Question 1

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi was a medical doctor before becoming a political activist.

Accepted Answer

False. Gandhi studied law in London and became a barrister; he never attended medical school or practiced as a doctor.

Question 2

True or false: Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who opposed his efforts to unite Hindus and Muslims.

Accepted Answer

True. Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Gandhi in 1948 because he believed Gandhi favored Muslims during partition and opposed Hindu nationalism.

Question 3

True or false: Gandhi was a trained barrister and practiced law in South Africa before leading India's independence movement.

Accepted Answer

True. He studied law in London and worked as a lawyer in South Africa for 21 years, where he first used nonviolent resistance.

Question 4

True or false: Gandhi advocated for India to enter World War I on the side of the British Empire.

Accepted Answer

True. Gandhi supported India's participation in WWI on the British side, believing it would help India achieve self-rule. He actively recruited soldiers for the British Indian Army during the war.

Question 5

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1948.

Accepted Answer

False. Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize; he was assassinated in January 1948, and the award that year was not given posthumously.

Question 6

True or false: Gandhi was a strict vegetarian because of his Hindu beliefs, refusing even eggs.

Accepted Answer

False. Gandhi was vegetarian by choice, not religious mandate, and he did eat eggs for a time when advised for health reasons.

Question 7

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi wrote over 30,000 letters in his lifetime.

Accepted Answer

True. Gandhi's collected works contain approximately 34,000 letters, making him one of the most prolific letter writers of the 20th century.

Question 8

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi was greatly influenced by the writings of Leo Tolstoy and they corresponded.

Accepted Answer

True. Gandhi and Tolstoy exchanged letters in 1909–1910; Tolstoy's ideas on nonviolence and civil disobedience deeply shaped Gandhi's philosophy.

Question 9

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi edited the newspaper Indian Opinion while living in South Africa.

Accepted Answer

True. From 1903 to 1914, Gandhi was editor of Indian Opinion, a weekly that advocated for Indian rights and promoted nonviolent resistance in South Africa.

Question 10

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi was the first person to use nonviolent civil disobedience as a political tool.

Accepted Answer

False. Nonviolent civil disobedience was used earlier by Henry David Thoreau and others; Gandhi was inspired by them, not the originator.

Question 11

True or false: Gandhi's birthday, October 2nd, is celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence by the United Nations.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2007, the UN designated Gandhi's birthday as a global day to promote non-violence through education and awareness.

Question 12

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize despite being nominated five times.

Accepted Answer

True. Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and 1948 but never awarded; the committee later regretted the omission.

Question 13

True or false: Gandhi was born into a wealthy, high-caste family and never experienced poverty firsthand.

Accepted Answer

False. He was born into the merchant Vaishya caste, not wealthy elite, and lived simply by choice, but he did face poverty in South Africa early on.

Question 14

True or false: Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize, despite being nominated five times.

Accepted Answer

True. He was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and 1948, but the prize was never awarded to him. The Nobel committee later regretted this.

Question 15

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi wrote letters to Adolf Hitler during World War II, addressing Hitler as 'Dear Friend.'

Accepted Answer

True. Gandhi sent letters in 1939 and 1941, using 'Dear Friend' and advocating nonviolence. Hitler did not reply, so there was no exchange.

Question 16

True or false: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. met in person during a visit to the United States.

Accepted Answer

False. Gandhi and King never met; King visited India in 1959 after Gandhi's death and had only exchanged letters earlier.

Mahatma Gandhi Trivia Questions