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Mahatma Gandhi
(1869–1948)
Letter to Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, from Bombay,
2 February 1932

Courtesy of the National Library of India

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Mahatma Gandhi
1932

Gandhi, born Mohandas Karamchand in 1869, was known as ‘Mahatma’ (or ‘Great Soul’). He studied law in London and later went to South Africa where, for 21 years, he opposed legislation that discriminated against Indians. Returning to India in 1914, he supported the Home Rule movement, and became leader of the Indian National Congress. He advocated a policy of non-violent non-cooperation to try to force the British to grant independence. Gandhi led a civil disobedience campaign between 1919 and 1922, which was later abandoned when it became violent. He was then jailed for conspiracy for two years. His radical and confrontational protest in 1930, when he led a 200-mile march to the sea to collect salt, was a symbolic act which deliberately defied the English authorities and their monopoly over this industry. Again Gandhi was jailed for his actions. On his release, he attended the 1931 London Round Table Conference on Indian Constitutional reform. Gandhi’s presence as representative of the Indian National Congress party was essential for genuine progress, but little was achieved because the participants could not reach agreement.

Instrumental in leading India to independence, Gandhi was a remarkable character and a prolific correspondent—perhaps even the most prolific correspondent in history. His collected works fill 100 volumes. He wrote this letter to Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru in 1932. Sapru was a prominent lawyer based in Calcutta and a leader of the Congress Party. Gandhi held him in respect and corresponded with him often.

Gandhi’s presence in this exhibition resonates with the inclusion of other key political figures of the later twentieth century, most obviously Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Both leaders were influenced by Gandhi. His strategy for dealing with an oppressive colonial regime provided significant object lessons in their own struggles with difficult circumstances.