Image: Mahatma Gandhi spinning. Wikimedia Commons.
When Gandhi returned to India in January 1915, he was already known among some Indian political circles because of his work in South Africa. But he did not immediately launch a nationwide political campaign.
Return after more than two decades abroad
The Gandhi Heritage Portal chronology records Gandhi’s return to India on 9 January 1915. He had spent much of the previous two decades in South Africa, developing his methods of community organisation and Satyagraha.
Learning about India
Gandhi travelled extensively after his return. His political mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale advised him to spend time understanding conditions in India before taking major political positions.
This period helped Gandhi observe rural poverty, social conditions and the concerns of different communities.
Kochrab Ashram
In May 1915, Gandhi established Kochrab Ashram near Ahmedabad. The Gandhi Heritage Portal identifies it as his new home after his return to India.
The ashram became a place where Gandhi and his associates experimented with community living, work, education and personal discipline.
The first major Indian campaigns
Gandhi’s early Indian campaigns grew from local disputes rather than an immediate nationwide movement. Champaran in 1917 involved indigo cultivators in Bihar. Kheda in 1918 involved a dispute over land revenue in Gujarat, while the Ahmedabad mill workers’ dispute involved labour conditions.
These campaigns allowed Gandhi to adapt methods developed in South Africa to Indian circumstances.
From local issues to national leadership
Gandhi gradually became a major figure in the Indian National Congress and the wider independence movement. His political reach expanded significantly after the Non-Cooperation Movement began in 1920.
The transition from returning lawyer to national leader therefore took several years and was built through local campaigns, organisation and public engagement.
See the Gandhi Heritage Portal chronology and NewsNationOnline’s South Africa feature.
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