Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
The face of Gandhi in old age—smiling, wearing glasses, and with a white sash over his right shoulder
Born(1869-10-02)2 October 1869
Died30 January 1948(1948-01-30) (aged 78)
NationalityIndian
Parents
  • Karamchand Gandhi (father)
  • Putlibai Gandhi (mother)


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was born on . He was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā In India, he is also called Bapu ji and Gandhi ji. He is unofficially called the Father of the Nation.


Born and raised in a Hindu merchant caste family in coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for various social causes and for achieving Swaraj or self-rule.