Gandhi's Early Public Life: Sabarmati Ashram and the BHU Speech

When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 after two decades in South Africa, he was no longer just a lawyer-he had transformed into an organizer, philosopher, and leader ready to apply his unique methods to India’s freedom struggle. His first years back on Indian soil would lay the foundation for everything that followed: the establishment of an ashram that tested his principles, a revolutionary speech that shook the establishment, and the birth of movements that would define India’s path to independence.

The birth of Satyagraha Ashram
Moving to the banks of Sabarmati
The untouchable family: A test of principles
The cradle of the Khadi movement
The historic BHU speech of 1916
Character building as a national necessity
A living laboratory for ideals

The birth of Satyagraha Ashram

Gandhi’s first ashram in India was established in the Kochrab area of Ahmedabad on 25 May 1915. His mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale had urged him to return from South Africa to organize a community for the Swaraj movement, and Gandhi responded by creating a shared living space designed to foster personal growth, self-reliance, and community service. The ashram was set up in a bungalow generously provided by his barrister friend Jivanlal Desai.

Gandhi chose Ahmedabad for strategic reasons. As a Gujarati, he believed he could render the greatest service through his native language. Additionally, Ahmedabad was an ancient centre of handloom weaving, making it the most favourable field for reviving the cottage industry of hand-spinning. He also hoped for financial support from the city’s wealthy industrialists.

Initially called the Satyagraha Ashram, the community housed about 25 men and women, including 13 Tamils who had returned from South Africa. Gandhi created a detailed constitution with vows of truth, non-violence, celibacy, control of the palate, non-stealing, non-possession, Swadeshi, and fearlessness. The vow against untouchability was added in the third draft-a provision that would soon be dramatically tested.

Moving to the banks of Sabarmati

In June 1917, the ashram was relocated to the banks of the Sabarmati River. Gandhi had specific reasons for choosing this barren land. He wanted to conduct experiments in farming, animal husbandry, cow breeding, and khadi-related activities. The location also held mythological significance-it was believed to be the ancient site of Dadhichi Rishi’s ashram, a sage who had donated his bones for a righteous cause. Perhaps most tellingly, Gandhi noted that the ashram stood between a jail and a crematorium, and he believed a satyagrahi would inevitably end up in either place.

The Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Harijan Ashram, became Gandhi’s home until 1930 and served as one of the main centres of the Indian freedom movement. It became the heart of Satyagraha-a movement of nonviolence that challenged British rule with courage and conviction.

The untouchable family: A test of principles

Just months after establishing the ashram, Gandhi faced an unexpected test. He received a letter from social worker Amritlal Thakkar asking if a humble and honest untouchable family could join the ashram. Gandhi never expected such a request so early, but he took up the challenge and admitted Dudabhai, his wife Danibehn, and their daughter Lakshmi.

This decision created a storm. Friends who were supporting the ashram objected strongly. Even Kasturba had reservations about sharing the same living space with the family. The owner of the bungalow created difficulties regarding use of the well. Patrons stopped their monetary help entirely, pushing the ashram into financial crisis.

Gandhi stood firm. He told Kasturba that if she was unable to live with the family, she could leave and they would part as good friends. Kasturba yielded and stayed. Some ashram members, including Maganlal Gandhi’s wife Santok, fasted in opposition. Gandhi fasted back. Some members packed their bags and left, though they later returned after what Gandhi described as washing their hearts clean of untouchability.

When the ashram was down to just two days of rations and Gandhi was prepared to move the community to an untouchable settlement, industrialist Ambalal Sarabhai anonymously drove up and donated Rs. 13,000, saving the ashram from closing. Gandhi later reflected that this admission proved valuable beyond measure. From the very beginning, the ashram proclaimed it would not countenance untouchability, putting potential supporters on notice and considerably simplifying the work ahead.

The cradle of the Khadi movement

The ashram became the birthplace of one of Gandhi’s most powerful symbols of resistance: the spinning wheel, or charkha. Gandhi strategically adopted the spinning wheel to implement three primary objectives: dismissing British textiles in favour of locally spun khadi, creating financial liberty for every citizen, and providing a method of non-violent protest.

In 1917, Gandhi decided to learn how to use the charkha as a way to restore traditional crafts and revive the rural economy. Gangaben Majumdar taught him the art of spinning. Though he initially struggled, he became proficient through perseverance and soon understood that spinning was not merely about producing clothes-it was a means to bridge economic divides and gainfully employ millions of people.

The first piece of hand-woven cloth was made in the Sabarmati Ashram during 1917-18. Gandhi called this coarse cloth khadi. The fabric, spun from cotton on the charkha, became so central to the freedom movement that Nehru called it the livery of our freedom. The charkha represented Swadeshi, self-sufficiency, and simultaneously interdependence-the wheel sat at the centre of a network of cotton growers, carders, weavers, distributors, and users.

The spinning wheel embodied dignity of labour, equality, and unity, as all volunteers were expected to spin each day. It became so symbolic of self-reliance that the first Indian flag had the charkha etched in the middle, later replaced by the Ashoka Chakra. This marked the beginning of what would become the Indian spinning industry.

The historic BHU speech of 1916

In February 1916, Gandhi made his first significant public appearance at the inauguration of Banaras Hindu University. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya had invited him to speak, and the Viceroy Lord Hardinge had come specially to lay the foundation stone. The city was in a state of siege, with detectives stationed everywhere and houses along the route guarded.

On February 4, 1916, Gandhi rose to address an audience consisting mostly of impressionable youths, while a galaxy of princes, bedecked and bejeweled, occupied the dais. Gandhi, clad in a short, coarse dhoti with a Kathiawadi cloak and turban, was deeply hurt by the police precautions and luxury surrounding him.

His first words froze the audience. He declared it a matter of deep humiliation and shame that he was compelled to address his countrymen in a foreign language. This was revolutionary-nobody had dared to speak against the English language in such a setting. He argued that Indian youth, reaching knowledge through English, lost at least six precious years of life. Multiplied by the number of students, the nation had lost thousands of years.

Gandhi did not stop there. He criticized the gorgeous show of the ceremony, comparing the richly bedecked noblemen with the millions of poor Indians who were not represented. He challenged the princes directly, suggesting there was no salvation for India unless they stripped themselves of their jewellery and held it in trust for their countrymen.

He pointed out that India’s salvation could only come through the farmer, not lawyers, doctors, or rich landlords. Over seventy-five percent of the population were agriculturists, and there could be no spirit of self-government if their labour was taken from them. The speech caused such controversy that Gandhi was eventually interrupted and had to stop abruptly, but its impact was profound. This speech was the first public announcement to make Indian nationalism more representative of the Indian people as a whole.

Character building as a national necessity

Throughout these early years, Gandhi emphasized that what India needed most was character building. He believed that self-government could not be granted through paper contributions or speeches alone-only conduct could make a nation fit for it. In his BHU speech, he asked pointedly whether Indians could expect temples to become abodes of cleanliness and peace simply because the British left.

Gandhi strongly believed that education must aim at building character, not just academic knowledge. He wanted young people to live by values of truth, non-violence, honesty, simplicity, and self-reliance. Gandhi argued that character is built through personal experiences and self-discipline, not through classroom instruction alone. Life’s challenges and adversities, when faced voluntarily, contribute significantly to character development.

He believed character required constant attention and cultivation-unlike a degree earned once, it demanded lifelong effort. For Gandhi, true success was measured not by grades, wealth, or status, but by the foundation of character upon which all ethical behaviour rests. He consistently argued that intellectual brilliance without moral grounding was not only worthless but potentially dangerous.

This emphasis on character would underpin all of Gandhi’s future work-from the Non-Cooperation Movement to the Salt March to the Quit India Movement. The ashram became his laboratory for demonstrating that personal transformation was the prerequisite for social and political change.

A living laboratory for ideals

Between 1915 and 1917, Gandhi transformed from a recently returned lawyer into the spiritual and political leader who would guide India’s freedom struggle. The Sabarmati Ashram became more than a residence-it was where truth, non-violence, Swadeshi, and the removal of untouchability were not merely preached but lived. Every crisis, from the admission of an untouchable family to the financial collapse that followed, only strengthened these principles.

On March 12, 1930, Gandhi would leave this ashram for the historic Dandi March, vowing not to return until India gained independence. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1948 without ever seeing the ashram again. But the seeds planted in those early years had already grown into a movement that would change the world.

What do you think? How might Gandhi’s insistence on character building as the foundation of self-governance apply to contemporary democracies? In an age of rapid technological advancement, is the principle of self-reliance still relevant to national development?

References

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Table of Contents

The birth of Satyagraha Ashram 🔗

Moving to the banks of Sabarmati 🔗

The untouchable family: A test of principles 🔗

The cradle of the Khadi movement 🔗

The historic BHU speech of 1916 🔗

Character building as a national necessity 🔗

A living laboratory for ideals 🔗