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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (;〔("Gandhi" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.〕 ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma (Sanskrit: "high-souled", "venerable")〔 Quote: (''mahā-'' (S. "great, mighty, large, ..., eminent") + ''ātmā'' (S. "1.soul, spirit; the self, the individual; the mind, the heart; 2. the ultimate being."): "high-souled, of noble nature; a noble or venerable man."〕—applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa,〔Gandhi, Rajmohan (2006) (p. 172 ): "... Kasturba would accompany Gandhi on his departure from Cape Town for England in July 1914 ''en route'' to India. ... In different South African towns (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, and the Natal cities of Durban and Verulam), the struggle's martyrs were honoured and the Gandhi's bade farewell. Addresses in Durban and Verulam referred to Gandhi as a 'Mahatma', 'great soul'. He was seen as a great soul because he had taken up the poor's cause. The whites too said good things about Gandhi, who predicted a future for the Empire if it respected justice." (p. 172).〕—is now used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for "father",〔 "papa"〔 Quote: "With love, Yours, Bapu (You closed with the term of endearment used by your close friends, the term you used with all the movement leaders, roughly meaning 'Papa.'" Another letter written in 1940 shows similar tenderness and caring.〕〔 Quote: "... his niece Manu, who, like others called this immortal Gandhi 'Bapu,' meaning not 'father,' but the familiar, 'daddy.'" (p. 210)〕) in India. Born and raised in a Hindu merchant caste family in coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving ''Swaraj'' or self-rule. Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to ''Quit India'' in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi attempted to practise nonviolence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian ''dhoti'' and shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on a ''charkha''. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest. Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism, however, was challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.〔 Quote: "the Muslim League had only caught on among South Asian Muslims during the Second World War. ... By the late 1940s, the League and the Congress had impressed in the British their own visions of a free future for Indian people. ... one, articulated by the Congress, rested on the idea of a united, plural India as a home for all Indians and the other, spelt out by the League, rested on the foundation of Muslim nationalism and the carving out of a separate Muslim homeland." (p. 18)〕 Eventually, in August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire〔 was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan.〔 Quote: "South Asians learned that the British Indian empire would be partitioned on 3 June 1947. They heard about it on the radio, from relations and friends, by reading newspapers and, later, through government pamphlets. Among a population of almost four hundred million, where the vast majority lived in the countryside, ..., it is hardly surprising that many ... did not hear the news for many weeks afterwards. For some, the butchery and forced relocation of the summer months of 1947 may have been the first they know about the creation of the two new states rising from the fragmentary and terminally weakened British empire in India." (p. 1)〕 As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to promote religious harmony. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 at age 78,〔Brown (1991), p. 380: "Despite and indeed because of his sense of helplessness Delhi was to be the scene of what he called his greatest fast. ... His decision was made suddenly, though after considerable thought – he gave no hint of it even to Nehru and Patel who were with him shortly before he announced his intention at a prayer-meeting on 12 January 1948. He said he would fast until communal peace was restored, real peace rather than the calm of a dead city imposed by police and troops. Patel and the government took the fast partly as condemnation of their decision to withhold a considerable cash sum still outstanding to Pakistan as a result of the allocation of undivided India's assets, because the hostilities that had broken out in Kashmir; ... But even when the government agreed to pay out the cash, Gandhi would not break his fast: that he would only do after a large number of important politicians and leaders of communal bodies agreed to a joint plan for restoration of normal life in the city. Although this six-day fast was a considerable physical strain, during it Gandhi experienced a great feeling of strength and peace."〕 also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.〔 Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating.〔〔 Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest at point-blank range.〔 Quote: "The apotheosis of this contrast is the assassination of Gandhi in 1948 by a militant Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse, on the basis of his 'weak' accommodationist approach towards the new state of Pakistan." (p. 544)〕 Indians widely describe Gandhi as the father of the nation ((ヒンディー語:राष्ट्रपिता)).〔("Gandhi not formally conferred 'Father of the Nation' title: Govt" ), ''The Indian Express'', 11 July 2012.〕〔("Constitution doesn't permit 'Father of the Nation' title: Government" ), ''The Times of India'', 26 October 2012.〕 The title "The Father of the Nation" for Gandhi is not an official title and has not been officially accorded by Government of India. An RTI query filed by a 10-year-old girl from Lucknow in February 2012 revealed that PMO has no records of ever according such title to Gandhi. MHA and National Archives of India also communicated of not having any records. Origin of this title is traced back to a radio address (on Singapore radio) on 6 Jul 1944 by Subhash Chandra Bose where Bose addressed Gandhi as "The Father of the Nation". On 28 Apr 1947, Sarojini Naidu during a conference also referred Gandhi as "Father of the Nation". The RTI applicant had also pleaded for Gandhi to be officially declared as "Father of the Nation" to which the MHA informed that Gandhi cannot be accorded with the title by Government of India since the Indian constitution does not permit any titles except educational and military titles.〔 His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Nonviolence. ==Early life and background== Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi〔Todd, Anne M. (2012) (Mohandas Gandhi ), Infobase Publishing, ISBN 1438106629, p. 8: ''The name Gandhi means "grocer", although Mohandas's father and grandfather were politicians not grocers.''〕 was born on 2 October 1869〔 to a Hindu Modh Baniya family in Porbandar (also known as ''Sudamapuri''), a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the Indian Empire. His father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the ''diwan'' (chief minister) of Porbandar state. The Gandhi family originated from the village of Kutiana in what was then Junagadh State. In the late 17th or early 18th century, one Lalji Gandhi moved to Porbandar and entered the service of its ruler, the Rana. Successive generations of the family served as civil servants in the state administration before Uttamchand, Mohandas's grandfather, became ''diwan'' in the early 19th century under the then Rana of Porbandar, Khimojiraji.〔 In 1831, Rana Khimojiraji died suddenly and was succeeded by his 12-year-old only son, Vikmatji.〔 As a result, Rana Khimojirajji's widow, Rani Rupaliba, became regent for her son. She soon fell out with Uttamchand and forced him to return to his ancestral village in Junagadh. While in Junagadh, Uttamchand appeared before its Nawab and saluted him with his left hand instead of his right, replying that his right hand was pledged to Porbandar's service.〔 In 1841, Vikmatji assumed the throne and reinstated Uttamchand as his ''diwan''. In 1847, Rana Vikmatji appointed Uttamchand's son, Karamchand, as ''diwan'' after disagreeing with Uttamchand over the state's maintenance of a British garrison.〔 Although he only had an elementary education and had previously been a clerk in the state administration, Karamchand proved a capable chief minister. During his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, after each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless. In 1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh,〔 and was from a Pranami Vaishnava family.〔 Karamchand and Putlibai had three children over the ensuing decade, a son, Laxmidas (c. 1860 – March 1914), a daughter, Raliatbehn (1862–1960) and another son, Karsandas (c. 1866–1913). On 2 October 1869, Putlibai gave birth to her last child, Mohandas, in a dark, windowless ground-floor room of the Gandhi family residence in Porbandar city. As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury...either playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs' ears." The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.〔 The family's religious background was eclectic. Gandhi's father was Hindu〔Gandhi, Rajmohan (2006) pp. 2, 8, 269〕 and his mother was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. Religious figures were frequent visitors to the home. Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother Putlibai, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers...she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her." In the year of Mohandas's birth, Rana Vikmatji was exiled, stripped of direct administrative power and demoted in rank by the British political agent, after having ordered the brutal executions of a slave and an Arab bodyguard. Possibly as a result, in 1874 Karamchand left Porbandar for the smaller state of Rajkot, where he became a counsellor to its ruler, the Thakur Sahib; though Rajkot was a less prestigious state than Porbandar, the British regional political agency was located there, which gave the state's ''diwan'' a measure of security. In 1876, Karamchand became ''diwan'' of Rajkot and was succeeded as ''diwan'' of Porbandar by his brother Tulsidas. His family then rejoined him in Rajkot. On 21 January 1879, Mohandas entered the local ''taluk'' (district) school in Rajkot, not far from his home. At school, he was taught the rudiments of arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography.〔 Despite being only an average student in his year there, in October 1880 he sat the entrance examinations for Kathiawar High School, also in Rajkot. He passed the examinations with a creditable average of 64 percent and was enrolled the following year. During his years at the high school, Mohandas intensively studied the English language for the first time, along with continuing his lessons in arithmetic, Gujarati, history and geography.〔 His attendance and marks remained mediocre to average, possibly due to Karamchand falling ill in 1882 and Mohandas spending more time at home as a result.〔 Gandhi shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field. One of the terminal reports rated him as "good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting". While at high school, Mohandas came into contact with students of other castes and faiths, including several Parsis and Muslims. A Muslim friend of his elder brother Karsandas, named Sheikh Mehtab, befriended Mohandas and encouraged the strictly vegetarian boy to try eating meat to improve his stamina. He also took Mohandas to a brothel one day, though Mohandas "was struck blind and dumb in this den of vice," rebuffed the prostitutes' advances and was promptly sent out of the brothel. As experimenting with meat-eating and carnal pleasures only brought Mohandas mental anguish, he abandoned both and the company of Mehtab, though they would maintain their association for many years afterwards. In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji Kapadia (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the region at that time.〔 In the process, he lost a year at school.〔Gandhi (1940). (Chapter "At the High School" ).〕 Recalling the day of their marriage, he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.〔Gandhi (1940). (Chapter "Playing the Husband" ).〕 Writing many years later, Mohandas described with regret the lustful feelings he felt for his young bride, "even at school I used to think of her, and the thought of nightfall and our subsequent meeting was ever haunting me." In late 1885, Karamchand died, on a night when Mohandas had just left his father to sleep with his wife, despite the fact she was pregnant. The couple's first child was born shortly after, but survived only a few days. The double tragedy haunted Mohandas throughout his life, "the shame, to which I have referred in a foregoing chapter, was this of my carnal desire even at the critical hour of my father's death, which demanded wakeful service. It is a blot I have never been able to efface or forget...I was weighed and found unpardonably wanting because my mind was at the same moment in the grip of lust.〔〔Gandhi (1940). (Chapter "My Father's Death and My Double Shame" ).〕 Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900.〔 In November 1887, he sat the regional matriculation exams in Ahmedabad, writing exams in arithmetic, history, geography, natural science, English and Gujarati. He passed with an overall average of 40 percent, ranking 404th of 823 successful matriculates. In January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State, then the sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the region. During his first and only term there, he suffered from headaches and strong feelings of homesickness, did very poorly in his exams in April and withdrew from the college at the end of the term, returning to Porbandar. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mahatma Gandhi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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