Abstract
Abstract
I have attempted to provide an accurate timeline for Ambedkar’s incredible educational achievements between 1913 and 1927. Although there is wealth of literature on Ambedkar’s life, ambiguities and errors abound. I have therefore examined afresh archival material and secondary sources.
Besides preparing several other manuscripts and papers in economics, Ambedkar secured his MSc and DSc degrees from London and published two major books, one on monetary policy and the other on fiscal policy. One was the basis on which he was awarded his Columbia PhD degree. It also appears that an earlier doctoral thesis draft prepared in 1917 was lost at sea. At the same time, he acquired his professional qualification as a lawyer, being called to the bar in 1920. Ambedkar’s relations with his supervisors were harmonious and he appears to have been treated well by them.
Ambedkar produced a large and varied body of original work under the most difficult of conditions. In the light of the above the fact which I also establish that he was not the first Indian to obtain a doctoral degree in economics pales into insignificance.
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