From a gunny sack to two doctorates
At school in Satara he had to sit apart on a piece of sacking. Within twenty years he had earned an MA and a PhD from Columbia University in New York, an MSc and a DSc from the London School of Economics, and become a barrister at Gray's Inn — at a time when almost no one from his community could go to school at all.
Satara → Bombay → New York → London → Bonn → London → Bombay. Follow each step below. Tap "More detail" for the full story and the sources behind it.
Government-aided school at Dapoli, then a school at Satara
Primary school · Dapoli (Ratnagiri district) and Satara, Bombay Presidency
Primary schooling (no certificate known)
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His father retired from the army in 1894 and settled at Dapoli, where 'untouchable' boys were made to sit in a separate room (account by Selden, quoted by Pritchett). The family moved to Satara in 1896 and he was enrolled in school there. Years are approximate.
Government High School, Satara (now Pratapsingh High School)
High school (first part) · Satara, Bombay Presidency
Studied up to the fourth English standard
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Admission on 7 November 1900 is widely reported, and Maharashtra marks 7 November as Students' Day (from 2017); the school register reportedly lists him as 'Bhiva Ramji Ambedkar'. This date was not checked against the register. Pritchett gives 1900 for entry to the Satara school. In his own 1920 LSE form he wrote 'Satara High School 1901-4'. Keer says a Brahmin teacher named Ambedkar changed his school surname from Ambavadekar to Ambedkar.
Elphinstone High School
High school (matriculation) · Bombay
Matriculation (University of Bombay entrance examination), 1907
Persian (taken in place of Sanskrit, which he was not allowed to study)
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His own 1920 LSE form gives 'Elphinstone High School 1904-7'. Pritchett's timeline (quoting Selden) has him entering Elphinstone High School soon after the family moved to Bombay in 1901. Pritchett gives 1907 for matriculation; a 1951 career note in his LSE file says 'Matriculated, 1908'.
Elphinstone College, University of Bombay
Undergraduate degree · Bombay
BA
Economics and Political Science
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Supported by a stipend of Rs. 25 a month from Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda, arranged by Dada Keluskar. Passed the BA in 1912 (Pritchett; Supreme Court of India). A 1951 career note says 'Graduated 1913', probably the date the degree was formally conferred.
Columbia University (Graduate School; Faculty of Political Science)
Master's degree · New York, USA
MA, June 1915 (2 June 1915 per a 1951 career note)
Administration and Finance of the East India Company (submitted 15 May 1915)
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Funded by a Baroda State scholarship of £11.50 a month for three years, with a duty to serve Baroda afterwards (ten years, according to The Beacon). He arrived in New York in July 1913. Economics was his major subject, with sociology, history, philosophy and anthropology. Keer gives the MA thesis title as 'Ancient Indian Commerce'. In his 1921 German CV he dated his MA to 1914.
guides.library.columbia.edumea.gov.infranpritchett.comthebeacon.inlse.ac.uk
Columbia University – anthropology seminar of Alexander A. Goldenweiser
Seminar paper (not a degree) · New York, USA
Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development (read 9 May 1916; published in Indian Antiquary, May 1917)
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Included because it is his best-known student work. Over 1913–16 his Columbia coursework totalled 29 courses in economics, 11 in history, 6 in sociology, 5 in philosophy, 4 in anthropology, 3 in politics, plus elementary French and German.
Columbia University (Faculty of Political Science)
Doctorate (PhD) · New York, USA
PhD, formally conferred 8 June 1927 (date on his official transcript)
The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India: A Study in the Provincial Decentralization of Imperial Finance (published London: P. S. King & Son, 1925, foreword by E. R. A. Seligman)
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Supervised by Edwin R. A. Seligman. He was in residence 1913–16 and, according to Seligman (1920), passed the doctoral examination 'with considerable distinction'. The manuscript of his original thesis was lost when the SS Salsette was torpedoed in July 1917. Columbia's Faculty of Political Science then conferred the PhD only after a dissertation was published. Keer calls the 1916 thesis 'National Dividend of India – A Historic and Analytical Study'. Other dates in circulation: 1916 (his 1921 Bonn CV), 8 June 1917 (1951 career note), 1928 (Columbia Alumni News 1930, 'ʼ28PhD'; a 1950 Columbia card).
guides.library.columbia.edufranpritchett.commea.gov.inlse.ac.ukfranpritchett.comirwincollier.comguides.library.columbia.edu
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
Master's degree (economics) · London, UK
MSc (Econ), awarded June 1921
Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India
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Registered as an internal student from October 1916 (Senate resolution of 18 December 1916). He left in July 1917 when the Baroda scholarship ended; a resolution of 18 July 1917 allowed him to interrupt for up to four years from October 1917. He returned in October 1920 (admission form signed 30 September 1920). An LSE letter of May 1922 wrongly gives 'July' 1921, and Pritchett's timeline places it in 1922. Supervisor: Edwin Cannan.
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn (Inns of Court)
Legal training (barrister) · London, UK
Called to the Bar (barrister-at-law), 1922 according to Gray's Inn
Law (Bar examinations)
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Gray's Inn's Index of Admission entry is dated November 1916. A 1951 career note in his LSE file and The Times obituary (7 December 1956) give 1923 for the call to the Bar. The day 28 June 1922, given on Wikimedia Commons, is not verified. In 1923 he applied to practise as an advocate of the Bombay High Court.
University of Bonn
Registration for doctoral study (not completed) · Bonn, Germany
None (registered but never studied)
Economics (Volkswirtschaftslehre)
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He applied on 25 February 1921 from 10 King Henry's Road, in German, to the Prussian education ministry in Berlin, saying Prof. Hermann Jacobi had helped secure a chance to take a doctorate. Bonn's university archive shows registration on 29 April 1921 and removal on 12 January 1922 because he attended no classes (Bellwinkel-Schempp, who checked the archive in 2003). Keer describes a three-month stay in Bonn in 1923.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
Doctorate (DSc) · London, UK
DSc (Econ), conferred November 1923
The Problem of the Rupee (published as The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution, London: P. S. King & Son, 1923, foreword by Edwin Cannan)
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Submitted October 1922. Examined March 1923, when the degree was 'not recommended', but he was allowed to resubmit a revised version. Resubmitted August 1923 and conferred November 1923. LSE believes he was the first Indian to receive a doctorate from the School. Some writers call it a PhD; LSE's records say D.Sc. (Econ).
Columbia University
Honorary degree · New York, USA
LLD (Doctor of Laws), honoris causa, conferred 5 June 1952
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First proposed in 1950. He accepted in February 1952 and attended Columbia's Commencement in person on 5 June 1952. The citation called him 'one of India's leading citizens' and 'a great social reformer and a valiant upholder of human rights'.
guides.library.columbia.eduguides.library.columbia.educ250.columbia.edu
Osmania University
Honorary degree · Hyderabad, India
DLitt (Doctor of Literature), honoris causa
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The year 1953 is given by an Indian government (embassy) text. The date 12 January 1953 comes from secondary and commemorative sources, which call it 'a D Lit ... from Hyderabad State'. No Osmania University record was found online to confirm the date or the citation.
