B.A; MA; M Sc; Ph.D; L.L.D; D Sc; D.Litt; Barrister-at-Law
Apart from two masters degrees and Bar-at-Law, the polymath Dr B.R Ambedkar had four doctoral degrees. He knew several European and Indian languages including German and Sanskrit. Hewas an eminent scholar of Jurisprudence, and a lexicographer, compiled Pali language dictionary and was the first person from South Asia to have been conferred a Degree of Ph.D in Economics and later a D.Sc. Dr. Ambedkar was only 24 years old when he wrote his paper on “Castes in India – Their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development”. In his paper, he challenged many well established scholars who had already written on caste.
Below is Dr Ambedkar’s academic qualifications. It is almost impossible to state his extraordinarily vast educational experience. No wonder he is also popular as the “Symbol of knowledge”
Although there have been Indians with multiple degrees more in numbers than what Dr Ambedkar had, as far as is known, no Indian has on record the most prestigious degree of D.Sc along with three other Phds. This makes him academically the highest qualified Indian, not necessarily the one with most number of degrees (Due to time constraints he was studying for more than one degree at a time).
1. Elementary Education, 1902 Satara, Maharashtra
2. Matriculation, 1907, Elphinstone High School, Bombay Persian etc.,
3. Inter 1909, Elphinstone College,BombayPersian and English
4. B.A, 1913, Elphinstone College, Bombay, University of Bombay, Economics & Political Science
5. M.A, 1915 Majoring in Economics with Sociology, History Philosophy, Anthropology and Politics
6. Ph.D, 1917, Columbia University conferred a Degree of Ph.D.
7. M. Sc 1921 June, London School of Economics, London. Thesis – ‘Provincial Decentralization of Imperial Finance in British India’
8. Barrister-at- Law 30-9-1920 Gray’s Inn, London
(1922-23, Spent some time reading economics in the University of Bonn in Germany.)
9. D. SC Nov 1923, London School of Economics, London ‘The Problem of the Rupee – Its origin and its solution’ was accepted for the degree in Economics
10.L.L.D (Honoris Causa) 5-6-1952 Columbia University, New York For his achievements, Leadership and authoring the constitution of India
11.D.Litt (Honoris Causa) 12-1-1953 Osmania University, Hyderabad For his achievements, Leadership and writing the constitution of India
Even though Dr. Ambedkar is well known as one of the greatest intellectuals of his time, ethics were more important to him than intellectual acumen because he knew that ethical people were more likely to be of greater service to society than mere intellectuals. If they were both, ethical and intellectual, that would be of the greatest value to human kind.
What makes Dr B.R Ambedkar even greater is that he came from the most humble background with an almost impossible task of rising to the heights that he did, eventually becoming the chief architect and chairman of the drafting committee of the Indian constitution, a symbol of knowledge and a champion of human rights. To begin with, Dr Ambedkar had nothing more than his personal qualities to rely upon and the most fantastic dream of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all. His name will always be amongst the greatest in Indian history.
