It is curious to note that more than 90 countries have issued postal stamps or other postal stationery on Gandhi, which is the highest number of countries to have ever issued such stamps on any single person. England is known to have never issued such a stamp on any non-Englishman. Gandhi is its only exception. This by itself defines world’s reverence for Gandhi and his ideals and Gandhi’s universal timeless relevance.
TIMELINE – MAHATMA GANDHI
Oct 2 -1869 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in Gujarat, India
1876 – Mohandas Gandhi begins Primary school in Rajkot.
1881 – Mohandas Gandhi Enters High School in Rajkot
May 1883 – Mohandas Gandhi Marries Kasturbai Makhanji in an Arranged Child Marriage
1884 – Mohandas Gandhi Enters Rebellious Adolescent Phase, Engaging in Activities He Will Soon Reject
1885 – Mohandas Gandhi’s Father Dies at 63
Sep 4- 1888 – Mohandas Gandhi Travels to London to Train as a Barrister
Jun 12- 1891 – Mohandas Gandhi Returns to India from London After Passing the Bar
Apr 1893 – Mohandas Gandhi Travels to South Africa to Work Under a Year-Long Contract with Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian Firm
May 1893 – Mahatma Gandhi is Ejected from a South African Train, Motivating Him to Fight for Indian Rights in the British Colony
Aug 22 -1894 – Mohandas Gandhi Founds the Natal Indian Congress
Jan 10- 1897 – Mohandas Gandhi is Nearly Lynched by White Settlers in Durban upon Returning from a Brief Trip to Fetch his Family in India
1899 – Gandhi Organizes an Indian Ambulance Corps of 1100 Men During His Service in the Boer War
Nov 1904 -Gandhi Founds the Phoenix Settlement
1906 – Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance Requires Asians in Transvaal to Carry Fingerprinted Identification
1906 – Gandhi Organizes Stretcher-Bearer Corps that Serves During the Zulu Uprising
Sep 11 1906 – Gandhi Introduces Non-Violent Protest Philosophy of Satyagraha
Jan 10- 1908 – Gandhi is Arrested for the First Time, for Refusing to Carry an Obligatory ID Card in South Africa
May 30- 1910 – Gandhi Establishes the Tolstoy Farm, which Serves as a Base of Operations for His Activities in South Africa
Nov 6 -1913 -Gandhi Begins “Great March” to Gain Indian Rights in South Africa
Jun 1914 – Gandhi Suspends South African Struggle After Winning Passage of the Indian Relief Act
Jan 9- 1915 – Gandhi Receives Hero’s Welcome Upon Returning to India from South Africa
Apr 1917 – Gandhi Goes to Champaran to Investigate Conditions of Local Farmers
Jun 17- 1917 – Gandhi Establishes Sabarmati Ashram
Jan 1918 – Gandhi Begins Advocating on Behalf of Farmers in Kheda Subject to Oppressive Taxation During a Famine
Mar 1919 – British Government Passes the Rowlatt Act in Colonial India, Indefinitely Extending the Use of ‘Emergency Measures’
Apr 13 -1919 – Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Sep 1920 – The Gandhi Era of the Indian Independence Movement Begins with the Non-Cooperation Movement
Dec 1921 – Gandhi is Given Exclusive Authority Over the Indian National Congress
Feb 1922 – Nationalist Mob Sets Fire to a Police Station in Chauri Chaura Incident, Prompting Mahatma Gandhi to Call Off the Non-Cooperation Movement
Mar 10- 1922 – Gandhi is Arrested by the British Government on Charges of Inciting Violence at Chauri Chaura
Feb 1924 – Gandhi is Released from Prison After Serving Only Two Years of a Six-Year Sentence Following Surgery for Appendicitis
Sep 1924 – Gandhi Begins Twenty-One Day Fast in an Attempt to Reconcile Hindus and Muslims
Sep 1925 – Gandhi Founds the All-India Spinners’ Association
1927 -Gandhi’s ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’ is Published
Dec 31 -1929 – Indian National Congress Raises the Tricolor Flag of India
Jan 26 -1930 – Declaration of the Independence of India
Mar 12 -1930 – Mahatma Gandhi Embarks on the Salt Satyagraha
Apr 6 -1930 – Mahatma Gandhi Arrives at Dandi, Gujarat, Concluding the Salt March
Mar 5- 1931 – Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, Signs the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Aug 29 -1931 – Gandhi Sets Sail for England to Represent the Indian National Congress at the Second Round Table Conference
Dec 28 -1931 – Gandhi Arrives in Bombay After His Visit to Europe
Sep 1932 – Gandhi Begins Six-Day Fast to Protest Separate Elections for Untouchables
Sep 17- 1934 – Gandhi Announces Retirement from Politics to Focus on Village Economics
Apr 30- 1936 – Gandhi Relocates Base of Operations to Sevagram, a Small Village Near Wardha in Central India
Mar 3- 1939 – Gandhi Announces Fast-Unto-Death in the Effort to Form a People’s Council in Rajkot
Mar 27 -1942 – The Cripps’ Mission
Aug 8- 1942 – The All India Congress Committee Launches the Quit India Movement
Aug 9- 1942 – Gandhi is Arrested, Along with the Entire Congress Working Committee
Aug 15- 1942 – Mahadev Desai, Gandhi’s Personal Secretary, Dies From Heart Failure
Feb 22- 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi Dies at Age 74
Mar 23- 1946 – The British Cabinet Mission Arrives in India
May 5- 1946 to May 12 1946 – The Simla Conference
Aug 16- 1946 – Direct Action Day, Also Known as the “Great Calcutta Killing”
Sep 2 -1946 – Formation of the Interim Government of India
Jun 15 -1947 – United Kingdom Passes the Indian Independence Act 1947
Aug 15 -1947 – The Partition of India
Jan 12- 1948 – Mahatma Gandhi Announces Fast to End Hindu/Muslim Violence in Delhi
Jan 30- 1948 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is Assassinated by Nathuram Godse