Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) was an Indian social reformer and politician who devoted himself to improving the life of untouchables, particularly of his own caste, the Mahars.

Bhimrao Ambedkar was born at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. He attended Columbia University during 1914-1916 and received a doctorate in 1926. While at Columbia, John Dewey and other prominent teachers inspired Ambedkar and reinforced his commitment to social reform.

Two avenues existed for altering the conditions of Hindu untouchables in the early 20th century. Ambedkar rejected the more traditional approach of changing a caste's habits and image so that they resembled the norms associated with high castes. Instead, he tried to supplant such norms with the Western-based notion that all men, including Mahars, have rights of liberty and equality. Ambedkar made it his mission to create circumstances in which those rights could become fact. Sophisticated, articulate, with a political sense and an independent...