Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, the youngest son of his father's fourth wife. His father was a chief minister of Rajkot, a poor Indian state, and it was here that Gandhi began his studies. His father later became prime minister of a more prosperous state with a better school. The Gandhi family belonged to the Hindu Vaishya caste. Gandhi's mother was a deeply religious woman who divided her time between home and temple. Mohandas Gandhi was raised with religious ideas such as nonviolence, the belief that the entire universe is eternal, fasting for self-purification, mutual tolerance between creeds and sects, and vegetarianism. Gandhi was a mediocre student who was described as distrustful of his studies and a young man who "shine neither in the classroom nor on the playing field." At the age of thirteen his parents arranged a marriage for him, as was customary among Hindus. As a teenager Gandhi went through a period of rebellion, including petty theft, practicing secret atheism, eating meat and smoking. After each episode of rebellion, however, Gandhi promised himself that he would never do that thing again and, surprisingly, he never did. Gandhi's family was determined that he should become a lawyer. After graduating from high school, he attended an Indian college for a while before deciding to continue his studies in England. Her mother did not want her to go to England, but after promising her that he would abstain from alcohol, meat and women, she gave her permission. In England Gandhi found his time occupied more by "personal and moral questions" than by legal ones. He was teased for his religion, his fashionable dress and his vegetarianism. He finally found a vegetarian... middle of paper... shameful government. A year later, Gandhi agreed to a truce with the British, called off civil disobedience, and agreed to attend a round table in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. Soon after his return to India he was arrested again and began a fast in September 1932. Resigning as a leader and member of the Congress Party in 1934, Gandhi concentrated his efforts on building India "from the bottom up" by educating rural India, fighting against “untouchability” and promoting self-sufficiency among the poor. He returned to politics with the advent of World War II and remained peacefully in politics until India gained freedom in 1947. He was killed by a Hindu fanatic on his way to his evening prayer meeting just a few days after dishonoring the entire city of Delhi to declare a truce between Hindus and Muslims.