by Robert Payne
1935
June 25
A bomb is thrown by a Hindu at Gandhi’s automobile in Poona. This year his health declines.
1936
January 13
Gandhi is visited at Wardha by Margaret Sanger.
January 18
During the night Gandhi suffers a sexual storm.
May
Harilal becomes a Muslim.
1937
March
Congress offers to accept office.
1938
October
Gandhi tours the Northwest Frontier.
1939
March 3
Gandhi begins fast unto death at Rajkot to protest the refusal by the local prince to keep a promise made to the people. The fast is broken four days later.
July 23
Gandhi writes to Hitler, but the letter remains undelivered.
1940
October 17
Gandhi launches limited civil-disobedience campaign.
1941
December 24
Gandhi writes a second letter to Hitler, which remains undelivered.
1942
August 8
Congress passes ‘‘Quit India” resolution. Gandhi leads nation-wide Satyagraha campaign under the slogan “Do or Die.”
August 9
Gandhi is arrested and imprisoned in the Aga Khan Palace at Poona.
August 15
Death of Mahadev Desai.
1943
February 10
Gandhi begins twenty-one-day fast “as an appeal from Government to God for justice.”
1944
February 22
Death of Kasturbhai Gandhi.
May 6
Gandhi released from prison.
September 9
Gandhi begins talks with Jinnah.
1945
June 25
Simla Conference opens. Gandhi attends, though not a delegate.
1946
August 15
“Great Calcutta killing” lasts four days.
November
Gandhi sets out on four-month tour of East Bengal.
1947
March 22
Lord Mountbatten, last Viceroy of India, arrives in India. Gandhi is touring Bihar.
August 15
British India divided into the two self-governing dominions of India and Pakistan. Gandhi in Calcutta.
September 1
Gandhi promises a fast unto death which will end “only if and when sanity returns to Calcutta.” The fast is broken four days later.
1948
January 13
Gandhi fasts in New Delhi on behalf of communal unity. The fast is broken five days later.
1948
January 20
Bomb explosion at Birla House.
January 30
Gandhi assassinated by Nathuram Godse.
June 19
Death of Harilal Gandhi.
1949
November 15
Execution at Ambala Jail of Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte.
Acknowledgments
I owe a great debt to the many Indians who gently guided me through the complexities of Gandhi’s life. Many of them knew him well, and all of them were patient when I asked questions. I am especially grateful to Dr. Amiya Chakravarty for his deeply thoughtful encouragement, and to Mr. S. K. De, the director of the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya Samiti, who placed the resources of the Gandhi Museum and Library at my disposal and showed no apparent signs of weariness even when I was most demanding. Through him I was able to see all the films in the Museum archives and to study the photostats of Gandhi’s correspondence, and he kindly furnished me with many of the photographs in this book.
To Mr. T. K. Mahadevan, the associate editor of Gandhi Marg, I am indebted for a complete set of the magazine: this gift was only one of many acts of kindness. His wife, the novelist Meera Mahadevan, translated for me the article which Devadas Gandhi wrote on his brother Harilal.
I was especially happy to meet Professor Nirmal Kumar Bose, the perennially youthful commissioner and sociologist, whose two books on Gandhi I had long admired, and Pyarelal Nayyar, who was Gandhi’s secretary for twenty-eight years, the author of the most authoritative account of Gandhi’s early and later years.
I owe a great deal to conversations with J. B. Kripalani, Jayaprakash Narayan, Dr. Sushila Nayyar, R. R. Diwakar, and Govindas Ramachandran. Like Napoleon’s generals, they wear the scars of their victories in many battles, and of all the survivors they were perhaps the closest to Gandhi. I must also thank Morarji Desai, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, who kindly received me in his office at Rashtrapati Bhawan, and B. R. Nanda, the director of the Nehru Memorial Museum, who also received me in his palatial office.
To Dr. Hari Lai Saxena, the president of the Delhi branch of the Hindu Mahasabha, I am indebted for many strange opinions, and to an anonymous gardener at Birla House I owe the privilege of wandering at dusk through those enchanted and terrible gardens. Through his kindness I was able to sketch as I pleased, and to pace out the road to Calvary.
I had met Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohamed Ali Jinnah in August 1946, and the memory of those encounters in Bombay at a desperate period helped me to reconstruct the last days of the British Raj.
To the Navajivan Trust in Ahmedabad I am indebted for permission to quote from the works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Finally, I offer my gratitude to Mr. Nirmal Singh, the first secretary of the Indian Embassy at Kathmandu, and his wife Premalya, who smoothed my path and “gentled the honeyed air of India,” and to Mr. Raja Rao, novelist extraordinary, who quite properly insisted that there should be a chapter on Rajchandra.
Index
Index
Abdulla, Dada, 100, 108, 112, 113, 120
and Gandhi, 90-93, 100, 101, 102
Abdullah, Sheikh, 530, 531
Adan, imprisoned with Gandhi, 370
Addison, Joseph, The Spectator, 44
Ahimsa, 40, 278, 478
Ahmedabad, 320
Gandhi aids millhands on strike in, 343-324
Alam, Mir, 183, 189
attacks Gandhi, 181
Alexander, A. V., 514, 516
Alexander, Horace, and Gandhi, 535
Alexander, Superintendent, 113-114, 184
and Gandhi, 141
Alexander, Mrs., 113-114
Ali, Amir, 371
Ali, Asaf, 835
tribute to Gandhi, 601
Ali, Mansan, political prisoner, 371
Ali, Mohamed, 347
Ali, Shaukat, 347
All-India Literary Conference, 466, 472
All-India Radio, 570
Gandhi on, 550-551, 558
carries Nehru’s eulogy for Gandhi, 595
Allinson, Dr., and Gandhi, 280
Ally, Haji Ojeer, 164, 165, 166, 170
Ambedkar, Dr., meeting with Gandhi in prison, 443, 444
Ampthill, second Baron (Russell, Arthur Oliver), 200, 201, 202, 211, 218-219, 221, 257, 266-267
Amrit Kaur, Rajkumari, 466, 562
and Gandhi, 462, 547, 576-577
Gandhi letter to, 471, 485
appointed Minister of Health, 537
Amritsar massacre, 337-339
Andrews, Charles, 289, 290, 291, 374, 417, 444
and Gandhi, 266, 267-268, 309-310, 312-314, 327-326, 356, 374, 454, 513
in Amritsar, 344
at Cambridge, 416
on Round Table Conference, 416
on Gandhi’s fasts, 449
Answers to Correspondents (magazine), 64
Apte, Narayan
as conspirator, 612, 613-614, 616, 617, 018, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 630, 631, 634, 633
trial of, 635
sentenced to death, 642
hanging of, 645-646
Arco, Rene, on Gandhi, 419
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 72, 74, 145, 150, 645
Arnott, Colone
l, 156
Artuzzi, General, and Gandhi, 446
Asiatic Act, 189
Asiatic Law, 195
“Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance,” 161-169 passim
Association of Friends of Gandhi, founded by Madame Guiyesse, 418
Attlee, Clement, Prime Minister, 514
and India’s freedom, 527
tribute to Gandhi, 601
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, 45
Azad, Maulana, 347, 493
visits Gandhi, 559
at Gandhi’s funeral, 599
Babu, Dr. Vidhan, 562
Bacon, Francis, 177, 416
Badge, Digambar, 615, 616, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 626, 627, 628, 830
Baker, A. W., and Gandhi, 96-97
Banker, Shankarlal, publisher of Young India, 363
imprisoned, 367
Bannerjee, Smritish, death of, 544
Bapuji, Chatrabhuj, teacher of Gandhi, 32
Barrack-Room Ballads (Kipling), 371
Becharji, Swami, 51
Bell, Alexander Graham, 70
Bell, Alexander Melville, 70
Bell, Bishop, and Gandhi, 415
Benares Hindu University, 296
Beneš, Eduard, Gandhi’s letters to, 462
Besant, Mrs. Annie, and Gandhi, 72, 136, 295-296, 299-300
Bhagavad Gita, 175, 177, 191, 192, 274, 327, 328, 383, 441, 427, 470, 641
effect of, on Gandhi, 72, 73
Arnold translation of, 72, 645
Bhandari, Colonel, 499, 502, 506
Bhargava, Dr. Gopichand, and Gandhi, 586, 587
pronounces Gandhi dead, 591
Bhave, Vinoba and Gandhi, 300, 455
as perfect Satyagrahi, 490-491
arrest of, 491
as heir of Gandhi, 605-606
and Boodan Yagna (Land-gift) movement, 606
Bhavsingh, Prince of Kathiawar, 81
and Laximidas Gandhi, 84
Bhownaggree, Sir Muncherji, 166
Bihar
earthquake in, 456
bloodbath in, 526
riots in, 530
Bikanir, Maharajah of, aids Satyagraha Movement, 230
Bird of Time, The (Naidu), 276
Birdwood, Sir George, 102, 166
Birla, G.D.
and Gandhi, 378
at London Conference, 407
and Gandhi in London, 410
meeting with Gandhi in prison, 443
finances Harijan, 448
Birla House, sketch map of, 589
Birth control, Gandhi on, 437
Bissicks, Ada, 146
Blavatsky, Madame Elena, 72, 74, 142
Blériot, Louis, 210
Boer War, 119-123, 155, 156
Bombay, rioting on occasion of Prince of Wales’ visit to, 356
Boodan Yagna (Land-gift) movement, and Bhave, 606
Bose, Nirmal Kumar, 539
and Gandhi, 521, 522, 525
with Gandhi in Calcutta, 540-542
Bose, Sarat Chandra, with Gandhi in Calcutta, 543, 545
Bose, Subhas Chandra, 383, 491, 512
on swaraj, 354
death of, 515
Gandhi on, 574
Botha, General Louis, 201, 266
at battle of Colenso, 120
and Gokhale, 250, 251, 254
Bourke-White, Margaret, and Gandhi, 587
Bradlaugh, Charles, death of, 73
Brahmacharya, Gandhi and, 161, 381, 383, 437, 482, 484, 465, 528-530
Briand-Kellogg Pact, 420
Briscoe, Dr., 280
British Indian Association, 179, 188, 190, 195
Broomfield, Robert, presides at “great trial” of Gandhi, 383-387
Bruce, Sir Charles, and Gandhi, 131
Bucher, Major General Roy, in charge of Gandhi’s funeral ceremony, 593-594
Buckle, Henry Thomas, 371
Buller, General Redvers, at battle of Colenso, 120
Bunyan, John, 448
Calcutta
“Direct Action” in, 515
riots in, 516, 533
Gandhi in, 533-546
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, Prime Minister, 168
Cantlie, Dr. James, 278
Carlyle, Thomas, 73, 177, 194
Cartwright, Albert, edits The Transvaal Leader, 177
Central Hindu College of Benares, 296
Cetewayo, 153
Chaaka, 153
Chamberlain, Joseph
inquires into attack on Gandhi, 115-116
in South Africa, 140-141
Chamberlain, Neville, Gandhi on, 482
Chamney, Montfort, registrar of Asiatics, 183
Champaran, Satyagraha in, 324
Chandiwalla, Brijkrishna, and Gandhi, 571, 573
Chaplin, Charles, 416
and Gandhi, 414-415
Charan, Justice Atma
presides at Godse trial, 635
censures police, 642
Chauri Chaura, massacre at, 359-360
Chelmsford, Baron (Frederick Augustus), 153
Chelmsford, Lord (John Napier), Viceroy of India, 319
and Gandhi, 326-327
Gandhi’s letter to, on non-cooperation, 349-350
Chesterton, G. K., 219
article in The Illustrated London News quoted, 212-213
Chiang Kai-shek, and Gandhi, 492, 601
Chiang Kai-shek, Madame, and Gandhi, 492
Child marriage, Gandhi on, 36-37
Churchill, Winston, 170
and Gandhi, 168, 403, 404, 503, 510
on Lord Irwin, 403
and Nehru, 491
on massacres in India, 551-552
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau), 192
Clothed with the Sun (Maitland and Kingsford), 105
Coates, Michael, and Gandhi, 96-97
Colenso, battle of, 120
Colonial Patriotic Union of South Africa, 112, 116
Communal Award, 442
Confession of Faith, 1909 (Gandhi), 215-216, 221
Coomaraswamy, Ananda, 277
Cotton, Sir Henry, 166
Crewe, Lord, 201, 202
and Gandhi, 211-212, 278
Cripps, Sir Stafford, 514, 516
and Gandhi, 492-493
offers dominion status, 492-493
Critic, The, 144-145
Curtis, Lionel
and Gandhi, 140
and draft law, 162
Curzon, Lord, 201, 204, 301
Dada Abdulla Co., 86, 89-104
Daily Herald, interview with Gandhi, 401-402
Daily News, 204
Das, Tarakuatta, 213
Dave, Kevalram, 48
and Gandhi, 50,136
Dave, Mavji, advises Gandhi, 48, 49, 51
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Gibbon), 371, 372
Delhi
Gandhi in, 547-556
anarchy in, 548-550
Delhi Agreement of Hindus and Muslims, 565-566
“Delhi Pact,” Indian National Congress ratifies, 405-406
Desai, Jivanlal, and Gandhi, 293
Desai, Mahadev, 353, 418, 56, 559, 619
as Gandhi’s secretary, 321-322, 331
at London Conference, 407
and Gandhi in London, 412-413
escorts Gandhi to see George V, 414
joins Gandhi in prison, 435, 436, 437-438, 443, 445
diary of, 436-437, 586-587
and Gandhi, 438, 489-490
with Gandhi, 450
and Gandhi’s notes to Mirabehn, 450-451
fear of anarchy, 489
arrest of, 495
death of, 496, 498, 505
Desai, Morarji, Home Minister, and Dr. Jain, 629-630
Desai, Pragji
on Harilal Gandhi, 243
and Gandhi, 244
Devi, Sulochana, 636
Dharasana Saltworks, raid on, 396-398
Dhingra, Madanlal, 221, 617, 631
kills Sir Curzon Wyllie, 202
trial and execution of, 204-205
Dialogues (Plato), 177, 371
Dick, Miss, and Gandhi, 141
Dilke, Sir Charles, 166
Doke, Reverend Joseph, 218, 237
aids Gandhi, 102-184
biography of Gandhi, 200-201
Doke, Mrs. Joseph, 183-184
Doyle, Colonel, Inspector General of Prisons, brings Yeravda Agreement to Gandhi, 445
Drew, Mrs., 267
Dropped from the Clouds (Verne), 371, 372
Dudabhai (untouchable), and Gandhi, 294
Dunkirk, 488
Dyer, Brigadier General Reginald and Amritsar massacre, 338-339
faces inquiry into Amritsar massacre, 340-341
disgraced, 341
East India Company
and cultivation of indigo, 302
and Regulation XXV, 400
Edward VII, King of England, 156
Einstein, Albert, tribute to Gandhi, 601
Elgin, ninth Earl of, and Kincardine, Victor Alexander Bruce, 164, 166, 167, 168, 171