B.R Ambedkar Biography: Early Life, Education, Drafting of India’s Constitution, and More

BR Ambedkar Biography: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as BR Ambedkar, was born on April 14, 1891 in Mhow, India. April 14 every year is designated as Ambedkar Jayanti. Know about his early life, education, political career, Pune Convention, books and other aspects of his life.

Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations held by the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Justice paid floral tributes to Dr. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution.#AmbedkarJayanti pic.twitter.com/wg5Gy5Z7IS

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— Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) April 14, 2024

BR Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer. He served as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly and was India’s first Minister of Law and Justice.

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BR Ambedkar: Key facts

Name	Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
born	April 14, 1891
place of birth	moho india
dead	December 6, 1956
place of death	New Delhi, India
resting place	Chaitya Bhoomi, Mumbai, India
parents	Father: Ramji Maloji Sakpal Mother: Bhimabai Sakpal
spouse	Ramabai Ambedkar (born 1906; died 1935) Savita Ambedkar (born 1948)
political party	Independent Labor Party Scheduled Castes Alliance
Other political background	Republican Party of India
alma mater	University of Mumbai (Bachelor’s, Master’s) Columbia University (Master’s, PhD) London School of Economics (Master’s, PhD) Gray’s Inn (Barrister)
Profession	Jurist, economist, scholar, politician, social reformer and writer
Awards	Bharat Ratna (died 1990)
Famous or famous for	Dalit rights movement drafts Indian constitution leadership committee Dalit Buddhist movement

BR Ambedkar Biography: Early life, education, marriage, children

He was born into a Dalit Mahar family in Mohau, western India, on April 14, 1891. He was humiliated by his upper caste classmates. His father’s name was Ramji Maloji Sakpal.

He was an officer of the rank of Subedar. His mother’s name is Bhimabai Sakpal. His family is of Marathi background. His father retired around 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later.

Soon after, his mother died. In 1897, his family moved further to Bombay where he attended Elphinstone High School and was the only untouchable to be admitted. When he was around 15 years old, he reportedly married Ramabai, a 9-year-old girl.

Around 1907 he passed the entrance examination and entered Elphinstone College the following year. It is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. According to him, he was the first person among the Mahar caste to do so. In 1912, he received a degree in economics and political science from the University of Bombay.

He received a scholarship from the Gaekwar (ruler) of Baroda (now Vadodara). He was educated at universities in the United States, England and Germany. At Gaikwal’s request, he entered the Vadodara Public Service, but was again mistreated by his upper-caste colleagues. He then turned to legal practice and teaching.

He also established leadership among Dalits and founded various journals on their behalf. He also succeeded in winning them special representation on the government’s Legislative Council. He also wrote What Congress and Gandhi Did to the Untouchables (1945).

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BR Ambedkar’s opposition to untouchability

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He campaigned against social discrimination, focusing on Dalits, also known as untouchables. He also inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement through his methods and founded the Buddhist Association. Babasaheb has been suffering from untouchability since his school days. He was not allowed to take water from the pot.

Most of the time, when the peons wanted to drink water, they poured it from a distance. Some reports also mentioned that he was forced to sit on a sack that he had to carry with him every day.

When he was working as a professor at the Sydenham School of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, his colleagues would not share a drinking water bottle with him. He also started an investment advisory firm, which failed because his clients knew he was a pariah.

Babasaheb was invited to testify before the Southborough Commission. The committee was preparing for the Government of India Anti-Untouchability Act, 1919.

Ambedkar Ji advocated the creation of a separate electorate and reservations for Dalits and other religious groups. In 1920, he started publishing a weekly magazine in Bombay called Mooknayak (The Silent Leader).

During his career as a lawyer, he also successfully defended three non-Brahmin leaders in 1926. These Brahmin leaders accused the Brahmin community of ruining India and were subsequently charged with defamation. This victory was great for Babasaheb’s fight against caste classification and gave rise to the movement against untouchability.

Furthermore, while practicing law in the Bombay High Court, he tried to promote education and improve the quality of the untouchables.

He established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, a central body to promote education, welfare and socio-economic improvement of Dalits.

He decided to launch an active campaign against untouchables before 1927. He launched public campaigns and marches to open up public drinking water sources and allowed untouchables to draw water from the town’s main tank. He also fought for the right to enter Hindu temples.

In late 1927, at a conference, he denounced Manusmriti for ideologically justifying caste discrimination and untouchability. He emphasized that in India, employment is determined by birth, thereby reducing labor mobility in other sectors, which further affects India’s economic development.

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Dr. B. R Ambedkar and Poona Pact

This was the agreement signed by MK Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar on behalf of the lower classes at the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune on September 24, 1932, to reserve electoral seats in the legislative body of the British government.

It originated from the Community Awards of 4 August 1932, a proposal by the British government to allocate seats in India’s various legislative bodies to different communities to resolve various tensions between community interests.

Dalit leaders, mainly Dr BR Ambedkar, supported the proposal, believing that Dalits would be allowed to promote their interests.

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Mahatma Gandhi, on the other hand, was opposed to this because, in his opinion, it would weaken India’s fight for independence. Gandhiji announced a hunger strike in prison until death, which began on September 18. Therefore, Dr BR Ambedkar refused to give up his support for separate electorate till Gandhi’s deathbed.

In the end, he and Hindu leaders agreed to a deal that rejected separate electorates but increased Dalit representation within the Hindu electorate within a decade. Ambedkar is said to have complained about being blackmailed, but on the other hand, the agreement marked the beginning of a campaign against “untouchability” within the Indian nationalist movement.

Dr. B. R Ambedkar Biography: Political Career

Dr. BR Ambedkar was appointed Principal of Government Law College, Bombay in 1935. The position is held for two years.

After the death of Shri Rai Kedarnath, the founder of Ramjas College, Delhi University, he served as the chairman of the governing body of the college. On October 13, at the Yola conversion meeting, Ambedkar of Nashik announced his intention to convert to a different religion and encouraged his followers to leave Hinduism.

Dr. BR Ambedkar founded the Independent Labor Party in 1936 and the party contested 13 reserved seats and 4 general seats in the 1937 Bombay Central Legislative Assembly elections. It secured 11 and 3 seats respectively.

On May 15, 1936, he published the book “The Abolition of Caste”. During this period, he also fought against the prevailing Koti system in Konkan.

Here, “khots” refer to government tax collectors who often exploit farmers and tenant farmers. In 1937, Ambedkar introduced a bill in the Bombay Legislative Assembly that sought to abolish the koti system by establishing direct relations between the government and farmers.

As Secretary of Labor, he served on the Defense Advisory Committee and the Governor’s Executive Council.

In 1940, after the Muslim League asked Pakistan to adopt the Lahore Resolution, he wrote a 400-page pamphlet titled “Reflections on Pakistan”, analyzing the concept of “Pakistan” from various aspects.

His book “Who is a Sudra?” ” Babasaheb tried to explain the formation of untouchability. His party transformed into the Scheduled Castes Alliance.

It performed poorly in the 1946 Indian Constituent Assembly elections. Later, Babasaheb was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly of Bengal under the rule of the Muslim League.

In 1952, he contested the first Indian general election in North Bombay but failed. He became a member of the House of Federation, essentially an appointed member.

In the 1954 Bandara by-election, he tried to re-enter the Lok Sabha but came third. By the time of the second general election in 1957, Babasaheb had died.

Read | List of books written by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

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