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Mohandas Gandhi
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Important People, Terms, and Events
People
Aga Khan III -
(1877-1957) Hereditary ruler of the Muslim Ismaili sect
and general Muslim leader. Born into great power and wealth, the
Aga Khan supported the British in India, and founded the All-India
Muslim League in 1906.
Winston Churchill -
Prime Minister of England during World War II, and
an obdurate foe of Indian independence
Karamchand Gandhi -
Gandhi's father, and a local politician. When Gandhi's
family sent him to England after Karamchand's death, it was with
the hope that he would follow in his father's footsteps.
Muhammed Ali Jinnah -
Head of the Muslim League, and founder of Pakistan.
He successfully demanded partition of India into Muslim and Hindu
countries, an idea to which Gandhi was fundamentally opposed.
Jawaharlal Nehru -
An Indian nationalist leader and friend to Gandhi,
he became the first Prime Minister of India.
Motilal Nehru -
A leader in the Indian National Congress and Gandhi's
ally, he was the father of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Raychandra -
A
Jain friend of Gandhi's, with whom he corresponded on matters of
religion in the 1890s
Terms
Ashram -
· An Indian word for a religiously-oriented, communal
farm
Bhagavad-Gita -
· One of the sacred texts of Hinduism, this long poem
helped shape Gandhi's personal philosophy.
Boer -
· Descendants of the Dutch settlers of South Africa,
they struggled with the British for dominance of the region.
Bombay -
· The great port of western India
Brahmacharya -
· The renunciation of sex by a male Hindu. Gandhi committed himself
to Brahmacharya, after some struggle, in 1906.
British Empire -
· The vast collection of British-ruled territories that
included, at Gandhi's birth, all of India.
Caste -
· A caste is a social level or class. In Hindu India,
the caste system is especially intricate and influential; under
this system, a person is born into a specific caste and may never
leave it. The castes span a wide range, the highest being the
Brahmin caste, the lowest being the untouchables.
Delhi -
· The capital of India under the Raj
East India Company -
· The British trading company that dominated India in
the 18th century.
Hartal -
· In Indian tradition, this is a day of fasting, prayer,
and abstention from work.
Hindu -
· The complex, polytheistic majority religion of India
Indian National Congress -
· An organization of well-educated Indians, founded in
1885, that fell under Gandhi's leadership and pushed for Indian independence
Jain -
· A reform movement in Hinduism that emphasized the sacredness of
all life, and greatly influenced Gandhi.
Mahatma -
· A word meaning "great soul" that was applied to Gandhi
Muslim -
· A member of the monotheistic religion Islam. Muslims
have long been the largest religious minority in India.
Natal -
· A province of British-ruled South Africa
Natal Indian Congress -
· Founded by Gandhi, this organization lobbied for Indian
rights in South Africa.
Phoenix Settlement -
· Gandhi's communal farm in South Africa
Raj -
· The British term for their dominions in India
Satyagraha -
· Literally, "soul-force." It was the term given to
Gandhi's strategy of nonviolent resistance to oppression
Satyagraha ashram -
· The name given to Gandhi's ashram in
India.
Transvaal -
· A Boer republic in South Africa, ruled by the British
after the Boer War
Unto This Last -
· Written by a British author named John Ruskin, this
book convinced Gandhi of the virtues of physical labor.
Untouchables -
· The shunned lowest caste, they were embraced by Gandhi.
Viceroy of India -
· The British-appointed ruler of India
Events
Amritsar Massacre -
· The 1919 slaughter of Indian protesters by British
troops that sparked outrage around the world
Boer War -
· The struggle (1899-1901) between Britain and the Boer republics,
ending in British control of South Africa.
Government of India Act -
· Passed by the British Parliament in 1935, it paved
the way for Indian independence.
Rowlatt Act -
· Passed after World War I, it cracked down on civil
liberties in India, and led Gandhi toward rebellion.
The Salt March -
· Gandhi's march to the sea, in spring 1930, to protest
the British government's salt monopoly.
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