[13] The introduction is officially written by Gandhi himself mentioning how he has resumed writing his autobiography at the insistence of Jeramdas, a fellow prisoner in Yerwada Central Jail with him.

Both Tolstoy and Gandhi considered themselves followers of the Sermon on the Mount from the New Testament, in which Jesus Christ expressed the idea of complete self-denial for the sake of his fellow men.

Adopting a philosophy of selflessness even as a public man, Gandhi refused to accept any payment for his work on behalf of the Indian population, preferring to support himself with his law practice alone.

At the time, he also engaged in active correspondence with a highly educated and spiritual Jain from Bombay, his friend Raychandra, who was deeply religious, yet well versed in a number of topics, from Hinduism to Christianity.

Yet, such deep appreciation also gave birth to a desire to seek inner purity and illumination, without solely relying on external sources, or on the dogma within every faith.

He found that racist attitudes had become deeply entrenched, especially in the two Boer republics, where they lived in the worst urban slums and could not own property or manage agricultural land.

During his struggle against inequality and racial discrimination in South Africa, Gandhi became known among Indians all around the world as "Mahatma," which translates to, "Great Soul" in English.

Fortunately, Gandhi was able to establish a friendly relationship with numerous white South Africans so the Natal port's police superintendent and his wife escorted him to safety.

As Gandhi resumed his work at the Natal Indian Congress, his loyalty to the British Empire guided him to assist them in the Second Boer War, which started three years later.

The magazine, which initially included several young women from Europe, expanded its staff around the country, increasing both Gandhi's popularity and the public support for his ideas.

At around the same time, Gandhi read John Ruskin's book Unto This Last, which maintained that the life of manual labor was superior to all other ways of living.

He began to conceive of his public work as a mission to restore old Indian virtue and civilization, rather than fall prey to modern Western influence, which included electricity and technology.

Gandhi did not waver when a South African General by the name of Jan Christian Smuts promised to eliminate the registration law, but broke his word.

Gandhi even considered moving to a district in Ahmedabad inhabited entirely by the untouchables when a generous Muslim merchant donated enough money to keep up his current living space for another year.

For this purpose, on 25 May 1915, he created a new settlement, which came to be known as the Satyagraha ashram (derived from the Sanskrit word "Satya" meaning "truth") near the town of Ahmedabad and close to his place of birth in the western Indian province of Gujarat.

He developed a strong conviction that Indian independence should take place as a large-scale sociopolitical reform, which would remove the old plagues of extreme poverty and caste restrictions.

As Gandhi resumed his public life in India in 1916, he delivered a speech at the opening of the new Hindu University in the city of Benares, where he discussed his understanding of independence and reform.

Though some political commentators condemned Gandhi's behavior as a form of blackmail, the fast only lasted three days before the workers and their employers negotiated an agreement.

At this point, although Gandhi still remained loyal to Britain and enamored with the ideals of the British constitution, his desire to support an independent home rule became stronger.

He refused conventional treatment and chose to practice his own healing methods, relying on diet and spending a long time bedridden, while in recovery in his ashram.

In the meantime, the unrest in India increased exponentially with news of the British victories over the Ottoman Empire during the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War.

After the end of the war, the British colonial government decided to follow the recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee, which advocated the retention of various wartime restrictions in India, including curfews and measures to suppress free speech.

A crowd of over ten thousand people gathered for religious purposes, and Dyer responded with bringing his troops there and opening fire without warning.

As a personal example, on 1 August, he returned the kasar-i-hind medal that he had received for providing medical service to wounded British soldiers during the Second Boer War.

In September 1920, Gandhi also passed an official constitution for the Congress, which created a system of two national committees and numerous local units, all working to mobilize a spirit of non-cooperation across India.

The British colonial authorities placed Gandhi on trial for sedition and sentenced him to six years in prison, marking the first time that he faced prosecution in India.

Even worse, the unity between Muslims and Hindus, which Gandhi advocated so passionately, had already begun to fall apart to the point where the threat of violence loomed large over many communities with mixed population.

Gandhi realized that the British government of the time, had lost the will and power to maintain their empire, but he always acknowledged that Indians could not rely simply on the weakening of Britain in order to achieve independence.

He felt ready to continue the long and difficult path of taming those passions and putting himself last among his fellow human beings, the only way to achieve salvation, according to him.

[22] Gandhi wrote in his autobiography that the three most important modern influences in his life were Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), John Ruskin's Unto This Last (essays 1860, book 1862), and the poet Shrimad Rajchandra (Raychandbhai).