18 Milestone Events in the Life of Mohandas Gandhi

(ref: Great Figures in History: Gandhi – a full-color manga graphic novel from Y.kids)

	1869 October 2 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar in West Bengal, India
	1891 June – After attending Inner Temple Law School in the United Kingdom, Gandhi passes the bar exam and becomes a lawyer. Unknown to him at the time, his mother has passed away while he is at school.
	1893 – Gandhi is thrown off of a train in South Africa for refusing to move from his First Class seat to Third Class (even though he held a valid First Class ticket). Such discrimination against Indians was common practice and this personal experience gives Gandhi resolve to fight racial discrimination.

	1894 – Gandhi founds the Natal Indian Congress to oppose a bill denying Indians the right to vote in South Africa. Although the bill passes, Gandhi successfully focuses a broad range of public attention on injustices against Indians even as far away as India and the UK.
	1897 January – Landing in Durban Harbor, South Africa, Gandhi is beaten up by a mob of white settlers. His life is saved when the wife of the Durban Police Chief stands between Gandhi and his attackers. Because of media attention to the event, the colonial government is forced to arrest members of the mob but Gandhi refuses to press charges. Gandhi gains increased public admiration and support. His attackers offer a public apology.
	1906 – The South African colonial government enacts the “Asian Population Registration Act” where all residents of Asian countries, including India, had to register their name, age, address, job, and other personal information and carry a card with their finger prints. Gandhi develops his principals of non-violent protest “satyagraha” (devotion to the truth or “soul force”).
	1908 August – Gandhi and 2,000 fellow Indians in Johannesburg burn their registration cards in protest. Even as Gandhi and other leaders are repeatedly arrested over 6 years of protest, non-violent rallies continue to grow in size.
	1914 – The Asian Population Registration Act is abolished.
	1919 – The British Government passes the Rowlatt Act which gives authority and power to arrest people and keep them in prisons without any trial if they are suspected with the charge of terrorism. The Indian National Congress starts the Hartal Movement where thousands of Indians stop working and stop selling and buying British goods in protest. Unfortunately, violent riots also occur. At Amritsar, 379 Indians are killed and 1,000 are seriously injured.
	1920 – Gandhi gets people to more intently boycott British products and encourages people to start making their own clothes rather than buying British clothing.
	1930 – The British retaliate by passing the Salt Act which makes it illegal for Indians to make their own salt, punishable by at least three years in jail. On March 12th, Gandhi (now 61 years old) travels 320 km (200 miles) on foot for 24 days to Dandi to make his own salt. Others follow. Gandhi is again imprisoned.
	1942 – Gandhi launches the Quit India campaign declaring India’s independence from British rule. Gandhi is imprisoned.
	1943 – The 73 year old Gandhi starts a hunger strike that lasts for 21 days.
	1944 – Fearful that Gandhi would die in prison due to failing health and become a martyr, he and other leaders are released.
	1946 March – India becomes an independent nation.
	1947 – Tensions between Hindu and Muslim factions resurface and escalate into violence. India is divided into Pakistan and India. The lasting effects of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 still affects the geopolitics of this region.
	1948 January 12 – Attempting to promote peace and asking that homes be restored to Muslims, payment to Pakistan be made (per an agreement made before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947), and fighting cease, Gandhi (now 77 years old) starts another fast. Five days into the fast, India makes payment to Pakistan and Hindu, Muslim and Sikh community leaders agree to renounce violence and call for peace.
	1948 January 30 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is killed by a member of a Hindu organization angered by Gandhi’s peacemaking efforts. Gandhi was shot on his way to evening prayers. His memory and teachings live  on in the non-violent peace movements of today.

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Learn more about Gandhi’s life by reading Great Figures in History: Gandhi available through Reach and Teach. The Great Figures in History series are manga graphic novels which present a new way for folks of all ages to discover the inspiring lives of some of the most noteworthy people in history.

Also check out 9 Promises Made by Everyone Who Marched with Gandhi in 1921
and 20 Quotes from the Nonviolent Resistance Front.