Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 or 1892 - December 6, 1956) was the most prominent Indian Untouchable leader of the 20th century. He was born in Mhow in central India, the fourteenth child of parents who belonged to the very lowest stratum of Hindu society, known as Untouchables or Dalits. He helped spark a revival of Buddhism in India, a movement which is now known as neo-Buddhism. April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... In South Asias caste system, a Dalit (formerly known as untouchable or achuta) is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Mhow is a small town in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... Neo-Buddhism is a modern Buddhist revivalist movement in India. ...

Education

Ambedkar's father had acquired a certain amount of formal education in both Marathi and English. This enabled him to teach his children, especially Bhimrao, and to encourage them in their pursuit of knowledge. In 1908, when Ambedkar passed the matriculation examination for Bombay University, this event was such an uncommon achievement on the part of an Untouchable boy that it was celebrated with a public meeting. Four years later, Ambedkar graduated with a degree in Politics and Economics. Soon afterwards, he entered civil service in Baroda State, the ruler of which had awarded him a scholarship. Marathi is one of the widely spoken languages of India, and has a long literary history. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The University of Mumbai is one of the outstanding universities of India. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... Economics is the social science studying production and consumption through measurable variables. ... Vadodara, also known as Baroda, is the third-most populated town in Gujarat after Ahmedabad and Surat (the three towns with a population of over 1 million in Gujarat). ...

From 1913 to 1917, and again from 1920 to 1923, Ambedkar studied in the West, and, when, at the age of 32, he finally returned to the country of his birth, it was as one of the most highly qualified men in public life. During his three years at Columbia University he studied economics, sociology, history, philosophy, anthropology, and politics. He was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis which he eventually published in book form as The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India. His first published work, however, was a paper on Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development. After completing his studies in America, Ambedkar left New York for London, where he was admitted to the London School of Economics and Political Science and to Gray's Inn. A year later, his scholarship came to an end. 1913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... Columbia University is a private university in New York City. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... History is a term for information about the past. ... Philosophy (from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom), as a practice, aims at some kind of understanding, knowledge or wisdom about fundamental matters such as reality, knowledge, meaning, value, being and truth. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... Greater London and the Regions of England. ... The London School of Economics and Political Science, often called the London School of Economics or the LSE, is one of the worlds eminent specialist universities, and is widely regarded as the most prestigious social science institution. ... Grays Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England to which barristers belong and where they are called to the bar. ...

In 1920, having taught in a Bombay college and started a Marathi weekly called Mooknayak or 'Leader of the Dumb', Ambedkar was able to return to London and resume his studies there. In the course of the next three years he completed a thesis on The Problem of the Rupee, for which the University of London awarded him a D.Sc. At this time, he was admitted to the bar. Before permanently ending his residence in England, Ambedkar spent three months in Germany, where he engaged in further studies in economics at the University of Bonn. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... This article or section should be merged with Mumbai Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is the worlds most populous conurbation, and is the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world. ... Marathi is one of the widely spoken languages of India, and has a long literary history. ... A bar association is a body of lawyers who, in some jurisdictions, are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... The main building, viewed from the Hofgarten. ...

Professional work

Back in India, Ambedkar established himself in Bombay and pursued an active career. He built up his legal practice, taught at a college, gave evidence before various official bodies, started a newspaper, and was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council, in whose proceedings he at once took a leading part. He also attended the three Round Table Conferences that were held in London to enable representatives of the various Indian communities and the three British political parties to consider proposals for the future constitution of India. During the years immediately following his return to India, Ambedkar helped form the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha or Depressed Classes Welfare Association, the objects of which were to promote the spread of education and culture among Untouchables and low caste persons, to improve their economic condition, and to provide a voice for their grievances.

Fight against untouchability

Between 1927 and 1932, Ambedkar led his followers in a series of nonviolent campaigns to assert the right of the Untouchables to enter Hindu places of worship and to draw water from public tanks and wells. Two of these campaigns were of special importance: the campaigns against the exclusion of Untouchables from the Kalaram Temple in Nasik and from the Chowdar Tank in Mahad. Both of these involved tens of thousands of Untouchable satyagrahis or nonviolent resisters. Higher caste Hindus responded violently. The Chowdar Tank campaign, after years of litigation, ended in a legal victory for the low caste activists. The Chowdar Tank campaign also saw the ceremonial burning of the Manusmriti or `Institutes of Manu', the ancient Hindu law book that Ambedkar believed bore much of the responsibility for the cruel treatment that the Untouchables had suffered. By thus desecrating the much-revered volume, Ambedkar's followers intended to demonstrate that equality among castes was an issue that could not be ignored. Unpopular as Ambedkar's activities had already made him in mainstream caste Hindu opinion, during 1931 and 1932 he became more unpopular still. In his own words, he became the most hated man in India. The cause of the trouble was Ambedkar's continued insistence on the necessity of separate electorates for the depressed classes. Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Congress Party were opposed to separate electorates for the depressed classes, and Ambedkar and Gandhi had clashed on the subject at the Second Round Table Conference, when the Gandhi went so far as to challenge Ambedkar's claim to speak for the Untouchables. Ambedkar's arguments did, however, convince the British government, and when Ramsay MacDonald published his Communal Award the following year the depressed classes were given the separate electorates for which they had asked. Gandhi's response was to go on a fast to the death for the abolition of separate electorates for the depressed classes. Since he was the acknowledged leader of the independence movement his action created consternation throughout India. Ambedkar was reviled as a traitor and threats were made against his life. But though unmoved by the pressure that was brought to bear on him Ambedkar was not unwilling to negotiate and eventually agreed to replace separate electorates with joint electorates, and a greatly increased number of reserved seats. This agreement was embodied in a document that became known as the Poona Pact, the signing of which by Ambedkar marked his emergence as the most influential leader of the Untouchables. At this point, partly as a result of the opposition he had encountered over the question of separate electorates and partly because of the continued exclusion of Untouchables from Hindu temples, Ambedkar made a tactical shift: he started exhorting his followers to concentrate on raising their standard of living and gaining political power. He also began to think there was no future for the Untouchables within Hinduism and that they should change their religion. In the same year Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Bombay, built a house for himself and his books, and lost his wife Ramabai. They had been married in 1908, when he was sixteen and she was nine and she had borne him five children, of whom only one survived. Events January 7 - First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London January 9 - Military rebellion crushed in Lisbon January 14 - Paul Doumer elected president of France January 19 - Britain sends troops to China February 12 - First British troops lad on Shanghai February 14 - Earthquake in Yugoslavia - 700 dead February... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) is a set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. ... This article is about the Hindu religion OM, the most sacred syllable and quintessential symbol of Hinduism, represents the first manifestation of the unmanifest Brahman. ... Nashik or Nasik is a city, and also a district and division, in Indias Maharashtra state. ... See Satyagraha (opera) for an account of the opera of that title by Philip Glass. ... The Manu Smriti or Laws of Manu, is one of the eighteen Smritis of the Dharma Sastra (or laws of righteous conduct), written c. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the charismatic leader who brought the cause of Indias independence from British colonial rule to world attention. ... The Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party) is the largest subscription-based organisation in the world. ... James Ramsay MacDonald (October 12, 1866 – November 9, 1937), British politician, was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Political career

In the course of the next few years Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, took part in the 1937 provincial legislative elections held as a result of the 1935 Government of India Act. He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly, where he pressed for the abolition of agricultural serfdom, defended the right of industrial workers to strike, advocated the promotion of birth control, and addressed meetings and conferences throughout the Bombay Presidency. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Ambedkar regarded Nazi ideology as a direct threat to the liberties of the Indian people. Ambedkar exhorted the public to support the British government in prosecuting the war and encouraged Untouchables to join the Indian Army. In 1941, Ambedkar was appointed to the Defence Advisory Committee and in the following year joined the Viceroy's Executive Council as Labour Member, a post he occupied for the next four years. During the same period he transformed the Independent Labour Party into the All-India Scheduled Caste Federation, founded the People's Education Society, and published a number of highly controversial books and pamphlets. Among the latter were Thoughts on Pakistan, What Congress and Gandhi have Done to the Untouchables, and Who Were the Shudras? 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term Government of India Act refers to several Acts passed by the British Parliament to regulate the government of British India, in particular: Government of India Act 1833 (also known as the Charter Act 1833), which created a Governor-General of India Government of India Act 1858, under which... Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... Bombay Presidency was a former province of British India. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Scheduled Castes Federation, a political party in India. ...

Participation in drafting the constitution

In 1947, India achieved independence and Ambedkar, who had already been elected a member of the Constituent Assembly, was invited by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the country, to join the Cabinet as Minister for Law. A few weeks later the Assembly entrusted the task of framing the Constitution to a Draft Committee, and this committee elected Ambedkar as its chairman. For the next two years, he worked on the Draft Constitution, writing it almost singlehandedly. Despite ill health, Ambedkar completed the Draft Constitution by the beginning of 1948 and later that year introduced it in the Constituent Assembly. Thereafter he steered it through the legislative process and in November of 1949 it was adopted by the Assembly with very few amendments. 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Constituent Assembly of India was formed to write the constitution of India, and served as its first parliament as an independent nation. ... Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit (Teacher) Nehru, was the leader of the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress during and after Indias struggle for independence from the British Empire. ... A prime minister is the leading member of the cabinet of the top level government in a parliamentary system of government of a country, alternatively A prime minister is an official in a presidential system or semi-presidential system whose duty is to execute the directives of the President and... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

Ambedkar's resignation from the Cabinet in 1951 marked the virtual end of his political career. In the general elections of January 1952 he failed to win a seat in the lower house of India's parliament, the Lok Sabha, and was equally unsuccessful when he contested a by-election the following year. In March 1952 he was, however, elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, as one of the seventeen representatives of the erstwhile Bombay State. He was soon vigorously attacking the government from his new position. 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... The Parliament of India is bicameral. ... The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house of Parliament of India. ... The Rajya Sabha (House of States) is the upper house of the parliament of India. ... Bombay state is a former state of India. ...

Conversion to Buddhism

While Ambedkar continued to participate in the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha, and was to do so until the end of his life, from 1952 onwards Ambedkar's energies were increasingly devoted to other concerns. Ever since the 1935 Depressed Classes Conference, when he had shocked Hindu India with the declaration that though he had been born a Hindu he did not intend to die one, Ambedkar had been giving earnest consideration to the question of conversion. Further consideration made him increasingly convinced that there was no future for the Untouchables within Hinduism, that they would have to adopt another religion, and that the best religion for them to adopt was Buddhism. In 1950 he visited Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Young Men's Buddhist Association, Colombo, where he addressed a meeting of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Kandy and appealed to the Untouchables of Sri Lanka to embrace Buddhism. In 1951, he wrote an article defending the Buddha against the charge that he had been responsible for the decrease in women's status in ancient India. The same year, he compiled the Bauddha Upasana Patha, a small collection of Buddhist devotional texts. 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In general, conversion is the transformation of one thing into another. ... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Towers of downtown Colombo Colombo (derived from Sinhalese name Kola-amba-thota which means mango harbour, altered by the Portuguese to honour Christopher Columbus), population 737,396 (Colombo metropolitan area: 2,234,289) (2001), is the largest city and commercial center of Sri Lanka. ... The World Fellowship of Buddhists is arguably the largest and most influential international Buddhist organization. ... Kandy (the Sacred City of Kandy) is a city in the centre of Sri Lanka. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Gautama Buddha was a South Asian spiritual leader who lived between approximately 563 BCE and 483 BCE. Born Siddhārtha Gautama in Sanskrit, a name meaning descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims, he... There is great variety in Buddhist texts. ...

In 1954, Ambedkar twice visited Burma, the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha or Buddhist Society of India and installed an image of the Buddha in a temple that had been built at Dehu Road, near Pune. Addressing the thousands of Untouchables who had assembled for the occasion, he declared that henceforth he would devote himself to the propagation of Buddhism in India. He also announced that he was writing a book explaining the tenets of Buddhism in simple language for the benefit of the common man. The work in question was ' The Buddha and His Dhamma (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/litlinks/ambedkar_buddha/)', on which he had been working since November 1951 and which he completed in February, 1956. Not long afterwards, Ambedkar announced that he would be formally converting in October of that year. Arrangements were accordingly made for the ceremony to be held in Nagpur. 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Yangôn, formerly Rangoon, population 4,504,000 (2001), is the capital of Myanmar. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Pune city, formerly Poona, Maharashtra state, western India, at the junction of the Mula and Mutha rivers. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... Nāgpur (meaning City of the Snakes) is a city located near the geographical center of India, in the state of Maharashtra. ...

On 14 October 1956, Ambedkar took the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner and then, in turn, administered them to the 380,000 men, women, and children who had come to Nagpur in response to his call. After further conversion ceremonies in Nagpur and Chanda, Ambedkar returned to Delhi. A few weeks later he travelled to Kathmandu in Nepal for the fourth conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, where he addressed the delegates on "The Buddha and Karl Marx"[1]  (http://www.ambedkar.org/ambcd/20.Buddha%20or%20Karl%20Marx.htm). On his way back to Delhi, he made two speeches in Benares and visited Kusinara, where the Buddha had died. In Delhi he took part in various Buddhist functions, attended the Rajya Sabha, and completed the last chapter of his book The Buddha and Karl Marx. October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in Leap years). ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... The Three Jewels (also rendered as Three Treasures or Triple Gem) refers to three central concepts in Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (teachings, truth or law), and the Sangha (order or community). Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the formal difference between Buddhists and non-Buddhists. ... This article is about the Buddhist concept; see Pancasila Indonesia for the Indonesian state philosophy. ... Dancing bhikkhu in Tibet A bhikkhu (male) or bhikkhuni (female) is a Buddhist monk. ... In Hinduism, Chanda is a monster that Chamunda Devi killed. ... Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमाडौं) is the capital city of Nepal. ... Benares (also known as Banaras, Kashi, Kasi and Varanasi (वाराणसी)) is a Hindu holy city on the banks of the river Ganga or Ganges in the modern north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Kushinagar or Kusinagar is a rural town in the state of Uttar Pradesh, 52 km off Gorakhpur, in northern India. ... The Rajya Sabha (House of States) is the upper house of the parliament of India. ...

Ambedkar died on 6 December 1956. Although Ambedkar had been a Buddhist for only seven weeks, during that period he probably did more for the promotion of Buddhism than any other Indian since Ashoka. At the time of his death three quarters of a million Untouchables had become Buddhists, and in the months that followed hundreds of thousands more took the same step - despite the uncertainty and confusion that had been created by the sudden loss of their leader. December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... Emperor Ashoka (a possible picturisation) Ashoka the Great (also Asoka, Aśoka, pronounced as Ashok-uh, not Ashokaa) was the ruler of the Mauryan empire from 273 BC to 232 BC. A convert to Buddhism, Ashoka reigned over most of the Indian subcontinent, from present day Afghanistan to Bengal and as...

The work which has been described as Ambedkar's magnum opus, The Buddha and His Dhamma, was written between 1951 and 1956 and published by the People's Education Society in November 1957, almost a year after his death. 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Popular veneration of Ambedkar

His birthdate is now a public holiday in India known as Ambedkar Jayanti. As a sign of respect, many Indians use the title "Babasaheb" in front of his name. "Jai Bhim!", referring to Ambedkar's first name, Bhimrao, is sometimes used as a greeting or an exclamation.

Ambedkar Memorial

A memorial for Ambedkar has been established in Delhi (26 Alipur Road, Near IP College, Civil Lines, New Delhi - 110054). 26 Alipur Road is the house where Ambedkar spent most of his life since he moved to Delhi, and is also the place where he breathed his last. The memorial was opened after a prolonged struggle by Dalit groups, when finally the Government of India secured the house from Jinadals who occupied the property.

See Also:

• Caste
• Dalit

The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. ... In South Asias caste system, a Dalit (formerly known as untouchable or achuta) is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. ...

External links

• The Buddha and His Dhamma (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/litlinks/ambedkar_buddha/)
• Current Situation in India (http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/index.html)
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and His People (http://www.ambedkar.org/)
• Dr. Ambedkar International Mission (http://www.ambedkarmission.org/)
• Dr.BR Ambedkar (http://www.angelfire.com/ak/ambedkar/)
• Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I (http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile.php/Documents/76/) & Part II (http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile.php/Documents/77/) by B.R.Ambedkar
• Ambedkar Center for Justice and Peace (http://www.ambedkar.net/)