Life story · Chapter 6 of 13

1919–1929

Awakening

Newspapers, the Mahad water struggle and the first fight for a voice

Ambedkar photographed in June 1925 at a guest house in Nipani (now in Karnataka), where he had gone for a conference of the depressed classes.
Ambedkar photographed in June 1925 at a guest house in Nipani (now in Karnataka), where he had gone for a conference of the depressed classes. — Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

In 1919 Dr. Ambedkar was a young economics professor in Bombay (now Mumbai). Ten years later he was a lawyer, a newspaper founder, a member of the Bombay law-making council and the best-known leader of people whom Hindu society treated as “untouchable”. This chapter follows those ten years.

The people he spoke for were then called the “Depressed Classes”. They included communities such as his own Mahar community, whom caste rules kept away from public wells, temples and schools.

A professor speaks up (1919)

In 1919 the British were planning new elected councils for India. A committee led by Lord Southborough asked who should be allowed to vote. Dr. Ambedkar, then teaching at Sydenham College, sent a written statement and was questioned on 27 January 1919 1 2.

He argued that India’s sharpest division was between “touchable” and “untouchable” Hindus. He listed the “real social divisions of India” with these two groups at the top 3. He asked that untouchables in the Bombay Presidency elect nine members of their own, through their own electorate, a voting list made up only of their community 4.

“One or two is only kind but neither just nor sufficient.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, on how many seats untouchables should have, evidence to the Southborough Committee (1919) 5

The front page of Mooknayak ("Leader of the Voiceless"), the Marathi fortnightly started by Ambedkar in 1920. Commons dates this issue 31 January 1920.
The front page of Mooknayak ("Leader of the Voiceless"), the Marathi fortnightly started by Ambedkar in 1920. Commons dates this issue 31 January 1920.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Mooknayak: a voice for the voiceless (1920)

On 31 January 1920 he started a Marathi fortnightly paper called Mooknayak, “Leader of the Voiceless” 6. Shahu Maharaj, ruler of Kolhapur and a supporter of lower-caste education, gave Rs 2,500 to help launch it 7.

As a government professor, Dr. Ambedkar was not the official editor, but the paper was his voice 6. The popular paper Kesari refused even to print a paid advertisement for it. In the first issue he called India a home of inequality, a tower of many floors with no stairs, where people died on the floor they were born on 6.

Mangaon and Shahu Maharaj (1920)

In March 1920 he presided over a Depressed Classes conference at Mangaon, a village near Kolhapur 6 8. Shahu Maharaj attended and, according to Keer’s biography, said:

“You have found your saviour in Ambedkar. I am confident that he will break your shackles.”

— Shahu Maharaj at Mangaon, March 1920, as quoted by Keer from a 1933 account by S. N. Shivtarkar 6

The conference ended with a shared meal: the Maharaja and his officials ate with Dr. Ambedkar and the untouchable delegates, something caste custom forbade 6 9. In July 1920 Dr. Ambedkar went back to London to finish his studies (another chapter covers this).

Mastheads of Mooknayak (1920) and Bahishkrit Bharat (1927), two Marathi journals edited by Ambedkar.
Mastheads of Mooknayak (1920) and Bahishkrit Bharat (1927), two Marathi journals edited by Ambedkar.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

A lawyer in Bombay (from 1923)

He got his licence to practise law in June 1923 6. Many solicitors (lawyers who hand cases to barristers) would not work with him because of untouchability, so he took small cases outside the city at first 6.

His practice grew. In October 1926 he won a well-known libel case for three non-Brahmin leaders from Poona 6. The Supreme Court of India lists his appearances in the Bombay High Court from 1926 onward 10.

The Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha and “Educate, Agitate, Organise” (1924)

On 20 July 1924 he founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, roughly “Society for the Welfare of the Excluded” 11. It aimed to open hostels, libraries and study circles, improve incomes and present grievances to the government 12. On 4 January 1925 it opened a hostel in Sholapur for high-school students 6.

Where does the motto come from? The editors of the official Writings and Speeches (BAWS) say the Sabha adopted the vow “Educate, Agitate and Organize” at its founding 11. Columbia University’s timeline agrees 9. The Sabha’s printed rules, reproduced in the same volume, do not contain the words 12.

The famous closing line many people quote comes from a speech at Nagpur on 20 July 1942: “educate, agitate and organize, have faith in yourselves and never lose hope” 13. He used the same three verbs in 1945 14. So the idea is linked to 1924, but the best-known wording is from 1942. The three words were also an older British socialist slogan from the 1880s 15.

Ambedkar as a lawyer practising at the Bombay High Court. Commons dates this photograph to 1923.
Ambedkar as a lawyer practising at the Bombay High Court. Commons dates this photograph to 1923.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

In the Bombay Legislative Council (1926–1927)

The Governor of Bombay nominated him to the Bombay Legislative Council, the province’s law-making body 6. He was sworn in on 18 February 1927 16. In March 1928 he brought a bill on watans, hereditary village-servant posts held by many Mahar families. It would let them give up that service while keeping their land, and be paid in money instead of grain 17.

Mahad: the right to water (March 1927)

In 1923 the Bombay Council resolved that untouchables could use public wells and tanks. Mahad town opened its Chavdar Tank in 1924, but caste Hindus still stopped untouchables using it 18.

On 19–20 March 1927 a Depressed Classes conference met at Mahad under Dr. Ambedkar 19. On 20 March they marched to the tank. “Dr. Ambedkar took water from the Tank and drank it,” and the crowd followed 20.

A false rumour spread that they would enter a temple. Gangs attacked the delegates and about 20 were badly hurt. Dr. Ambedkar asked his people not to hit back 21. Priests then “purified” the tank with 108 pots of cow dung, cow urine, milk and curd 22. Five attackers were later jailed for four months 23.

Ambedkar (front row, third from right) with members of the Samaj Samata Sangh in Bombay, 1927.
Ambedkar (front row, third from right) with members of the Samaj Samata Sangh in Bombay, 1927.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Bahishkrit Bharat (1927)

He needed a paper again. On 3 April 1927 he started the Marathi fortnightly Bahishkrit Bharat, “Excluded India” 6. It ran until 1929 9. On 26 June 1927 it called for volunteers for a new satyagraha (non-violent protest) at Mahad 22.

The burning of the Manusmriti (December 1927)

What is the Manusmriti? It is an ancient Sanskrit law book in verse, said to be the laws of a sage named Manu. Its teachings have shaped Hindu law and custom for about 2,000 years 24. It ranks people by birth into varnas (classes) and places the Shudras low, with few rights 25. The 1927 conference cited its rule that molten lead be poured into the ears of a Shudra who listened to the Vedas, the holy texts 6. At Mahad Dr. Ambedkar warned that even if untouchability ended, his people would at best be treated as Shudras, and the smritis (law books like this one) gave Shudras almost no rights 26.

In August 1927 the Mahad municipality took back its 1924 decision 27. Caste Hindus then claimed in court that the tank was their private property. On 14 December 1927 a judge ordered Dr. Ambedkar and his colleagues to stay away from it until the case was decided 28.

The second conference met anyway on 25 December 1927, with about 15,000 people 29. He told them:

“We are resorting to this Satyagraha not because we believe that the water of this particular tank has any exceptional qualities, but to establish our natural rights as citizens and human beings.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Mahad, 25 December 1927, as reported in The Indian National Herald 30

That evening G. N. Sahasrabuddhe, a Brahmin colleague, read out passages of the Manusmriti about Shudras. The conference passed a resolution condemning the book and burned a copy 31. Keer says it was burned at nine that night on a pyre in a pit in front of the meeting tent 6. In 1938 Dr. Ambedkar explained why:

“The bonfire of Manusmriti was quite intentional. … We made a bonfire of it because we view it as a symbol of injustice under which we have been crushed across centuries.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, interview with T. V. Parvate, 1938 6 32

In the same interview he said not every part of the book was bad; the burning was a protest against what it stood for 6.

The next day 3,884 people signed up to defy the court order, but the Collector promised government support in court. On 27 December Dr. Ambedkar postponed the protest and led a peaceful procession round the tank instead 33.

Ambedkar and his followers at the Vijaystambha (victory pillar) at Bhima Koregaon near Pune on 1 January 1927. According to the Commons description, Shivram Janba Kamble, who organised the meeting, stands to his left wearing a garland.
Ambedkar and his followers at the Vijaystambha (victory pillar) at Bhima Koregaon near Pune on 1 January 1927. According to the Commons description, Shivram Janba Kamble, who organised the meeting, stands to his left wearing a garland.Photo: Unknown photographer (1927); uploaded to Commons by Sandesh Hiwale (संदेश हिवाळे) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Winning in court

On 23 February 1928 the same judge cancelled his order. He found the tank was public property and regretted “heaping one more wrong” on an injured community 34. The case went on for years. The Bombay High Court finally rejected the caste Hindus’ appeal on 17 March 1937 35.

Equality groups: Samaj Samata Sangh, Samata and Samata Sainik Dal

In 1927 supporters from many castes formed the Samaj Samata Sangh (Social Equality League), with Dr. Ambedkar as chairman 36. It held dinners where people of different castes ate together, which caste rules forbade 37. Its paper Samata (“Equality”) ran from 29 June 1928 to March 1929, edited by Devrao Naik 36.

The Samata Sainik Dal (“Soldiers for Equality”) was a volunteer corps that taught discipline and protected meetings 38. It is usually dated to 1927 39.

The reception committee for the Mahad Satyagraha with Ambedkar, R. B. More and other social workers, dated 20 March 1927 on Wikimedia Commons.
The reception committee for the Mahad Satyagraha with Ambedkar, R. B. More and other social workers, dated 20 March 1927 on Wikimedia Commons.Photo: Unknown (from the uploader's family archive) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Simon Commission (1928)

In 1928 a British commission under Sir John Simon came to review India’s government. The Congress boycotted it because it had no Indian members 9. Dr. Ambedkar worked with it, and was chosen for the Bombay committee on 5 August 1928 6.

At Poona on 23 October 1928 he told the commission:

“We claim reserved seats if accompanied by adult franchise.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, evidence to the Simon Commission, 23 October 1928 40

Adult franchise means every adult may vote. Without it, he said, he would ask for separate electorates. He asked for 22 of 140 seats in the Bombay Council 40. He disagreed with his colleagues and signed his own report on 17 May 1929 41.

Teaching and schooling (1928)

On 14 June 1928 he set up the Depressed Classes Education Society. In October the government agreed to fund five hostels for secondary-school students 6. From June 1928 he also taught at the Government Law College, Bombay 6. Some students boycotted his class because he worked with the Simon Commission 6.

By 1929 he had a newspaper, an organisation, a court victory in progress and a seat in the Council. The next chapter follows him to London.

Where sources disagree

  • Mangaon dates. Keer gives 21 March 1920 6; Round Table India gives 21–22 March 8.
  • Year of Mahad. Columbia’s timelines list the Mahad satyagraha under 1926 9. BAWS and the Supreme Court of India date the march to 20 March 1927 18.
  • Date of the Manusmriti burning. Columbia’s timelines say 24 December 1927 42. Newspaper reports in BAWS put it on 25 December 43.
  • Crowd size at Mahad in March 1927. Keer says about 10,000; The Bombay Chronicle said over 2,500 44.
  • Volunteers in December 1927. The Indian National Herald counted 3,884 sign-ups 33; Keer says “over 4,000” 6.
  • The motto. BAWS editors date “Educate, Agitate and Organize” to 1924, but the best-known wording is from 1942, and the Sabha’s printed rules do not include it (see above).
  • The Sabha’s start. BAWS says founded 20 July 1924, but a 1931 appeal reprinted in the same volume says the “Depressed Classes Institute” (its English name) began in June 1925 45.
  • Samata Sainik Dal. Online sources give 13 March or 19 March 1927. We could not confirm a day in a primary source.

Read more

Sources

  1. BAWS Vol. 1, p. 243 (title page) Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  2. Pritchett timeline, 1910s franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  3. BAWS Vol. 1, p. 250 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  4. BAWS Vol. 1, pp. 258–261 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  5. BAWS Vol. 1, p. 263 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  6. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, p. 41 archive.org ↗ ↩
  7. Prabodhan Pol, Janata Weekly janataweekly.org ↗ ↩
  8. Round Table India roundtableindia.co.in ↗ ↩
  9. Pritchett timeline, 1920s franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  10. Supreme Court of India, Ambedkar centenary pages api.sci.gov.in ↗ ↩
  11. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 395 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  12. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 396 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  13. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 276 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  14. BAWS Vol. 1, Communal Deadlock Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  15. UNISON unison.org.uk ↗ ↩
  16. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 1, footnote Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  17. BAWS Vol. 2, pp. 72–73 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  18. Supreme Court of India, Mahad Satyagraha api.sci.gov.in ↗ ↩
  19. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 3 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  20. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 6 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  21. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 7–10 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  22. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 12 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  23. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 8 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  24. Patrick Olivelle, Manu’s Code of Law, Oxford University Press academic.oup.com ↗ ↩
  25. Forward Press forwardpress.in ↗ ↩
  26. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 23 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  27. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 15 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  28. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 16 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  29. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 20 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  30. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 22 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  31. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 24–25 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  32. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 25 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  33. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 26–29 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  34. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 36–38 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  35. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 43–44 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  36. Ashok Gopal, A Part Apart, excerpt in The News Minute thenewsminute.com ↗ ↩
  37. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 41 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  38. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 450 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  39. Wikipedia, citing Shri Krishan (SAGE, 2005) en.wikipedia.org ↗ ↩
  40. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 465 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  41. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 401 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  42. Columbia CCNMTL timeline ccnmtl.columbia.edu ↗ ↩
  43. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 21–25 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  44. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 3, 9 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  45. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 407 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩

Key dates in this chapter

  1. Gives evidence to the Southborough (Franchise) Committee Writings & Speeches
  2. First issue of the Marathi paper Mooknayak source
  3. Presides over the Depressed Classes conference at Mangaon, attended by Shahu Maharaj source
  4. Gets his licence (sanad) and starts practising as a barrister in Bombay source
  5. Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha founded Writings & Speeches
  6. Sworn in as a nominated member of the Bombay Legislative Council Writings & Speeches
  7. Mahad: Dr. Ambedkar and the conference drink water from the Chavdar Tank source
  8. First issue of the fortnightly Bahishkrit Bharat source
  9. Mahad court grants a temporary injunction barring Untouchables from the tank Writings & Speeches
  10. Second Mahad conference; the Manusmriti is publicly burned Writings & Speeches
  11. Mahad sub-judge dissolves the injunction, calling the tank public property Writings & Speeches
  12. Begins teaching at the Government Law College, Bombay source
  13. Depressed Classes Education Society established source
  14. First issue of Samata, paper of the Samaj Samata Sangh source
  15. Oral evidence before the Simon Commission at Poona Writings & Speeches
  16. Signs his separate report on the Bombay constitution for the Simon Commission Writings & Speeches
See the full timeline →
Cite this page

“Awakening: Newspapers, the Mahad water struggle and the first fight for a voice.” Prabuddha Pathak — Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in his own words, prabuddhapathak.com. https://prabuddhapathak.com/life/awakening/

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