Hist 4339

The Rise of Gandhi

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

• Lower-caste, middle-class family

• 1888-1891: legal education in England

• 1893-1915: South Africa

            —Indian civil rights campaigns

            —Support for British military effort during Boer War, 1906 Zulu uprising

            —Development of concept of satyagraha [soulforce]: non-violent resistance

• 1915: return to India, involvement in rural movements such as Champaran campaign

Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre (Amritsar, Punjab)

• April 13, 1919: political meeting of unarmed demonstrators (men, women, children)

• Gen. R.E.H. Dyer: ten minutes of firing, 1650 rounds fired, 379 dead, ~1200 wounded

• Martial law declared in Punjab

• Dyer relieved of command, but praised in Britain

            ◦ Dyer: Indians “naughty,” “ought to be thankful to me for” massacre

• Indian uproar

Gandhi as Nationalist Leader

• Mass protests following Jallianwallah Bagh massacre

• 1920: Gandhi recognized as de facto leader of INC

• Gandhi transformed INC into organization with mass appeal

• Khilafat movement: Congress support for Indian Muslims re Ottoman sultan/caliph

• 1922: violence at Chauri Chaura; Gandhi calls off campaign

• Gandhi arrested, remains politically inactive for much of 1920s

• Khilafat movement fails when Turkey establishes secular rule

• 1929: Gandhi reemerges, INC declares purna swaraj

• 1930: new civil disobedience campaign

            ◦ Mar 1930: Salt March

            ◦ boycott of British goods, institutions

            ◦ Gandhi maintains firm control of followers

            ◦ but many Muslims alienated