INDIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER
1869–1948

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the world-renowned leader of India's struggle for independence from Great Britain, is best remembered for his doctrine of peaceful resistance. Gandhi's traditional title, Mahatma (Great soul), refers to this philosophy.

Gandhi was born into a middle-caste political family. His grandfather and father were prime ministers of Porbandar, a minor princely state. After studying law in Britain, Gandhi returned to India but was unable to establish a successful legal practice. In 1893 he emigrated to the wealthy British colony of Natal, South Africa. There, as a prosperous lawyer, Gandhi became a leading figure in the Indian community's pursuit of equal rights. In 1914 Gandhi returned to India, where he soon assumed a leadership role in the Indian National Congress (INC), an organization advocating self-rule.

Gandhi's pacifist philosophy was grounded in the Hindu principle of nonviolence. It also was inspired by the New Testament...