Gandhi's Formative and Transitional Years in South Africa

Abstract

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi spent twenty-one years in South Africa in which he was heavily involved in petitioning the government for equal rights for the Indians in the region. Throughout these years he established a newspaper, fought many political battles, willfully served time in jail and developed his non-violent ideology. The years between 1906 and 1908 were the most crucial of his transitional and formative years in South Africa. This paper examines how his experiences in the political arena of South Africa, readings on religion, readings by famous authors and his experiments with civil disobedience all were influences on his developing ideology.