Indian · 1891–1956
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family in Mhow, then an untouchable caste whose children sat outside the classroom and were not allowed to touch the water pot. He took doctorates from Columbia University and the London School of Economics and qualified as a barrister, becoming one of the most credentialed Indians of his generation and still unable to rent a room in Bombay. He led temple-entry and water-tank satyagrahas, edited newspapers, and fought Gandhi to a standstill over separate electorates for Dalits in the 1932 Poona Pact. As chairman of the drafting committee he shaped the Indian Constitution, writing untouchability out of law. His Annihilation of Caste, written as an undelivered speech in 1936, argues that caste cannot be reformed because it is authorised by scripture. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism with several hundred thousand followers at Nagpur, weeks before his death. He is the central intellectual figure of the Dalit movement.