What He Achieved
No office, no army, no wealth — yet his achievements reshaped a subcontinent and the conscience of the modern world.
Chief architect of the freedom movement for three decades. Through Non-Cooperation, the Salt March and Quit India, he turned independence from an elite debate into a mass uprising that ended 190 years of British rule on 15 August 1947.
Created history's most powerful method of non-violent resistance — 'truth-force'. Developed in South Africa (1906) and perfected in India, it proved that moral courage could defeat military power.
Revived village hand-spinning and weaving. The charkha (spinning wheel) became the symbol of economic self-reliance, and the bonfires of foreign cloth became bonfires of colonial authority.
Called the 'untouchables' Harijans — children of God. His 1932 'Epic Fast' forced the Poona Pact; he founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh, opened temples and wells to all castes, and made caste justice a national cause.
Championed the Khilafat alliance, fasted repeatedly for communal harmony, and in 1947–48 single-handedly stopped riots in Calcutta and Delhi — paying for peace with his life.
Founded and edited Indian Opinion, Young India, Navajivan and Harijan. His Collected Works run to 100 volumes. His autobiography, 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth', is a world classic translated into dozens of languages.
Direct inspiration to Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, the Dalai Lama and countless civil-rights movements. The UN observes his birthday, 2 October, as the International Day of Non-Violence.
Nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948. The Nobel Committee's failure to award him is now called the 'missing laureate' — the Committee itself has publicly expressed regret.
TIME Magazine 'Man of the Year' — the only person ever honoured while imprisoned at the time.
Runner-up to Einstein as TIME's 'Person of the Century'.
UN declares 2 October the International Day of Non-Violence.
India observes his birthday as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and his martyrdom day (30 January) as Martyrs' Day.
"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood."
— Albert Einstein, on Gandhi