Mahatma Gandhi: A Historical Biography

Quite distinct from the abundant literature available on Mahatma Gandhi, this historical biography attempts to articulate the historiography of India’s freedom struggle, of which Gandhi was undoubtedly the central figure. Revisiting the key issues and themes that have been raised in the research conducted over the past few decades, this is an interpretative essay that seeks to contextualise Gandhi and his ideologies of ahimsa and satyagraha. Instead of focussing merely on Gandhi’s personal life, Prof Bidyut Chakrabarty also conceptualises the evolution of his ideas in the context of anti-colonial nationalism. A nationalism that for the first time in the history of the independence struggle reached every village and taluk of the state. A nationalism for a country and a society based on his principles of ‘nai talim’ (new education) and ‘sarvodaya’ (uplift of all). But was it the right path and ideology for an emerging nation? Despite being Gandhi-centred, the biography is thus imbued with questions which it attempts to answer. Though a unique study of one of the most prominent personalities of the twentieth century, it addresses vital areas of human concerns, which will always remain universal in scope and content.