The British
government was
weakened.
British forces finally
agreed to leave
India in 1947.
Gandhi recognized
for his influence in
this.

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi believed so much in loving

tolerance that he hoped it could keep a
newly independent India free of religious
battles(Molloy, 112).
Unfortunately, fear and tension are quite
common between religious faiths.
Muslim leaders feared oppression from the
Hindu majority.
Worked to create the new separate Muslim
state of Pakistan.
As a result of this, some Hindu militants
wished for revenge.

Gandhis End

In a fit of rage, one of the

Hindu militants shot and
killed Gandhi in 1948.

Even after death, Gandhis

example spread across the
globe.

Gandhi's ideology influenced

Martin Luther King Jr.

Used in protests against racial

segregation in the U.S.