When was Tolstoy Farm established in South Africa?
The year 1910 marked the birth of a new community in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi established this ashram on land provided by Hermann Kallenbach.
Questions about Tolstoy Farm
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who named Tolstoy Farm and why did they choose that name?
Hermann Kallenbach suggested naming the place after Leo Tolstoy. The writer's 1894 book titled The Kingdom of God Is Within You guided Gandhi's thinking and reflected a deep commitment to nonviolent resistance.
What daily activities did residents perform at Tolstoy Farm without hired help?
Every resident performed manual labor from cooking to scavenging. Sjt. Pragji Desai assisted in organizing these programs while workshops, living quarters, and a school rose from the collective effort of the group.
Where was Tolstoy Farm located and what role did it play in political campaigns?
The location sat within the Transvaal region where discrimination against Indians was rampant. It served as the operational center for satyagraha campaigns specifically against discrimination laws targeting Indians in Transvaal.
How many people lived at Tolstoy Farm when it first opened?
At its start, the group numbered between seventy and eighty people. They lived together under strict communal rules with no one standing above the physical demands of farm life.