Phoenix Settlement
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Phoenix Settlement was a farm near Durban, South Africa, that Gandhi set up in 1904. He was inspired by John Ruskin's book Unto This Last, which taught that all honest work, including manual work, has equal worth. Residents lived simply, shared work and did physical labour. It was Gandhi's first experiment in community living, which he later repeated in his Indian ashrams.
Example
The weekly newspaper Indian Opinion was printed at the Phoenix Settlement from 1904. Residents worked the press themselves, often by hand.
Don't confuse with
- Tolstoy Farm: Gandhi founded this second settlement in 1910 near Johannesburg, with Hermann Kallenbach. It mainly housed satyagrahis' families. Phoenix, near Durban, came first.
Related concepts
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Gandhi in South Africa
- Natal Indian Congress
- Indian Opinion
- Tolstoy Farm
- Indian National Congress
- Moderates
- Extremists
- Lal Bal Pal
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak