Brief Biography

Dr Bheemrao Ambedkar
Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar is
D
r Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on Company, and his father served in the

viewed as messi-
April 14, 1891 in Mhow (presently Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment, ris-

ah of dalits and
in Madhya Pradesh). He was the ing to the rank of Subedar. He had received

downtrodden in
fourteenth child of Ramji and Bhimabai a degree of formal education in Marathi and
Sakpal Ambedkar. B.R. Ambedkar belonged English, and encouraged his children to

India. He was the

to the “untouchable” Mahar Caste. His father learn and work hard at school.

chairman of the
and grandfather served in the British Army. Belonging to KabirPanth, RamjiSakpal

drafting commit-
In those days, the government ensured that all encouraged his children to read the Hindu
the army personnel and their children were classics, especially the Mahabharata and the

tee that was con-

educated and ran special schools for this pur- Ramayana. He used his position in the army

stituted by the
pose. This ensured good education for to lobby for his children to study at the gov-

Constituent
BhimraoAmbedkar, which would have other- ernment school, as they faced resistance
wise been denied to him by the virtue of his owing to their caste. Although able to attend

Assembly in 1947
caste. school, Ambedkar and other Untouchable

to draft a consti-
BhimraoRamjiAmbedkar was born in children were segregated and given no

tution for the

the British-founded town and military can- attention or assistance from the teachers.
tonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces RamjiSakpal retired in 1894 and the family

independent
(now in Madhya Pradesh). He was the 14th moved to Satara two years later. Shortly

India. For his

and last child of RamjiMalojiSakpal and after their move, Ambedkar’s mother died.

yeoman service
BhimabaiMurbadkar. His family was of The children were cared for by their pater-
Marathi background from the town of nal aunt, and lived in difficult circum-

to the nation,
Ambavade in the Ratnagiri district of mod- stances. Only three sons—Balaram,

B.R. Ambedkar
ern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Anandrao and Bhimrao—and two daugh-

was bestowed
Hindu Mahar caste, who were treated as ters—Manjula and Tulasa—of the
untouchables and subjected to intense Ambedkars would go on to survive them.

with Bharat
socioeconomic discrimination. Ambedkar’s Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar

Ratna in 1990.
ancestors had for long been in the employ
of the army of the British East India
succeeded in passing his examinations and
graduate to a bigger school. His native vil-
lage name was “Ambavade” in Ratnagiri
District so he changed his name from
“Sakpal” to “Ambedkar” with the recom-
mendation and faith of a Brahmin teacher
that believed in Bhimrao.
RamjiSakpal remarried in 1898, and the
family moved to Mumbai (then Bombay),
where Ambedkar became the first untouch-
able student at the Government High
School near Elphinstone Road. Although
excelling in his studies, Ambedkar was
increasingly disturbed by his segregation
and discrimination. In 1907, he passed his
matriculation examination and entered the
University of Mumbai, becoming one of the
first persons of untouchable origin to enter
college in India. This success provoked cel-
ebrations amongst his community, and after

Courtesy: Arvind Garg, Municipal Councillor, Kamla Nagar, Delhi-110007

88 Organiser n Collector’s Edition