Civil Disobedience and the Salt March

Gandhi published eleven demands in January 1930. In a separate March letter, he warned Viceroy Irwin that he would break the salt law. The 24-day march that followed, from Sabarmati to the coastal village of Dandi, turned an everyday tax into a global symbol of colonial injustice.

1What eleven demands did Gandhi publish before the march?

At its December 1929 Lahore session, Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution. On 26 January 1930, it marked this as Independence Day nationwide.

• Gandhi published eleven demands in Young India on 30 January 1930, covering prohibition, tax cuts, military spending, and the abolition of the salt tax.
• On 2 March 1930, Gandhi wrote separately to Viceroy Lord Irwin. He warned that he would break the Salt Law if his appeal failed.
• Irwin’s office acknowledged the letter but offered no change.
• Salt was only one of the eleven demands. Most Indians could challenge the salt law themselves, which is why it became the movement’s symbol.

2What happened on the march from Sabarmati to Dandi?

The Civil Disobedience Movement began on 12 March 1930. Gandhi launched the Salt March from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 followers.

• The march covered about 387 km over 24 days, toward Dandi on the Gujarat coast.
• Crowds joined along the way. By the time Gandhi reached Dandi, tens of thousands had gathered around him.
• On 6 April 1930, Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt from the shore and boiled it in seawater, breaking the Salt Act.
• Gandhi described his own non-violent defiance of unjust law as “sedition” that had become his religion.

That line captured the whole logic of Civil Disobedience: breaking an unjust law openly and peacefully, then accepting the punishment, was itself the protest.

3Who actually joined the movement, and why did their reasons differ?

Salt was chosen deliberately. Every Indian, rich or poor, used it daily, which made the protest universally relatable. Women joined in large numbers for the first time, widening the freedom struggle’s social base.

• Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was among the leaders who pressed Gandhi to let women join, then organised the salt satyagraha in western India.
• Commercial-crop farmers, such as Gujarat’s Patidars and UP’s Jats, fought mainly against high revenue demands.
• Small tenants wanted unpaid rent remitted, but Congress, wary of upsetting landlords, largely avoided backing “no rent” campaigns.
• Industrialists, organised as FICCI since 1927, initially funded the movement hoping for protection from foreign imports, but grew wary after the Round Table Conference failed.
• Industrial workers largely stayed aloof, since Congress avoided their wage demands to keep industrialists on side.

4What did the Gandhi-Irwin Pact actually settle?

Gandhi was arrested without trial in the early hours of 5 May 1930, near the village of Karadi, and held at Yerwada Jail near Pune.

• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, signed on 5 March 1931, ended this first phase of Civil Disobedience.
• Britain withdrew the ordinances curbing Congress activity and released prisoners not charged with violence.
• Gandhi agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference, and civil disobedience was called off.
• Irwin refused Gandhi’s request for a public inquiry into police excesses during the movement.

Civil Disobedience resumed in 1932, after Round Table talks failed to satisfy Congress’s demands. It differed from the earlier Non-Cooperation Movement, which had only asked Indians to withdraw cooperation, not break specific laws.

5What happened at the Dharasana Raid, and why did it matter worldwide?

After Gandhi’s arrest, Abbas Tyabji began the march toward Dharasana. Police arrested him on 12 May. Sarojini Naidu then led volunteers at the Dharasana Salt Works.

• The major raid took place on 21 May 1930, while Gandhi remained in jail.
• Police baton-charged the unarmed protesters. Not one raised an arm to defend themselves, a striking demonstration of Gandhi’s non-violent discipline.
• Journalist Webb Miller watched column after column march up and fall under the blows, counting 320 injured and two deaths at the hospital afterward.
• His report ran in about 1,350 newspapers worldwide and was read into the United States Senate.

6What did the Salt March leave behind as a lasting tactic?

The Salt March turned an everyday grievance into a globally reported symbol of colonial injustice. International coverage damaged Britain’s moral standing on the world stage.

• Civil Disobedience pioneered mass law-breaking as a tactic that later movements, including Quit India in 1942, built on.
• Salt satyagrahas also happened outside Gandhi’s own route. C. Rajagopalachari led a separate march from Tiruchirappalli to Vedaranyam on the Tanjore coast, beginning 13 April and reaching Vedaranyam on 28 April 1930.

For the wider sequence of pacts and conferences this movement fits into, see Key Pacts and Conferences, 1900-1947. For the parallel march on the Tanjore coast, see the Vedaranyam Salt March.

• Exam angle: this movement is one of the most heavily tested topics across UPSC, CDS, NDA, and SSC-CGL. Exams probe exact dates, pact terms, and named regional leaders beyond Gandhi himself.
• Exam angle: a common trap bundles the Dandi March with the First Round Table Conference. Keep the order straight: the march came first, by several months.

MCQ on Civil Disobedience and the Salt March

Question 1 of 1

How many followers accompanied Gandhi when the Salt March left Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930?

A.22B.500C.78D.200

Question 1 of 1

What did Gandhi agree to under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 1931?

A.Accept separate electorates for the Depressed ClassesB.Call off Non-Cooperation and support the Khilafat causeC.Suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and attend the Second Round Table ConferenceD.Resign permanently from the Indian National Congress

Question 1 of 1

Which foreign journalist reported on the Satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works?

A.Mark TullyB.Webb MillerC.Philip SprattD.Francis Louis

Question 1 of 1

What shift in women’s participation marked the Civil Disobedience Movement, compared to earlier phases?

A.Only upper-caste women were allowed to joinB.Women’s participation expanded significantly for the first timeC.Women were excluded entirely from Civil DisobedienceD.Women’s participation decreased sharply

Related reading

• Key Pacts and Conferences, 1900-1947
• Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements
• The Vedaranyam Salt March
• Sarojini Naidu and Women in the Freedom Struggle
• All Modern History Articles