Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist who led the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule using nonviolent resistance. He was born in 1869 in Gujarat, India and trained as a lawyer in London. Gandhi lived in South Africa for 21 years where he first employed nonviolent resistance in campaigns for civil rights. After returning to India in 1915, he organized peasants, farmers, and laborers to protest discrimination and high taxes. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress party in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for independence, poverty reduction, women's rights, and religious harmony. His vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged by Muslim nationalism demanding a separate