Harilal Mohandas Gandhi (born Hiralal Mohandas Gandhi; 23 August 1888 – 18 June 1948) was the eldest son of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Kasturba Gandhi Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...

.Gandhi Family Tree
/ref> He had three younger brothers:

Manilal Gandhi Manilal Mohandas Gandhi (28 October 1892 – 5 April 1956) was the second son of Mohandas Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. Biography Manilal was born in Rajkot, British India, the second of four sons of Mohandas Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. He had ...

Ramdas Gandhi Ramdas Mohandas Gandhi (2 January, 1897 – 14 April, 1969) was the third son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was a freedom activist in his own right. Biography Ramdas was born in the Colony of Natal, the third son of Mahatma Gandhi and Kast ...

and

Devdas Gandhi Devdas Mohandas Gandhi (22 May 1900 – 3 August 1957) was the fourth and youngest son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was born in the Colony of Natal and came to India with his parents as a grown man. He became active in his father's movem ...

Early life

Harilal was born on 23 August 1888, just before his father left for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for higher studies. Harilal remained in India with his mother. Harilal was involved in the Indian independence movement, and was imprisoned as a satyagrahi six times between 1908 and 1911. His willingness to endure these sentences earned him the nickname of 'Chhote (Little) Gandhi'. He too wanted to go to England for higher studies, hoping to become a barrister as his father had once been. His father however firmly opposed this, believing that a Western-style education would not be helpful in the struggle against British rule over India, leading to tensions between father and son. Eventually rebelling against his father's decision, in 1911 Harilal renounced all family ties. In 1906 he married Gulab Gandhi, with whom he had had five children: two daughters, Rani and Manu; and three sons, Kantilal, Rasiklal and Shantilal. Rasiklal and Shantilal died at an early age. He had four grandchildren (Anushrya, Prabodh, Neelam Solanki, and Navmalika) via Rani, two (Shanti and Pradeep) via Kantilal, and one (Urmi) via Manu. After Gulab died during the

1918 influenza pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, Harilal became detached from his children. He contemplated marrying his wife's sister Kumi Adalaja, who was a child widow, however this did not materialize. This led to Harilal's further descent and he gradually began to slip and became an alcoholic. He stayed in touch with his father sporadically through the years, sometimes through commonly known people, right up to 1947. Harilal appeared at his father's funeral in such a poor health condition that few recognized him. Neelam Parikh, the daughter of Ranibehn, the eldest of Harilal's children, wrote a biography of him subsequently, entitled ''Gandhiji's Lost Jewel: Harilal Gandhi''.

Religious conversions

In May 1936, at the age of 48, Harilal publicly converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and named himself Abdullah Gandhi. However, later in 1936, on his mother Kasturba Gandhi's request, he converted back to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

through the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sann ...

and reverted to his original name, Harilal.

Gandhi's letters

In June 1935, Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to Harilal, accusing him of "alcohol and debauchery". In the letters, Mahatma Gandhi stated that Harilal's problems were more difficult for him to deal with than the struggle for an independent India. In 2014 three letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to Harilal in 1935 were offered for auction.

Death

Harilal died of tuberculosis four months after Gandhi's death, on the night of 18 June 1948, aged 59 at a municipal hospital (now the

Sewri Sewri (IAST: ''Śivdī,'' �iʋɖiː is a locality along the eastern edge of South Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also the name of a railway station on the Central Railway Harbour Line. Sewri (pronounced as Shivdi / शिवडी) was ...

TB Hospital) in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. His death certificate is preserved at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's archives in Vakola. Harilal's death certificate reveals that he was admitted to the hospital after being found unconscious in Kamathipura. Harilal did not reveal to staff that he was Gandhi's son, and his family only found out about his hospitalisation after his death.

''Gandhi, My Father''

The troubled relationship between Harilal and his father is the subject of the film and play '' Gandhi, My Father''. The film adaptation was released on 3 August 2007 and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan and produced by

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...

. Harilal is portrayed by Akshaye Khanna. Khan's play, ''Mahatma vs. Gandhi'', while different from this film, had a similar theme. The film got positive reviews from critics but was a failure at box office. There is also a Marathi play named ''Gandhi virudh Gandhi''.

Family

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Harilal 1888 births 1948 deaths Tuberculosis deaths in India Harilal Indian Hindus Indian former Muslims Converts to Hinduism from Islam Converts to Islam from Hinduism 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis