Mahatma Gandhi - The Great Soul

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as "Mahatma" (Great Soul), was the leader of the Indian nationalist (MOVE) against British rule. He is regarded as the father of the Indian nation. Gandhi is well-known for his doctrine of nonviolent (RESIST) and civil (OBEDIENT) in order to reach political and social progress.

Loved and respected by the whole world as one of the great human rights (ACTIVE), he did not really match the hero cliché, because he was thin and poor-looking in his simple white robes. But Gandhi proved that fine clothing and status symbols were not important if you wanted to achieve your goals.

After growing up in western India, 13-year-old Mohandas was married to a 14-year-old girl, Kasturbai Makhanji, in an (ARRANGE) child marriage. This was the tradition that almost all Indian families followed.

After university, he went to London to train as a barrister. In 1893, he accepted a job at an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa, where he stayed for 20 years. Gandhi was shocked by the (TREAT) of Indian immigrants there. He joined the struggle for basic rights and was (PRISON) several times. In 1906, Gandhi developed his famous philosophy of satyagraha ("devotion to truth"), a new nonviolent way of protesting.

After his return to India in 1915, he became an (INFLUENCE) figure in Indian politics. His program of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and institutions, (LEAD) to the arrests of himself and thousands of co-protesters.

In 1930, Gandhi announced a new campaign of civil disobedience protesting against a government tax on salt. On a "Salt March" to the sea he led thousands of Indians to symbolically make their own salt from seawater. In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the only (REPRESENT) of the Indian National Congress.

However, in 1934, he resigned from the party and was (SUCCEED) by Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1945, the British government began negotiations that culminated in the Partition Plan of June 1947. Riots and violence evolved in the months before and after (DEPEND). Gandhi was opposed to Partition and did not join the (CELEBRATE) . Instead, he fasted in Calcutta and Delhi in an attempt to cool down people's heated emotions. On 30 January 1948, a Hindu fanatic who opposed his program of (TOLERANT) assassinated Gandhi in Delhi.