The Gandhi cap as worn by Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Gandhi cap (Hindi: Gandhi topi) is a white coloured cap, pointed in front and back and having a wide band. It is made out of khadi. It takes its name after the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, who first popularised its use during the Indian independence movement. Worn commonly by Indian independence activists, it became a symbolic tradition for politicians and political activists to wear it in independent India. Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: , IPA: ) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964) was a senior political leader of Indias struggle for independence and served as its first Prime Minister. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... khadi simply means cotton Khadi is Indian handspun and hand-woven cloth. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: , Hindi: , IAST: mohandās karamcand gāndhī, IPA: ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement. ... The Indian Independence Movement incorporated the efforts by Indians to expel the British, French and Portuguese from their trade-posts in the subcontinent; it involved a wide spectrum of Indian political organizations, philosophies, and rebellions between 1857 and Indias emergence as an unified nation-state on August 15, 1947. ... This is a listing of people who campaigned against foreign domination and cultural imposition on the Indian sub-continent. ...

Genesis

Caps of similar design and material have been worn throughout history by the people of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and other parts of India. Such caps are still worn by a large segment of Indian society without any political significance. The cap gained significance after it was regularly donned by Gandhi, whose popularity was rising fast. Gandhi's homespun khadi attire of traditional Indian clothes were symbolic of his message of cultural pride, the use of Swadeshi goods (as opposed to those manufactured in Europe), self-reliance and solidarity with India's rural masses. The cap became common to most followers of Gandhi and members of the Indian National Congress. A connection to the independence movement was implied when any individual wore the cap in those times. Gujarāt (GujarātÄ«: , IPA: ,  ) is the most industrialized state in the Republic of India with 19. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: , translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), also popularly known by its abbreviation U.P. It is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... Rājasthān (DevanāgarÄ«: राजस्थान, IPA: )   is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. ... For other uses, see Bihar (disambiguation). ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ... Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, literally: Great Nation; IPA: )( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... Karnātakā   (Kannada: ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ) (IPA: ) is one of the four southern states of India. ... Swadeshi is the Indian term for the boycott of British goods. ... Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party or Congress (I), abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ...

Similar caps of black colour were adopted as uniform by the activists of the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Nationalist leader Subhash Chandra Bose wore a khaki, brown coloured cap of the same design to symbolise his militarist convictions and generalship of the Indian National Army. Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist organization originally founded in 1915 to counter the Muslim League and the secular Indian National Congress. ... The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Hindi: , English: ), also known as the Sangh or the RSS, is a right wing Hindu nationalist organization in India. ... Subhas Chandra Bose, (Bangla: সুভাষ চন্দ্র বসু Shubhash Chôndro Boshu) (January 23, 1897 – August 18, 1945?note), also known as Netaji, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. ... It has been suggested that Khaki (color) be merged into this article or section. ... The Indian National Army (I.N.A) or Azad Hind Fauj was the army of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (The Provisional Government of Free India ) which fought along with the Japanese 15th Army during the Japanese Campaign in Burma, and in the Battle of Imphal, during the Second...

Post-independence

The first generation of post-independence Indian politicians were almost universally members of the freedom struggle. Gandhi's death in 1948 gave an emotional importance to the Gandhi cap, which was regularly worn by Indian leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. Succeeding prime minister such as Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai would continue the tradition. Most members of the Indian Parliament (especially politicians and activists of the Congress party) wore khadi clothing and the Gandhi cap. Large numbers of people donned the cap when celebrating India's independence on August 15 or the promulgation of a republic on January 26. Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: , IPA: ) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964) was a senior political leader of Indias struggle for independence and served as its first Prime Minister. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Lal Bahadur Shastri (Hindi लालबहादुर शास्त्री) (October 2, 1904 - January 11, 1966) was the second permanent Prime Minister of independent India and a significant figure in the struggle for independence. ... Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (Hindi: ) (February 29, 1896 – April 10, 1995) was an Indian freedom fighter and the first non-Congress Party Prime Minister of India. ... The Parliament of India is bicameral. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... In a broad definition, a republic is a state or country that is led by people whose political power is based on principles that are not beyond the control of the people of that state or country. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In recent times, the cap has lost its popular and political appeal. Although many members of the Congress party continue the tradition, rival political parties prefer to dissociate themselves from the tradition linked with the Congress. The mass acceptance of Western-style clothing has also diminished the importance of wearing Indian-style clothes for politicians.

See also

Indian Independence Movement
History:	Colonisation - East India Company - Plassey - Buxar - British India - French India - Portuguese India - More...
Philosophies:	Indian nationalism - Swaraj - Gandhism - Satyagraha - Hindu nationalism - Indian Muslim nationalism - Swadeshi - Socialism
Events and movements:	Rebellion of 1857 - Partition of Bengal - Revolutionaries - Champaran and Kheda - Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Non-Cooperation - Flag Satyagraha - Bardoli - 1928 Protests - Nehru Report - Purna Swaraj - Salt Satyagraha - Act of 1935 - Cripps' mission - Quit India - Indian National Army - Bombay Mutiny
Organisations:	Indian National Congress - Ghadar - Home Rule - Khudai Khidmatgar - Swaraj Party - Anushilan Samiti - Azad Hind - More...
Indian leaders:	Mangal Pandey - Rani of Jhansi - Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Gopal Krishna Gokhale - Lala Lajpat Rai - Bipin Chandra Pal - Mahatma Gandhi - Sardar Patel - Subhash Chandra Bose - Badshah Khan - Jawaharlal Nehru - Maulana Azad - Chandrasekhar Azad - Rajaji - Bhagat Singh - Sarojini Naidu - Purushottam Das Tandon - More...
British Raj:	Robert Clive - James Outram - Dalhousie - Irwin - Linlithgow - Wavell - Stafford Cripps - Mountbatten - More...
Independence:	Cabinet Mission - Indian Independence Act - Partition of India - Political integration - Constitution - Republic of India

Image File history File links The flag of India used in 1931. ... Image File history File links Gandhi_Salt_March. ... The Indian Independence Movement incorporated the efforts by Indians to expel the British, French and Portuguese from their trade-posts in the subcontinent; it involved a wide spectrum of Indian political organizations, philosophies, and rebellions between 1857 and Indias emergence as an unified nation-state on August 15, 1947. ... Image File history File links AzadHindFlag. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3496x2418, 835 KB) en: Gandhi during the Salt March, March 1930. ... European settlements in India (1501-1739). ... The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as John Company, was a joint-stock company which was granted an English Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intention of favouring trade privileges in India. ... Combatants British East India Company Siraj Ud Daulah, Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, La Compagnie des Indes Orientales Commanders Colonel Robert Clive (later Governor of Bengal and Baron of Plassey) Mir Jafar Ali Khan, Commander-in-chief of the Nawab, M. Sinfray, French Secretary to the Council Strength 2... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... British India (otherwise known as The British Raj) was a historical period during which most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, were under the colonial authority of the British Empire (Undivided India). ... French India is highlighted in light blue on the subcontinent. ... Portuguese India (Port. ... Map of India. ... Self rule is the term used to described a people or group being able to exercise all of the necessary functions of power without intervention from any authority which they cannot themselves alter. ... Gandhism (or Gandhi-ism) is an informal reference to the vision, core inspirations, principles, beliefs and philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement. ... Satyagraha is the philosophy of nonviolent resistance most famously employed by Mohandas Gandhi in forcing an end to the British Raj and also against apartheid in South Africa. ... Hindu nationalism is the political and cultural expression, histriographical and political theories of Indian nationalism distinctive to Hindu society in India, which asserts being Hindu as not merely a religious identity, but a national identity. ... Indian Muslim nationalism refers to the political and cultural expression of nationalism, founded upon the religious tenets and identity of Islam, of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. ... Swadeshi is the Indian term for the boycott of British goods. ... Socialism is a class of ideologies favouring a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... An engraving titled Sepoy Indian troops dividing the spoils after their mutiny against British rule gives a contemporary view of events from a strictly British perspective. ... The Indian Independence Movement incorporated the efforts by Indians to expel the British, French and Portuguese from their trade-posts in the subcontinent; it involved a wide spectrum of Indian political organizations, philosophies, and rebellions between 1857 and Indias emergence as an unified nation-state on August 15, 1947. ... Revolutionary movement for Indian independence is often a less-highlighted aspect of Indian independence movement - the underground revolutionary factions. ... The first Satyagraha revolutions inspired by Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian Independence Movement occurred in Kheda district of Gujarat and the Champaran district of Bihar between the years of 1918 and 1919. ... The Amritsar Massacre The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in Amritsar, where, on April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. ... The Non-Cooperation Movement was the first-ever series of nationwide peoples movements of nonviolent resistance, led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. ... Flag Satyagraha is a term that describes campaigns of peaceful civil disobedience during the Indian independence movement that focused on exercising the right and freedom to hoist the nationalist flag and challenge the legitimacy of British Raj in India through the defiance of laws prohibiting the hoisting of nationalist flags... The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1925 in the state of Gujarat, India during the British Raj was a major episode of civil disobedience and revolt in the Indian Independence Movement. ... The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in that colony. ... The Nehru Report (1928) was a memorandum outlining a proposed new Dominion (see dominion status) constitution for India. ... The flag adopted in 1931 and used by the Provisional Government of Free India during the Second World War. ... Scenes on the eve of the Salt Satyagraha, Gandhis famous 240 mile march on foot to the sea at Dandi. ... 24. ... Sir Stafford Cripps Mission was an attempt in late March of 1942 by the British War Cabinet to secure Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. Led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the majority Indian National Congress and its supporters were engaged in a program of... The Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan or the August Movement) was a civil disobedience movement in India launched in August 1942 in response to Mahatma Gandhis call for immediate independence of India. ... The Indian National Army (I.N.A) or Azad Hind Fauj was the army of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (The Provisional Government of Free India ) which fought along with the Japanese 15th Army during the Japanese Campaign in Burma, and in the Battle of Imphal, during the Second... The Bombay Mutiny was the mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay (Mumbai) harbour on 21 February 1946. ... The flag adopted in 1931 and used by the Provisional Government of Free India during the Second World War. ... The Ghadar Party was an organization founded by the Indians(mostly Punjabis, of the United States and Canada in June, 1913 with the aim to liberate India from British rule. ... Home Rule flag The Home Rule Movement was formed by Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak with the aim of seeking a Dominion status within the British Empire to the Indian Empire in 1917. ... An old red shirt activist, picture taken by Muklaika Bannerjee: The Pathan Unarmed Khudai Khidmatgar (Pashto: خدای خدمتگر) literally translates as the servants of God. ... Swaraj Party, a political party of colonial India, was organized in 1923 by Deshbandhu Chitaranjan Das (1870-1925) and Motilal Nehru (1861-1931), to participate in legislative councils. ... Anushilan Samiti was the principal secret revolutionary organisation operating in Bengal in the first quarter of the 20th century. ... Flag of the Provisional Government of Free India. ... For the Hindi movie of the same name, see The Rising (Indian film) Mangal Pandey (born (presumably): July 19, 1827, died: 8 April 1857), (Hindi: मंगल पांडे) also known as Shaheed Mangal Pandey (Shaheed means martyr in Arabic and Hindustani), was a sepoy (soldier) in the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native... Rani Lakshmi Bai, the queen of Jhansi, a Maratha-ruled princely state of northern India, was one of the great nationalist heroes of the Revolt of 1857, and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India. ... Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856 - 1920), was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. ... Gopal Krishna Gokhale (गोपाल कृष्‍ण गोखले) was born on May 9, 1866, in Kolhat, Maharashtra, and he became one of the most learned men in India, a leader of social and political reformists and one of the earliest, founding leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. ... Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. ... He was one of the trilogy of the three Extremist patriots of the Indian National Congress who had fought and gave his life during Indias freedom struggle in the first half of the twentieth century. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: , Hindi: , IAST: mohandās karamcand gāndhÄ«, IPA: ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement. ... Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (October 31, 1875–December 15, 1950), popularly referred to as Sardar Patel, was an Indian statesman, an important leader of the Indian National Congress and the deputy Prime Minister in the first cabinet of Independent India. ... Subhas Chandra Bose, (Bangla: সুভাষ চন্দ্র বসু Shubhash Chôndro Boshu) (January 23, 1897 – August 18, 1945?note), also known as Netaji, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. ... Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (also known as Bacha Khan) (1890 - January 20, 1988) was a Pathan political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition to British rule during the final years of the Empire on the Indian sub-continent. ... Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: , IPA: ) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964) was a senior political leader of Indias struggle for independence and served as its first Prime Minister. ... Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888 - August 1958) was a freedom fighter in Indias struggle for Independence from Britain. ... Chandrasekhar Azad (July 23, 1906 – February 27, 1931) was an Indian revolutionary and the mentor of Bhagat Singh. ... Rajaji Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (December 1878 - December 25, 1972), known as or Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, writer, statesman and a Hindu spiritualist. ... Bhagat Siá¹…gh (Punjabi: ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ) (October 17, 1907 – March 23, 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most famous martyrs of the Indian freedom struggle. ... Sarojini Naidu (February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949) was known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India) and was a child prodigy, freedom fighter and poet. ... Purushottam Das Tandon (August 1, 1882 – July 1, 1962), was a freedom fighter, social reformer and national political leader of India. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Sir James Outram Sir James Outram (January 29, 1803-March 11, 1863), English general, and one of the heroes of the Indian Mutiny, was the son of Benjamin Outram of Butterley Hall, Derbyshire, civil engineer. ... James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess and 10th Earl of Dalhousie (April 22, 1812–December 19, 1860) was a British statesman, and a colonial administrator in India. ... The Right Honourable Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC (16 April 1881–23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician. ... Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (24 September 1887 - 5 January 1952) was a British statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943. ... Field Marshal The Right Honourable Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (May 5, 1883 - May 24, 1950) GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC, PC was a British Field Marshal and the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during World War II. He led British forces to victory... The Right Honourable Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (April 24, 1889 - April 21, 1952), British Labour politician, was born in London, the son of a Conservative member of the House of Commons who late in life, as Lord Parmoor, joined the Labour Party. ... Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, KStJ, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The British Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership, providing India with independence under Dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations. ... 1. ... Britains holdings on the Indian subcontinent were granted independence in 1947 and 1948, becoming four new independent states: India, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, modern-day Bangladesh). ... India under British Raj in 1922, prior to its partition and integration after independence. ...

References

• Katherine Frank, Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi (2002)
• Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life (1992)

Katherine Frank is a noted American author and biographer, now living in England. ... Rajmohan Gandhi is a biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. ...

External links

• Gandhi cap out of fashion
• Gandhi topi sales slagging
• Indian headdresses