Test Series: UPSC IAS Prelims Exam 2020
Mahatma Gandhi Biography (1869–1948)
Mahatma Gandhi was the
primary leader of India’s independence movement and also the architect of a
form of non-violent civil disobedience that would influence the world. Until
Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, his life and teachings inspired activists
including Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
Who Was Mahatma Gandhi?
Mahatma Gandhi (October 2, 1869 to January 30, 1948) was
the leader of India’s non-violent independence movement against British rule
and in South Africa who advocated for the civil rights of Indians. Born in
Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British
institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a
fanatic in 1948. Mahatma Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the
government monopoly on salt production.
Early Life and Education
Indian nationalist leader Gandhi (born Mohandas Karmachand
Gandhi) was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India, which was
then part of the British Empire.
Mahatma Gandhi’s father, Karmachand Gandhi, served as a
chief minister in Porbandar and other states in western India. His mother, Putli
bai, was a deeply religious woman who fasted regularly.
Young Gandhi was a shy, unremarkable student who was so
timid that he slept with the lights on even as a teenager. In the ensuing
years, the teenager rebelled by smoking, eating meat and stealing change from
household servants.
Although Gandhi was interested in becoming a doctor, his
father hoped he would also become a government minister and steered him to
enter the legal profession. In 1888, 18-year-old Gandhi sailed for London,
England, to study law. The young Indian struggled with the transition to
Western culture.
Upon returning to India in 1891, Gandhi learned that his mother had died just weeks earlier. He struggled to gain his footing as a lawyer. In his first courtroom case, a nervous Gandhi blanked when the time came to cross-examine a witness. He immediately fled the courtroom after reimbursing his client for his legal fees.
Gandhi’s Religion and
Beliefs
Gandhi grew up worshiping the Hindu god Vishnu and
following Jainism, a morally rigorous ancient Indian religion that espoused
non-violence, fasting, meditation and vegetarianism.
During Gandhi’s first stay in London, from 1888 to 1891,
he became more committed to a meatless diet, joining the executive committee of
the London Vegetarian Society, and started to read a variety of sacred texts to
learn more about world religions.
Living in South Africa, Gandhi continued to study world religions. “The religious spirit within me became a living force,” he wrote of his time there. He immersed himself in sacred Hindu spiritual texts and adopted a life of simplicity, austerity, fasting and celibacy that was free of material goods.
Gandhi in South Africa
After struggling to find work as a lawyer in India,
Gandhi obtained a one-year contract to perform legal services in South Africa.
In April 1893, he sailed for Durban in the South African state of Natal.
When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, he was quickly
appalled by the discrimination and racial segregation faced by Indian
immigrants at the hands of white British and Boer authorities. Upon his first
appearance in a Durban courtroom, Gandhi was asked to remove his turban. He
refused and left the court instead. The Natal Advertiser mocked him in print as
“an unwelcome visitor.”
Nonviolent
Civil Disobedience
A seminal moment occurred on June 7, 1893, during a train
trip to Pretoria, South Africa, when a white man objected to Gandhi’s presence
in the first-class railway compartment, although he had a ticket. Refusing to
move to the back of the train, Gandhi was forcibly removed and thrown off the
train at a station in Pietermaritzburg.
Gandhi’s act of civil disobedience awoke in him a
determination to devote himself to fighting the “deep disease of color
prejudice.” He vowed that night to “try, if possible, to root out the disease
and suffer hardships in the process.”
From that night forward, the small, unassuming man would
grow into a giant force for civil rights. Gandhi formed the Natal Indian
Congress in 1894 to fight discrimination.
Gandhi prepared to return to India at the end of his
year-long contract until he learned, at his farewell party, of a bill before
the Natal Legislative Assembly that would deprive Indians of the right to vote.
Fellow immigrants convinced Gandhi to stay and lead the fight against the
legislation. Although Gandhi could not prevent the law’s passage, he drew
international attention to the injustice.
After a brief trip to India in late 1896 and early 1897, Gandhi returned to South Africa with his wife and children. Gandhi ran a thriving legal practice, and at the outbreak of the Boer War, he raised an all-Indian ambulance corps of 1,100 volunteers to support the British cause, arguing that if Indians expected to have full rights of citizenship in the British Empire, they also needed to shoulder their responsibilities.
Satyagraha
In 1906, Gandhi organized his first mass
civil-disobedience campaign, which he called “Satyagraha” (“truth and
firmness”), in reaction to the South African Transvaal government’s new
restrictions on the rights of Indians, including the refusal to recognize Hindu
marriages.
After years of protests, the government imprisoned
hundreds of Indians in 1913, including Gandhi. Under pressure, the South
African government accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan
Christian Smuts that included recognition of Hindu marriages and the abolition
of a poll tax for Indians.
Return to India
When Gandhi sailed from South Africa in 1914 to return
home, Smuts wrote, “The saint has left our shores, I sincerely hope forever.”
At the outbreak of World War I, Gandhi spent several months in London.
In 1915 Gandhi founded an ashram in Ahmedabad, India,
that was open to all castes. Wearing a simple loincloth and shawl, Gandhi lived
an austere life devoted to prayer, fasting and meditation. He became known as
“Mahatma,” which means “great soul.”
Opposition to British
Rule in India
In 1919, with India still under the firm control of the
British, Gandhi had a political reawakening when the newly enacted Rowlatt Act
authorized British authorities to imprison people suspected of sedition without
trial. In response, Gandhi called for a Satyagraha campaign of peaceful
protests and strikes.
Violence broke out instead, which culminated on April 13,
1919, in the Massacre of Amritsar. Troops led by British Brigadier General
Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators and
killed nearly 400 people.
No longer able to pledge allegiance to the British
government, Gandhi returned the medals he earned for his military service in
South Africa and opposed Britain’s mandatory military draft of Indians to serve
in World War I.
Gandhi became a leading figure in the Indian home-rule
movement. Calling for mass boycotts, he urged government officials to stop
working for the Crown, students to stop attending government schools, soldiers to
leave their posts and citizens to stop paying taxes and purchasing British
goods.
Rather than buy British-manufactured clothes, he began to
use a portable spinning wheel to produce his own cloth. The spinning wheel soon
became a symbol of Indian independence and self-reliance.
Gandhi assumed the leadership of the Indian National
Congress and advocated a policy of non-violence and non-cooperation to achieve
home rule.
After British authorities arrested Gandhi in 1922, he
pleaded guilty to three counts of sedition. Although sentenced to a six-year
imprisonment, Gandhi was released in February 1924 after appendicitis surgery.
He discovered upon his release that relations between India’s Hindus and Muslims devolved during his time in jail. When violence between the two religious groups flared again, Gandhi began a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924 to urge unity. He remained away from active politics during much of the latter 1920s.
Gandhi and the Salt
March
Gandhi returned to active politics in 1930 to protest
Britain’s Salt Acts, which not only prohibited Indians from collecting or
selling salt—a dietary staple—but imposed a heavy tax that hit the countries
poorest particularly hard. Gandhi planned a new Satyagraha campaign, The
Salt March that entailed a 390-kilometer/240-mile march to the Arabian Sea,
where he would collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly.
“My ambition is no less than to convert the British
people through non-violence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to
India,” he wrote days before the march to the British viceroy, Lord Irwin.
Wearing a homespun white shawl and sandals and carrying a
walking stick, Gandhi set out from his religious retreat in Sabarmati on March
12, 1930, with a few dozen followers. By the time he arrived 24 days later in
the coastal town of Dandi, the ranks of the marchers swelled, and Gandhi broke
the law by making salt from evaporated seawater.
The Salt March sparked similar protests, and mass civil
disobedience swept across India. Approximately 60,000 Indians were jailed for
breaking the Salt Acts, including Gandhi, who was imprisoned in May 1930.
Still, the protests against the Salt Acts elevated Gandhi
into a transcendent figure around the world. He was named Time magazine’s “Man
of the Year” for 1930.
Gandhi was released from prison in January 1931, and two
months later he made an agreement with Lord Irwin to end the Salt Satyagraha in
exchange for concessions that included the release of thousands of political
prisoners. The agreement, however, largely kept the Salt Acts intact. But it
did give those who lived on the coasts the right to harvest salt from the sea.
Hoping that the agreement would be a stepping-stone to home rule, Gandhi attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform in August 1931 as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference, however, proved fruitless.
Protesting
“Untouchables” Segregation
Gandhi returned to India to find himself imprisoned once
again in January 1932 during a crackdown by India’s new viceroy, Lord
Willingdon. He embarked on a six-day fast to protest the British decision to
segregate the “untouchables,” those on the lowest rung of India’s caste system,
by allotting them separate electorates. The public outcry forced the British to
amend the proposal.
After his eventual release, Gandhi left the Indian
National Congress in 1934, and leadership passed to his protégé Jawaharlal
Nehru. He again stepped away from politics to focus on education, poverty and
the problems afflicting India’s rural areas.
India’s Independence
from Great Britain
As Great Britain found itself engulfed in World War
II in 1942, Gandhi launched the “Quit India” movement that called for the
immediate British withdrawal from the country. In August 1942, the British
arrested Gandhi, his wife and other leaders of the Indian National Congress and
detained them in the Aga Khan Palace in present-day Pune.
“I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to
preside at the liquidation of the British Empire,” Prime Minister Winston
Churchill told Parliament in support of the crackdown.
With his health failing, Gandhi was released after a
19-month detainment in 1944.
After the Labour Party defeated Churchill’s Conservatives
in the British general election of 1945, it began negotiations for Indian
independence with the Indian National Congress and Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim
League. Gandhi played an active role in the negotiations, but he could not
prevail in his hope for a unified India. Instead, the final plan called for the
partition of the subcontinent along religious lines into two independent
states—predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
Violence between Hindus and Muslims flared even before independence took effect on August 15, 1947. Afterwards, the killings multiplied. Gandhi toured riot-torn areas in an appeal for peace and fasted in an attempt to end the bloodshed. Some Hindus, however, increasingly viewed Gandhi as a traitor for expressing sympathy toward Muslims.
Gandhi’s Wife and Kids
At the age of 13, Gandhi wed Kasturba Makanji, a
merchant’s daughter, in an arranged marriage. She in Gandhi’s arms in
February 1944 at the age of 74
In 1885, Gandhi endured the passing of his father and
shortly after that the death of his young baby.
In 1888, Gandhi’s wife gave birth to the first of four
surviving sons. A second son was born in India 1893. Kasturba gave birth to two
more sons while living in South Africa, one in 1897 and one in 1900.
Assassination of Mahatma
Gandhi
On January 30, 1948, 78-year-old Gandhi was shot and
killed by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse, who was upset at Gandhi’s tolerance
of Muslims.
Weakened from repeated hunger strikes, Gandhi clung to
his two grandnieces as they led him from his living quarters in New Delhi’s
Birla House to a late-afternoon prayer meeting. Godse knelt before the Mahatma
before pulling out a semiautomatic pistol and shooting him three times at point-blank
range. The violent act took the life of a pacifist who spent his life preaching
nonviolence.
Godse and a co-conspirator were executed by hanging in
November 1949. Additional conspirators were sentenced to life in prison.
Legacy
Even after Gandhi’s assassination, his commitment to nonviolence and his belief in simple living — making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest — have been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.
Questions on Gandhiji mostly asked in competitive exams
Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social
activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against
the British rule of India. He is also called Bapu and known as the Father of
the Nation.
Q.1. Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi was born on
(a) October 5, 1896 (b) October 3, 1840
(c) October 2, 1869 (d) October 10, 1880
Q.2. At which place was Gandhiji born?
(a) Porbandar (b) Rajkot
(c) Ahmedabad (d) Delhi
Q.3. what was Gandhiji’s age when he got married to Kasturba?
(a) 19 years (b) 15 years
(c) 12 years (d) 13 years
Q.4. Gandhiji confessed his guilt of stealing for the purpose of smoking
in a letter, promising never to steal in future and asking for adequate
punishment. To whom was this letter addressed?
(a) Father (b) Mother
(C) Elder Brother (d) Friend
Q.5. About how old was Gandhiji when he reached London to become a
barrister?
(a) 20 years (b) 19 years
(c) 21 years (d) 18 years
Q.6. to become a barrister in England, one had to join one of the Inns
of Courts. After obtaining admission, Gandhiji joined the Inner Temple on
(a) October 5, 1870 (b)
December 15, 1885
(c) November 6, 1888 (d) January 3,
1880
Q.7. Devadas was Gandhiji’s
(a) Only child (b) Second child
(c) Eldest child (d) youngest
child
Q.8. Gandhiji, the votary of nonviolence was shot dead on January 30,
1948 at Birla House, New Delhi, shortly after 5 p.m. while going to the prayer
meeting. Which was that fateful day of the week?
(a) Saturday (b) Wednesday
(c) Friday (d) Monday
Q.9. In which South African unit had most of the India emigrants taken
up abode?
(a) Johannesburg (b) Natal
(c) Maritz burg (d)
Durban
Q.10. While holding a first-class ticket Gandhiji was ordered by a
railway official to shift to the van compartment. On his refusal to comply with
the unjust order, a constable was called to push him out with bag and baggage.
Identify the railway station where this incident took place.
(a) Natal (b) Johannesburg
(c) Maritz burg (d)
Durban
Q.11. At which place was Gandhiji arrested for the first time by the
British Government for sedition?
(a) Bombay (b) Pune
(c) Calcutta (d) Ahmedabad
Q.12. On which day of March 1930 Gandhiji started with a band of chosen
volunteers on his famous Dandi March to break the law by manufacturing
illegally, but openly, salt from the sea?
(a) Tenth (b) Thirteenth
(c) Eleventh (d) Twelfth
Q.13. When was the Gandhi – Irwin Pact signed?
(a) March 1, 1932 (b) March
5, 1931
(c) March 10, 1935 (d) March
7, 1937
Q.14. Subhash Chandra Bose was elected President of the Congress in 1938
with Gandhiji’s goodwill. He wanted a second term, but Gandhiji did not approve
of it. Despite the disapproval, Bose fought the election and won it, defeating
the official candidate by over 200 votes. Gandhiji took it as a personal
defeat. Identify the candidate.
(a) Lala Lajpat rai (b)
Jawaharlal Nehru
(C) Pattabhi Sitaramayya (d)
Sarojini Naidu
Q.15. On being arrested for his “Quit India” programme, where
was Gandhiji detained?
(A) Yeravada Jail (b)
Byculla Prison
(C) Aga Khan Palace Jail (d)
Ahmedabad Prison
Q.16. Lord Mountbatten arrived in India on 22nd March 1947 as the new
Viceroy in the place of Lord Wavell to finalise the process of the transfer of
power. His first act was to invite Gandhiji to meet him in that connection.
When did Gandhiji meet him for the first time?
(a) March 29, 1947 (b) March 30, 1947
(c) March 31, 1947 (d) March 23, 1947
Q.17. The book “Unto This Last” greatly captivated and
transformed Gandhiji. So much so that he translated it into Gujarati. Who was
its author?
(A) Ruskin Bond (b) John Ruskin
(C) Leo Tolstoy (d) Louis Fischer
Q. 18. Which of the following, according to Gandhiji, is an essential
principle of Satyagraha?
(a) Infinite capacity for
suffering (b) Non-violence
(c) Truth (d) All the three
Q. 19. Gandhiji’s “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” was
originally written in Gujarati.
(a) Magan lal Gandhi (b) Mahadev Desai
(c) Pyarelal ji (d) Sushila Nayyar
Q. 20. Which one of the following books is the work of Gandhiji?
(a) Light of India (b) Hind Swaraj
(c) My Experiments with Truth (d) Both (b) & (c)
Q. 21. Identify the year in which Birla House, New Delhi, where Gandhiji
very often used to stay and where he was shot dead, was turned into a
government-run Gandhi museum.
(a) 1960 (b) 1965
(c) 1971 (d) 1976
Q. 22. Identify the leader who lass met Gandhiji for about an hour and
left him just few minutes before he was shot dead on January 30, 1948 while on
his way to the prayer meeting.
(A) Vallabhbhai Patel (b) Sarojini Naidu
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Vinoba Bhave
Q. 23. In February 1933 Gandhiji started the publication of a weekly
paper, Harijan, to promote the anti-untouchability campaign. Its first issue
was out on February 11, 1933 from
(a) Bombay (b) Ahmedabad
(c) Poona (d) Nasik
Q. 24. When on August 15, 1947 the transfer of power took place, the
Congress President issued a message to the nation and saluted Mahatma Gandhi as
“the maker of freedom achieved in a unique way.” He said “never
before was so great an event consummated with such little bloodshed and
violence.” Who was the Congress President?
(a) J B Kripalani (b) Vallabhbhai Patel
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Motilal Nehru
Q. 25. What did Gandhiji mean by ‘Swaraj’?
(a) Freedom for the country (b) Freedom for the meanest of the countrymen
(c) Self-Government (d) complete independence
Q. 26. When did Gandhiji take the vow of brahmacharya or celibacy of
life?
(a) 1911 (b) 1906
(c) 1900 (d) 1905
Q. 27. When did Gandhiji get his head shaved, discard his clothes and
settle for a loin cloth?
(a) 1930 (b) 1921
(c) 1925 (d) 1930
Q. 28. Who worked as a Private Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi?
(a) Pyarelal ji (b) Mahadev Desai
(c) Kishori lal Mashruwala (d) Sushila Nayyar
Q.29. Who in South Africa gave Gandhiji ‘Unto This Last’ to read which
proved to be one of the most decisive books of his life?
(A) John Holmes Haynes (b) H S Polak
(C) Hermann Kallenbach (d) Louis Fischer
Q. 30. To put the ideas of ‘Unto This Last’ into practice, Gandhiji
founded the Phoenix Settlement near Durban which came into being in the middle
of the year ________________.
(a) 1903 (b) 1904
(c) 1905 (d) 1906
Q.31. Who described Gandhi’s march to Dandi in the following words?
“Like the historic march of Ramchandra to Lanka, the march of Gandhi will
be memorable”.
(a) Motilal Nehru (b) Sarojini Naidu
(C) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Vallabhbhai Patel
Q. 32. The historic August session of the All-India Congress Committee,
at which the Quit India Resolution was passed, was held at Gowalia Park in
__________________.
(a) Bombay (b) Calcutta
(c) Ahmedabad (d) Amritsar
Q. 33. Gandhiji accorded very high priority to communal harmony in his
programme of actions. At which place did he undertake his last fast for it on
January 13, 1948?
(a) Nasik (b) Delhi
(c) Calcutta (d) Bombay
Q. 34. After the attainment of political independence in 1947, Gandhiji
felt that the Congress, as a propaganda vehicle and a parliamentary machine,
had outlived its usefulness. So to keep the Congress away from unhealthy
competition with political parties and communal bodies, Gandhiji towards the
end of January 1948 sketched a draft constitution for the Congress to transform
itself into ______________.
(A) Lok Samiti (b) Lok Kalyan Sangh
(C) Lok Sevak Sangh (d) People’s Forum
Q. 35. Which of the following did Gandhiji describes as his two lungs?
(a) Ahimsa and peace (b) Ahimsa and truth
(c) Truth and Peace (d) Brahmacharya and Aparigraha
Q. 36. The differences with Gandhiji led Subhas Chandra Bose to resign
the Presidentship of the India National Congress in 1939. Leaving the Congress
he formed a new party called __________________.
(a) Indian National Party (b) Forward Bloc
(c) Freedom Party (d) Freedom Bloc
Q. 37. Identify the Viceroy who wrote home these words after his first
meeting with Gandhiji:”Mr Gandhi’s religious and moral views are, I
believe, admirable, but I confess that I find it difficult to understand the
practice of them in politics.”
(a) Lord Wavell (b) Lord Irwin
(C) Lord Reading (d) Lord Mountbatten
Q. 38. What was the profession of Gandhiji’s father?
(a) Farmer (b) Diwan
(c) Shop-keeper (d) Tehsildar
Q. 39. How many children did Putli bai have?
(a) Two sons and daughters (b) One daughter and three sons
(c) Four sons (d) three sons
Q. 40. What was the name of Gandhi’s domestic help?
(a) Titli ai (b) Rambha ai
(c) Ranabai (d) Guardia
Q. 41. What was the name of Gandhiji’s sister?
(a) Gauri (b) Ralia
(c) Rambha (d) Meera
Q. 42. Who inspired Gandhi with ‘ Ram Nam’ in his childhood?
(a) Kasturba (b) Putli bai
(C) Rambha Dai (d) Lakshmi Das
Q. 43. What was Gandhiji’s nickname in childhood?
(a) Monu (b) Manu or Moniya
(c) Sonu (d) Mahu
Q. 44. Which spelling did Gandhiji spell wrong as a child when the
school inspector gave dictation to the class?
(a) School (b) Kettle
(c) Uniform (d) Umbrella
Q. 45. Where did Gandhiji receive his primary education?
(a) Sudamapuri (b) Bikaner
(c) Porbandar (d) Rajkot
Q. 46. Which mythological character impressed Gandhiji for life when he
saw a play on his life?
(a) Harishchandra (b) Ashoka
(c) Vikramaditya (d) Krishna
Q. 47. Who asked Gandhiji to eat meat in order to become strong?
(a) Sheikh Mehtab (b) Karsan Das
(c) Lakshmi Das (d) Uka
Q. 48. How old was Gandhiji when his father died?
(a) 15 years (b) 17 years
(c) 16 years (d) 18 years
Q. 49. In which year did Gandhiji pass his matriculation in England?
(a) 1889 (b) 1890
(c) 1891 (d) 1892
Q. 50. What were the vows taken up by Gandhiji before he left for
England?
(a) Not to take alcohol (b) Not to eat meat
(c) Not to eye other women (d) All the above
Q. 51. Which institution did Gandhiji join as a member during his stay
in England?
(a) Vegetarian Society (b) Cricket Club
(c) Church of England (d) Film Institution
Q. 52. Which book influenced Gandhiji greatly, which he read in England?
(a) Be Vegetarian (b) Vegetables are good for health
(c) Plea for Vegetarianism (d) Use of Vegetables
Answer Key:
1. (c) 1869
2. (a) Porbandar
3. (d) 13 years
4. (a) Father
5. (b) 19 years
6. (c) November 6, 1888
7. (d) Youngest Child
8. (c) Friday
9. (b) Natal
10. (c) Maritz burg
11.(d) Ahmedabad
12. (d) Twelfth
13. (b) March5, 1931
14. (c) Pattabhi Sitaramayya
15. (c) Agakhan Palace Jail
16. (c) March 31, 1947
17. (b) John Ruskin
18. (d) All three
19. (b) Mahadev Desai
20. (d) both (b) & (c)
21. (c) 1971
22. (a) Vallabhbhai Patel
23. (c) Poona
24. (a) J B Kripalani
25. (b) freedom for the meanest of the countrymen
26. (b) 1906
27. (b) 1921
28. (b) Mahadev Desai
29. (b) H S L Polak
30. (b) 1904
31. (a) Motilal Nehru
32. (a) Bombay
33. (b) Delhi
34.(c) Lok Sevak Sangh
35. (b) Ahimsa and Truth
36. (b) Forward Bloc
37. (c) Lord Reading
38. (b) Diwan
39. (b) One daughter and three sons
40. (b) Rambha dai
41. (b) Raliat
42. (c) Rambha Dai
43. (b) Manu or Moniya
44. (b) Kettle
45. (d) Rajkot
46. (a) Harishchandra
47. (a) Sheikh Mehtab
48. (c) 16years
49. (b) 1890
50. (d) All the above
51. (a) Vegetarian Society
52. (c) Plea for Vegetarianism
Part – II
1. Who is the author of ‘Unto This Last’?
A. John Ruskin
B. Ruskin Bond
C. Hermann Kallenbach
D. Louis Fischer
Ans: A
2. Which of the following, according to Gandhiji, is an essential
principle of Satyagraha?
A. Infinite capacity for suffering
B. Non violence
C. Truth
D. All the three
Ans: D
3. Gandhiji’s “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” was
originally written in Gujarati. Who translated it into English?
A. Magan lal Gandhi
B. Mahadev Desai
C. Pyarelal ji
D. Sushila Nayyar
Ans: B
4. Which one of the following books is the work of Gandhiji?
A. Light of India
B. Hind Swaraj
C. My Experiments with Truth
D. Both B & C
Ans: D
5. Identify the year in which Birla House, New Delhi, where Gandhiji
very often used to stay and where he was shot dead, was turned into a
government – run Gandhi museum.
A. 1960
B. 1965
C. 1971
D. 1976
Ans: C
6. Identify the leader who last met Gandhiji for about an hour and left
him just few minutes before he was shot dead on January 30, 1948 while on his
way to the prayer meeting.
A. Vallabhbhai Patel
B. Sarojini Naidu
C. Jawaharlal Nehru
D. Vinoba Bhave
Ans: A
7. In February 1933 Gandhiji started the publication of a weekly paper,
Harijan, to promote the anti – untouchability campaign. Its first issue was out
on February 11, 1933 from
A. Bombay
B. Ahmedabad
C. Poona
D. Nasik
Ans: C
8. Book ‘The Satyagraha’ was originally written in?
A. English
B. Hindi
C. Gujarati
D. Bengali
Ans: C
9. As per Gandhiji, what is the mean of “Swaraj”?
A. Freedom for the country
B. Freedom for the meanest of the countrymen
C. Self Government
D. Complete Independence
Ans: B
10. When had Gandhiji gone to London?
A. 1894
B. 1893
C. 1899
D. 1891
Ans: D
11. Who said “Live as if you were to die tomorrow? Learn as if you were
to live forever.”
A. Mahatma Gandhi
B. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
C. Lal Bahadur Shastri
D. Sarojini Naidu
Ans: A
12. When is the International Day of Non-Violence celebrated?
A. 14th August
B. 16th May
C. 8th October
D. 2nd October
Ans: D
13. The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the
birthday of ____________________.
A. Jawaharlal Nehru
B. Mahatma Gandhi
C. Sarojini Naidu
D. Lal Bahadur Shastri
Ans: B
14. What was the title given by MK Gandhi to his Gujarati translation of
“Unto This Last”?
A. Manavta
B. Sadbhavna
C. Sarvodaya
D. Ahimsa
Ans: C
15. MK Gandhi was born in which place?
A. Porbandar
B. Madhya Pradesh
C. Karnataka
D. Andhra Pradesh
Ans: A
16. Which of the following slogans is associated with the name of
Gandhiji?
A. Do or Die
B. Tum mujhe khoon do main tumhe Azaadi
dunga
C. Swaraj is my birth-right
D. Jai Hind
Ans: A
17. How many days did Mahatma Gandhi and his volunteers took to cover 24
mile journey from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi?
A. 24
B. 20
C. 21
D. 17
Ans: A
18. Where is Sabarmati Ashram?
A. Rajkot
B. Ahmedabad
C. Pathankot
D. Baroda
Ans: B
19. Which book did Mohandas
Gandhi write?
A. India – The National
B. The Story of My Experiments
with Truth
C. Two States
D. The Good Earth
Ans: B
20. Which of the following was the first movement of Mahatma Gandhi in
India?
A. Champaran Satyagraha
B. Bardoli Satyagraha
C. Dandi March
D. Kheda Satyagraha
Ans: A
Source: mkgandhi.org
Best wishes!!
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