THE LESSON OF HISTORY
In the early 17th century, Sir Thomas Roe (1581–1644) traveled from London to India and stayed for three years (1615–1618). He built relationships with the Mughal emperor Jahangir. One of his skills was knowing Turkish, which allowed him to speak directly with Jahangir.
When Roe arrived, Jahangir was in Ajmer. Roe stayed there for three years, sometimes invited to the royal court for conversations. Soon, Roe realized that Jahangir was very interested in painting. One day, he gave a painting to the emperor, who admired it greatly.
Roe sensed that the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived. He requested something that seemed small and insignificant: permission to set up a trading post in the coastal city of Surat. Jahangir granted this request with a royal decree, allowing the English East India Company to establish their factory there.
At first glance, permission to establish a trading post in a single city might seem insignificant. The vast expanse of India remained securely under Mughal control, with all its grandeur and power intact. However, this small start in Surat provided the English with the foothold they would eventually use to dominate everything else. History later showed that those who accept less often succeed in achieving more.
This is the lesson of history—but few truly learn it. In this world, what matters most is securing the initial moment of an event. Whoever controls that beginning will, sooner or later, reach its ultimate conclusion.
India’s independence movement can be traced back to 1799, when Sultan Tipu was killed fighting the British. After that, for over a century, resistance against the British continued through violent uprisings—bomb attacks on officials, plots to involve foreign powers, and similar disturbances.
Such methods were inherently dramatic and violent. At the very mention of them, the British would become alert and suppress them with full force. But when Gandhi entered the political scene, the entire course of the struggle changed. While earlier leaders demanded freedom through violence, Gandhi chose the opposite path: nonviolence. He declared that the freedom movement would proceed on a basis that the British considered trivial and unworthy of attention.
A notable example of this method was the Dandi March. For centuries, salt was produced along the Gujarat coast, but the British government had taken control of this industry. To peacefully oppose the law, Gandhi set out on foot from Sabarmati, traveling 240 miles in 24 days, until he reached the Dandi coast. There, by picking up a piece of salt, he symbolically broke the government’s law.
When Gandhi announced this plan, British officials gathered to discuss it. One officer remarked:
“Let him make his salt. Mr. Gandhi will have to find a great deal more than a pinch of salt to bring down the British Empire.”
In this world, true success depends on a move that appears minor at first but proves unbeatable in the end. What may seem to an opponent like just a pinch of salt can, when the result comes out, turn out to be a mountain of salt.
