1920 - 1930

1920:
Dr. Ambedkar started a weekly paper, "Mooknayak" ("Leader of the Voiceless"), in Marathi, with the help of the reform-minded  Shahu I (1884-1922) [site], Maharaja of Kolhapur [Imperial Gazetteer] [Imperial Gazetteer map]. In the first issue he called India a "home of inequality," and described Hindu society as "a tower which had several storeys without a ladder or an entrance. One was to die in the storey in which one was born." The Depressed Classes must be saved "from perpetual slavery, poverty, and ignorance"; herculean efforts must be made "to awaken them to their disabilities." (--Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p.41; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920:
In March, he spoke at a Depressed Classes conference in Mangaon in Kolhapur State; it was attended by the Maharaja of Kolhapur, who publicly praised him as a future national leader. At the end of the conference the Maharaja and his courtiers shock the tradition-minded by actually dining with Ambedkar and his caste members. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p. 42; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920:
In May, the Maharajah of Kolhapur convened another such conference, in Nagpur [Imperial Gazetteer] [Imperial Gazetteer map], a town later to acquire a major symbolic significance in Dr. Ambedkar's life.

"At the conclusion of the conference, Ambedkar made an attempt in the direction of consolidating the forces of the Depressed Classes. In the Central Provinces the Mahar community had eighteen sub-castes. He called the leaders of the community together and gave a dinner in which they all participated. It should be noted that with great persuasion Ambedkar could get all the sub-castes of the Mahar community, and not all the Untouchable communities, to dine together. It was not possible yet to make all the communities belonging to the Untouchables participate in an intercaste dinner!" (--slightly edited from the translation in Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], p.43; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1920:
Having resigned from his teaching position, in July he returned to London, relying on his own savings, supplemented by loans from the Maharaja of Kolhapur and his friend Naval Bhathena. He returned to the London School of Economics, and to Gray's Inn to read for the Bar. He lived in poverty, and studied constantly in the British Museum [site]. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 44-46; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

"My dear Prof. Seligman, You will probably be surprized to see me back in London. I am on my way to New York but I am halting in London for about two years to finish a piece or two of research work which I have undertaken. Of course I long to be with you again for it was when I was thrown into academic life by reason of my being a professor at the Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics in Bombay, that I realized the huge debt of gratitude I owe to the Political Science Faculty of the Columbia University in general and to you in particular.
        While I am in London I wish to utilize certain research facilities and I should be extremely obliged if you can send me a letter of introduction to Prof. Sidney Webb, Profs. Marshall, Nicholson and Foxwell. I am sure you know them and will not withhold this much kindness from your loving student,
        B. R. Ambedkar
        London, 3/8/20"
(Source: letter of August 3, 1920, Seligman papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University)

1922:
Through unremitting hard work, Ambedkar once again overfulfilled all expectations: he completed a thesis for a M.Sc. (Econonics) degree at London School of Economics, and was called to the bar, and submitted a Ph.D. thesis in economics to the University of London. (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 48-49; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

"My dear Prof. Seligman, Having lost my manuscript of the original thesis when the steamer was torpedoed on my way back to India in 1917 I have written out a new thesis... [...from the letter of Feb. 16, 1922, Seligman papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University"]

1922:
He planned to do further research in economics at the University of Bonn (and also toyed with the idea of studying Sanskrit there). He sent to the university a handwritten letter and CV in German, but the whole project didn't work out [source]. He soon had to return to London to deal with challenges to his thesis.

1923:
His Ph.D. thesis at the University of London, "The Problem of the Rupee," was challenged on political grounds (for its allegedly subversive, anti-British implications), but was resubmitted and finally accepted; it was at once published in London (by P.S. King and Son, Ltd.), and is "dedicated to the memory of my 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." (Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1971 [1954], pp. 49-50; Dr. Ambedkar contributed extensively to this biography.)

1924:
Back in India, Dr. Ambedkar began to practice as a barrister in Bombay, and also began to lecture part-time at Batliboi's Accountancy Training Institute. He founded the "Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha" (Group for the Wellbeing of the Excluded), to help the Depressed Classes mobilize. Its motto was "Educate, Agitate, Organise." (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, pp. 80-81.)

1925:
He published his London School of Economics M.A. thesis as "The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India"; it was dedicated to the Gaikwar of Baroda ("for his help in the matter of my education"), and had an introduction by Prof. Seligman. He also gave testimony before the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance. (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 81.)
 

1926:
The Governor of Bombay nominated him as a member of the Bombay Legislative Council; he took his duties seriously, and often delivered speeches on economic matters. Here are some of his important speeches, 1927-28.

1926:
He led the satyagraha at Mahad to exercise the right of Untouchables to draw water from the Chavdar Tank. He ceremonially took a drink of water from the tank, after which local caste Hindus rioted, and Brahmins took elaborate measure for the ritual purification of the tank. (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 83.)

1927:
On January 1st, he held a meeting at the Koregaon Victory Memorial, 17 miles from Poona, which commemorates the defeat of the Peshwa's forces and the inauguration of British rule. The names of Mahar soldiers who fought with the British are inscribed there on a marble tablet. Such meetings still take place annually there on that day. (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, pp. 82-83; Eleanor Zelliot, personal communication, Feb. 2005)

1927:
On June 8, he was formally awarded the Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. His Ph.D. thesis was "The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India." (Note: different dates are given in different sources for this event, but this is the one given on his own official transcript, preserved in the Registrar's Office, Columbia University.)

1927:
On December 24th, he addressed a second Depressed Classes Conference in Mahad; he attacked the Laws of Manu [site] [site], and then a copy of this ancient text was publicly burned, to the shock and horror of many caste Hindus. (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p.87.)

1928:
Dr. Ambedkar was appointed Professor at the Government Law College, Bombay; his term of appointment ended in 1929. (K.N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p.89.)

1928:
Dr. Ambedkar was selected as a member of the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the Simon Commission, drafting guidelines for political change in India. Congress decided to boycott the Simon Commission because it has no Indians on it. Discussion: Syed Amjad Ali; Banglapedia. Dissenting from the views of many of his colleagues, Dr. Ambedkar prepared a detailed report setting out his own recommendations.

1929:
Dr. Ambedkar closed his second journal, "Bahiskrit Bharat" ("Excluded India"), which he had started in 1927, and replaced it with the "Janata" ("The People"), which was published until 1956, when it took on the name "Prabuddha Bharata" (after his conversion). (K. N. Kadam, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Significance of his Movement: A Chronology, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991, p. 93; Eleanor Zelliot, private communication, Jan. 2005)

1929:
On Oct. 23, during a visit to Chalisgaon, he had a bad accident, and was confined to bed until the last week of December.