Gandhi in South Africa
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"
Meaning
Gandhi went to South Africa in 1893 as a young lawyer. He stayed there for about two decades and returned to India in January 1915. In South Africa he led Indians against racial discrimination. There he first developed satyagraha, which means winning through non-violent "truth-force". He also promoted harmony between religions. He challenged upper-caste Indians over how they treated low castes and women. The historian Chandran Devanesan called South Africa "the making of the Mahatma".
Example
In 1906, in the Transvaal, Gandhi organised Indians to refuse a law that forced them to register and carry passes. This was the first large satyagraha. Many Indians went to jail rather than obey the law.
Don't confuse with
- Champaran (1917): This was Gandhi's first satyagraha in India, by indigo tenants in Bihar. His earlier satyagrahas were all fought in South Africa.
Related concepts
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Natal Indian Congress
- Indian Opinion
- Phoenix Settlement
- Tolstoy Farm
- Indian National Congress
- Moderates
- Extremists
- Lal Bal Pal
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak