Big picture
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi transformed the Indian national movement. Before him, the Indian National Congress was led mostly by educated, urban professionals. Gandhi turned it into a mass movement, drawing in peasants, workers, women and people from every region, using the method of satyagraha: non-violent resistance based on truth.
This chapter traces Gandhi's campaigns from 1915 to 1948, explains how he became a people's leader, and shows how historians use different kinds of sources to understand him and the movement.
Learning goals
Explain Gandhi's experience in South Africa and his return to India.
Describe his early campaigns at Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad.
Explain the Rowlatt satyagraha and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Explain the Non-Cooperation Movement and its withdrawal.
Explain how Gandhi became a people's leader.
Explain the Salt March, Civil Disobedience, the Round Table Conferences and the Gandhi–Irwin Pact.
Explain the Quit India Movement, partition and Gandhi's last days.
Explain how historians use sources to study Gandhi.
Core ideas
1. From South Africa to India
Gandhi lived in South Africa for about two decades, where he fought racial discrimination and first developed the technique of satyagraha and forged unity among Indians of different religions, castes and regions.
He returned to India in January 1915. On the advice of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, he spent a year travelling across British India to understand the land and its people.
His first major public appearance was at the opening of Banaras Hindu University in February 1916, where he criticised the Indian elite for their lack of concern for the poor, saying India's salvation lay with its peasants and labourers.
2. Early campaigns
Campaign | Year | Issue |
|---|---|---|
Champaran (Bihar) | 1917 | Securing tenure security and freedom for peasants forced by British planters to grow indigo |
Kheda (Gujarat) | 1918 | Asking the state to remit taxes for peasants whose crops failed |
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) | 1918 | Better working conditions for textile mill workers |
These campaigns made Gandhi known as a leader with deep sympathy for the poor.
3. The Rowlatt satyagraha and Jallianwala Bagh
The Rowlatt Act (1919) allowed the government to imprison people without trial. Gandhi called for a countrywide hartal (strike) against it in April 1919.
The protest was strongest in Punjab. On 13 April 1919, at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, General Dyer ordered troops to fire on a peaceful gathering, killing hundreds. This brutality shocked the country.
The Rowlatt satyagraha made Gandhi a truly national leader.
4. The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22)
Gandhi called for non-cooperation with British rule, joining it with the Khilafat Movement, which sought to restore the Caliphate (Khalifa of Turkey), building Hindu–Muslim unity.
Programme: boycott of schools, colleges and law courts; resignation from government jobs; boycott of foreign cloth; and use of khadi.
Wide participation: students left government institutions, lawyers boycotted courts, the working class went on strike in many towns, peasants refused to pay taxes in some areas, forest communities violated forest laws, and Awadh peasants refused to pay taxes. Gandhi had predicted swaraj within a year.
Withdrawal: in February 1922, at Chauri Chaura (Uttar Pradesh), a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station, killing several policemen. Gandhi called off the movement because it had turned violent. He was arrested and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
Significance: it was the first time since 1857 that British rule was shaken to its foundations, and it made the national movement a mass movement.
5. The making of a people's leader
Gandhi dressed simply in a dhoti, like the poor, and spoke their language; he spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel), which became a symbol of self-reliance and dignity of labour.
His appeal was helped by rumours of his miraculous powers among peasants: that he was sent by the king to redress grievances, or that those who opposed him met misfortune.
He developed new nationalist leaders across regions, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, J.B. Kripalani, Subhas Chandra Bose, Abul Kalam Azad, C. Rajagopalachari and others, and new Congress branches were set up across India.
He also worked on social reform: removing untouchability, promoting Hindu–Muslim unity, and promoting khadi.
6. The Salt March and Civil Disobedience (1930)
In December 1929, at the Lahore Congress under Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress declared its goal of Purna Swaraj (complete independence). 26 January 1930 was celebrated as Independence Day.
Gandhi chose to break the salt law, which gave the state a monopoly on salt manufacture and sale, as a symbol of injustice that affected every Indian.
On 12 March 1930, he began the Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi, walking about 240 miles in 24 days. On 6 April 1930, he made salt from seawater, breaking the law.
Civil Disobedience spread: people made salt, boycotted foreign cloth and liquor shops, peasants refused to pay revenue and taxes, and forest laws were violated. Thousands, including Gandhi, were arrested. Women took part in large numbers.
Significance: the march brought Gandhi to world attention, involved women on a large scale, and showed the British that their rule was not permanent.
7. Round Table Conferences and the Gandhi–Irwin Pact
The British held Round Table Conferences in London to discuss India's future. The first (November 1930) was boycotted by the Congress.
In March 1931, the Gandhi–Irwin Pact was signed: Civil Disobedience was called off, prisoners were released, and salt manufacture along the coast was allowed. Gandhi attended the second Round Table Conference (late 1931) as the Congress's sole representative, but it was inconclusive; other groups (the Muslim League, princes, Dr B.R. Ambedkar for depressed classes) challenged the Congress's claim to represent all of India.
Civil Disobedience was renewed but lost momentum by 1934. The Government of India Act, 1935 promised a form of representative government; in 1937 elections, the Congress formed ministries in eight of eleven provinces.
8. Quit India and partition
In 1939, World War II began; the Congress ministries resigned when the Viceroy declared India a party to the war without consultation. The Cripps Mission (1942) failed to reach agreement.
On 8 August 1942, Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement with the call "Do or Die". Leaders were arrested at once, but young activists organised strikes and sabotage across the country; parallel governments were set up in places like Satara (Maharashtra) and Medinipur (Bengal). It was a genuine mass movement.
After the war, the Muslim League's demand for Pakistan grew, and violence broke out in 1946 after the League's call for "Direct Action". India became independent on 15 August 1947, but was partitioned.
9. Gandhi's last days
During the independence celebrations, Gandhi was in Calcutta (Noakhali and Bengal) working to restore peace between Hindus and Muslims, fasting to stop riots.
He then went to Delhi, where he continued working for communal harmony.
On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse during his evening prayer meeting. The nation mourned; tributes poured in from around the world.
10. Knowing Gandhi: sources
Source | Value and caution |
|---|---|
Gandhi's own writings (his autobiography, letters, articles in his journals Harijan and Young India) | Show his views, but public writings were meant for an audience |
Private letters between leaders (such as Nehru's collection of letters) | Reveal private thoughts and disagreements |
Government records (police reports, fortnightly reports) | Show how the state viewed events, but are coloured by official bias, often downplaying support for the movement |
Newspapers (in English and Indian languages) | Track events and opinions, but reflect editorial views; some were pro-British, others nationalist |
Biographies and autobiographies | Useful, but often written with hindsight and selective memory |
A reliable approach to questions
For early campaigns, match each place to its issue and year.
For Non-Cooperation, give its programme, participation, and the Chauri Chaura withdrawal.
For the Salt March, explain why salt was chosen, the dates and the significance.
For Quit India, give the date, slogan and features of participation.
For sources, explain the value and bias of each type.
Connections that matter
Rebels and the Raj describes the earlier revolt of 1857, which nationalists remembered.
Framing the Constitution follows how independent India was founded.
Political Science: challenges of nation-building covers partition and its aftermath.
Common mistakes
Saying Gandhi's first Indian satyagraha was the Salt March. Champaran (1917) came first.
Mixing up the dates of 1920–22 (Non-Cooperation), 1930 (Civil Disobedience) and 1942 (Quit India).
Saying Gandhi continued Non-Cooperation after Chauri Chaura. He withdrew it.
Treating police reports as neutral records.
Revision checklist
I can explain Gandhi's South African background and return.
I can describe Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad.
I can explain the Rowlatt satyagraha and Jallianwala Bagh.
I can explain Non-Cooperation, the Salt March, Civil Disobedience and Quit India.
I can explain the Round Table Conferences and the Gandhi–Irwin Pact.
I can explain partition, Gandhi's last days and the sources used to study him.