Society

Gandhi Jayanti History: Why Oct 2 Is Celebrated in India

Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated on October 2 because Mahatma Gandhi was born on that date in 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat. The day commemorates his leadership of I…

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BIRTH IN PORBANDAR

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in Gujarat

Gandhi was born to Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai on October 2, 1869, in the coastal town of Porbandar, Gujarat. Nothing about the date was symbolic then — it became sig…

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SOUTH AFRICA

Thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg

Travelling to handle a legal case, Gandhi was forcibly removed from a first-class train carriage at Pietermaritzburg for refusing to move to third class because of his r…

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SATYAGRAHA COINED

The word "Satyagraha" is coined

Opposing the Transvaal's Asiatic Registration Act, Gandhi ran a competition in the newspaper Indian Opinion to name the resistance movement. His cousin Maganlal Gandhi's…

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RETURN TO INDIA

Gandhi returns to India

Gandhi returned to Bombay on January 9, 1915 — now also observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas — and travelled widely to understand Indian conditions before taking on forma…

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CHAMPARAN

Gandhi's first Satyagraha campaign inside India

Gandhi organised indigo farmers forced by British planters to grow indigo under the exploitative tinkathia system, using disciplined, evidence-based resistance — his fir…

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SALT MARCH

The Dandi March breaks the salt law

Gandhi led a roughly 240-mile, 24-day march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, breaking the British salt tax law by producing salt from seawater on April 6, 1930 — turning…

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QUIT INDIA

"Do or die" — the Quit India Movement begins

Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement demanding an immediate end to British rule, telling Congress workers in his August 8, 1942 speech to "do or die." He and most Con…

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INDEPENDENCE

India becomes independent — Gandhi skips the celebrations

India became independent on August 15, 1947, alongside Partition. Gandhi spent the day fasting and working to halt communal riots in Calcutta rather than joining officia…

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ASSASSINATION

Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi

Gandhi was shot three times by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, while walking to an evening prayer meeting at Birla House. January 30 is now separately observed in In…

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UN RESOLUTION

UN declares October 2 the International Day of Non-Violence

The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/61/271 on June 15, 2007, designating October 2 — Gandhi's birthday — as the International Day of Non-Violence, co-sponso…

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