SSC
The newspaper 'Indian Opinion' was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa in:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option B — 1903
Detailed Solution
"Indian Opinion" was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa on 4 June 1903, to fight racial discrimination and to win civil rights for the Indian community there.
About Indian Opinion:
- It was first published from Durban, Natal.
- It was published in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil (the Hindi and Tamil editions were later discontinued).
- Its first editor was Mansukhlal Hiralal Nazar; Gandhi wrote regularly for it and guided its policy.
- From 1904, it was printed at the Phoenix Settlement (Phoenix Farm), a community farm founded by Gandhi near Durban.
- It was published until 1961.
Its role:
- It explained and promoted Gandhi's ideas of satyagraha, self-reliance, simple living and moral conduct.
- It reported on the struggles of Indians against discriminatory laws, such as the registration law in the Transvaal.
- It helped to unite the Indian community, which was divided by religion, language and region.
- It also informed people in India and Britain about the condition of Indians in South Africa.
The Phoenix Settlement:
- Gandhi founded it in 1904, after reading John Ruskin's book "Unto This Last", which inspired him to live a simple life of manual labour.
- The residents lived together, worked on the farm and in the press, and shared the income.
Gandhi's other publications:
- In India, Gandhi published "Young India" (English, 1919-1932) and "Navajivan" (Gujarati, 1919).
- He later published "Harijan" (English, from 1933), "Harijan Sevak" (Hindi) and "Harijan Bandhu" (Gujarati).
- His autobiography, "The Story of My Experiments with Truth", was first published in instalments in "Navajivan" (1925-1929).
Why not the other options?
- ✗1894, 1910 and 1919 are not the year of the founding of Indian Opinion.
Quick tip
Remember: "Indian Opinion" = founded by Gandhi in 1903 (Durban; printed at the Phoenix Settlement from 1904; inspired by Ruskin's "Unto This Last"); "Young India" and "Navajivan" = 1919.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Books & Authors Questions
View all ›More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.