The essentials
Historians use many kinds of sources to reconstruct Gandhi's political career and the history of the national movement. Each type has its own strengths and limitations.
Public voice and private scripts: Gandhi's own writings and speeches, and those of his contemporaries, are a major source. Gandhi's autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, and his journal Harijan published letters and reflections. His writings, collected over many volumes as the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, include speeches, letters and articles. Speeches allow us to hear a public voice; private letters give a glimpse of private thoughts, such as frustrations and anxieties. But many letters were written knowing they might be published, so the line between public and private is not clear.
Key points
- Autobiographies are often written from memory and shaped by what the author wishes to remember or present.
- Government records: the Home Department prepared fortnightly reports based on police and local information. They reflected what officials thought and feared, and often tried to show that a movement had little support.
- Newspapers in English and Indian languages tracked Gandhi's movements and reported his activities; but they were published by people with their own political views.
- Gandhi also wrote Hind Swaraj (1909), which set out his ideas about civilisation and self-rule.
- Jawaharlal Nehru published letters written to him in "A Bunch of Old Letters".
Exam tips
For any source question, ask: who produced it, for what purpose, and what might it leave out? Compare government reports with nationalist sources to see two views of the same event.