Life story · Chapter 5 of 13

1916–1923

London, Baroda and London Again

LSE, Gray's Inn, a humiliation in Baroda and two more degrees

A portrait of Ambedkar in a suit, titled "Barrister Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar" and dated 1922 on Wikimedia Commons. The photographer is unknown.
A portrait of Ambedkar in a suit, titled "Barrister Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar" and dated 1922 on Wikimedia Commons. The photographer is unknown. — Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

In June 1916 Dr. Ambedkar arrived in London from New York. He wanted to add two more qualifications to his Columbia studies: a higher degree in economics and the right to work as a barrister (a lawyer who argues cases in court). It took him seven years, a war, a shipwreck, a painful humiliation in Baroda and a lot of hunger to finish 1.

Arriving in London (1916)

When his ship arrived, the police suspected the young Indian of being a revolutionary. They searched his clothes and even the insides of his shoes before letting him go. He carried letters of introduction from his Columbia teachers to the London economists Edwin Cannan and Sidney Webb 1.

His first London address was 21 Cromwell Road, a house the India Office rented for Indian students 2 3.

Ambedkar (first from right in the second row) with his professors and friends from the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1916–17.
Ambedkar (first from right in the second row) with his professors and friends from the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1916–17.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Two schools at once: LSE and Gray’s Inn

In October 1916 he registered at the London School of Economics (LSE), part of the University of London, to work for an MSc (Econ), a master’s degree in economics. The fee was £10 10s 4. He attended lectures in geography, political ideas, social evolution and social theory. The register shows he did not attend every class, and he soon switched to research 5 6.

At the same time he joined Gray’s Inn to study law. In England, every future barrister had to belong to one of four “Inns of Court”. Gray’s Inn still keeps his entry in its Index of Admission, dated November 1916 7.

Called home, and a ship that sank (1917)

Then the money ran out. His Baroda scholarship ended, and under its terms he had to go back and serve Baroda State 2. A University of London resolution dated 18 July 1917 allowed him to interrupt his course for up to four years 8.

The First World War was still raging. He sent his precious books and papers on one ship and sailed on another. The ship carrying them, the SS Salsette, was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-40 on 20 July 1917 and sank, killing 15 crew 9. Among the losses was the manuscript of his Columbia thesis 10. According to Keer’s biography, he used the damages paid by the travel company Thomas Cook for the lost luggage to pay his fare to Baroda 1. He reached Bombay on 21 August 1917 11 9.

Ambedkar with foreign students and professors at the London School of Economics, dated 1916–17 on Wikimedia Commons.
Ambedkar with foreign students and professors at the London School of Economics, dated 1916–17 on Wikimedia Commons.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Eleven days in Baroda

Dr. Ambedkar went straight to Baroda to begin the service he had promised. He later described what happened in a memoir called Waiting for a Visa. Stepping out of the station, he asked himself:

“Where to go? Who will take me?”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Waiting for a Visa 12

Hindu hotels would not take an “untouchable”. So he went to a Parsi inn, hoping that Parsis, followers of the Zoroastrian religion, would not practise untouchability. The caretaker refused to let a Hindu stay. Dr. Ambedkar agreed to sign the register under a Parsi name and pay a rupee and a half a day 12 13. He worked as a probationer (a trainee) in the state’s Accountant General’s office 14.

On the eleventh day, about a dozen angry Parsi men, each carrying a stick, came to his room. They called him a scoundrel and ordered him out by evening. His Hindu and Christian friends would not take him in. He sat in the Kamathi Baug public garden for five hours, then collected his luggage and left for Bombay on the night train 15. He wrote that he was “driven to leave Baroda and return to Bombay after a stay of only eleven days” 16. Eighteen years later, he wrote that he still could not recall the scene without tears 16.

Teacher in Bombay (1918–1920)

Back in Bombay he tutored students and tried a business advising investors. According to Keer, it failed when clients found out his caste 1. In November 1918 he became Professor of Political Economy at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay 17 18. Keer reports that some colleagues objected to him drinking from their water jug 1.

On 27 January 1919 he gave evidence to the Southborough Committee, which was deciding who could vote under new British reforms. He argued that the “untouchable” communities must have their own representatives in the legislature 19 1. (A later chapter covers this in detail.)

Gray's Inn Hall in London, photographed in 2011. Ambedkar was admitted to Gray's Inn to train as a barrister.
Gray's Inn Hall in London, photographed in 2011. Ambedkar was admitted to Gray's Inn to train as a barrister.Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Help from Shahu Maharaj and friends

In 1920 he started a Marathi newspaper, Mooknayak (“Leader of the Voiceless”), with help from Shahu Maharaj, the reform-minded ruler of Kolhapur. In March 1920 the Maharaja publicly praised him at a conference in Mangaon as a future leader 20.

Dr. Ambedkar had saved from his salary. He added loans from his Columbia friend Naval Bhathena and from the Maharaja of Kolhapur, and in July 1920 he left again for London 20 2. One account gives Bhathena’s loan as Rs. 5,000 21. Another says Shahu Maharaj gave Rs. 1,500 11.

Back in London (1920)

Seligman wrote him a warm letter of introduction to Professor Herbert Foxwell at LSE. He called Dr. Ambedkar “not only a very able, but an exceedingly pleasant fellow” 22. Foxwell replied to LSE that there were “no more worlds here for him to conquer” 23.

He signed his new LSE form on 30 September 1920, giving his address as 95 Brook Green, Hammersmith 24. By February 1921 he had moved to 10 King Henry’s Road, near Chalk Farm and Primrose Hill. He was still writing letters from there in February 1922 25 26 10.

Money was very tight. He lived frugally, ate little and studied constantly in the British Museum’s reading room 20.

The house at 10 King Henry's Road, Primrose Hill, London, now known as Ambedkar House, where Ambedkar lived while studying in London. Photographed in 2021.
The house at 10 King Henry's Road, Primrose Hill, London, now known as Ambedkar House, where Ambedkar lived while studying in London. Photographed in 2021.Photo: Spudgun67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The MSc (1921)

In June 1921 the University of London awarded him the MSc (Econ). His thesis was “Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India” 27 28. Earlier that spring he had nearly missed the exam-entry deadline. LSE’s Secretary had to ask the university to accept his form late 29 30.

A detour to Bonn

On 25 February 1921 he wrote, in German, to the Prussian education ministry in Berlin. He asked to study economics at the University of Bonn. He said the Sanskrit scholar Hermann Jacobi had helped arrange that he could earn a doctorate there 25. The German scholar Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp checked Bonn’s university archive in 2003. She found he was entered in the university register on 29 April 1921. Because he never attended any lectures, he was removed on 12 January 1922 25.

The blue plaque at 10 King Henry's Road, London, which reads that Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, "Indian crusader for social justice", lived there in 1921–1922. Photographed in 2021.
The blue plaque at 10 King Henry's Road, London, which reads that Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, "Indian crusader for social justice", lived there in 1921–1922. Photographed in 2021.Photo: Spudgun67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Becoming a barrister

While working on economics, he kept up his law studies at Gray’s Inn. According to Gray’s Inn records cited by the Supreme Court of India, he was called to the Bar in 1922. This means he qualified as a barrister-at-law 7 31. Back in India in 1923, he applied to practise as an advocate at the Bombay High Court 7.

The DSc: The Problem of the Rupee (1923)

A DSc (Doctor of Science) is a research doctorate. The University of London had offered it since the 1860s, long before it introduced the PhD in 1919 6. In October 1922 he submitted a thesis called “The Problem of the Rupee”, about India’s money system. It was examined in March 1923 and “not recommended”, but he was allowed to revise it. He resubmitted it in August 1923, and the DSc was conferred in November 1923 28. LSE says he is believed to be the first Indian to receive a doctorate from the School 2.

Why was it first turned down? LSE says its file does not record the reasons 2. In 1979 LSE wrote that the examiners’ views had been confidential to the university 4.

The thesis was published in London in 1923. He dedicated it to his father and mother “as a token of my abiding gratitude for the sacrifices they made and the enlightenment they showed in the matter of my education” 32. In the preface he thanked his supervisor, Edwin Cannan, whose “severe examination of my theoretic discussions has saved me from many an error” 33. In 1932 Cannan wrote that Dr. Ambedkar was “by far the ablest Indian we ever had in my time” 34.

A letter written in German by Ambedkar to the University of Bonn, dated 25 February 1921 on Wikimedia Commons.
A letter written in German by Ambedkar to the University of Bonn, dated 25 February 1921 on Wikimedia Commons.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

The house today

10 King Henry’s Road has carried a plaque since 6 December 1991. It reads that he “lived here 1921-22”. On 24 September 2015 the house was bought on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra to become a memorial 35. Camden Council refused permission to use the home as a museum. LSE reports that the council’s decision was later overruled on appeal 36 2. It is now a museum known as Ambedkar House 37.

Where sources disagree

  • Call to the Bar: 1922 or 1923? Gray’s Inn records, as cited by the Supreme Court of India, say 1922 7. A 1951 career note in his LSE file and The Times obituary of 7 December 1956 both say 1923 17. The exact day of 28 June 1922, shown on Wikimedia Commons, could not be checked against Gray’s Inn records 38.
  • DSc or PhD? LSE’s own record card says D.Sc. (Econ) 27. Some writers, including Pritchett’s timeline and an LSE blog post, call it a PhD 20 30.
  • The MSc date. LSE’s record card and its 1950 letter say June 1921 27. An LSE letter of May 1922 wrongly says July 1921 and dates his studies from October 1919 39. Pritchett’s timeline places the MSc in 1922 20.
  • Bonn. Bonn’s archive shows he registered in 1921 but never studied there. Keer describes a three-month stay in 1923, and The Beacon says he was in Bonn in March 1923 25 11.
  • His Baroda job and how long he stayed. In his own memoir he says he was a probationer in the Accountant General’s office and left after eleven days 14. Keer calls him Military Secretary to the Maharaja 1. The Beacon has him join on 31 August 1917 and leave in November 1917 11. His 1921 German CV says he worked in Baroda’s finance department from September 1917 to March 1918 25. The memoir’s own dates are muddled: it says he returned in 1916 and left London in 1918 13.
  • Where the ship sank. Rathore says the English Channel. Scott Stroud says the Mediterranean 9 40. The Thomas Cook payment comes only from Keer.
  • Sydenham College dates. The Beacon gives 11 November 1918 to 11 March 1920 11. His 1921 CV says 1918 to March 1920 25. The 1951 note says November 1918 to November 1920, which cannot be right because he was in London by August 1920 17.
  • Years at King Henry’s Road. The plaque says 1921–22 35. A review of the book Ambedkar in London gives 1920–22 37.
  • When he went home. The Beacon says April 1923, which fits his June 1923 application to the Bombay High Court. Pritchett’s timeline places his return in 1924 11 20.
  • A misquoted reference. LSE’s online exhibition gives the “exceedingly pleasant fellow” line to Foxwell 2. The letter in the student file shows Seligman wrote it 22.

Read more

Sources

  1. Pritchett timeline franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  2. LSE Library exhibition lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  3. LSE 1916 admission form, PDF p. 63 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  4. LSE student file, PDF pp. 12 and 63 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  5. LSE attendance register, PDF p. 62 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  6. LSE History blog (2023) blogs.lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  7. Supreme Court of India sci.gov.in ↗ ↩
  8. Senate resolutions quoted in LSE letter of 6 March 1951, PDF p. 32 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  9. PTI report on Aakash Singh Rathore’s research, via The Week theweek.in ↗ ↩
  10. Ambedkar to Seligman, 16 Feb. 1922 franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  11. The Beacon thebeacon.in ↗ ↩
  12. BAWS Vol. 12, p. 673 (PDF p. 694) Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  13. Pritchett edition franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  14. BAWS Vol. 12, p. 675 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  15. BAWS Vol. 12, pp. 676–78 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  16. BAWS Vol. 12, p. 678 (PDF p. 699) Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  17. LSE student file, PDF p. 36 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  18. Sydenham College history sydenham.ac.in ↗ ↩
  19. BAWS Vol. 1, p. 253 (PDF p. 268) Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  20. Pritchett timeline, 1920s franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  21. ThePrint theprint.in ↗ ↩
  22. Seligman to Foxwell, 23 Sept. 1920, PDF p. 56 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  23. Foxwell to Mrs Mair, 9 Nov. 1920, PDF p. 55 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  24. LSE admission form, PDF p. 61 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  25. Bonn application, 25 Feb. 1921 franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  26. Ambedkar’s letter to LSE, 7 April 1921, PDF p. 50 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  27. LSE registration card, PDF p. 59 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  28. LSE letter of 21 Dec. 1950, PDF p. 41 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  29. LSE letter of 1 April 1921, PDF p. 52 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  30. LSE History blog (2016) blogs.lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  31. Supreme Court of India – certificate page api.sci.gov.in ↗ ↩
  32. BAWS Vol. 6, PDF p. 333 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  33. BAWS Vol. 6, p. 330 (PDF p. 345) Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  34. Cannan to Beveridge, 13 Dec. 1932, PDF p. 30 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  35. Camden planning document camdocs.camden.gov.uk ↗ ↩
  36. Camden New Journal (2019) camdennewjournal.co.uk ↗ ↩
  37. LSE History blog review blogs.lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  38. Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org ↗ ↩
  39. LSE file, PDF p. 38 lse.ac.uk ↗ ↩
  40. Scroll scroll.in ↗ ↩

Key dates in this chapter

  1. Registers at LSE for the MSc (Econ) source
  2. Entered in Gray's Inn's Index of Admission source
  3. Leaves LSE; University of London allows him to break his studies for up to four years source
  4. SS Salsette, carrying his books and papers, is torpedoed and sunk source
  5. Reaches Bombay (date given by Aakash Singh Rathore and The Beacon) source
  6. Driven out of a Parsi inn in Baroda after eleven days Writings & Speeches
  7. Becomes Professor of Political Economy at Sydenham College, Bombay source
  8. Gives evidence to the Southborough Committee on the franchise Writings & Speeches
  9. Leaves for London again (5 July 1920 according to The Beacon) source
  10. Signs his new LSE admission form; living at 95 Brook Green, Hammersmith source
  11. Writes from 10 King Henry's Road to apply to study at the University of Bonn source
  12. Awarded the MSc (Econ) for 'Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance in British India' source
  13. Called to the Bar by Gray's Inn (year given by Gray's Inn via the Supreme Court of India; some records say 1923) source
  14. Submits 'The Problem of the Rupee' for the DSc (Econ) source
  15. Examiners do not recommend the DSc; he is allowed to resubmit source
  16. DSc (Econ) conferred by the University of London source
  17. 10 King Henry's Road bought on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra source
See the full timeline →
Cite this page

“London, Baroda and London Again: LSE, Gray's Inn, a humiliation in Baroda and two more degrees.” Prabuddha Pathak — Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in his own words, prabuddhapathak.com. https://prabuddhapathak.com/life/london/

Spotted a mistake or know a better source? Suggest a correction — it is recorded publicly on GitHub — or use the contribution form.