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Bhimrao Ambedkar Biography
In a Bhimrao Ambedkar biography, you can find out about his childhood, his conversion to Buddhism, his career, and his beliefs on religion. In this article, we’ll look at a few important facts about the man who would change the course of Indian history. Read on to discover what made him so important to his country. After reading this biography, you’ll know why he was so important.
Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s Childhood
During his early years, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar experienced the discrimination that he faced from both the Mahar and Dalit communities. He was denied the right to sit in class. His teachers would not even touch the notebooks of his Dalit classmates. He was even denied water. This experience shaped his life and led him to a life of activism and study.
Ambedkar was born in the Mahar caste, a caste that was considered untouchable and of low class in British India. His family had endured great discrimination, and his father was forced to retire and die in 1894. His mother and three siblings had died when Bhimrao was only two years old. The family was poor, and he was raised by his aunt, Ramji Sakpal. Despite his family’s poor circumstances, his father was insistent that his children receive an education.
His Conversion to Buddhism
Among other things, Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism was a major milestone in Indian history. The late Indian leader had converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956, despite being a Hindu. In his conversion ritual, Ambedkar recited a holy book and took 22 “Buddhist Oaths.” He also adopted a dress code and vowed to fight for an equal society. The religion he converted to was called Navayana Buddhism, and it shattered the caste system in India.
Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism is often viewed as the beginning of the neo-Buddhist movement in India, but it was actually the end of an earlier trajectory. The term’revival’ comes from an understanding of Indian history as having a Buddhist phase in the distant past. Many neo-Buddhist scholars believe that Buddhism was a British colonial discovery for Indian subjects.
His Career
The first step in Bhimrao Ambedkar’s career was his marriage, which took place in 1907. A few years later, he had completed his matriculation and had been accepted to the prestigious Elphinstone College, Mumbai, as the country’s first untouchable. The celebration that followed was an important moment for the untouchable leader, and he later wrote about it.
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born in the town of Mhow, Central Provinces, British India. He was the last of 14 children and belonged to the ‘Mahar’ caste. While army children are generally given special privileges, untouchable Ambedkar’s family faced a tough upbringing in school. He was rejected from several schools, but he was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from a reform-minded local ruler.
His Views on Religion
Bhimrao Ambedkar was known for his strong views on religion. He was not an apologist for religion and even criticized Mahatma Gandhi. Ambedkar’s view of religion and caste was also a subject of controversy as he defended the Hindu community and attacked Islam. The editorial ‘Notice to Hinduism’, published in the Bahishkrit Bharat on 15 March 1929, analyzed the futility of converting to Christianity, as it could not help one escape the castes in India.
While the evolution of religion is not uniform across the world, there are some common features. However, the history of religion is a history of revolutions, and one needs to understand these convulsive changes in order to make sense of religion. In fact, Ambedkar claimed that the invention of God was the greatest revolution in religion. Moreover, the development of civilizations must be considered as a part of the evolution of religion.
