Salt March — Gandhi's Nonviolent Revolution

On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and 78 followers set out from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on a 240-mile march to the coastal village of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. On April 6, Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt from the mudflats — a symbolic act of defiance against the British salt tax, which made it illegal for Indians to collect or sell their own salt. The march ignited mass civil disobedience across India: millions began making their own salt, and over 60,000 Indians were arrested, including Gandhi himself. The Salt March captured worldwide attention and demonstrated the power of nonviolent resistance (satyagraha). It exposed the moral bankruptcy of colonial rule more effectively than any armed rebellion could have. Gandhi's methods would later inspire Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and countless movements for justice around the world.