Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 â 30 January 1948), commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi in India as Bapu and Jathi Pitha (father of the nation), was an advocate and pioneer of nonviolent social protest in the form he called Satyagraha. He led the struggle for India's independence from British colonial rule bapu father of nation gandhi GANDHI