At Dandi, thousands more followed his lead, and in the coastal cities of Bombay (now called Mumbai) and Karachi, Indian nationalists led crowds of citizens in making salt. He holds an M.A. In his most successful protest, he leads the Salt March to the sea so that Indians can make their own salt and avoid paying the British tax on salt. Every day of the 24-day stretch from March 12 through April 6 is a day to reflect and act. Gandhi decided to mount a highly visible campaign against British policies in the salt trade by marshalling thousands of his supporters to walk with him on a 230-mile journey that started from his hometown of Gujarat to the Indian coastal town of … Thousands of Indians joined him in his march. Introduction. This was the … On March 12, 1930, in which, together with 78 faithful, he left Sabarmati and walked 390 km for 24 days, followed by a growing number of admirers. History remembers Mohandas Gandhi’s Salt March as one of the great episodes of resistance in the past century and as a campaign that struck a decisive blow against British imperialism. The”Salt March” was Gandhi’s first great battle for independence. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The meeting was a disappointment, but British leaders had acknowledged Gandhi as a force they could not suppress or ignore. In the early morning of March 12, 1930, Gandhi and a trained cadre of seventy-eight followers from his ashram began a march of more than 200 miles to the sea. Ken Pletcher was Senior Editor, Geography and History for Encyclopædia Britannica. It was one of the many residences (1917-30) of Mahatma Gandhi, located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Check out famous speech of Mahatma Gandhiji on the eve of historic Dandi March. On March 2, 1930, he sent a famous letter to the Viceroy Lord Irwin, warning him that beginning on March 11 he and the other members of his ashram would begin breaking the Salt Laws. As he marched along other Indians joined him so they can participate in the great movement. Web. Known as the Long March, the trek lasted a year and covered some 4,000 miles (or more, by some ...read more, The March on Washington was a massive protest march that occurred in August 1963, when some 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Also known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the event aimed to draw attention to continuing ...read more, From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. Gandhi returned to India in 1915 where he would protest British rule until India was granted independence in 1947. It was against these laws that Gandhi now turned the force of satyagraha . This protest advocated Gandhi’s theory of satyagraha or nonviolent disobedience as the nation came together on March 12, 1930 to walk the 241 miles long journey to the shores of Dandi to attain salt. Salt March has been listed as one of the Social sciences and ... either, since it's not Salt Satyagraha exactly. In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a march protesting against Britain’s colonial monopoly and their decision to tax on the essential resource of salt. In early 1930 Gandhi decided to mount a highly visible demonstration against the increasingly repressive salt tax by marching through what is now the western Indian state of Gujarat from his ashram (religious retreat) at Sabermati (near Ahmadabad) to the town of Dandi (near Surat) on the Arabian Sea coast. (12 March–6 April 1930)A march by Indian nationalists led by Mohandas Gandhi. The Salt Satyagraha was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi … The Salt March was a major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas K. Gandhi in March–April 1930. The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mohandas Gandhi to protest British rule in India. In the early morning of March 12, 1930, Gandhi and a trained cadre of seventy-eight followers from his ashram began a march of more than 200 miles to the sea. 2014. On March 12, 1930, in which, together with 78 faithful, he left Sabarmati and walked 390 km for 24 days, followed by a growing number of admirers. The march on the saltworks went ahead as planned on May 21, led by the poet Sarojini Naidu, and many of the some 2,500 peaceful marchers were attacked and beaten by police. The march is a great success and further disrupts British rule. This touched off acts of civil disobedience across India, and the British were forced to invite Gandhi to London for a Round-Table Conference. After the Salt March : Gandhi would remain in prison till 1931. For Gandhi, the issue encapsulated the wicked tyranny of colonialism. Check out famous speech of Mahatma Gandhiji on the eve of historic Dandi March. Hundreds more would join the core group of followers as they made their way to the sea until on April 5 the entourage reached Dandi after a journey of some 240 miles (385 km). But in 1930, he wrote the Declaration of Independence of India, and then led the Salt March in protest against the British monopoly on salt. He marches 240 miles from his home to the ocean to make salt in defiance of British regulations. He was immediately arrested. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself. An example of Gandhi performing pacifism is when he led the Salt March. India won its independence in August 1947. He marches 240 miles from his home to the ocean to make salt in defiance of British regulations. Web. The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha) Gandhi waged against British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable worldwide attention. There he said he would take a pinch of salt from the Indian Ocean and spent twenty-four days walking to the sea. Mahatma Gandhi and his followers led the movement in 1930 (Kuhn 162). In 1931, Gandhi stages his most famous protest: the Salt March. In an effort to help free India from the British rule, Mahatma Gandhi once again contributed to a protest against salt taxes, known as the Salt March. As we celebrate the 91 st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March, we need to remember his methodological genius. This source just helped us with basic facts and knowledge of the Salt March. The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Gandhi-Irwin Pact, agreement signed on March 5, 1931, between Mohandas K. Gandhi, leader of the Indian nationalist movement, and Lord Irwin (later Lord Halifax), British viceroy (1926–31) of India.It marked the end of a period of civil disobedience in India against British rule that Gandhi and his followers had initiated with the Salt March (March–April 1930). For Gandhi, the issue encapsulated the wicked tyranny of colonialism. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2006. On March 12, having given the Viceroy an extra day, Gandhi and seventy-eight others left his ashram and began to walk the two hundred miles to the seacoast. By the end of the year, some 60,000 people were in jail. The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mohandas Gandhi to protest British rule in India. Gandhi. First, Gandhi sent a letter on March 2, 1930 to inform the Viceroy Lord Irwin that he and the others would begin breaking the Salt Laws in 10 days. Britain’s Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. As one of the great performances of the independence movement, the Salt March epitomized a repertoire of rituals and practices that Gandhi developed, rehearsed and experimented with over more than 30 years of passionate political and social activity as he organized masses for collective action. Learn about "The Salt March" also called the "The Dandi march", a non violent protest organized by Mahatma Gandhi. The 78-year-old Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist less than six months later, on January 30, 1948. https://www.history.com/topics/india/salt-march. The Salt March to dandi, concluding with the making of illegal salt by Gandhi on April 6, 1930, launched a nationwide protest against the British salt tax. The Salt March was not only the most widely-celebrated moment in Gandhi’s career as a freedom fighter, but it is paradigmatic of his approach: it is a highly-symbolic and dramatic exercise in civil resistance, contextualized among a variety of other nonviolent actions (boycotts, civil disobedience, picketing) strategically focused on a relatively narrow goal. Gandhi Salt March: 1930. On 12 March 1930, Gandhi led a historic 24-day Dandi March against British government’s unfair Salt Tax. Mahatma Gandhi and his followers led the movement in 1930 (Kuhn 162). The Salt March was a civil disobedience movement in India. Background of Gandhi Speeches The Salt March. He told that on 12 March, 1930, he would begin the Salt March … During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles. Introduction. It was one of the many residences (1917-30) of Mahatma Gandhi, located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. As part of his master's program,... Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu on the Salt March in western India, March 1930. Gandhi himself was arrested on May 5, but the satyagraha continued without him. The essential mineral was heavily taxed by the colonial power, and Indians could even be jailed for daring to make salt themselves. India finally was granted its independence in 1947. He reached the sea and grabbed a handful of salt, a symbolic act by which he invited the population to oppose the British monopoly on salt. Salt March, also called Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in March–April 1930. By the time they reached Dandi on April 5, Gandhi was at the head of a crowd of tens of thousands. Another reason for this march was that the Civil Disobedience Movement needed a strong inauguration that would inspire more people to follow Gandhi's example. The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience ( satyagraha ) Gandhi waged against British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable … A march by Indian nationalists led by Mohandas Gandhi. He reached the sea and grabbed a handful of salt, a symbolic act by which he invited the population to oppose the British monopoly on salt. Defying the Salt Act, Gandhi reasoned, would be an ingeniously simple way for many Indians to break a British law nonviolently. At the time, the British Empire had a stranglehold on salt in India. On the eve of March 12, 1930, Gandhi made his famous speech to inspire his fellow citizens to march in protest against the unfair British policies. After each day’s march the group stopped in a different village along the route, where increasingly larger crowds would gather to hear Gandhi rail against the unfairness of the tax on poor people. Very much like the administration of 1930, today’s administration views civil disobedience as a nuisance. India finally was granted its independence in 1947. Ga… Mohandas Gandhi is often called Mahatma Gandhi. Nevertheless, Gandhi reached down and picked up a small lump of natural salt out of the mud—and British law had been defied. One of the unfair laws was the salt tax, where everyone who consumed salt had to pay tax for it. It was directed against the British government’s tax on salt, which greatly affected the poorest Indians. Salt March is also known as Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March or Civil Disobedience Movement. After the Salt March : Gandhi would remain in prison till 1931. There, Gandhi planned to together with his supporters defy British policy by making salt from seawater. This source just helped us with basic facts and knowledge of the Salt March. Gandhi, himself sold a pinch of salt for Rs. Gandhi’s idea was to lead a march about salt. The protest was for Indian independence from Britain. Citizens were forced to buy the vital mineral from the British, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt also exerted a heavy salt tax. [On the 11th of March 1930, the crowd swelled to 10,000 at the evening prayer held on the Sabarmati sands at Ahmedabad. Satyagraha (Sanskrit: सत्याग्रह; satya: "truth", āgraha: "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or holding firmly to truth, or truth force, is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance.Someone who practices satyagraha is a satyagrahi.. The march ended on April 5, 1930, in Dandi when Gandhi defied the salt law by picking a lump of salt. The twenty four day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2006. On the eve of March 12, 1930, Gandhi made his famous speech to inspire his fellow citizens to march in protest against the unfair British policies. Even if the Government allow me to march tomorrow morning, this will be my last speech on the sacred banks of the Sabarmati. This event took place from March 12th to April 6th in 1930 and saw Gandhi lead a non-violent protest against British laws related to salt harvesting in India. The global press coverage and international support forced the then Viceroy, Lord Irwin to begin dialogue with Gandhi. Since the late-1910s, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had been at the forefront of India’s quest to shake off the yoke of British colonial domination, otherwise known as the “Raj.” The thin and abstemious former lawyer had led civil disobedience against colonial policies, encouraged ...read more, Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one.” He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years ...read more, The only daughter of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi was destined for politics. During the salt march, thousands of Indians followed behind Gandhi. The Salt March, which took place fromMarch to April 1930 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mohandas Gandhi to protest British rule in India. One of the unfair laws was the salt tax, where everyone who consumed salt had to pay tax for it. Thousands were arrested and imprisoned, including Jawaharlal Nehru in April and Gandhi himself in early May after he informed Lord Irwin (the viceroy of India) of his intention to march on the nearby Dharasana saltworks. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. One of the reasons for its success, was that many people saw Gandhi give his speech and had heard of him and that helped him gain supporters. Britain’s Salt Act of 1882, which heavily taxed Indians trying to purchase salt, was the cause of this march. The Salt March, led by Mohandas Gandhi in 1930, was one of the first acts of civil disobedience in the 20th century. In March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers set off on a brisk 241-mile march to the Arabian Sea town of Dandi to lay Indian claim to the nation's own salt. Kurtz, Lester. On the 11th of March 1930, the crowd swelled to 10,000 at the evening prayer held on the Sabarmati sands at Ahmedabad. On May 21, the poet Sarojini Naidu led 2,500 marchers on the Dharasana Salt Works, some 150 miles north of Bombay. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Civil disobedience broke out all across India, soon involving millions of Indians, and British authorities arrested more than 60,000 people. There, Gandhi and his supporters were to defy British policy by making salt from seawater. One of Gandhi's most successful protests was called the Salt March. The much-publicized, 24-day, 240-mile Salt March began on March 12, 1930, when 61-year-old Mohandas Gandhi led an ever-growing group of followers from the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea at Dandi, India. Webchron, 2003. Print. Gandhi’s followers called him "Mahatma, " which in Sanskrit means "great soul.". Salt March became an effective tool of resistance against colonialism because: Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. This was later known as The Salt March that led to a larger civil disobedience movement that eventually led to India winning their independence in 1947. This was Gandhi's Salt March, a peaceful salvo in the fight for Indian independence. The private manufacture of salt violated the salt tax system imposed by the British, and in a new campaign of civil disobedience Gandhi led his followers from his ashram at Sabarmati to make salt from the sea at Dandi, a distance of 320 km (200 miles). History remembers Mohandas Gandhi’s Salt March as one of the great episodes of resistance in the past century and as a campaign that struck a decisive blow against British imperialism. Kudlinski, Kathleen. Then, on March 12, 1930, Gandhi set out from his ashram, or religious retreat, at Sabermanti near Ahmedabad with several dozen followers on a trek of some 240 miles to the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. Oktober 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat; † 30. Although India’s poor suffered most under the tax, all Indians required salt. This march would help contribute to the independence of India. The ...read more. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Salt March was a civil disobedience movement in India. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. No arrests were made that day, and Gandhi continued his satyagraha against the salt tax for the next two months, exhorting other Indians to break the salt laws by committing acts of civil disobedience. First appointed prime minister in 1966, she garnered widespread public support for agricultural improvements that led to India’s self-sufficiency in food grain production as well as ...read more, An influential leader in the Indian independence movement and political heir of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru became the nation’s first prime minister in 1947. Gandhi’s decision to use salt or salt tax for organising this protest was a very unique one, as salt being a daily use item, resonated with more people irrespective of caste, gender, or religion. In January 1931, Gandhi was released from prison. Learn about "The Salt March" also called the "The Dandi march", a non violent protest organized by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi decided to mount a highly visible campaign against British policies in the salt trade by marshalling thousands of his supporters to walk with him on a 230-mile journey that started from his hometown of Gujarat to the Indian coastal town of … When Britain put a tax on salt, Gandhi decided to walk 241 miles to the sea in Dandi to make his own salt. Gandhi later participates in a Round Table Conference in London to discuss the possibility of Indian independence, but no agreement is reached. This march is famously known as the “Dandi March” in all the history textbooks. Gandhi later participates in a Round Table Conference in London to discuss the possibility of Indian independence, but no agreement is reached. Gandhi Gandhi leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production. At the time, the British Empire had a stranglehold on salt in India. Gandhi continues his diplomacy with the other heads of the Indian state to insure that when India gains it's sovereignty that all the faiths of the country, chiefly Hindu and Muslim, will live together peacefully. "The Gandhi Salt March." He had planned to work the salt flats on the beach, encrusted with crystallized sea salt at every high tide, but the police had forestalled him by crushing the salt deposits into the mud. News of Gandhi’s detention spurred tens of thousands more to join the satyagraha. During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles. Background of Gandhi Speeches The Salt March. Kurtz, Lester. Upon arriving at the beach in Dandi on the morning of April 6, 1930, loincloth-clad Gandhi reached down and scooped up a lump of salt and held it high. A truce subsequently was declared, which was formalized in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact that was signed on March 5.