1869. He was educated in law at University College, London. In 1891, after Gandhi was admitted to the
British bar, he returned to India and attempted to create a law practice in Bombay, which failed. Two years after his failure, and India firm with interests in South Africa hired him as a legal adviser to work in their office in Durban. Once Gandhi arrived in Durban he found himself being treated as a member of an inferior race. He was shocked at the denial of civil liberties and political rights to Indian immigrants to
South Africa. He then "threw" himself into the struggle for basic rights for Indians. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 20 years, being imprisoned many times. In 1896, after being attacked and beaten by white South Africans, Gandhi began to teach a method of "passive resistance," to, the South African authorities. _Part of the inspiration for this method came from the Russian writer
Leo Tolstoy. Christ and Henry David Thoreau, a 19th century American writer, also inspired Gandhi. In
1914 the government of the Union of South Africa made important concessions to Gandhi''s demands.
They included recognition of Indian marriages and abolition of the poll tax for them. When his work is
South Africa was complete he returned to India. Following World War I, Gandhi launched his movement of passive resistance to Great Britain. In 1919, the British Parliament passed the Rowlatt Acts, giving authorities the rights to use emergency powers to deal with