His book Satyagraha in South Africa (1928), chapter XII, on how the word was chosen
Firmness in Truth
In September 1906 three thousand Indians met at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg to protest the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance. The law required every Indian in the Transvaal to register, give fingerprints, and carry a certificate. A merchant named Haji Habib proposed an oath before God to disobey the law, and the hall stood up with him. Mahatma Gandhi was their lawyer, and he had been calling their action passive resistance. He disliked the phrase. It sounded English and weak, and people used it to mean someone lacked weapons. He wanted an Indian name that described what they were doing.
Gandhiji put an announcement in Indian Opinion, his paper in South Africa, and offered a small prize for a better term. Maganlal Gandhi, a cousin who worked at the press, sent in the word sadagraha, which meant firmness in a good cause. Gandhiji took the suggestion and changed it to Satyagraha. The word joined truth with firmness. The distinction was practical. A cause can be argued about, but truth is something people stand on. The new name told the government that the Indians refused to comply not because they were helpless, but because they had chosen to hold their ground.
Therefore
When someone hands you a label that makes your position look weak, do not accept it. Name the work yourself so people understand what you are doing.
Satyagraha in South Africa, chapter XII
Gandhiji explained how the name was made in his book Satyagraha in South Africa, chapter XII. He drafted the chapters from memory while he was in Yeravda jail between 1923 and 1924, and the English translation came out in 1928. The South African campaign lasted eight years after that theatre meeting. Indians went to jail, burned their certificates, and marched across borders until a settlement was reached with General Smuts in 1914. Gandhiji gave Maganlal Gandhi the prize and full credit for the root word. The term he settled on remained the name for his work in India for the rest of his life.
A small reminder, on the notebook or the desk, that you can name your own effort before other people define it for you.
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