Mohandas Ghandi: The Peaceful Warrior

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Most people have at least heard his name. Mohandas Gandhi is one of the most notable characters in our fairly recent history. Born and raised a Hindu, he was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in the British-ruled India. He led India to independence and inspired many movements for civil rights across the world. Gandhi also assumed the leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921; effectively becoming the leading figure in India’s struggle for independence. He is known for many accomplishments. Women’s rights, the ending of untouchability, and the decline poverty of poverty in India are just a few of his accomplishments. During his conquest he was imprisoned multiple times, undertook a number of hunger strikes, and dressed only in a loincloth and shawl-and devout Hindu faith. Mohandas Gandhi's most significant accomplishment however, was uniting the Hindus in India with the Muslims of Pakistan to break free of British rule peacefully. Gandhi's early life had a huge influence on the man he became. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar or the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as the dewan (chief minister) of Porbander state and his deeply religious mother, Putlibai, who was from a Pranami Vaishnava family, was Karamchand's fourth wife. His mother was a practitioner of the worship of the Hindu god Vishnu, otherwise known as Vaishnavism. His life at home taught him the tenets of self-discipline and nonvionlence. Gandhi soon decided he wanted to become his own person. So at just 19, Gandhi headed out to London, England, to study law at University College London. Influenced by a promise he had made to his mother before leaving India, he studied the abstinence of meat, a... ... middle of paper ... ...orks and are only a small slice of the impression he left on the world and especially Indian and Muslim culture. Few people can compare to the non-violent methods that Gandhi employed to change so much by doing so little. The Indians and Muslims will forever be in his debt, and the British government was taught a lesson in non-violent protests. Gandhi will always continue to be an epiphany of the peaceful warrior. Works Cited Gandhi, Rajmohan. Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire. Berkeley: U of California, 2008. Print. "Mind of Mahatma Gandhi : Complete Book Online." Mind of Mahatma Gandhi : Complete Book Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. "Official Website of the Gandhi Research Foundation." Official Website of the Gandhi Research Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. "Mohandas Gandhi." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 20 May 2014.

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