Gandhi’s arrival and early struggles

The essentials

Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 after two decades in South Africa. There he had first forged the techniques of non-violent protest known as satyagraha and promoted harmony among religions. On the advice of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, his political mentor, Gandhi spent his first year travelling across British India to know the land and its people.

His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916. There he criticised the Indian elite for its lack of concern for the labouring poor and said that India's salvation would come from its farmers, not from its doctors, lawyers and landlords.

Key points

• Champaran (1917): Gandhi went to Champaran in Bihar to secure security of tenure and the freedom to cultivate crops of their choice for peasants forced to grow indigo for European planters.
• Kheda (1918): in Gandhi's home state of Gujarat, he organised peasants to demand remission of taxes after a failed harvest.
• Ahmedabad (1918): he intervened in a labour dispute in the textile mills, demanding better working conditions for mill workers.
• These local campaigns showed Gandhi as a leader with deep sympathy for the poor and made him known across India.
• In 1919 he called for a countrywide campaign against the Rowlatt Act, which allowed detention without trial; the protests became intense, especially in Punjab, where the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in April 1919.

Common mistakes

• Champaran concerned indigo cultivators in Bihar, while Kheda concerned revenue remission in Gujarat.