Political Leaders & Revolutionaries Codexery

B. R. Ambedkar

Architect of the Indian Constitution and champion of Dalit rights.

Last updated

Born on 14 April 1891 in the Mhow military cantonment, Ambedkar belonged to the Mahar community, a Dalit group facing untouchability and economic discrimination.[1][2] Ramji Maloji Sakpal, a Subedar in the army, and Bhimabai Sakpal had fourteen children, with Ambedkar being the youngest.[1] At Columbia, John Dewey's pragmatist philosophy significantly shaped Ambedkar's thinking.[3] His conversion to Buddhism in 1956 led to many Dalits also converting.[4]

On 15 May 1936, Ambedkar's book Annihilation of Caste was released, offering a severe critique of Hindu religious leaders and the caste system.[5]

What the research sources say

J. Krishnamurty's 2019 paper "Ambedkar's Educational Odyssey, 1913–1927" documents that Ambedkar received his Ph.D. degree in economics at Columbia in 1927.[6][7] Steven Calabresi's 2021 work agrees with Martha C. Nussbaum's assessment of the Indian constitution as "Ambedkar's constitution"[8][9] Kumar further notes that the pact increased the depressed class's legislative seats from the 71 proposed in the Communal Award to 148.[10][11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jaffrelot, "Ambedkar and Untouchability: Fighting the Indian Caste System", Columbia University Press, 2005, p. 2; Pritchett, "In the 1890s" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mahar", britannica.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "B R Ambedkar and the Evolution of Pragmatism in India", Economic and Political Weekly, 24 January 2025; Skaria, "Ambedkar, Marx and the Buddhist Question", South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 3 July 2015, p. 450–465; Krishnamurty, "Ambedkar's Educational Odyssey, 1913–1927", Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, 2020, p. 1–11 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism", Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 34 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "May 15: It was 79 years ago today that Ambedkar's 'Annihilation Of Caste' was published", 15 May 2015; Mungekar, "Annihilating caste", Frontline, 16–29 July 2011; Naresh, ""Problems of an Other's Making": B. R. Ambedkar, Caste, and Majoritarian Domination", American Political Science Review, 2025, p. 1–15; Deb, Siddhartha, "Arundhati Roy, the Not-So-Reluctant Renegade" , New York Times Magazine, 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.; "A for Ambedkar: As Gujarat's freedom march nears tryst, an assertive Dalit culture spreads", 13 August en.wikipedia.org
  6. J. Krishnamurty, "Ambedkar’s Educational Odyssey, 1913–1927", Journal of Social Inclusion Studies (2019), doi:10.1177/2394481119900074. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
  7. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krishnamurty, "Ambedkar's Educational Odyssey, 1913–1927", Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, 2020, p. 1–11 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Steven Gow Calabresi, "The History and Growth of Judicial Review, Volume 1", (2021), doi:10.1093/oso/9780190075774.001.0001. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
  9. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Calabresi, "The History and Growth of Judicial Review, Volume 1: The G-20 Common Law Countries and Israel", Oxford University Press, 2021, p. 263–310 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Ravinder Kumar, "Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Poona pact, 1932", South Asia Journal of South Asian Studies (1985), doi:10.1080/00856408508723068. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
  11. Wikipedia, "B. R. Ambedkar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Gandhi's Epic Fast"; Kumar, "Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Poona pact, 1932", South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 1985, p. 87–101 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article B. R. Ambedkar (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Constitution of IndiaLondon School of EconomicsPragmatismPartition of IndiaMadhya PradeshEast India CompanyNew York CityMahatma Gandhi

More in Political Leaders & Revolutionaries

Alexander DubčekAntonio López de Santa AnnaAntónio de Oliveira SalazarAtal Bihari VajpayeeAugusto PinochetAung SanBal Gangadhar TilakBenito JuárezBenito MussoliniCorazon AquinoDavid Lloyd GeorgeDesmond Tutu

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →