79 Facts About Bhimrao Ambedkar

1.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru, and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement after renouncing Hinduism.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,396
2.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 in the town and military cantonment of Mhow.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,397
3.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal, an army officer who held the rank of Subedar, and Bhimabai Sakpal, daughter of Laxman Murbadkar.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,398
4.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambadawe in Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,399
5.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was born into a Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,400
6.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's ancestors had long worked for the army of the British East India Company, and his father served in the British Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,401
7.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was required to sit on a gunny sack which he had to take home with him.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,402
8.

In 1897, Bhimrao Ambedkar's family moved to Mumbai where Bhimrao Ambedkar became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,403
9.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's wife had just moved his young family and started work when he had to quickly return to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,404
10.

Bhimrao Ambedkar passed his M A exam in June 1915, majoring in economics, and other subjects of Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,405
11.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was influenced by John Dewey and his work on democracy.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,406
12.

Bhimrao Ambedkar got permission to return to London to submit his thesis within four years.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,407
13.

Bhimrao Ambedkar returned at the first opportunity, and completed a master's degree in 1921.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,408
14.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's thesis was on "The problem of the rupee: Its origin and its solution".

FactSnippet No. 2,014,409
15.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was appointed Military Secretary to the Gaikwad but had to quit in a short time.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,410
16.

Bhimrao Ambedkar described the incident in his autobiography, Waiting for a Visa.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,411
17.

Bhimrao Ambedkar worked as a private tutor, as an accountant, and established an investment consulting business, but it failed when his clients learned that he was an untouchable.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,412
18.

Bhimrao Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,413
19.

At this hearing, Bhimrao Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for untouchables and other religious communities.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,414
20.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's first organised attempt was his establishment of the central institution Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, intended to promote education and socio-economic improvement, as well as the welfare of "outcastes", at the time referred to as depressed classes.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,415
21.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon Commission in 1925.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,416
22.

Bhimrao Ambedkar began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,417
23.

Bhimrao Ambedkar led a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,418
24.

In 1930, Bhimrao Ambedkar launched the Kalaram Temple movement after three months of preparation.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,419
25.

In 1935, Bhimrao Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Bombay, a position he held for two years.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,420
26.

Bhimrao Ambedkar served as the chairman of Governing body of Ramjas College, University of Delhi, after the death of its Founder Shri Rai Kedarnath.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,421
27.

In 1936, Bhimrao Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which contested the 1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly for the 13 reserved and 4 general seats, and secured 11 and 3 seats respectively.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,422
28.

Bhimrao Ambedkar published his book Annihilation of Caste on 15 May 1936.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,423
29.

In 1937, Bhimrao Ambedkar tabled a bill in the Bombay Legislative Assembly aimed at abolishing the khoti system by creating a direct relationship between government and farmers.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,424
30.

Bhimrao Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,425
31.

Jinnah and Bhimrao Ambedkar jointly addressed the heavily attended Day of Deliverance event in Bhindi Bazaar, Bombay, where both expressed "fiery" criticisms of the Congress party, and according to one observer, suggested that Islam and Hinduism were irreconcilable.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,426
32.

Bhimrao Ambedkar argued that the Hindus should concede Pakistan to the Muslims.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,427
33.

Bhimrao Ambedkar proposed that the provincial boundaries of Punjab and Bengal should be redrawn to separate the Muslim and non-Muslim majority parts.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,428
34.

Bhimrao Ambedkar thought the Muslims could have no objection to redrawing provincial boundaries.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,429
35.

Bhimrao Ambedkar saw Shudras and Ati Shudras who form the lowest caste in the ritual hierarchy of the caste system, as separate from Untouchables.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,430
36.

Bhimrao Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the 1946 elections for Constituent Assembly of India.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,431
37.

Bhimrao Ambedkar contested in the Bombay North first Indian General Election of 1952, but lost to his former assistant and Congress Party candidate Narayan Kajrolkar.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,432
38.

Bhimrao Ambedkar became a member of Rajya Sabha, probably an appointed member.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,433
39.

Bhimrao Ambedkar tried to enter Lok Sabha again in the by-election of 1954 from Bhandara, but he placed third.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,434
40.

Bhimrao Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, and won the Assembly's support for introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and Other Backward Class, a system akin to affirmative action.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,435
41.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was the first Indian to pursue a doctorate in economics abroad.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,436
42.

Bhimrao Ambedkar argued that industrialisation and agricultural growth could enhance the Indian economy.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,437
43.

Bhimrao Ambedkar stressed investment in agriculture as the primary industry of India.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,438
44.

Bhimrao Ambedkar advocated national economic and social development, stressing education, public hygiene, community health, residential facilities as the basic amenities.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,439
45.

Bhimrao Ambedkar favoured the stoppage of all further coinage of the rupee and the minting of a gold coin, which he believed would fix currency rates and prices.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,440
46.

Bhimrao Ambedkar analysed revenue in his PhD dissertation The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,441
47.

Bhimrao Ambedkar contributed in Land Revenue Tax and excise duty policies to stabilise the economy.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,442
48.

Bhimrao Ambedkar played an important role in land reform and the state economic development.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,443
49.

Bhimrao Ambedkar emphasised a free economy with a stable Rupee which India has adopted recently.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,444
50.

Bhimrao Ambedkar advocated birth control to develop the Indian economy, and this has been adopted by Indian government as national policy for family planning.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,445
51.

Bhimrao Ambedkar emphasised equal rights for women for economic development.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,446
52.

Bhimrao Ambedkar believed there was an "ideal proportion" of production factors that would allow agricultural land to be used most productively.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,447
53.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was trained as an economist, and was a professional economist until 1921, when he became a political leader.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,448
54.

Bhimrao Ambedkar went to Bombay for treatment, and there met Sharada Kabir, whom he married on 15 April 1948, at his home in New Delhi.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,449
55.

Bhimrao Ambedkar adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and cared for him the rest of his life.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,450
56.

Bhimrao Ambedkar considered converting to Sikhism, which encouraged opposition to oppression and so appealed to leaders of scheduled castes.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,451
57.

Bhimrao Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,452
58.

Bhimrao Ambedkar then proceeded to convert some 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,453
59.

Bhimrao Ambedkar prescribed the 22 Vows for these converts, after the Three Jewels and Five Precepts.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,454
60.

Bhimrao Ambedkar then travelled to Kathmandu, Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,455
61.

Bhimrao Ambedkar remained in bed from June to October in 1954 due to medication side-effects and poor eyesight.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,456
62.

Three days after completing his final manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, Bhimrao Ambedkar died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 at his home in Delhi.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,457
63.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's birthdate is celebrated as a public holiday known as Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,458
64.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1990.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,459
65.

Bhimrao Ambedkar's initiatives have influenced various spheres of life and transformed the way India today looks at socio-economic policies, education and affirmative action through socio-economic and legal incentives.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,460
66.

Bhimrao Ambedkar passionately believed in individual freedom and criticised caste society.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,461
67.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was voted "the Greatest Indian" in 2012 by a poll organised by History TV18 and CNN IBN, ahead of Patel and Nehru.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,462
68.

Bhimrao Ambedkar has been criticised for his one-sided views on the issue of caste at the expense of cooperation with the larger nationalist movement.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,463
69.

Bhimrao Ambedkar has been criticised by some of his biographers over his neglect of organization-building.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,464
70.

Bhimrao Ambedkar said in 1935 that he was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,465
71.

Bhimrao Ambedkar viewed Hinduism as an "oppressive religion" and started to consider conversion to any other religion.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,466
72.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was critical of Hindu religious texts and epics and wrote a work titled Riddles in Hinduism in 1954 to 1955.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,467
73.

Bhimrao Ambedkar criticized distinctions within Islam and described the religion as "a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction".

FactSnippet No. 2,014,468
74.

Bhimrao Ambedkar opposed conversions of depressed classes to convert to Islam or Christianity added that if they converted to Islam then "the danger of Muslim domination becomes real" and if they converted to Christianity then it "will help to strengthen the hold of Britain on the country".

FactSnippet No. 2,014,469
75.

Bhimrao Ambedkar viewed Shudras as originally being "part of the Kshatriya Varna in the Indo-Aryan society", but became socially degraded after they inflicted many tyrannies on Brahmins.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,470
76.

Bhimrao Ambedkar disputed various hypotheses of the Aryan homeland being outside India, and concluded the Aryan homeland was India itself.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,471
77.

Bhimrao Ambedkar accepted the Marxist theory that the privileged few's exploitation of the masses perpetuated poverty and its issues.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,472
78.

Bhimrao Ambedkar saw Communists as willing to resort to any means to achieve proletarian revolution, including violence, while he himself saw democratic and peaceful measures as the best option for change.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,473
79.

Bhimrao Ambedkar opposed the Marxist idea of controlling all the means of production and ending private ownership of property: seeing the latter measure as not able to fix the problems of society.

FactSnippet No. 2,014,474