Mahatma Gandhi, an English-educated lawyer, was the leader
of Indian independence movement against British rule in India. He did so through
nonviolence, engaging in civil disobedience and fasts to achieve goals rather
than violent conflict. His works and efforts are successful, but ongoing
religious and ethnic strife gave way to the very violent Partition of India in
1947. By the time of his assassination, Gandhi implored tolerance and peace
between religions. Gandhi’s successor is Jawaharlal Nehru, who was elected the
first Prime Minister of India.
