Civil Disobedience in Indian Tradition, with Some Early Nineteenth Century Documents c5.18

c5.18

It is not necessary to add that Gandhiji's discovery of civil disobedience is not just a borrowing from his own tradition. In a way it came out of his own being. His knowledge of its advocacy or limited practice in Europe and America may have provided him further confirmation. But it is the preceding Indian historical tradition of non-cooperation and civil disobedience which made possible the application of them on the vast scale that happened under his leadership.