An Atlas on Mahatma Gandhi

Abstract

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi was one of the greatest Indian leader, thinker, social and political reformer who played a significant role in attainment of India’s independence against the tyranny of British Imperialism. The title “Mahatma” was conferred on him by another great Indian intellectual and philosopher, Rabindranath Nath Tagore. Born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, then part of the Bombay Presidency, to Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai, the young Mohandas found the fertile ground in his family for the germination of the humanitarian principles and ideologies that would play an important role in his adult life. This paper is an attempt to create an atlas depicting all the places that were traversed by the Gandhi right from the day he was born till he came back to India from South Africa in 1915 after the successful campaigns against racial discrimination suffered by the vast majority of the coloured people. The purpose of attempting such a work is firstly, to map all the places– significant as well as the unnoticed ones, visited by Gandhi on different occasions, thereby creating a visual impact about how much he had traveled during his stay in Africa in a chronological way. Secondly, it would also help in deepening our understanding about the various campaigns launched by Gandhi in South Africa by such a micro level assessment. Thirdly, this kind of an atlas would help in giving a wider attention to the places related to Gandhi’s life and in turn would enhance their importance from tourism point of view. Finally, it would also serve as a guide map to assess the impact of Gandhian strategy of Satyagraha and non-violence in those places hitherto unknown. The maps used in this atlas are not according to scale and projection, so they cannot be used to measure the distance, direction and area on map.