Salt March
Gandhi and 78 satyagrahis begin the Salt March
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The first day's destination was not the sea. It was Aslali, thirteen miles off, where Gandhi turned the march into a village-by-village organizing campaign.
6:30 a.m., 12 March 1930
Mohandas Gandhi left Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad at 6:30 a.m. on 12 March 1930 with 78 selected satyagrahis, walking toward the coastal village of Dandi. Counting Gandhi himself, the original party numbered 79.
On 2 March he had warned Viceroy Irwin that he would begin civil disobedience unless the government addressed eleven demands, among them abolition of the salt tax and monopoly. No concession came.
Thirteen miles to Aslali
The core group covered 13 miles that first day. At Aslali, Gandhi addressed a crowd and urged people to take part through disciplined sacrifice rather than passive sympathy.
The Statesman, as cited by IGNOU, reported 100,000 people lining the route on the first day.
The distance, and the law still intact
The full planned route ran approximately 241 miles; the familiar figure of 200 is materially too low. The marchers reached Dandi on 5 April.
No salt law had been broken on 12 March. Gandhi picked up salt at the coast the next morning, 6 April.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes
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What the sources leave uncertain
- March 12, 1930, the 6:30 a.m. departure and the initial group of 78 companions are strongly documented.
- Sources round the full route to 240 or 241 miles and convert it variously to about 385–390 kilometres. “200 miles” is materially too low.
- The walking party reached Dandi on April 5. Gandhi broke the salt law the next morning, April 6, so sources differ over whether the “march” ended on arrival or with the culminating act.
- Gandhi heritage sources conflict on whether he picked up the salt at 6:30 or 8:30 a.m. on April 6; that timing does not affect the March 12 event.