The salt march was the beginning of Mohandas Gandhi’s campaign of civil disobedience against British rule in India.
Salt production in India was a lucrative trade, but was monopolized by the British colonizers. By law, the British forbade the Indian population from producing or selling salt without British oversight. Despite its local abundance, salt was also heavily taxed in India. As a result, salt sold for exorbitant prices and the majority of Indians were unable to afford it. Everyone understood the necessity of salt to everyday life in India, which made it an issue with enough importance to gain a mass following.
In 1930, Gandhi marched through the Indian state of Gujarat to the town of Dandi in protest of the increasingly repressive salt tax. The 240-mile journey began on March 12, and Gandhi visited villages along the way, speaking on the unfairness of the tax. Hundreds joined Gandhi as he continued his march to the sea. The group arrived in early April, and broke the law by picking up handfuls of salt along the shore, technically producing salt.
No one was arrested that day, but Gandhi continued encouraging civil disobedience throughout India for the next two months. By late 1930, nearly 60,000 protesters were in jail as a result of peaceful marches across the country, and for making salt. Though Gandhi’s followers were peaceful in their demonstrations, their marches were often met with violence, which brought worldwide attention to the movement. Gandhi was imprisoned as well, but his movement continued. He was released in January 1931, and represented the Indian National Congress at the Round Table Conference in London that fall. The conference discussed the future of the Indian constitution. Gandhi continued to mobilize the Indian population and fought for independence until it was achieved in August 1947.
