Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar India. He studied law at the University College in London, and in 1891, he was admitted to the British bar. He spent years in his very unsuccessful law practice in Bombay. He received word that an Indian law firm in South Africa needed a legal adviser. When Gandhi traveled to Durban, he found prejudice and racism
For twenty years, Gandhi remained in South Africa, fighting for equal rights of Indian immigrants. He was attacked and beaten by South African authorities in 1896, to which Gandhi answered with teaching passive resistances. He organized Red Cross areas during the Boer War; founded the Tolstoy farm in Johannesburg in 1910; and convinced the South African government to recognize Indian marriage and eliminate poll taxes. After WWI he launched a passive resistance towards Britain, which eventually led to the beating death of hundreds of Indians and the arrest of Gandhi. After two years, he was freed. By 1931, the British had conceded to Gandhi’s resistance after a self-proclaimed fast; though by the next year, Gandhi once again formed a civil disobedience campaign. In 1934, he formally withdrew from politics, just to be pulled back into it in 1939. He fasted for the force Rajkot (the state ruler) to modify his autocratic rule.
After WWII broke out, Gandhi refused to support the British, due to their war aims and the effect on India. In 1947, India was granted its independence from Britain. The next year, he held a fast to bring peace to New Delhi, only to be assassinated twelve days later by a Hindu fanatic.
