In 1893 Gandhiji went to South Africa to help a Gujarati Muslim merchant in his court case. He lived there for 21 years. While in South Africa he used to plead the cases of bonded labourers of Indian origin and also helped in restoring their legal rights. Some British friends such as Mr. Polak and Kallenbench, were of considerable assistance to him.
Gandhiji studied the works of Ruskin and Tolstoy and was much impressed by their views. He also studied Jain philosophy and on his occasional sojourn in India, came under the influence of the saint Shrimad Rajchandra.
Gandhiji opposed injustice through love and without any weapons. He helped in nursing the wounded people both blacks and whites in the Boer Zulu wars in South Africa, and thereby earned various recognitions and awards from the British.
Ruskin's book 'Unto This Last' which touched the inner chord of Gandhiji's own social philosophy, helped him to charter the course of action for the whole of his life. He wrote the book 'Hind Swaraj' (Indian Home Rule) in 1909 laying down the principles for founding a just and non-violent society. At that time he was 40 years old.
Gandhiji's political mentor (Guru) Shri Gopal Krishna Gokhale went to South Africa to study the condition of Indians there. The Indians were much agitated at that time because the British Government had imposed a tax of five pound per year on each Indian. Gandhiji organised a protest march of 6000 people against this injustice and was successful in getting the tax evoked.
In these struggles he discovered the flawless, unfailing spiritual (Satvik) weapon of Satyagraha for the benefit of mankind. He returned to India in 1915 with some of his colleagues from the Phoenix Ashram which he had established in South Africa.