Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and the Freedom Movement

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering Mahatma Gandhi's biography, principles, key movements, and leading figures of the Indian freedom struggle.

Karamchand Gandhi

Gandhi's father, who served as a Dewan and was popularly known as Kaba Gandhi.

Putlibai Gandhi

The mother of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Inner Temple

The legal institution in England where Gandhi studied law before being called to the Bar in 1891.

Pietermaritzburg

The South African railway station where Gandhi was forcibly removed from a first-class train compartment in 1893 because he was Indian.

Natal Indian Congress

An organization founded by Gandhi in 1894 to organize and represent the political interests of the Indian community in South Africa.

Indian Opinion

Gandhi's first newspaper associated with South Africa, launched in 1903.

Phoenix Settlement

A settlement established near Durban by Gandhi in 1904.

Tolstoy Farm

A Satyagraha community established by Gandhi near Johannesburg, named in honor of Leo Tolstoy.

Unto This Last

A book by John Ruskin that profoundly influenced Gandhi, who translated it into Gujarati as Sarvodaya.

Sarvodaya

A concept formulated by Gandhi, meaning 'welfare of all' or 'uplift of all'.

Hind Swaraj

A book written by Gandhi in Gujarati in 1909 while aboard a ship from South Africa to England, critiquing modern civilization and defining self-rule.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale

The Indian national leader whom Gandhi regarded as his political guru.

Kochrab Ashram

Gandhi's first ashram in India, established in 1915 before moving to the banks of the Sabarmati River.

Satya Na Prayogo

The original Gujarati title of Gandhi's autobiography, titled in English as The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Ahimsa

Gandhi's central ethical principle of non-violence, rooted in courage, love, and refusal of hatred.

Satyagraha

A term combining 'truth' and 'firmness', coined by Gandhi to describe non-violent resistance or 'truth-force'.

Swadeshi

A key economic principle in Gandhi's philosophy emphasizing the use and promotion of locally produced goods.

Trusteeship

Gandhi's economic philosophy proposing that wealthy individuals should manage their property as trustees for the benefit of society.

Antyodaya

A concept emphasizing the social and economic uplift of the last or poorest person.

Harijan

A term used by Gandhi for oppressed communities, and the title of his weekly journal launched in 1933 dedicated to anti-untouchability work.

Nai Talim

Gandhi's educational philosophy of Basic Education, emphasizing learning through productive physical work ('head, heart, and hand').

Tinkathia

The oppressive arrangement in Champaran, Bihar, that forced peasants to grow indigo on three-twentieths of their land.

Champaran Satyagraha

Gandhi's first major Satyagraha movement in India (1917), undertaken on behalf of indigo cultivators in Bihar after being invited by Raj Kumar Shukla.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike

A 1918 industrial conflict where Gandhi undertook a fast to support textile mill workers and maintain their pledge.

Kheda Satyagraha

A 1918 peasant movement in Gujarat led by Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel against land revenue demands despite crop failure.

Rowlatt Act

A 1919 British law providing extraordinary emergency powers against political dissent, which Gandhi opposed with a nationwide hartal on 6 April 1919.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The tragedy on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar where General Dyer ordered troops to fire on an unarmed gathering, drastically altering Gandhi's stance toward British rule.

Chauri Chaura

A violent clash in 1922 in the United Provinces where protesters burned a police station, prompting Gandhi to suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Swaraj Party

A political party founded in 1923 by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru to enter legislative councils and obstruct colonial policies from within.

Purna Swaraj

The declaration of complete independence adopted by the Indian National Congress at its 1929 Lahore Session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Dandi March

A 390 km march led by Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi between 12 March and 6 April 1930 to violate salt laws and launch Civil Disobedience.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact

A March 1931 agreement between Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin that suspended Civil Disobedience and facilitated Gandhi's participation in the Second Round Table Conference.

Poona Pact

A 1932 agreement between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar that replaced separate electorates for Depressed Classes with reserved seats within joint electorates.

Gowalia Tank Maidan

The ground in Bombay (now August Kranti Maidan) where the Congress passed the Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942.

Aruna Asaf Ali

A prominent freedom fighter who hoisted the Indian National Congress flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan after top leaders were arrested in August 1942.

Usha Mehta

A nationalist organizer famous for operating an Underground Congress Radio station during the Quit India Movement.

Prati Sarkar

The famous parallel government formed in Satara, Maharashtra, during the Quit India Movement in 1942.

Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar

The parallel local nationalist government established in Tamluk, Bengal, during the Quit India Movement.

Dadabhai Naoroji

Known as the 'Grand Old Man of India', he formulated the Drain of Wealth theory.

Khudai Khidmatgar

A non-violent Pashtun movement founded in the NWFP by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ('Frontier Gandhi'), popularly known as the 'Red Shirts'.

Vedaranyam Salt March

The Salt Satyagraha march in Tamil Nadu led by C. Rajagopalachari from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam in 1930.

Forward Bloc

A political party founded by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939 following his resignation as Congress president.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

A revolutionary organization associated with Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, and Batukeshwar Dutt.