Q 01/05

What does the honorific 'Mahatma' mean in Sanskrit?

A) 'Father of the nation'

B) 'Teacher of truth'

C) 'Great-souled'

D) 'Holy wanderer'

Answer · why

C) 'Great-souled'

'Great-souled' is the literal meaning, yet Gandhi wrote that the title often deeply pained him and never once tickled him.

Q 02/05

In which coastal town of Gujarat was Gandhi born on 2 October 1869?

A) Ahmedabad

B) Porbandar

C) Rajkot

D) Surat

Answer · why

B) Porbandar

Porbandar was his birthplace, but he grew up mostly in Rajkot, where his father moved to serve a smaller state and Gandhi went to school.

Q 03/05

What position did Gandhi's father Karamchand hold in his home princely state?

A) Dewan, or chief minister

B) Commander of the palace guard

C) Chief judge of the state

D) Physician to the ruler

Answer · why

A) Dewan, or chief minister

Karamchand was dewan, or chief minister, despite starting as a clerk with only an elementary education; he married four times.

Q 04/05

Which film star did a London doctor introduce to Gandhi during his 1931 visit?

A) Buster Keaton

B) Charlie Chaplin

C) Harold Lloyd

D) Douglas Fairbanks

Answer · why

B) Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was introduced to him by Dr Chuni Lal Katial, a London doctor who later became Britain's first South Asian mayor.

Q 05/05

Being married at 13 cost the young Gandhi a year of what?

A) Schooling

B) His apprenticeship

C) Religious instruction

D) Military cadet training

Answer · why

A) Schooling

Schooling: the wedding cost him a year of high school, and a teacher later had him skip a class to make up the loss.