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India's Independence Movement: An Overview (Gandhi's Nonviolent Resistance)

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  1. British colonial rule (the British Raj)

    Britain, which had entered India through the East India Company, established direct rule over the country as the British Raj after crushing the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. Britain exploited India's resources and markets for its own industry, dealing a severe blow to the Indian economy.

  2. Gandhi's nonviolent resistance (satyagraha)

    Mahatma Gandhi, a former lawyer, drew on his experience in South Africa to put forward satyagraha β€” meaning "truth force," or nonviolent noncooperation β€” as the core strategy of India's independence movement. He argued for actively resisting unjust laws and systems while categorically rejecting violence.

  3. The Salt March (1930)

    When Britain taxed salt and monopolized its production, Gandhi led a roughly 390 km walk to the coastal town of Dandi in 1930 to make salt by hand in defiance of the law. This symbolic act of nonviolent resistance drew the eyes of the world to India's independence movement.

  4. The Quit India Movement (1942)

    During World War II, in 1942, Gandhi and the Indian National Congress launched the "Quit India" movement, demanding Britain's immediate withdrawal. Britain responded with harsh crackdowns, arresting Gandhi and much of the leadership en masse β€” but combined with Britain's postwar decline, independence had become an unstoppable trend.

  5. Independence and the India-Pakistan partition (1947)

    India finally achieved independence in August 1947, but religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims forced a partition into India and Pakistan. The partition triggered massive population movements and horrific sectarian violence in which enormous numbers of people lost their lives.

  6. Gandhi's assassination (1948)

    Even after independence, Gandhi continued appealing for Hindu-Muslim reconciliation β€” until he was assassinated by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. His death underscored the weight of the legacy his nonviolent resistance left for later independence and civil-rights movements worldwide.

A new path of resistance: nonviolence

India's independence movement is widely known for the nonviolent noncooperation campaign led by Mahatma Gandhi. Rather than armed struggle, this movement β€” built on moral persuasion and mass civil disobedience β€” led the world's largest colony to independence, and went on to deeply influence independence and human-rights movements around the globe afterward.

A parallel nonviolent resistance movement elsewhere in Asia

Before Gandhi's satyagraha unfolded in India, another large-scale unarmed movement for independence had already taken to the streets elsewhere in Asia β€” the March 1st Movement that broke out in Korea in 1919 is often compared alongside it as another landmark case of nonviolent resistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why were India and Pakistan partitioned?

As political and religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims deepened in the final years of British rule, independence as a single unified nation became practically unworkable. In the end, independence in 1947 came alongside partition into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan, a process that triggered massive bloodshed.

Why was Gandhi assassinated?

After partition, Gandhi continued to call for reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, angered by this, assassinated him on January 30, 1948.