Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was a prominent leader in India's struggle for independence from British rule. He was born in Porbandar, a small coastal town in present-day Gujarat, India, on October 2, 1869. Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, was the dewan (chief minister) of the state of Porbandar, and his mother, Putlibai, was a deeply religious woman who instilled in Gandhi the importance of compassion, nonviolence, and truth.
Gandhi received his early education in Porbandar and later attended schools in Rajkot and Bombay (now Mumbai). In 1888, at the age of 18, he left India to study law in London. After completing his studies, Gandhi returned to India in 1891 and started practicing law in Bombay.
Gandhi's experiences of racism and discrimination while studying and practicing law in South Africa led him to become an advocate for civil rights and social justice. In 1893, he moved to South Africa to work as a legal representative for an Indian merchant. While there, he witnessed firsthand the harsh treatment of Indians by the British authorities and the discrimination they faced in the legal system. Gandhi began organizing boycotts and civil disobedience campaigns to protest these injustices, and he eventually became a leader in the Indian community in South Africa.
Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and quickly emerged as a leader in the country's independence movement. He believed in using nonviolence and civil disobedience as a means of resistance to British rule, and he became known for his philosophy of satyagraha, or "truth-force." Gandhi's strategies of nonviolence and civil disobedience were instrumental in India's struggle for independence, and he became a hero to many Indians.
Gandhi's philosophy and tactics influenced civil rights and freedom movements around the world, including the American civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi was assassinated by a fanatic on January 30, 1948, just a few months after India gained its independence. Despite his untimely death, Gandhi's legacy as a leader and champion of nonviolence and civil rights lives on to this day.