RAS question
Gandhiji arrived in India from South Africa in which year?
Correct answer: (A) 1915.
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915.
Explanation
The year is 1915 because Gandhi's return is tied to the specific date 9 January 1915. He returned to India from South Africa on that date and then spent his first year studying Indian conditions before entering active politics. The Press Information Bureau also supports the same anchor: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is observed on 9 January because it commemorates the day in 1915 when Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa to India to lead the freedom struggle. So the exam is not asking about his final South African phase or a later political milestone; it is testing the arrival year fixed by the 9 January 1915 date.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 1914 refers to Gandhi leaving South Africa, but the question asks the year in which he arrived in India, which was January 1915.
- (C) 1913 is associated here with Indian Opinion activity in South Africa, not Gandhi's arrival in India from South Africa.
- (D) 1916 belongs to the Lucknow Pact period, by which time Gandhi had already returned to India.
Concept
This tests a core chronology point in Modern Indian History: Gandhi's transition from South Africa to Indian public life. RAS repeatedly asks such date anchors because they frame later developments in the national movement.