Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869–1948), nationalist leader of lndia. He was called the Mahatma (“Great Soul”). After studying law in London, he went to South Africa, where he lived until 1914, becoming a driving force in the Indian community's fight for civil rights. During this campaign he developed the principle of satyagraha, nonviolent civil disobedience to achieve economic, political, and social change, and held to it despite persecution and imprisonment. When he returned to India, he had achieved substantial improvements in civil rights and labor laws. In India he became leader of the Congress Party, initiating the campaign that led to the independence of India after World War II. He was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who disapproved of his tolerance of Muslims. Gandhi wrote an autobiography, My Experiment With Truth, and edited the newspaper Indian Opinion.

See also: India.