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*in the 1890's*
THE STRUGGLE FOR AN EDUCATION Born in 1891, the young Ambedkar had (for his caste, for his time and place) a relatively comfortable upbringing. But his mother died when he was only five, and his early childhood brought other painful experiences as well, as he began to experience the full degradation of his place in the sub-basement of the caste system. |
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| ==1891, April 14== Bhimrao Ramji Ambavadekar was born in the British-founded town of Mhow (*Imperial Gazetteer*; *Imperial Gazetteer map*), an important military center near Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He was the fourteenth and last child of Ramji Sakpal and Bhimabai Murbadkar Sakpal. The family's ancestral town was Ambavade (in the Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra. "Of the fourteen children, some died in infancy and some as young children. This is the only history we know of seven of the children. Of the other seven, three were boys and four were girls. In chronological order their names were Balaram, Ganga, Ramabai, Anandrao, Manjula, Tulasa, and "Bhiva" (Bhimrao)." (*Khairmode*, p. I:28.) |
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| ==1894== The activist Gopal Baba Walangkar retired and living in Dapoli, created the first public petition of the Untouchable movement: it requested the British colonial army to resume its recruitment from the Untouchable castes. (*Zelliot 1*, pp. 42-44.) |
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==1894-1896==
When
Bhimrao's father retired from his career with the
British Army in 1894, he settled for a time in Dapoli (in Ratnagiri
District: *Imperial Gazetteer*; *Imperial Gazetteer map*). The
young Bhimrao had his earliest education there:
"At Dapoli in Bombay Presidency, however, there was a government-aided school, and the elder Ambedkar insisted his boys be allowed to attend on the ground that he was an army officer. It was finally arranged that they and four other "untouchables" might go to the school on the condition that they stay in a room by themselves and never come in contact with the caste children, and above all that they never take a drink from the school water supply. Those terms were accepted, and the future Doctor of Philosophy of Morningside Heights had his first conscious experience in ostracism and in learning at the same time. He was then 6 years old. |
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| ==1896== The family moved to Satara (*Imperial Gazetteer*; *Imperial Gazetteer map*), where Ramji Sakpal found a job with the Public Works Department in Goregaon; Bhimrao was enrolled in school in Satara. |
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| ==1896== Bhimabai Sakpal died; of her fourteen children, only three sons (Balaram, Anandrao, Bhimrao) and two daughters (Manjula, Tulasa) survived her. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt Mira, who had a disabling hunchback but did her best to look after them. |
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| == Cricket! == As a boy, Bhimrao was
lively and very sports-minded. His favorite sport
was cricket... |
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| == Handwriting... == "Subhedar's
[=Bhimrao's father] English, Marathi, and Modi (*site*) handwriting was very nice.
While in Satara, he had taken care from the very
beginning that his son's handwriting too would be
perfect. He would beat Bhiva with a cane from a tamarind
tree, and make him practice. Because of that, Bhiva's
English handwriting had an ideal form." (*Khairmode*, p.
I:63) |
|
 == "Our family came originally from
Dapoli Taluka of the Ratnagiri District of the Bombay
Presidency. From the very commencement of the rule of
the East India Company, my fore-fathers had left their
hereditary occupation for service in the Army of the
Company. My father also followed the family tradition
and sought service in the Army. He rose to the rank of
an officer, and was a Subhedar when he retired. On his
retirement my father took the family to Dapoli with a
view to settling down there. But for some reason my
father changed his mind. The family left Dapoli for
Satara, where we lived till 1904." Source: *Waiting for a
Visa*. |
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| == "My father was a military officer, but
at the same time a very religious person. He brought me
up under a strict discipline. From my early age I found
certain contradictions in my father's religious way of
life. He was a Kabirpanthi (*site*), though his father was
Ramanandi. As such, he did not believe in Murti Puja
(Idol Worship), and yet he performed Ganapati Puja--of
course for our sake, but I did not like it. He read the
books of his Panth. At the same time, he compelled me
and my elder brother to read every day before going to
bed a portion of Mahabharata and Ramayana to my sisters
and other persons who assembled at my father's house to
hear the Katha. This went on for a long number of
years." Source: *unpublished
preface
to The Buddha and his Dhamma*. |
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| == on to the 1900's == |
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