title of the thesis that dr ambedkar submitted

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Why publication of b.r. ambedkar’s thesis a century later will be significant, a contemporary relevance of the thesis, written as part of ambedkar’s msc degree at the london school of economics, is that it argues for massive expenditure on heads like defence to be diverted to the social sector.

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Now, over a century after it was written, Ambedkar’s hitherto unpublished thesis on the provincial decentralisation of imperial finance in colonial times will finally see the light of the day. The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee of the Maharashtra government plans to publish the thesis that was written by Ambedkar as part of his MSc degree from the London School of Economics (LSE). The thesis, ‘Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India’, will be part of the 23rd volume of Ambedkar’s works to be published by the committee and will give a glimpse into the works of Ambedkar, the economist. Notably, the dissertation argues for expenditure on heads like defence to be diverted for social goods like education and public health.

The source material committee, which was set up in 1978, has published 22 volumes on Ambedkar’s writings since April 1979. “This volume will have two parts. One will contain the MSc thesis and the other will have communication and documents related to his MA, MSc, PhD and bar-at-law degrees,” confirmed Pradeep Aglave, member secretary of the committee. He added that the MSc thesis had been submitted to the LSE in 1921. Veteran Ambedkarite and founder of the Dalit Panthers, J.V. Pawar, who is a member of the committee, said it was significant that the thesis was being published over a century after it was written. Pawar played a pivotal role in ensuring that the committee was set up.

“This work deals with taxation and expenditure. The contemporary relevance of this thesis is that it seeks a progressive taxation based on income levels. Ambedkar argued that expenditure on heads like defence was huge and this needed to be diverted to social needs like education, public health, and water supply,” said Sukhadeo Thorat, economist and former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Thorat was among those instrumental in the source material committee getting a copy of the thesis from London.

“The sixth volume (1989), published by the source material committee, contains Ambedkar’s writings on economics. This includes his works like ‘Administration and Finance of the East India Company’ (1915) and the ‘Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution’ (1923). However, this MSc thesis on provincial finance could not be included in it because it was not available then,” said Thorat.

J. Krishnamurty, a Geneva-based labour economist located the MSc thesis in the Senate House Library in London and approached Thorat who, in turn, communicated with Gautam Chakravarti of the Ambedkar International Mission in London. Santosh Das, another Ambedkarite from London, paid the fees for permission to reproduce the work in copyright. The soft copy of the thesis was sent to the source material committee on November 18, 2021.

In addition to the MSc thesis, the communication and letters related to his academics, such as the MA, PhD, MSc and DSc and bar-at-law including LLD (an honorary degree that was awarded to Ambedkar by the Columbia University in 1952after he finished drafting the Constitution of India, which remains one of his most significant contributions to modern India), were also arranged and compiled by Krishnamurty, Thorat and Aglave. This also includes the courses done by Ambedkar for his MA and pre-PHD at the Columbia University. These details are being published for the first time.

Ambedkar’s biographer Changdev Bhavanrao Khairmode, writes how Ambedkar worked untiringly in London for his MSc. Ambedkar secured admission for his MSc in the LSE on September 30, 1920 by paying a fee of 11 pounds and 11 shillings. He was given a student pass with the number 11038.

Ambedkar had prepared for his MSc in Mumbai, yet he began studying books and reports from four libraries in London, namely the London University’s general library, Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature and the libraries in the British Museum and India Office. In London, Ambedkar would wake up at 6 am, have the breakfast served by his landlady and rush to the library for his studies. Around 1 pm, he would take a short break for a meagre lunch or have just a cup of tea and then return to the library to study till it closed for the day.

“He would sleep for a few hours. He would stand at the doors of the library before it opened and before others came there,” says Khairmode in the first volume of his magisterial work on Ambedkar (Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Volume I) that was first published in 1952. The library staff in the British Museum would tell Ambedkar that they had not seen a student like him who was immersed in his books and they also doubted if they would get to see one like him in the future!

The volume also contains a letter written by Ambedkar in German on February 25, 1921 to the University of Bonn seeking admission. Ambedkar wanted to study Sanskrit language and German philosophy in the varsity’s department of Indology. In school, Ambedkar was discriminated against on grounds of caste and not allowed to learn Sanskrit. He had to learn Persian instead. Ambedkar secured admission to Bonn University but had to return to London three months later to revise and complete his DSc thesis.

Ambedkar completed his DSc in 1923 under the guidance of Professor Edwin Cannan of the LSE on the problem of the rupee, which is described as a “remarkable piece of research on Indian currency, and probably the first detailed empirical account of the currency and monetary policy during the period”.

Ambedkar was among the first from India to pursue doctoral studies in economics abroad. He specialised in finance and currency. His ‘The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India: A Study in the Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance (1925)’, carried a foreword by Edwin R.A. Seligman, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, New York. Ambedkar also played a pivotal role in the conceptualisation and establishment of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 1935.

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Sue Donnelly

January 29th, 2016, “no more worlds here for him to conquer” – dr b r ambedkar at lse.

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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Dr B R Ambedkar first visited LSE in 1916, returned in 1921 and submitted his doctoral thesis in 1923. LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly investigates Dr B R Ambedkar’s life at LSE.

In 1920 the economist Edwin R Seligman wrote from Columbia University to Professor Herbert Foxwell, teaching at LSE recommending a former student, Bhimrao Ramji (B R) Ambedkar, and asking Foxwell to help him in his research. In November 1920 Foxwell wrote to the School Secretary, Mrs Mair:

I find he has already taken his doctor’s degree & has only come here to finish a research. I had forgotten this. I am sorry we cannot identify him with the School but there are no more worlds here for him to conquer.

Despite this B R Ambedkar registered for a master’s degree and completed a PhD thesis on his second attempt to study at LSE. 2016 marks the 125 th anniversary of B R Ambedkar’s birth in 1891 and the centenary of his first visit to LSE in 1916. Ambedkar was born into a family from a so-called “untouchable” caste. Ambedkar became a social reformer and architect of the Indian constitution.

After studying at Elphinstone High School in Bombay he was the first Dalit to enrol at Elphinstone College and the University of Bombay taking a degree in economics and political science. In 1913 he was awarded a Baroda State Scholarship and moved to Columbia University, New York, completing a masters in 1913 and a thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study in 1916. A desire to undertake research into the history of Indian finance and currency led Ambedkar to study in London where a wider range of research sources would be available.

In 1916 he registered at LSE for a master’s degree and took courses in Geography with Halford Mackinder, and Political Ideas with G Lowes Dickinson , alongside Social Evolution and Social Theory with Professor L T Hobhouse.  The fees for the course were £10 10s. At the same time Ambedkar enrolled for the bar course at Gray’s Inn.

In 1916 LSE was only 21 years old but with a high reputation in the social sciences and for its international student body, in 1913-1914 142 students had come from outside of the Britain. The outbreak of the First World War had impacted on the work of the School and student numbers had fallen by almost half to around 800. Ambedkar’s studies were interrupted as he was recalled to India to serve as Military Secretary in Baroda and in July 1917 the University of London gave him leave of absence of up to four years.

In 1920 Ambedkar returned to LSE after working as professor of political economy at Sydenham College in Mumbai and giving evidence to the Scarborough Committee preparing the 1919 Government of India Act on the position and representation of “untouchable” communities. Initially he applied to complete his masters degree and write a thesis on The Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in India. His fees had gone up by a guinea to £11 11s. There was a slight glitch in his LSE career in April 1921 when he failed to send in his form for the summer examinations and the School Secretary, Mrs Mair, had to write to University of London’s Academic Registrar for permission to submit the form late.

In economics Ambedkar’s tutors included Professor Edwin Cannan and Professor Herbert Foxwell both of whom had taught at the School since its opening in 1895. He would also have met Theodore Gregory who began as an assistant in economics but became Cassell Reader in International Trade in 1920. Gregory became an economic advisor in India from 1938-1946.

Ambedkar finally submitted his doctoral thesis, The Problem of the Rupee , in March 1923 but it was not recommended for acceptance. Reports claim that the thesis was too revolutionary and anti-British for the examiners. However there is no indication of this in Ambedkar’s student file. The thesis was resubmitted in August 1923 and accepted in November 1923. It was published almost immediately and in the preface Ambedkar noted “my deep sense of gratitude to my teacher, Professor Edwin Cannan “noting that Cannan’s “severe examination of my theoretical discussions has saved me from many an error”. Cannan repaid the complement by writing the Foreword to the thesis in which he found “a stimulating freshness” even if he disagreed with some of the arguments.

After his success Ambedkar returned to India where he was prominent in the campaign for Indian independence and opposing discrimination for Dalit communities. In 1947 he became the first Law Minister of independent India and was Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee. LSE continued to take an interest in his career and  in 1932 the Director, William Beveridge, wrote to Professor Cannan that Ambedkar had been invited to the School by John Coatman, Professor of Imperial Economic Relations, formerly director of public information for the Indian Police Service and the British government in India, to meet Professor Gregory while attending the roundtable discussions on the Indian constitution.

In 1973 a portrait of B R Ambedkar was unveiled in the lobby to Clement House. A bust unveiled in 1994 is currently displayed in the Atrium Gallery of the Old Building.

To find out about LSE’s South Asia collections head to the LSE Library’s  Traces of South Asia  webpage.

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About the author

Sue Donnelly is formerly LSE's Archivist, where she specialised in the history of the School.

30 Comments

Marvelous, Kudos to Baba Saheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

He was great humen Being

Just amazing so talented and a great person belongs to the whole world that is Dr.BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR

Dr. Ambedkar was great revolutionary Student who oppose wrong policies of British Government in student life.

Ambedkar finally submitted his doctoral thesis, The Problem of the Rupee , in March 1923 but it was not recommended for acceptance. Reports claim that the thesis was too revolutionary and anti-British for the examiners.

You wrote – Ambedkar was later to popularise the use of the term Dalit meaning ‘oppressed’

Dr. Ambedkar didn’t popularise the term Dalit. He hardly used term Dalit instead he preferred Scheduled castes or Untouchable. Dalit term became famous in early 70s with the rise of Dalit Panthers movement in India.

The title of this piece speak the lot… ‘No More Worlds Here for Him to Conquer’ – Dr BR Ambedkar at LSE.

Unfortunately, the “Savarnas Academia” tried their level best to boycott the scholarship of “BabaShaheb Ambedkar”, but “the power” of his scholarship now turning the table

Great man!!!!!!!!!!!! Jai Bhim

A phenomenally inspiring individual who achieved so much for so many.

“Not only very able but exceedingly pleasant fellow” to a foreigner beyond all kinds oppression he underwent in his home country. A genious and revolutionary thinker much ahead of his time. History will remember him for long.

Dr. babasaheb Ambedkar was Ultimate man for India. I Read “The problem of Rupees”. sir im saluting you. i got many good knowledge from this book. Sagar Jagtap B.Sc., MBA- Finance

Thank you for the information but it was not Dr. Ambedkar who popularise the term Dalit. Dalit term became the household name after Dalit Panthers in 1970s.

Baba saheb ambedkar is the most intellectual person and he design the society of human how to live on earth with equality fraternity and freedom. And he give the new ideas to society of the world, to creat something new for benefits of the human and for their betterment.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was and is the voice of voice less. I adore him for his interpretation of Freedom and justice. He can be compared to himself and none.

Respected sir/Madam, I like to know whether anybody conducted research on “Library use study of Dr B R Ambedkar” at university library. Can I will know library records, entry records of Students, their usage, timing most brobaly about Dr B R Ambedkar

Dr BR AMBEDKAR was a person who had proved that one untouchable can write thesis of PhD from prestigious university LSE at the time when India was under British ruling.Even some people who believe in casteisms are not appreciate his work..

Dr BR AMBEDKAR was a person who had proved that one untouchable can write thesis of PhD from prestigious university LSE …

A great son of India. I think he should have become the 1st Prime Minister of India.

Thanks to LSE for remembering and keeping the memory of Dr. B R Ambedkar afresh for young generations. It is indeed a great tribute to the scholar of par excellence in several fields of humanities. The appreciation of Professor Edwin R Seligman and Professor and Professor Edwin Cannan about Dr B R Ambedkar proves his intellectual ability and his academic ideas impart “a stimulating freshness”. The world remembers his instinct fight for human entitlements, human rights, human freedom and equality of opportunities to downtrodden. His struggles and hard works are inspirational to students. Many generations are benefited from his teachings and works which helped transforming India as “the world’s largest democracy”. Dr B R Ambedkar always lives in the hearts of Indians and inspires billions of Indians and the world community at large for centuries.

Professor Krishna Raj, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru

Br ambedkar was the greatest in the world because he changed the history of india by providing equal rights to dalit(untouchables) in india and constitution of india made by br ambedkar

I grateful to LSE for sharing such a awesome and wonderful document of the man behind the creator of Indian constitution and his contribution to Indian economy. His contribution from making constitution to establishing Indian rupee, balancing the social equality is unforgettable.

he is great man .i salute him from my bottom of my heart. jai bhim ! namo buddha.

I reached a great message after a long time. It’s my good luck may be bad luck. Doctor AMBEDKAR is the father of modern india. He turned it’s direction in to a new path towards liberty, equality, and fraternity. India can became developed country by his thoughts

Dr B R Ambedkar was great philosopher of India and the father of Indian constitution all Indian people proud feeling and respectful towards D R ambedkar

First of all Jai Bhim and thank you for providing this. He is not the constitution maker of India ,but also a greatest economist , world’s greatest lawyer and social reformer. I salute you sir .

Great man Architecture of Indian Constitution and unveil Buddhisum of India again for untouchables which gives teaching of Equality, love and compassion.

He was also a mahanatma…….jai hind jai bharat🙏

As one coming from poor besides untouchable family also as its first learner from a village, I can imagine the burden of social oppression and indignity any one in his position had to undergo. Away from his native land, he, fortunately, spent rest of his educational career after graduation from Sydenham College, Bombay in the world of light, where he was marked for his merit not by his caste. He continues to be measured and viewed first as a dalit by his countrymen at home as well as abroad. In 2004, Prof. Valentine Danial, Prof. Anthropology in Columbia University wanted to create a Chair in honour of Dr. Ambedkar, one of its outstanding alumni. But the upper caste members in the Faculty, Prof. Danial was quoted by The New York Times, October 24, 2004, resisted the proposal. In 2011 ultimately the Chair was set up after, of course, creating first two Scholarships in the name of a professor, favourite of the ruling dispensation in India. Everyday the stature of Dr. Ambedkar is growing taller across the globe for his selfless service to humanity, the cause he pursued all his life and relentless fight for dignity of the voiceless and oppressed in a unequal society. I salute to him.

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London school of economics has given gems to humanity. Surely DR. B.R.AMBEDKAR was one of them. He has done so much good in so little time. Changing the foundational structure within a hindu religion it may seem like easy but it’s close to impossible thing to achieve but with his intellect dr. B.R. Ambedkar has done that.

“The man who defeated the religion is the DR. B.R.Ambedkar”

Dr Ambedkar is the Symbol of Equality and social justice. “We are because he was.”

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Educate, Agitate, Organise - a short biography of Dr B R Ambedkar April 26th, 2016

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Ambedkar Research Scholars

The sac encourages research scholars to engage with dr b r ambedkar's history, from his time at the lse and beyound..

Dr B R Ambedkar is one of the most important alumnus of LSE, from where he was awarded his MA and PhD. His doctoral thesis on ‘The Indian Rupee’, written in 1922-23, was later published as  The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution  (London: P S King & Son, Ltd, 1923). Ambedkar was a Social Reformer, Economist, Parliamentarian, Jurist, and the Principal Architect of the Constitution of India.

A short biography can be found on the LSE History blog, along with a description of his time at the LSE.

2015 Scholars Visits

As part of the 125th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Dr B R Ambedkar, the SAC hosted two delegations of research scholars and government officials for week-long visits on 24-31 October 2015 and 21-28 November 2015, in collaboration with the High Commission of India in London and the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India.

With two tours of 25 students & three officers each, the objectives of these trips were i) to show how HE institutions function in the UK, ii) the academic and educational facilities available that are relevant to theirresearch interests at LSE, iii) the rare archival collections relevant to India in museums and collections in London, iv) the multiculturallie in London and v) to introduce students to issues of social inequality, injustice and empowerment affecting contemporary Britain. 

Whilst here, two students were interviewed by Rozelle Laha from the Hindustan Times , culminating in an article published in the Delhi edition (in page 19) on Wednesday, 2 December 2015. 

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Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, The Father of Indian Constitution

Author name:   kavitakait, the third thing we must do is not be content with mere political democracy. we must note that our political democracy can not last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy..

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: The Father Of Indian Constitution

“ The third thing we must do is not be content with mere political democracy. We must note that our political democracy can not last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life .” – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar In the world the great man first has to be born in the form of the great man and then he has to prove himself the great man by his enriched personality with virtues and by his great capability. According to such a rule of the world Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in the form of the great man, on 14th April 1891 at Mahu in Madhya Pradesh of India. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit, political leader, activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, profilic writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He was also the chief architect of the Indian constitution. Born into a poor untouchable family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna – the Hindu categorization of human society into four varnas – and the Indian Caste System. The great man Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s active life, glorious personality and great capability these characteristics forever are worthy of writing with the golden letters, in the useful history of the nation India of the entire world and of the universal mankind. Childhood and Early Life of B.R. Ambedkar The ancestral village of Dr. Ambedkar is Ambavade, which is located in Rathagiri District of Maharashtra state and is located about 5 miles from Madhavgarh, which is a small village. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on 14th April 1891 in village Mahu in a Mahar Caste, which was considered to be of the untouchables. His father’s name was Ramji Sakpal and he was married to Bhimabai who was from murbadkar family. Ramji Sakpal had 14 children out of which Bhmrao was the 14th Bhimrao started experiencing the pangs of untouchability right from his childhood Bhimrao’s father was working in a distant village named Gorgaon. One summer he, along with his brother and cousin, went to Gorgaon to meet his father. They had written a letter to his father but his father had not received it in time and, therefore, he did not come to the railway station to receive his children. The boys facing the difficulty of transport requested the station master for help, who after persuasions could rent a bullock cart for these children. Hardly has the cart gone few yards when the cart man came to know that the well dressed children sitting in his cart were untouchables, and in a fit of rage he threw them out on the road as one overthrows the dustbins; for he felt that his bullocks had got polluted by the touch of the untouchables. But the boys soothed the cart man’s anger by paying double the fare and Bhim’s elder brother drove the cart, the cart man following the cart upto Gorgaon his was the first rude shock to the budding mind of Bhim. After few days Bhimrao faced another bitter experience. He was very thirsty, one day and was drinking water from a public water course. Savarns saw this, and felt that this kid has polluted their drinking water, and they beat Bhimrao black and blue. However, all Brahmins are not alike. There are exceptions. There was one Brahmin teacher in his high school. He loved Bhimrao very much. He dropped portions of his meals into the hands of Bhim daily during his recess. This teacher has left a permanent impression on Bhim’s life. The original family name of Bhim’s father was Sakpal. But Bhim’s village was Ambavade from which in his school, his family name was written as Ambavadekar. But the family name of the teacher who loved Bhimrao was Ambedkar. The teacher loved Bhim so much that he changed Bim’s family name from Ambavadekar to Ambedkar. And in the school register, he noted it according. Bhimrao very gracefully accepted this new family name given to him by his beloved teacher. And for the rest of his life, he lived with that last name. Dr. Ambedkar has always remembered this teacher for his life time. Education of B.R. Ambedkar Dr. Ambedkar was the most ambitious leader, pursuer of the target, strong willed, determined, discreet, courageous, hardworking, studious thoughtful, self respecting, expert in work, dutiful, devoted recipient of the highest degrees, manifold knowledgeable, good user of the knowledge for the welfare of the people. The Maharaja Sayaji Rao of Baroda, a progressive untouchable student for higher studies Ambedkar welcomed the opportunity and joined Elphinstone College. He was granted a scholarship of rupees twenty five per month. Professor Muller lent him books and gave him clothes. But the insulting environment never changed. The college hotel-keeper who was a Brahmin would not give him tea or water. Ambedkar did not mind such inconveniences and humiliating treatment. He concentrated her energy on studies and passed his B.A. examination in 1912 with English and Persian as his subjects. An opportunity came Ambedkar’s way when the Maharaja of Baroda though of sending some students to the U.S.A. for higher studies at the Columbia University. Ambedkar was one of them. On June 4, 1913, he signed an agreement with the Baroda State authorities and in the third week of July, 1913, he joined Columbia University as a Gaekwad Scholar. He was the first Mahar to study in a foreign university. In June 1915, he obtained the M.A. degree for his thesis, “Ancient Indian Commerce.” In May 1916, he read a paper on ‘The Castes in India, their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development’, at the Anthropology Seminar sponsored by Dr. Goldenweiser. It was published in the Indian Antiquary in May 1917. In June 1916, Ambedkar submitted his thesis for the degree of Ph.D. entitled ‘Natioanl Divided for India” A Historic and Analytical Study’. Ambedkar left Columbia University to join the London School of Economics and Political Science as a graduate student in June 1916. In October 1916, he was admitted to Gray’s Inn for law. In July 1917, Ambedkar was made Military Secretary to the Maharaja of Baroda with a view to be groomed foor the post of the State’s Finance Minister. In November 1918, he joined as Professor of Political Economy in Sydenham College, Bombay and resigned in March 1920 from his post to resume his studies in law and economics in London. On January 31, 1920, Ambedkar started a weekly paper Mooknayak (Leader of the Dumb) to Champion the cause of the Depressed Classes in India. In September, 1920, Ambedkar rejoined the London School of Economics and Political Science and also entered Glay’s inn to quality as a barrister. In June 1921, the University of London accepted his thesis ‘Provincial De-Centralization of Imperial Hnauce in British India.’ Fro the M.Sc. (Economics) degree. In March, 1923, he submitted his thesis: ‘The Problem of the Rupee – Its Origin and Its Solution’, for the degree of D.Sc. (Economics). The thesis was published in December, 1923, by P.S. King and Company, London. This book had an introduction by Professor Cannan. Ambedkar was called to the Bar in April 1923. In London he met E.S. Montagw, Secretary of State for India and Vithalbhai Patel, and had talks with them in respect of the grievances of the untouchables in India. The University of Columbia had highly respected Dr. B.R. Ambedkar by awarding him the honorary degree of LL.D. in the New York city of America on 5th June, 1942. In India also the University of Osmaniya had gracefully honoured Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, in the Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh by awarding the highest degree of D.Litt. on the 12th January, 1953. Thus, the great man Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had obtained B.A., M.A., Ph.D., M.Sc., D.Sc., Bar-at-Law, LL.D. and D.Lit. such the higher and highest degrees. There degrees were like the very attractive jeweled ornaments of the gold, which were growing the respect, glory and dignity of the Shining Personality of Dr. Ambedkar. B.R. Ambedkar and Drafting of the Constitution On 29th August, 1947 passing one resolution the Constituent Assembly appointed a ‘Drafting Committee” with the seven members including Dr. Ambedkar for preparing a draft of the Constitution of the independent India. It is said when drafting of the Constitution of India was embarked upon, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel thought of inviting and consulting Sir Guor Jennings, as internationally known constitutional expert of those times. When approached for advice in the matter Gandhiji is reported to have told them why they should be looking for foreign experts when they had the right within India an outstanding legal and constitutional expert in Dr. Ambedkar who ought to be entrusted with the role which they badly need as he so richly and rightly deserved. The Law Minister Dr. Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. The seven members, including the Chairman of the ‘Drafting Committee’ were as follows: 1) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Chairman 2) N. Goipalswami 3) Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyas 4) K.M. Munshi 5) Saijio Mola Saadulla 6) N. Madhava Rao and 7) D.P. Khaitan Dr. Ambedkar was honoured step by step. At the first step he was honoured as the member of the Constituent Assembly. At the second step he was honoured as the first ‘Law Minister’ of the independent India and at the third step he was honoured as the chairman of the ‘Drafting Committee’. Because of his bright characteristics, as his deep and vast study, tremendous knowledge, amazing command of an English language, expertness in explaining the subject and ideal patriotism, he had got these pleasant honours. “ Thought provoking and provocative, his life is highly, instructive to everyone who yearns for human dignity and equality in human relation in society .” These words of one of his biographers describe essence of what he stood for and what he achieved. Dr. Ambedkar had a charismatic personality. He was pragmatic par excellence, who never allowed himself to be swayed by abstract ideas and ideals. He strongly believed that political independence cannot assure either social solidarity or national integration in the absence of social justice. Being a democratic socialist, he propagated that fundamental rights have little meaning to people in the absence of social democracy. Dr. Ambedkar was one of the very few Indian Statesmen-politicians who actively participated in the discussions on Constitutional matters from the Monsford Reforms (1919) to the Cabinet Mission (1946) proposals. He was the first and foremost leader of the depressed classes, and the struggle of the depressed classes for Human Rights and socio-political equality from the twenties to the fifties of the 20th century is woven round his name Being elected Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar played a key role in viewing the structure of the government and the forms of the Constitution. The Round Table Conference The Round Table Conference was a landmark in the history of the Indian Constitution. Being invited to discuss on constitutional matters Dr. Ambedkar demanded in dependence and hoped that the people of India would be able to redress their grievances by political power and this political power will come to them under the ‘Swaraj’ constitution. At the first session of the Round Table Conference, he gave a clear warning to the British Government, saying: “ I am afraid it is not sufficienty realised that in the present temper of the country, no Constitution will be workable which is not-acceptable to the majority of the people. The time when you were to choose and India was to accept is gone, never to return. Let the consent of the people and not the accident of logic be the touchstone of your new Constitution, if you desire that it should be worked… ” He advocated for a government which was a responsible government formed by the representatives of the people. Dr. Ambedkar did not want to impose a Constitution on the Indians, but he submitted that the opinion of the people about the manner in which they desired to be governed must be accepted. “ The best government rests on the people, and not on the few on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority . George Bancroft Role Of The Constituent Assembly In the constituent Assembly Dr. Ambedkar played a very significant role with a lofty responsibility of drafting the Constitution. He examined the functioning of a democratic government on the basis of stability and responsibility. However, the Draft Constitution he recommended that the parliamentary of executive must have more responsibility to stability. As regards the character of the Constitution, it was Federal in form and Unitary in Spirit”. It established a dual polity with the Union at the Centre and the States at the periphery, each endowed with sovereign powers to be exercised in the field assigned to them respectively by the Constitution. Concept Of Federalism His concept of federalism meant that the State was a federation in normalcy, but unitary in emergency. Centre Was Made Strong In the Draft Constitution Dr. Ambedkar offered more powers to the Centre and made it strong. Some members of the constituent assembly criticised him on the ground that since Dr. Ambedkar postulated – the rights and values of each individual and the development of each province and each–village, it was contradictory of his part to make the Centre strong. Justifying the provisions for a strong Central authority Dr. Ambedkar said that he made the centre strong not only to ‘save minorities from the misrule of majority’ but also “for it is only the centre which can work for a common end and for the general interests of the country as a whole.” Equality Of Opportunity In the Draft Constitution the “Fundamental Rights”, prescribed were justifiable in the Court of Law. Of all the rights, Dr. Amebedkar observed “Equality of Opportunity” as the most important one. Regarding the constitutional remedies, he characterize Article 32 as the very soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it. To him, fundamental rights would mean establishment of equality and liberty in order to reform our social system, which is so full of inequalities discriminations, and other which conflict with our fundamental rights. Directive Principles Of State Policy The Directive Principles of State Policy contained the positive obligations of the state towards its citizens. The Directives were meant to ensure social and economic democracy which was secured by the provisions of fundamental rights in a written Constitution. Dr. Ambedkar said: “ What are called Directive Principles is simply another name for Instruments of instructions to the legislature and the executive…as to how they should exercise their power .” Constitution: A Dynamic Document The Constitution is a dynamic document it should grow with the growth of the nation and should suit the changing needs and circumstance. So Dr. Ambedkar urged the necessity of amendment. “The Draft Constitution has eliminated the elaborate and difficult procedures such as a decision by a convention or a referendum. The power of amendment lies with the legislatures, Central and Provincial …” Dr. Ambedkar was doubtful on the Constitutional mortality of the legislatures. So he wanted to incorporate the froms of administration in the Constitution. Concept Of Sovereignty And Suzerainty Dr. Ambedkar’s concept of sovereignty and suzerainty and of the Indian States, i.e., integration of the native Indian Princely States which gave the shape to the rap of India as if is today, has indeed been prophetic. So also were his explicitly and outspoken views on what he called the biggest blunder of Partition of India. Dr. Ambedkar forewarned his countrymen of the Consequences of partition. His questioning of the rationale of the tow nation theory which gave birth to Pakistan was born of deep interest in and compassion for his compatriots esp., the Scheduled castes settled for centuries within the territorial jurisdiction of the new notion of Pakistan. National Integration In the Draft Constitution Dr. Ambedkar prescribed single citizenship, a single judiciary and uniformity in fundamental Laws to integrate Indian society which was not only divided into caste and class, but also into regions, religions, languages, traditions and cultures. Therefore, a strong Centre was indispensable to maintain territorial integrity and administrative discipline. However, in the Draft Constitution he suggested the acceptance of Hindi in the ‘nagiri’ script as the National Language of India. When it was finally decided that India should be divided into India and Pakistan, Dr. Ambedkar at that time demanded the division of Punjab and Bengal, and the territories to be added to India. A pragmatist to the core, Ambedkar believed that in the absence of economic and social justice political independence would not bring about their social solidarity or, national integration. He advocated the abolition of privileges on the basis of caste or status and vigorously fought for the liberty and dignity of the individual. It the same time, he was equally force-full in his advocacy of the unity of the nation. Ambedkar sought to achieve there objectives through the constitution of India by incorporating in it the following principles. (1) Making the Indian constitution workable, flexible enough and strong enough to hold the country together both in peace and war time. (2) Providing special safeguards to the minorities and certain classes who are socially and educationally backward. (3) Incorporating the principle of one man, one value, and one man, one vote. Thus, the constitution of India accepted one individual and net on village as a unit. (4) Incorporating exceptions and qualifications to the FRs while advocating, preventive detention and energy way powers of the president of India. (5) Abolishign untochability and forced labour to achieve the ideal of “one man, one value, and one man, one vote’, and placing all people equal before the law; securing equal protection of laws for every citizens as also freedom of profession and equality of opportunity. (6) Incorporating the right to constitutional remedies for making the right real. Conclusion The contribution of Dr. Ambedkar in Indian Democracy is not to be forgotten. As a chairman of the Constitutional Committee he gave a shape to our country of a complete Sovereign, Democratic and Republic based on adult franchise. Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s name will be written in golden letters in the history of India as a creator of social justice. This fact is doubtless. He was not only the man of age and builder of the Constitution but also the creator of social justice and betterment of the downtrodden. He was one of the few sons in the History of India that he can be said to the gift of Indian freedom movement. If Mahatma Gandhi gave direction and lesson of morality then Baba Saheb gave shape to social aspect without exploitation. In true sense of the word, he gave democratic and anti caste aim. He spent his whole life for the betterment of the poor, exploited, untouchables and troubled classes. Thus, Dr. Ambedkar’s contribution to the Indian Constitution is undoubtedly of the highest order. Indeed he deserved to be called the “father or the Chief Architect” of the Indian Constitution. References 1. Dr. Dhyanraj Kashinath Gaikwad ‘Rajwansh’ – The Miraclous Great Man’ – Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. 2. Lalit. K. Sahay – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Man of Millenium. 3. B.J. Bhandutia – Champion of Human Rights. B.R. Ambedkar. 4. W.N. Kuber, B.R. Ambedkar. 5. Veridemder Grover, Bhimrao Ramji Ibid., Mirac.: A Biography of his vision and ideas. 6. G.S. Lokhande, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar – A Study in Social Democracy. 7. www.icundv.com/vesak2011/panel1/10RSSingh. 8. S.N. Mandal, “B.R. Ambedkar: His Thoughts and Observations”

Author Bio:   Name : Kavita Designation : Assistant Professor Institute of Law Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra Address : Kavita C/o Sh. Bhagwan Das H.No. 181/8, Akash Nagar Salarpur Road, Near B.R. International Public School, Kurukshetra – 136118 Mobile No. : 9466242186

Email:   [email protected], website:   http://www., asheesh kr barna : dr b r ambedkar make constitution of india for and indians such a greatest man. like dr apj abdul kalam....., santosh name : dr.b.r.ambedkar is great and very talented person in whole world., bhupali : nice information it help me alot, amit trivedi : he is not at all born in a dalit family , he basically adopt the dalit caste., for your kind information mr amit trivedi first read the life history then comment that he is not b : ok, mr. avinash prabhakar gaikwad : dr.babasaheb bhimrao ramji ambedkar, ajay dhirte : thanks for sharing this information., how to submit your article:, follow the procedure below to submit your articles, file your copyright - right now.

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BR Ambedkar in London: A thesis completed, a treaty concluded, a ‘bible’ of India promised

An excerpt from ‘indians in london: from the birth of the east indian company to independent india’, by arup k chatterjee..

About two decades ago, when [Subhash Chandra] Bose was still at Cambridge, a letter dated September 23, 1920 arrived at Professor Herbert Foxwell’s office at the London School of Economics. It was written by Edwin R Seligman, an economist from Columbia University, introducing an exceedingly talented scholar – Mr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. Two months later, Foxwell wrote to the secretary of the School that there was no more intellect that the Columbia graduate could conquer in London.

The first Dalit to study at Bombay’s Elphinstone College, Ambedkar, was awarded a Baroda State Scholarship that took him to Columbia University in 1913. Three years later, he found his way to London, desirous of becoming a barrister as well as finishing a doctoral dissertation on the history of the rupee. Ambedkar enrolled at Gray’s Inn, and attended courses on geography, political ideas, social evolution and social theory at London School of Economics, at a course fee of £10.10s.

In 1917, Ambedkar was invited to join as Military Secretary in Baroda, earning at the same time a leave of absence of up to four years from the London School of Economics. Back in India, he taught for a while as a professor in Sydenham College in Bombay, while also being one of the key intelligencers on the condition of “untouchables” in India for the government, during the drafting of the Government of India Act of 1919.

In late 1920, Ambedkar was to return to London, determined more than ever before, not to spare a farthing beyond his breathing means on the city’s allurements. Each day, the aspiring barrister woke up at the stroke of six. After a morning’s morsel, he moseyed into the crowd of London to find his way into the British Museum.

At dusk, he would leave his seat reluctantly – after being made to scurry out by the librarian and the guards – his pockets sagging under the notes that would finally become his thesis, The Problem of the Rupee , some of whose guineas would eventually find their home in the Constitution of India that he was going to author about three decades later. Back at his lodging at King Henry’s Road in Primrose Hill, mostly on foot, Ambedkar would live on sparsely whitened tea and poppadum late into the night.

It was here that the daughter of Ambedkar’s landlady, Fanny Fitzgerald, a war widow, found her affections strangely swayed by the Indian scholar. Fitzgerald was a typist at the House of Commons. She lent him money in difficult circumstances and volunteered to introduce him to people in governance, with whom he could discuss the Dalit question that was raging in India.

An apocryphal story goes that Miss Fitzgerald once gave Ambedkar a copy of the Bible. On receiving it, the future Father of the Indian Constitution promised to dedicate a bible to her of his own authoring. True to his commitment, he would fondly dedicate his book What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables (1945) to “F”. The incident, when that promise was exchanged, occurred after Ambedkar was called to the Bar in 1923.

In March that year, his doctoral thesis ran into trouble possibly because of its radical approach to the history of Indian economy under the British administration. He might have taken the subtle hint that passages in his work needed tempering – a notion that a man of his vision was likely to have quietly pocketed more as a compliment than an insult.

Ambedkar would have been happy to chisel the nose from his David for the show, like Michelangelo had four centuries ago in order to appease the connoisseur-like pretense of Piero Soderini, who had quipped, “Isn’t the nose a little too thick?” That done, Ambedkar resubmitted his thesis in August. It was approved two months later and published almost immediately thereafter. He expressed gratitude to his professor, Edwin Cannan, who, in turn, wrote the preface to his thesis, before Ambedkar travelled to Bonn for further studies.

Babasaheb, as he was now beginning to be called, was to return to London for each of the three Round Table Conferences held between 1930 and 1932. Two months before the Third Round Table Conference – in which both Labour and the Congress were absentees – Ambedkar and Gandhi reached a historic settlement in the Poona Pact. In September 1932, from the Yerwada prison near Bombay, Gandhi began a fast unto death protesting against the Ramsay MacDonald administration that was determined to divide India into provincial electorates on the basis of caste and social stratification.

In the pact signed with Madan Mohan Malviya, Ambedkar settled for 147 seats for the depressed classes. But the pact to which he was forsworn – tacitly made in London with Fanny Fitzgerald – that of writing the bible of modern India, was brewing like a storm that would take the form of an open battle between him and Gandhi, in the years of the Second World War.

Despite the strong network of Indians at the London School of Economics, Ambedkar chose not to hobnob with India League members. What might have been a sort of marriage-made-in-heaven between him and [VK Krishna] Menon was forestalled. If Menon was Nehru’s alter ego, he would also be instrumental in shaping the early career of the man to become an alter ego – principal secretary –to Indira Gandhi.

In the winter of 1935, a twenty-something Parmeshwar Narain Haksar arrived in London, enrolled as a student at the University College. The following year, he made an unsuccessful attempt for the civil services. In 1937, Haksar became a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, a distinction conferred on him with support from noted anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.

Although Haksar also studied at the London School of Economics, it probably never became public knowledge if he had acquired formal degrees from either university. Whether or not he did, as a scholar he commanded great attention from British intellectuals, especially in his arguments on the crisis of education in India, which he reckoned had been tailored to perpetuate British imperial interests and low levels of literacy in the colony.

Haksar was to be called to Bar at the Lincoln’s Inn, but, at the beckoning of Nehru, he would join the Indian Foreign Service in 1948. His red days in London were to yield him lifelong companions. In the 1930s, the Comintern came up with the policy of hatching popular fronts all across Europe with which to counter the growing threat of Nazism and Fascism. It was a phase in European ideologies that strongly affected British politics, and popular movements led by Labour leaders and student communists in London – a cosmopolitan and unswervingly left-leaning outlook that shaped much of the administration and policies of independent India until the years of the Emergency.

A socialist himself, Haksar held an influential position in the Federation of Indian Societies in UK and Ireland besides becoming the editor of its magazine, The Indian Student . His links with the Communist Party of Great Britain, Rajani Palme Dutt and the Soviet undercover agent at Cambridge, James Klugman – indeed with almost anyone of some consequence who supported the cause of Indian liberation – was more than enough for Scotland Yard to keep him closely watched in London.

In September 1941, when the India League organised a commemoration at the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square for the late Rabindranath Tagore a few months after his demise, Scotland Yard obliged by adding a leaf to their surveillance files. Inaugurated by M Maisky, a Russian ambassador, it was just one in a sea of events concerning India that the Yard and other intelligencers of His Majesty’s Government would tolerate during the interwar years. Almost all such gatherings featured subversive pamphlets and books published by the League and similar organisations that were openly lauded by Soviets and Soviet sympathisers.

It was just as well that Nehru also had to tolerate that under the shield of Haksar’s own watch a new romantic plot thickened around Primrose Hill, that of his daughter Indira and future son-in-law, Feroze. Feroze had his flat at Abbey Road and Haksar lived half a mile away, at Abercorn Place. Haksar was befriended by the Gandhis – Indira and Feroze – who introduced him to Sasadhar Sinha of the Bibliophile Bookshop. That, besides the India League and Allahabad connection, not to mention Haksar’s enviable culinary skills, ensured that he was soldered to the future of the Gandhis.

The future of the man who had leant the family his coveted surname would also take a blow on the burning issue of caste. Gandhi was not to be remembered as the sole nemesis of the British Empire. In an interview given to the BBC in 1955, Babasaheb indicated that one of the biggest reasons behind Clement Attlee handing over the reins of the Indian administration so suddenly was the persistent fear of a massive armed uprising in the colony.

He implied that the road to independence had already been paved by the Azad Hind Fauj brigadiered by Netaji. Bose had departed from London during Ambedkar’s days in the London School of Economics. But, he would return in Haksar’s time.

1920 - 1930

How to organize the downtrodden.

Dr. Ambedkar completed his academic work, and began in earnest his lifelong struggle for political rights and social justice for the downtrodden, and especially for the untouchables; his activities started to bring him into conflict with the views and plans of the Congress Party.

1920: Dr. Ambedkar started a weekly paper, "Mooknayak" ("Leader of the Voiceless"), in Marathi, with the help of the reform-minded  Shahu I (1884-1922) [ site ], Maharaja of Kolhapur [ Imperial Gazetteer ] [ Imperial Gazetteer map ]. In the first issue he called India a "home of inequality," and described Hindu society as "a tower which had several storeys without a ladder or an entrance. One was to die in the storey in which one was born." The Depressed Classes must be saved "from perpetual slavery, poverty, and ignorance"; herculean efforts must be made "to awaken them to their disabilities." (--Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p.41; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920: In March, he spoke at a Depressed Classes conference in Mangaon in Kolhapur State; it was attended by the Maharaja of Kolhapur, who publicly praised him as a future national leader. At the end of the conference the Maharaja and his courtiers shock the tradition-minded by actually dining with Ambedkar and his caste members. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p. 42; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920: In May, the Maharajah of Kolhapur convened another such conference, in Nagpur [ Imperial Gazetteer ] [ Imperial Gazetteer map ], a town later to acquire a major symbolic significance in Dr. Ambedkar's life.

"At the conclusion of the conference, Ambedkar made an attempt in the direction of consolidating the forces of the Depressed Classes. In the Central Provinces the Mahar community had eighteen sub-castes. He called the leaders of the community together and gave a dinner in which they all participated. It should be noted that with great persuasion Ambedkar could get all the sub-castes of the Mahar community, and not all the Untouchable communities, to dine together. It was not possible yet to make all the communities belonging to the Untouchables participate in an intercaste dinner!" (--slightly edited from the translation in Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p.43; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920: Having resigned from his teaching position, in July he returned to London, relying on his own savings, supplemented by loans from the Maharaja of Kolhapur and his friend Naval Bhathena. He returned to the London School of Economics, and to Gray's Inn to read for the Bar. He lived in poverty, and studied constantly in the British Museum [ site ]. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 44-46; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1922: Through unremitting hard work, Ambedkar once again overfulfilled all expectations: he completed a thesis for a M.Sc. (Econonics) degree at London School of Economics, and was called to the bar, and submitted a Ph.D. thesis in economics to the University of London. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 48-49; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1922: He planned to do further research in economics at the University of Bonn (and also toyed with the idea of studying Sanskrit there). He sent to the university a handwritten letter and CV in German , but the whole project didn't work out [ source ]. He soon had to return to London to deal with challenges to his thesis.

1923: His Ph.D. thesis at the University of London, " The Problem of the Rupee ," was challenged on political grounds (for its allegedly subversive, anti-British implications), but was resubmitted and finally accepted; it was at once published in London (by P.S. King and Son, Ltd.), and is "dedicated to the memory of my father and mother, as a token of my abiding gratitude for the sacrifices they made and the enlightenment they showed in the matter of my education." (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 49-50; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1924: Back in India, Dr. Ambedkar began to practice as a barrister in Bombay, and also began to lecture part-time at Batliboi's Accountancy Training Institute. He founded the "Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha" (Group for the Wellbeing of the Excluded), to help the Depressed Classes mobilize. Its motto was "Educate, Agitate, Organise." (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, pp. 80-81.)

1925: He published his London School of Economics M.A. thesis as " The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India "; it was dedicated to the Gaikwar of Baroda ("for his help in the matter of my education"), and had an introduction by Prof. Seligman. He also gave testimony before the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance . (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 81.)  

1926: The Governor of Bombay nominated him as a member of the Bombay Legislative Council; he took his duties seriously, and often delivered speeches on economic matters. Here are some of his important speeches, 1927-28 .

1926: He led the satyagraha at Mahad to exercise the right of Untouchables to draw water from the Chavdar Tank. He ceremonially took a drink of water from the tank, after which local caste Hindus rioted, and Brahmins took elaborate measure for the ritual purification of the tank. (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 83.)

1927: On January 1st, he held a meeting at the Koregaon Victory Memorial, 17 miles from Poona, which commemorates the defeat of the Peshwa's forces and the inauguration of British rule. The names of Mahar soldiers who fought with the British are inscribed there on a marble tablet. Such meetings still take place annually there on that day. (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, pp. 82-83; Eleanor Zelliot, personal communication, Feb. 2005)

1927: On June 8, he was formally awarded the Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. His Ph.D. thesis was " The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India ." (Note: different dates are given in different sources for this event, but this is the one given on his own official transcript, preserved in the Registrar's Office, Columbia University.)

1927: On December 24th, he addressed a second Depressed Classes Conference in Mahad; he attacked the Laws of Manu [ site ] [ site ], and then a copy of this ancient text was publicly burned, to the shock and horror of many caste Hindus. (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p.87.)

1928: Dr. Ambedkar was appointed Professor at the Government Law College, Bombay; his term of appointment ended in 1929. (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p.89.)

1928: Dr. Ambedkar was selected as a member of the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the Simon Commission, drafting guidelines for political change in India. Congress decided to boycott the Simon Commission because it has no Indians on it. Discussion: Syed Amjad Ali ; Banglapedia . Dissenting from the views of many of his colleagues, Dr. Ambedkar prepared a detailed report setting out his own recommendations.

1929: Dr. Ambedkar closed his second journal, "Bahiskrit Bharat" ("Excluded India"), which he had started in 1927, and replaced it with the "Janata" ("The People"), which was published until 1956, when it took on the name "Prabuddha Bharata" (after his conversion). (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology , Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 93; Eleanor Zelliot, private communication, Jan. 2005)

1929: On Oct. 23, during a visit to Chalisgaon, he had a bad accident, and was confined to bed until the last week of December.

​ All About Ambedkar  

Issn 2582-9785, a journal on theory and praxis, on economics, banking and trades: a critical overview of ambedkar's “the problem of the rupee”.

Janardan Das

The Problem of Rupee is 257-page long paper written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar that he presented as his Doctoral thesis at the London School of Economics (LSE) in March 1923. In it, Ambedkar tried to explain the troubles that were associated with the national currency of India - the Rupee. He argued against the British ploy to keep the exchange rate too high to facilitate the trade of their factory products.

In this article, I have tried to summarize the aforesaid book by Dr. Ambedkar. I have also tried to focus on how he advances his speech depicting the ups and downs of the Indian economy and currency. He introduces us to the characteristics of trade and business in our country even from the time when it was divided into several monarchical regions. He proclaims that in our country, the trade of any product had been conducted through the exchanges of money and those particular products. So evidently our merchant society is typically crowned as a pecuniary society that only runs on money.

Quoting W. C. Mitchell, Ambedkar reiterates that economists say money is pivotal to every individual in a society. And without the use of money, the distribution of anything can be a matter of disagreement and disturbance. In the next few lines of his speech, in the first chapter, he describes how the standards and currency were in the time of the Mughal empire and he certainly mentioned that the economic condition of the country was far better than that of today's, because it had a world-wide boundary of trade and free use of gold mohur and the silver rupee . Actually, before the administrative and financial invasion of British, Gold and silver were the inevitable parts of the medium of exchange without any fixed ratio. Hindu emperors and the Muslim emperors had some similarity in their trading features- both of them had a permissible use of metal coin in their empire but in the Mughal empire silver coins were at the center of currency, and later gold coins took that place in the Hindi empires. Mohur and rupee were similar in size, weight and composition. But the silver currency was unknown or more precisely unpopular to the southern part of the great Indian sub-continent because of the failure of Mughal administration. Instead of such coins, they normalised pagoda , the ancient gold coin traditioned from the time of Hindu kings. Mughals made allowances to recuperate the problems regarding faulty technology of the mints. Dr. Ambedkar observes that Mughals had initiated a system of provincial mints that had been maintained or ruled by a single unit or division. That made it easy to examine the issues related to monetary funds or mints. But later, these issues continued to be grow larger and made the poor and ignorant people suffer. He also tried to conjugate the great re-coinage of 1996 (?) . In the last half of the chapter, Ambedkar compared the coins as well as the rupee in every possible way.

Our country was divided into three presidencies during the British rule. So the British government set their target to change the parallel standard popular in Mughal times into a double standard by establishing an authorised ratio of exchange between pagoda , rupee , and mohur . But somewhere their effort partially went in vain. He gave a pictorial glimpse of how Bengal took this effort and tried to fix that ratio. Mainly, these types of attempts were taken and recommended by the Court of directors. But these steps were left to carry out by many of the provincial governments of India. In the first chapter of the problem of the rupee, Dr. Ambedkar explained how silver standards had been established through the vanishing of gold currency and how it had been supplemented by the paper currency. He also retorted how the Act XXIII of 1870 actually introduced nothing new - neither the number of the coins authorised by the mints nor its tender-powers. Rather, it helped just to make some improvements in monetary laws. Since the invention of coinage people always thought that the actual value of the coin can be exact with the price of the coin legalised by the mint. So according to him, the exact value of the coin can’t however always be the same as the certified value. That’s why in foreign countries, coins will not be legal tender if they vary from their legal standards beyond a certain limit. So, making coins legal tender without defining a certain limit to its toleration certainly makes way to cheat. Convincingly, the Act set a certain legal limit to the coins of its tolerance. The act also made an improvement that was to recognise the principle of free coinage. But we can not say that this principle of free coinage was perfect in every possible way as Ambedkar himself once said in this chapter that the principle had not been paid that much attention it deserved. Though it was the very basis of well-established currency in that it has an important bearing on the cardinal question of the amount of currency inevitable for the transactions of the people. According to Ambedkar, to solve this problem, two ways can be very useful to regulate such a huge quantity of transactions. One possible way is to close the mints and to leave it to the judgment of the government to handle the currency to suit our needs. The other way is to keep the mint as it is and to leave it to the self-interest of individuals to determine the amount of currency they need. Ambedkar aptly indicated both of the similarities and contradictions of the above-mentioned Act with the other ones where surely, he finds its incapability to regulate such a large quantity of currency.

In the introduction to the third chapter, Ambedkar was concerned about the economic results of the disturbance of the ‘par’ of exchange and he narrates it as the most “far-reaching character”. Our economic world can be sectioned into two neatly defined groups of people. These two categorised community had learned to use gold and silver and their standard money or purchasing standards. By giving a reference to 1873, he said that when a large amount of gold becomes equal to a large amount of silver, it barely matters for international transactions. It doesn’t make so much difference in which of the two currencies its obligations were stipulated and realized. But due to the dislocation of the fixed ratio or par, it becomes hard to indicate particularly how much silver is equal to how much of gold from one year to another, even from month to month. This exactitude of value which is the pivotal potential of monetary exchange, makes space for ambiguities of gambling. So, flatly all countries weren’t drawn to this center of perplexities in the same degree and the same extent; but yet it’s impossible for a nation which is a part of the international commercial world to escape from being dragged into it. This was true of our country as it was of no other country. India was a silver-standard country bound to a gold-standard country, so that her economic and financial picture was at “the mercy of blind forces operating upon the relative values of gold and silver which governed the rupee-sterling exchange.” Later in the discussion, Ambedkar pointed out the burdens of Indian economy and introduced us to an index [Table-XI] chart regarding the rupee cost of gold payments which showed data from year to year. If we give pay attention to the points figured out by Ambedkar, we can see that these burdens never stop, rather it’s been increasing day by day. Gradually, it caused various policies of high taxations and rigidity in Indian finance. Dr. Ambedkar brilliantly analysed Indian budgets between 1872-1882 and he proved that hardly a year passed without making an addition to the everlasting impositions on the country. He also analysed the information found in Malwa Opium Trade and was able to find errors in the economic policies of the Indian government. The taxes that the government standardized in these trades probably help the Indian economy to feel secure around the end of 1882. The government started exercising the virtue of economy along with the increment of resources. They found cheap agency of native Indians instead of employing imported Englishmen. And it was easy to use native intellect because the Educational Reforms of 1853 clearly says about the access of natives in Indian Civil Service. Thus, he finds the British try to set up a strong economy in India under the British Raj.

In the fourth chapter of the book, Ambedkar focuses on how the establishment of a stable economic system was dependent upon the re-establishment of a common standard of value. As it was the purpose just to normalise a common standard of value, its fulfillment was by no means an easy matter. The government found mostly two ways to make an experiment or practice. First thing was to declare any of the common metal as the standard currency and the second was to let gold and silver standard countries keep to these metal currencies and to establish a fixed ratio of exchange as to turn these to metal into a common standard of value. The first idea of normalising metal currency other than gold and silver was to make other countries leave their standards in favour of gold. If we look back at the history of movements for the reform of the Indian currency, we will mainly find two movements. The movement that led to introduce a gold standard first occupies this field. Dragging a reference to a ‘Report of the Indian Currency Committee’ of 1898, Dr. Ambedkar said that the notification of 1868 had bluntly failed and this failure doesn’t affect the history because the movement had already started earlier in the sixties and the movement had still life in it. Clearly, it is shown by the fact that it was revived four years later by Sir R. Temple, when he became the Finance Minister of India, in a memorandum dated May 15, 1872.

In the next few lines, Dr. Ambedkar talks about the second movement for the introduction of the gold standard that was conducted by Colonel J. T. Smith, the able Mint Master of India. Frankly, Dr. Ambedkar mentioned that his plan was a redress for the falling exchange. In this topic, he quoted the actual speech of Smith that was published in 1876 in London. Depicting the whole principle behind the presentation of J. T. Smith, Baba Saheb found it was considerably supported by the fall of silver in British India.

Now in the fifth chapter, we come to know that once somewhere Indian economic system felt that the problem of an erosive rupee was favourably dissolved. The long-lasting concerns and niceties that lingered over a long period even for a quarter of the century could not but have been successfully compensated by the adoption of a redress like the one mentioned in the fourth chapter. But unfortunately, the system originally planned, failed to be designed into reality. In its place, a system of currency in India grew up which was the very reverse or contradictory of it. A few years later when the legislative sanction had been shown the recommendations and suggestions of the Fowler committee, the Chamberlain Commission on Indian Finance and Currency said that the government contemplated to adopt the recommendations made by the committee of 1898, but the contemporary system utterly differs from the plan and had some common feature with the theory and suggestions made by Mr. A. M. Lindsay.

According to Mr. Lindsay’s scheme, he emphasised on how to turn the entire Indian currency to a rupee currency; the government was to give rupees in almost every case in return for gold, whereas gold for rupees only in foreign dispatch of money. The project was to be implicated through the assistance in between of two offices, one was in London and the other located in here, India. The first was to sell drafts on the latter when rupees were wanted and the latter was to sell drafts on the former when gold was wanted. Unbelievably, the same or similar system prevailed in our country. It was rejected in 1898. Then gradually paper currency came up to the Indian economic realm and two reserves one of gold and other of currencies left other than gold. Ambedkar had lengthened his discussion over Indian currencies after these events.

In the sixth chapter of the book, Dr. Ambedkar said about a memorable thing that was to remind the time when all the Indian Mints were shut down to the free coinage of silver. and the economic world in India was surely divided into two parties, one in favour of the step and the other stood in opposition to the closure of the mints. Being placed in an embarrassing and contradictory position by the fall of the rupee, the British Government of the time felt anxiety to close the Mints and increase its value with a conception to sigh in relief from the burden of its gold payments. Whereas it was requested, to produce an increment of interest of the country, that such accretion in the exchange value of the rupee would cause a disaster to the entire Indian trade and industry. One of the reasons, it was argued, why the Indian industry had advanced by such leaps and bounds as it did from 1873 to 1893 was to be found in the bounty given to the Indian export trade by the falling exchange. If the fall of the rupee was discovered by the Mint closure, everyone feared that such an event was certainly bound to cut Indian trade both ways. It would give the silver-using countries a bounty as over against India and would deprive India of the bounty which is obtained from the falling exchange as over against gold-using countries.

However, in the seventh as well as the last chapter of the book, Ambedkar examined the system of the economy that was advancing towards the changes of the exchange standard in the light of the claim made on behalf of it. Though it is very much a matter of uncertainty and hard to explain the history of Indian banking, but sure if being followed, it will be easy to interpret the market, values of products. Unmistakably, the works of Ambedkar led the nation towards the development and advancement of its economics and international banking and trades.

Works Cited

Ambedkar, B. R. History of Indian Currency and Banking. Butler & Tanner Ltd.

______________. The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India. P. S. King & Son Ltd., 1925.

______________. The Problem of the Rupee. P. S. King & Son Ltd., 1923.

Author Information

Janardan Das studies English literature at Presidency University, Kolkata.

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UK's prestigious London School of Economics has released archival documents on Dr B R Ambedkar, one of its famous students and architect of the Indian Constitution, to mark his 125th birth anniversary.

Ambedkar was studying at the Columbia University in 1920 when economist Edwin R Seligman wrote to Professor Herbert Foxwell, teaching at London School of Economics (LSE), asking him to help Ambedkar with his research.

"I find he has already taken his doctor's degree and has only come here to finish a research. I had forgotten this. I am sorry we cannot identify him with the School but there are no more worlds here for him to conquer," Foxwell wrote to LSE secretary Mrs Mair soon after.

The Dalit leader's student days in London were marked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last November when he opened a museum at his former home in north London. Ambedkar went on to register for a master's degree and completed a PhD thesis at LSE. The year 2016 also marks the centenary of his first visit to LSE in 1916, the LSE said in its release.

"In 1916, he registered at LSE for a master's degree and took courses in Geography with Halford Mackinder, and Political Ideas with G Lowes Dickinson, alongside Social Evolution and Social Theory with Professor L T Hobhouse. The fees for the course were 10 pounds 10 shillings. At the same time, Ambedkar enrolled for the bar course at Gray's Inn," the LSE documents show.

Ambedkar's studies were interrupted as he was recalled to India to serve as Military Secretary in Baroda and in July 1917 the University of London gave him leave of absence of up to four years. In 1920, Ambedkar returned to LSE after working as professor of political economy at Sydenham College in Mumbai and giving evidence to the Scarborough Committee preparing the 1919 Government of India Act on the position and representation of "untouchable" communities.

Initially, he applied to complete his masters degree and wrote a thesis on 'The Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in India'.

"There was a slight glitch in his LSE career in April 1921 when he failed to send in his form for the summer examinations and the School Secretary, Mrs Mair, had to write to University of London's Academic Registrar for permission to submit the form late," the LSE records.

Ambedkar finally submitted his doctoral thesis, 'The Problem of the Rupee', in March 1923 but it was not recommended for acceptance and reports claim that the thesis was too revolutionary and anti-British for the examiners. However, there is no indication of this in Ambedkar's student file.

The thesis was resubmitted in August 1923 and accepted in November 1923. After his success in academics, Ambedkar returned to India where he was prominent in the campaign for Indian independence and opposing discrimination against Dalit communities.

On August 29, 1947, the iconic leader was appointed Chairman of the Constitution's 'Drafting Committee'. He was awarded 'Bharat Ratna', India's highest civilian award, in 1990. He died in 1956 at the age of 65. 

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Columbia University Libraries

Dr. ambedkar and columbia university: a legacy to celebrate.

For those of you who may not know, Dr. Ambedkar is a Dalit, an Indian jurist, economist, politician, activist and social reformer, who systematically campaigned against social discrimination towards women, workers, but most notably, towards the Dalits, and forcefully argued against the caste system in Hindu society. Dr. Ambedkar was the main architect of the Constitution of India, and served as the first law and justice minister of the Republic of India, and is considered by many one of the foremost global critical thinkers of the 20 th c., and a founder of the Dalit Buddhist movement. Ambedkar’s fight for social justice for Dalits, as well as women, and workers consumed his life’s activities: in 1950 he resigned from his position as the country’s first minister of law when Nehru’s cabinet refused to pass the Women’s Rights Bill. His feud with Mahatma Gandhi over Dalit political representation and suffrage in the newly independent State of India is by now famous, or I should say notorious, and it is Dr. Ambedkar who comes out on the right side of history.

The bronze bust, sculpted by Vinay Brahmesh Wagh of Bombay, was presented by the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organizations, UK to the Southern Asian Institute of Columbia University on October 24, 1991, and then the wooden pedestal on which the statue now rests was donated by the Society of the Ambedkarites of New York and New Jersey, and placed in Lehman Library in 1995. The bust is the only site in the city where Dr. Ambedkar is honored, and is one of the most popular sites in enclosed spaces on campus that I have seen (you have to walk past the library entrance to get to it). 

Every year, on April 14 th, Ambedkar’s birthday, Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti, is celebrated in India (as an official holiday since 2015), at the UN (since 2016), and around the world. On this day, many visitors flock to Lehman Library, to pay tribute to Baba Saheb and place garlands on the bust. The sight of the visitors– many of whom come to Columbia just to see the bust and pay homage to the man who changed Indian society, brings home the significance of recognizing our critical thinkers, across cultures, eras, languages, divisions and types of social injustice, in the public fora of libraries. It is a powerful reminder that it is through scholarship and indeed through libraries and learning that human differences and injustices can be better understood, addressed and perhaps overcome.  

Years later, Dr. Ambedkar writes: ‘The best friends I have had in life were some of my classmates at Columbia and my great professors, John Dewey , James Shotwell, Edwin Seligman , and James Harvey Robinson.'” (Source: “‘Untouchables’ Represented by Ambedkar, ’15AM, ’28PhD,” Columbia Alumni News, Dec. 19, 1930, page 12.)

Ambedkar majored in Economics, and took many courses in sociology, history, philosophy, as well as anthropology.

In 1915, he submitted an M. A. thesis entitled: The Administration and Finance of the East India Company . (He is believed to have begun an M. A. thesis entitled  Ancient Indian Commerce earlier. That thesis is unavailable at the RBML but it is reprinted in volume 12 of Ambedkar’s collected writings). By the time he left Columbia in 1916 Ambedkar had begun research for his doctoral thesis entitled: “National Dividend of India–A Historic and Analytical Study. About this thesis, Ambedkar writes to his mentor Prof. Seligman, with whom he forged a long and friendly correspondence, even after he left Columbia:  “My dear Prof. Seligman, Having lost my manuscript of the original thesis when the steamer was torpedoed on my way back to India in 1917 I have written out a new thesis… [ …from the letter of Feb. 16, 1922, Seligman papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University ” cited in Dr. Frances Pritchard’s excellent  online website about Ambedkar ]. In 1920, Ambedkar writes: “My dear Prof. Seligman, You will probably be surprised to see me back in London. I am on my way to New York but I am halting in London for about two years to finish a piece or two of research work which I have undertaken. Of course I long to be with you again for it was when I was thrown into academic life by reason of my being a professor at the Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics in Bombay, that I realized the huge debt of gratitude I owe to the Political Science Faculty of the Columbia University in general and to you in particular.” B. R. Ambedkar, London, 3/8/20” , (Source: letter of August 3, 1920, Seligman papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, cited in Pritchard’s website ).  Ambedkar would join the London School of Economics for a few years and submit a thesis there, but then, he would eventually come back to Columbia, to submit a Ph.D. thesis in Economics , in 1925 under the mentorship of his dear friend Prof. Seligman, entitled: The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India: A  Study in the Provincial Decentralization of Imperial Finance .  (It should be noted here that the thesis was first published in 1923 and again in 1925, this time with a Foreword by Edwin Seligman, by the publishers P. S. King and Son).

If it is Seligman he stayed in touch with and corresponded throughout, the person who most influenced his thought and shaped his political, philosophical and ethical outlook, was Dewey. For many thinkers, the links between Dewey and  Ambedkar’s ethical and philosophical thinking are obvious.  Ambedkar deeply admired Dewey and repeatedly acknowledged his debt to Dewey, calling him “his teacher”.  Ambedkar’s thought was deeply etched by John Dewey’s ideas of education as linked to experience, as practical and contextual, and the ideas of freedom and equality as essentially tied with the ideals of justice and of fraternity, a concept he would go on to apply to the Indian context, and to his pointed criticism of the caste system. Echoing many ideas propagated by Dewey, Ambedkar writes in the Annhilation of Caste : “Reason and morality are the two most powerful weapons in the armoury of a reformer. To deprive him of the use of these weapons is to disable him for action. How are you going to break up Caste, if people are not free to consider whether it accords with reason? How are you going to break up Caste, if people are not free to consider whether it accords with morality?” 

Having sat in several classes given by Dewey, and as early as 1916, Ambedkar would go on to address, at a Columbia University Seminar taught by the anthropologist Prof. Alexander Goldenweiser (1880-1940), his colleagues and friends with many of the ideas he later developed in his famous book: the Annihilation of Caste. The paper “ Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development ” contains many similarities to the Annihilation of Caste, and some of the books’ essential tenets., as acknowledged by Ambedkar himself ( Preface to the 3rd edition, Annihilation of Caste ).

The Columbia University Archives and the Columbia University Libraries hold many resources related to Dr. Ambedkar and to the Dalit movement and Dalit literature. For any inquiries regarding relevant resources, please do not hesitate to contact us: Gary Hausman : South and Southeast Asian Librarian , Global Studies; Rare Book and Manuscript Library: RBML Archivists

Happy Baba Saheb Ambedkar Juyanti!

Kaoukab Chebaro , Global Studies, Head

Today, for the first time studying for Civil Services I got to know about this great man. I think that in the galaxy of freedom fighters which India have produced he was the one we can truly say as the ‘Pole Star’. A true leader who walked the talk, he fought not only for country but also for the rights of the minority who were being annihilated for centuries. We should take cue from this man and try to go for equality, and that equality should be of thoughts, feelings and desires. It’s not at all wrong to aspire for greatness in life but to stifle a man’s path with the chains of societal norms is a sin in my sense. I hope to imbibe some of his qualities in my life. Let long live his legacy.

Thus my goodDr.BR. Ambedkar

Indeed Great emancipator of millions marginalised people, architect of Indian constitution, philosopher, economist, social reformer, jurist, astute politician no lastly father of modern India !! Jaibhim !!

What a great man. Wonderful article.

If it wasn’t for Dr.Ambedkar I wouldn’t be here in this country and have a life that I do now. I will forever be indebted to this Great Man’s courage in the face of adversity. Words cannot describe the gratitude I have for this man Thank you

Excellent effort to make this blog more wonderful and attractive.

Dr. Ambedkar was a great man.

Wonderful Article and an excellent blog. Greetings. Llorenç

Baba Saheb Dr. B R Ambedkar is alive in his works for humanity. Study Social Science or Law, or Education, or about farmers, or Dams and irrigation, or planning commission and budget or journalism, or human rights ……. on most of the subjects and disciplines, his live seen in his works and writtings. By reading him; his life, and his works, he inspires others by his works for the betterment of the society and a world, as a whole.

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Every breathe I take today is because of your struggle to give us an equal and fair society. It could not be possible to imagine even a single day without understanding your life and struggles. Each and every aspect of my existence is because of you Babasaheb. However, the current state of Dalit society pains me.

Such a great personality, tried hard to improvise the system in the country but had to face too much opposition and hatred. Salute to his strength and beliefs that he continued his fight for social justice despite such circumstances.

He was a great man, I considered India’s progress because of his work for the emancipation of millions of marginalized people in India

Is Columbia University conducting a Post Graduate course or PHD on Dr. Ambedkar thought?

Baba sahab Was great human Baba sahab is great human Baba sahab will great human .

Baba sahab god gifted and human for students, politicians, poor humans and all leaders ❤❤

I am thankful to Babasaheb Ambedkar for the beautiful living given to me by his at most efforts to eradicate the caste system through out India and to uplift the standard of living of the downtrodden of this country. He was a great man who fought for the rights and upliftment of the downtrodden and the dignity of women of this nation. A true Indian and a great patriot of the nation. I salute him for his work and knowledge.

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Publications

Center invites research manuscripts every three months in a prescribed format on selected themes on the Dr. B. R. Ambedkars’ thought and vision for the betterment of the society nation building. The center also publishes original works of the young scholars, when the manuscripts are in accordance with the research areas of the center.

The journey of Baba Saheb Ambedkar –  Life, History & Works

• Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891, he was the 14 th and last child of his parents.
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the son of Subedar Ramji Maloji Sakpal. He was Subedar in British Army. Babasaheb’s father was a follower of Sant Kabir and was also a well-read person.
• Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was hardly two years old when his father retired from service. His mother died when he was only about six. Babasaheb got his early education in Bombay. Since his school days he realized with intense shock what it was to be an untouchable in India.
• Dr. Ambedkar was taking his school education in Satara. Unfortunately, Dr. Ambedkar lost his mother. His aunt looked after him. Afterwards, they shifted to Bombay. Throughout his school education, he suffered from the curse of untouchability. His marriage took place after his matriculation in 1907 in an open shed of a market.
• Dr. Ambedkar completed his graduation at Elphinston College, Bombay, for which he was getting a scholarship from His Highness Sayajirao Gaikwad of Baroda. After his graduation, he had to join Baroda Sansthan according to the bond. He lost his father when he was in Baroda, 1913 is the year when Dr. Ambedkar was selected as a scholar to go to U.S.A, for the higher studies. This was the turning point of his educational career.
• He got his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in 1915 and 1916 respectively. He then left for London for further studies. He was admitted there to the Gray’s Inn for Law and also allowed to prepare for the D. Sc. at the London School of Economics and Political Science. But he was called back to India by the Dewan of Baroda. Later, he got his Bar-at-Law and D.Sc. degree also. He studied for some time at Bonn University in Germany.
• In 1916 he read an essay on ‘Castes in India — their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development’. In 1916, he wrote his thesis ‘National dividend for India — A Historic and Analytical Study’ and got his Ph.D. Degree. This was published after eight years   under the title — “Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India.” Then after getting this highest degree, he returned to India and was appointed a Military Secretary to the Maharaja of Baroda with a view to groom him as the finance minister in the long run.
• Babasaheb returned to the city in September, 1917 as his scholarship tenure ended and joined the service. But after a brief stay in the city till November, 1917, he left for Mumbai. The maltreatment he faced on grounds of untouchability had forced him to leave the service.
• Dr. Ambedkar returned to Bombay and joined Sydenham College as a Professor of Political Economy. As he was well read, he was very popular among the students. But he resigned his post, to resume his studies in Law and Economics in London. Maharaja of Kolhapur gave him the financial help. In 1921 , he wrote his thesis. “Provincial Decentralization of Imperial Finance in British India,’ and got his M.Sc. Degree from the London University. Then he spent some period in Bonn University in Germany. In 1923 , he submitted his thesis — “Problem of Rupee its Origin and Solution”, for the D.Sc. Degree. He was called to Bar in 1923 .
• After coming back from England in 1924 he started an Association for the welfare of the depressed classes, with Sir Chimanlal Setalvad as the President and Dr. Ambedkar as the Chairman. To spread education, improve economic conditions and represent the grievances of depressed classes were the immediate objects of the Association.
• The Bahiskrit Bharat , newspaper was started in April 3, 1927 to address the cause of the depressed classes in view of the new reform.
• In 1928, he became a Professor in Government Law College, Bombay and on June 1, 1935 he became the Principal of the same college and remained in that position till his resignation in 1938.
• On October 13, 1935, a provincial conference of the depressed classes was held a Yeola in Nasik District. In this conference, he gave the shock to the Hindus by announcing. “I was born in Hinduism but I will not die as a Hindu” Thousands of his followers supported his decision. In 1936 he addressed the Bombay Presidency Mahar Conference and advocated the renunciation of Hinduism.
• On August 15, 1936, he formed Independent Labour Party to safeguard the interest of the depressed classes, which mostly formed the labour population.
• In 1938, Congress introduced a bill making change in the name of untouchables. Dr. Ambedkar criticized it. In his point of view changing the name is not the solution of the problem.
• In 1942, he was appointed to the Executive Council of the Governor General of India as a Labour member, in 1946, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal. At the same time he published his book, Who were Shudras?
• After Independence, in 1947, he was appointed as a Minister of Law and Justice in Nehru’s first cabinet. But in 1951, he resigned his ministership, expressing his differences on the Kashmir issue, India’s Foreign Policy and Nehru’s Policy towards the Hindu Code Bill.
• In 1952, Columbia University conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in recognition of the work done by him in connection with the drafting of India’s Constitution. In 1955, he published his book titled Thoughts on Linguistic States .
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was awarded a Doctorate on January 12, 1953, from Osmania University. Ultimately after 21 years, he proved true, what he had announced in Yeola in 1935 , that “I will not die as a Hindu”. On 14th Oct. 1956, he embraced Buddhism in a historic ceremony in Nagpur and died on 6th Dec. 1956.
• Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was conferred with the title of “Bodhisattva” by the Buddhist monks at “Jagatik Buddhism Council” in 1954 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The special thing is that Dr Ambedkar was conferred with the title of Bodhisattva while he was alive.
• He also contributed to India’s Independence struggle and in its reforms post-independence. Apart from this, Babasaheb played a significant role in the formation of the Reserve Bank of India. The Central bank was formed on the concept presented by Babasaheb to the Hilton Young Commission.
• This sparkling life history of Dr. Ambedkar shows that he was a man of study and action. Firstly, he acquired sound knowledge of Economics Politics, Law, Philosophy  and Sociology, in pursuing his studies; he had to face many social odds. But he did not spend all his life in reading and studying and in the libraries. He refused the higher posts with attractive salaries because he never forgot his brothers in the depressed class. He dedicated the rest of his life for equality, brotherhood and humanity. He tried his best for the upliftment of the depressed classes.
• After having gone through his life history it is necessary and proper to study and analyze his main contribution and their relevance. According to one opinion there are three points which are more important even today. Today also Indian Economy and Indian Society is facing many economic, and social problems. Dr. Ambedkar’s thoughts and actions may guide us for the solution of these problems.
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s death anniversary is observed as Mahaparinirvan Diwas across the country.

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KBC 13's first crorepati Himani Bundela couldn't answer the ₹ 7 crore question on BR Ambedkar, can you?

Kbc 13: himani bundela, kaun banega crorepati's first crorepati, attempted the ₹7 crore question but couldn't get the right answer..

Kaun Banega Crorepati 13 found its first crorepati in Himani Bundela. In the episode aired on Tuesday night, the 25-year-old teacher from Agra won ₹ 1 crore by answering a question on Noor Inayat Khan. However, when the ₹ 7 crore jackpot question was asked to her, she wasn't sure of the answer and opted to quit.

For the ₹ 7 crore question, Amitabh Bachchan asked Himani:

What was the title of the thesis that Dr BR Ambedkar submitted to the London School of Economics for which he was awarded his doctorate in 1923?

Her options were:

The Want And Means Of India, The Problem Of The Rupee, National Dividend Of India and The Law And Lawyers.

While she decided to quit the game at that point, Amitabh asked her to pick an option. She chose National Dividend of India. The correct answer was The Problem Of The Rupee.

First published in 1923, The Problem Of The Rupee raised currency questions during the British rule in India. The Reserve Bank of India was conceptualised from Hilton Young Commission’s recommendation, considering Ambedkar’s guidelines mentioned in the book.

Also read: KBC 13: Himani Bundela correctly answered this ₹ 1 crore question with a Radhika Apte connect. Can you?

Although she couldn't guess the ₹ 7 crore answer, Himani took home a cheque of ₹ 1 crore. In a recent interview, she revealed how she would use the money. "Whatever amount I have won on the show, I can't reveal that. I want to start inclusive coaching. We have an inclusive university, but not coaching. It will be for competitive purposes where the differently abled and normal kids will study together. We will prepare them for UPSC, CPCS. I also took an initiative to teach the visually able kids 'Mental Math'. I want to set up my father's small business which completely came to zero during the lockdown. I want to re-establish that business so that their future is secured," she told a leading daily.

Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail

• ₹ 7 crore question on BR Ambedkar, can you?','cta_text':'Kbc','article_id':'101630466213707','article_category':'entertainment','publish-date':'Sep 01, 2021 09:44 AM IST','logged_in_status':(getCookie('ht_token') ? 'logged_in':'non_logged_in'),'user_ID':(getCookie('ht_token') ? getCookie('_ht_clientid'):'NA')});" > Kbc
• ₹ 7 crore question on BR Ambedkar, can you?','cta_text':'Kaun Banega Crorepati 13','article_id':'101630466213707','article_category':'entertainment','publish-date':'Sep 01, 2021 09:44 AM IST','logged_in_status':(getCookie('ht_token') ? 'logged_in':'non_logged_in'),'user_ID':(getCookie('ht_token') ? getCookie('_ht_clientid'):'NA')});" > Kaun Banega Crorepati 13
• ₹ 7 crore question on BR Ambedkar, can you?','cta_text':'Amitabh Bachchan','article_id':'101630466213707','article_category':'entertainment','publish-date':'Sep 01, 2021 09:44 AM IST','logged_in_status':(getCookie('ht_token') ? 'logged_in':'non_logged_in'),'user_ID':(getCookie('ht_token') ? getCookie('_ht_clientid'):'NA')});" > Amitabh Bachchan

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