1893 - Mahatma Gandhi’s First Act of Civil Disobedience in South Africa

On June 7, 1893, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young Indian lawyer, was forcibly removed from a first-class train compartment in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, despite holding a valid ticket. This incident marked the beginning of Gandhi’s lifelong commitment to nonviolent resistance, or Satyagraha. While Gandhi is globally celebrated, what remains far less known is how his philosophy of civil disobedience was deeply influenced by the racial oppression faced by Black and Indian South Africans under colonial rule. The incident awakened him to the broader injustices experienced by non-white populations and spurred him to organize the Indian community against discriminatory laws. Importantly, it also laid a foundation for multiracial solidarity in South Africa’s future liberation movements. Gandhi’s early activism in South Africa became a template for resistance that would echo throughout African and global decolonization struggles, yet its African roots and context are often overlooked in historical narratives.