B. R. Ambedkar's Real Name: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Quick answer: B. R. Ambedkar's documented full name is Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. Encyclopaedia Britannica records that he was born on April 14, 1891, in Mhow, India, and that he died on December 6, 1956, in New Delhi. He was an Indian jurist, social reformer, and political leader who played a pivotal role in drafting the Constitution of India and who championed the rights of Dalits (Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Ambedkar, B. R. (Bhimrao Ramji), 1891-1956." He was also widely known as Babasaheb, a form recorded in Library of Congress citations. Britannica says he was born of a Dalit Mahar family of western India and was the son of an army officer. As a boy he was humiliated by high-caste schoolfellows. Awarded a scholarship by the Gaekwar (ruler) of Baroda, now Vadodara, he studied at universities in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany and qualified as a lawyer. He entered the Baroda Public Service at the Gaekwar's request, then, again ill-treated by high-caste colleagues, turned to legal practice and teaching.

Career highlights

Ambedkar established leadership among Dalits, founded journals on their behalf, and led protests against caste prohibitions, including a 1927 satyagraha at a lake in Mahad, Maharashtra. He obtained special representation for Dalits in legislative councils. In 1932, after Gandhi fasted in protest against a separate Dalit electorate, Ambedkar agreed to the Poona Pact, which provided reserved seats for Dalits within the Hindu electorate. In 1936 he formed the Independent Labour Party. He later wrote What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables (1945). After independence he served as the first law minister of the government of India (1947-51). For his role in drafting the Constitution, Britannica notes, he is popularly called the "Father of the Indian Constitution." In later life he rejected Hinduism and converted to Buddhism. He should not be confused with a religious "cult" figure; his public life was that of a jurist, constitutional draftsman, and rights advocate.

Death

Britannica records that Ambedkar died on December 6, 1956, in New Delhi. A Library of Congress citation to one website gives December 5, 1956; this page follows Britannica and other Library of Congress citations that use December 6.

Name notes for searchers

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is the documented full name; he is widely known as B. R. Ambedkar or Babasaheb Ambedkar. Searchers looking for the principal architect of India's Constitution are usually aiming at the same person.