Gandhi was born in India in 1869. His father was a high-level administrator in the regional government. His mother had the strongest influence on Gandhi who inspired his spiritual upbringing. At age of 13, he was married to Kasturba, daughter of a merchant.
Karamchand, Gandhi's father, n.d.,MKGandhi.
Putlibai, Gandhi’s mother,n.d.,MKGandhi.
Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, n.d.,MKGandhi.
"The golden way is to be friends with the world and to regard the whole human family as one."
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi received his primary education in the city of Porbandar. He enrolled in Samaldas Arts College, the only institution that was offering a degree. He joined the University College London (UCL) and completed his Law degree. He struggled to adapt himself to Western food, dress, and etiquette. It was difficult for Gandhi to adjust to social disparities and the customs of the British. He returned to India in 1891.
Samaldas Arts College in Bhavnagar,n.d.,MKGandhi.
Alfred High School, Gandhi's high school in Rajkot, n.d.,MKGandhi.
University College London (UCL),n.d.,MKGandhi.
Gandhi in London, n.d.,MKGandhi.
“I found that, living in England, I was in a way participating in the war. Whilst many Englishmen, leaving their ordinary vocation in life, are responding to the imperial call, those Indians who are residing in the United Kingdom and who can at all do so, should place themselves unconditionally at the disposal of the Authorities.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
India was a focal point of European trade during the 17th and 18th centuries. The East India Company created by English merchants provided service in trading spice, cotton, silk, tea, and slaves. They entered India as traders with the intention to gradually colonize India and take complete control giving rise to British imperialism in India from 1858. Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, a political party for the rights of Indians all over the subcontinent.
British Colonial India,1858, Gandhi before India.
Indian Rebellion of 1857, the First War of Independence, 1857, Gandhi before India.
"And why do I regard the British rule as a curse? It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation. It has reduced us politically to serfdom. It has sapped the foundations of our culture. Lacking the inward strength, we have been reduced, by all but universal disarmament, to a state bordering on cowardly helplessness."
~ Mahatma Gandhi (Excerpt from his letter to Lord Irwin on March 2, 1930)