Annihilation of Caste

Annihilation of Caste sets out B. R. Ambedkar's critique of the caste system. It began as a speech he wrote in 1936 for an anti-caste conference in Lahore, which was never delivered. The organisers found his arguments too radical and uncompromising and withdrew their invitation. Ambedkar brought it out himself. The work then drew wide attention, appeared in several Indian languages and found readers far beyond the setting it was written for. Its subtitle presents the book as an argument against hierarchy, and against the silence that sustains it.

Why You Should Read?

• Explore B. R. Ambedkar's critique of the caste system and its core arguments.
• Understand the case the book makes against hierarchy, and the silence that keeps it in place.
• Learn why Ambedkar published the speech himself after its organisers withdrew their invitation.
• Follow the work as it reached readers in several Indian languages beyond its first setting.

About the Author

B.R. Ambedkar worked as a jurist, economist, social reformer and politician in India, and he chaired the committee responsible for drafting India's Constitution. He was Law and Justice minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's first cabinet and was appointed to work with the Simon Commission. He took up economics at Columbia University and at the London School of Economics, earning doctorates in 1927 and 1923. He also trained as a lawyer at Gray's Inn in London. Later he left Hinduism and became a Buddhist, a step that inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement. In 1990 he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.