Mohandas K. Gandhi
Indian lawyer and anti-colonial leader whose nonviolent campaigns won India's independence from Britain Show bio
Bio
Mahatma Gandhi absorbed the piety of his mother, who fasted for days without flinching. He grew up in her Hindu tradition, which also drew on the Quran and the Bible.
Gandhi qualified as a lawyer in London but failed to build a practice back in India. He took one lawsuit in South Africa, stayed 21 years, and first tried nonviolent resistance there. Gandhi rallied ordinary Indians for self-rule, marching 400 kilometres against a British salt tax.
He saw India freed but split in 1947, then fasted to halt the religious killing. Gandhi died at an interfaith prayer meeting, shot by a Hindu nationalist for defending Muslims.