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Primary sourceArtifact1907-1909

Satyagraha House

Hermann Kallenbach · 1907-1909

A Johannesburg house designed by Hermann Kallenbach where Gandhi lived with him in 1908–1909, the period when the idea of satyagraha took shape.

Gandhi lived in this house with Kallenbach during the years satyagraha was developed, making it a key site of his life in South Africa.

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Front view of a white-walled, single-storey house with a thatched roof and dark wooden eaves, set behind a lawn with a stepping-stone path. A framed portrait hangs on the inner wall of the veranda.
Satyagraha House (the Kraal), designed by Hermann Kallenbach, 1907–1909. Johannesburg.

About this source

What it is

Satyagraha House, originally called the Kraal, is a house in Johannesburg designed in 1907 by the architect Hermann Kallenbach for himself and Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi lived and worked there in 1908–1909. It is now a museum and guest house.

Why it matters

The house reveals the close friendship between Gandhi and Kallenbach, who shared a simple, disciplined life of meditation while Gandhi developed his ideas of non-violent resistance, which he named satyagraha. The building later became part of South Africa's recognised historical heritage.

Look closer

  • What does the simple design of the house suggest about how Gandhi and Kallenbach wanted to live?
  • Why might the Indian government have wanted to acquire this building?
  • What does the house not tell you about Gandhi's political activities happening elsewhere at the same time?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mahatma Gandhi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Photograph of Gandhi picking up salt at Dandi

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Speech

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