Mohandas Gandhi
Indian Modern · South Asia · 1869 to 1948
Indian leader who developed nonviolent resistance as a way of pursuing truth. He linked personal discipline to political change.
What it is
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 to 1948) was an Indian lawyer, born in Porbandar, who became the leader of the movement for Indian independence from British rule. He is widely known as Mahatma, a Sanskrit title meaning great soul, and is best remembered for his method of nonviolent resistance.
He first developed that method in South Africa, where he lived from 1893 to 1914, and later applied it in India. He tied it to a broader philosophy of truth, nonviolence, simple living and self-rule, and he was assassinated in 1948.
The main ideas
- Satyagraha. His method of nonviolent resistance, often translated as holding firmly to truth. It meets injustice with open, peaceful refusal and with willingness to accept the consequences.
- Ahimsa. Nonviolence as a principle. It is tied to a larger project of spiritual transformation, in which the refusal to harm any living being is a discipline of the self.
- Truth. He saw the search for truth as the centre of his life, and treated nonviolent action as its practical form.
- Self-rule. Swaraj, self-rule, meant for him not only political independence but a people's ability to govern itself and its own conduct.
- Simplicity and service. He lived plainly, took up the spinning wheel as a symbol of self-reliance, and stressed service to others and self-restraint.
What it looks like in practice
Picture a group of workers who are denied fair pay, and who choose to refuse the unjust rule openly and without violence, ready to accept the penalty. That is the pattern of satyagraha: no hatred of the opponent, no hiding, and a firm refusal to cooperate with what is wrong. This is an illustration of the method, not a quotation.
Books and moments
- The Salt March (1930) was a long march to the sea to make salt in defiance of the salt tax, one of his best-known campaigns.
- Quit India (1942) was his call for the end of British rule during the Second World War.
- His South African years (1893 to 1914) are where he first used satyagraha.
Questions and criticism
- Did he do enough on caste? B. R. Ambedkar, the Dalit leader, criticised Gandhi's term Harijans for the untouchable community as condescending and said Gandhi undermined Dalit political rights.
- Is nonviolence enough against a tyrant? His advice about how to answer Hitler and Nazism has been criticised by historians and commentators as impractical or worse.
- Did his own conduct match his ideas? Some critics charge hypocrisy and statements they call racist, while others defend him, and his South African years are a focus of that debate.
Close neighbours
He was influenced by Tolstoy and the Bhagavad Gita. The pages on Buddhism and the Buddha show another tradition of nonviolence.
Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 9 October 2026. The sources are listed below.
Where to start reading
Books by Mohandas Gandhi or about them, from the easiest way in to the harder ones.
- An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth Mohandas K. Gandhi
Covers belong to their publishers and are shown so you can recognise the book.
Who they connect to
Influenced
- Arne Naess · He took from Gandhi the practice of non-violent protest and a respect for all life.
Influenced by
- Henry David Thoreau · Gandhi read his essay on civil disobedience and cited it.
- Rabindranath Tagore · The two held a long, respectful public exchange on nationalism and modern life; each shaped the other's views. (scholars disagree about this link)
- Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) · Gandhi's ahimsa draws on a tradition of non-harm shared by Buddhist, Jain and Hindu teachers. (scholars disagree about this link)
Reacted against by
- B. R. Ambedkar · He argued with Gandhi over whether the caste system can be reformed or must be ended.
Other Indian Modern thinkers
- Rabindranath Tagore · 1861 to 1941
- Sri Aurobindo · 1872 to 1950
- B. R. Ambedkar · 1891 to 1956
- Jiddu Krishnamurti · 1895 to 1986
- Amartya Sen · born 1933
Sources we used
- Mohandas K. Gandhi · New World Encyclopedia, read on 9 October 2026
- Mahatma Gandhi · Wikipedia, read on 9 October 2026
- Pacifism · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 9 October 2026