Mohandas Gandhi And The Sepoy Rebellion Of 1857

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Beginning in 1857, the residents of India were determined to gain control of their country from the British rulers. Great Britain marched into India, taking over the country as though it was theirs to take. They began to transform the way of life for the Indians, telling them what to do and how to do it. The Indian independence movement started as a result. Mohandas Gandhi was one of the prominent leaders of this movement. Although there were many other documented leaders, Gandhi’s speeches of gaining control over their country through nonviolence inspired his fellow neighbors. This peaceful practice was primarily known as satyagraha, gaining Gandhi the support he needed. Nearly a century had passed until the Indian’s finally attained the …show more content…

The East India Company was a trading company developed in the 1600s, with the agenda to increase trade of spices, silk, and other merchants across Britain and Asia. However, the most projecting trade was held between Britain and India. Queen Elizabeth permitted the East India Company to regulate and transport goods from India. With the authorization of local Indian rulers, the East India Company established trading posts in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. The lasting friendly relationship, however, did not last long as the Indian Rebellion of 1858, also known as the Sepoy Rebellion, occurred. The sepoys were greatly offended by the British because they had to had to bite into the paper and tear it with their teeth open the cartridges and load the rifles, which was rumored to have grease on the cartridges, made of a mixture of beef tallow and pork lard. Eating beef was forbidden in Hinduism, while consumption of pork is haram in Islam. Offended by this, the Indian Rebellion started. Though there is not any direct evidence that point towards this trading company as being the beacon for the invasion, the early relationship between these two countries could have influenced just …show more content…

This is not possible, and to believe it to be possible is contrary to human experience.”
Gandhi was vigorously against this and allowed his thoughts to prevail through his works. He believed that following the British practices would only make them unethical as well, stripping them from their Indian roots.
“In effect it means this: that we want English rule without the Englishman. You want the tiger 's nature, but not the tiger; that is to say, you would make India English. And when it becomes English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englistan.”
Without Gandhi, and his movement of satyagraha, the possibility of India gaining freedom from the British could be argued. Not only did this movement help free Indians, but it also became the prime inspiration for numerous world leaders, such as Albert Einstein, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela assisted in the demolishment of the politically sanctioned racial segregation that occurred in South Africa. He regularly referred to Gandhi as one of his primary compelling educators amid his Anti-Apartheid Movement.
“Gandhi’s ideas have played a vital role in South Africa’s transformation and with the help of Gandhi’s teaching, apartheid has been

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