Portal:Hinduism/Selected Hindu/5

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of the Indian Independence Movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha — resistance through mass civil disobedience strongly founded upon ahimsa (non-violence) becoming one of the strongest philosophies of freedom struggles worldwide. Gandhi is commonly known and spoken of worldwide as Mahatma Gandhi (Hindi: महात्मा, məhatma ; from Sanskrit, mahātmā: Great Soul) and is fondly called Bapu (in Gujarati, Father).

Gandhi first employed his ideas of civil disobedience in the Indian struggle for civil rights in South Africa. Upon his return to India, Gandhi helped lead poor farmers and laborers to protest oppressive taxation and widespread discrimination.