Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma ('Great Soul'), was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. He pioneered the philosophy of 'Satyagraha'—resistance through mass civil disobedience firmly founded upon 'ahimsa' (total nonviolence). One of his most iconic acts was the 240-mile Salt March in 1930, protesting the British monopoly on salt. Gandhi lived a life of extreme simplicity, spinning his own clothes and practicing frequent fasts as a means of both self-purification and political protest. His leadership eventually forced the British to grant India independence in 1947. Beyond India, his philosophy of nonviolent resistance inspired global civil rights movements, including those led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. His legacy remains a testament to the idea that moral force can be more powerful than military might, though he was tragically assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist.