Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar's Creative Work in English Literature

Dr. Ambedkar was born in a family of untouchables, originally hailing from Konkan, a part of the present State of Maharashtra. The term untouchable needs some elaboration. It is a well- known fact that the social organization of the Hindu society has been based on the theory of Chatur Varnya and Chatur Varnya means the division of society into four classes or Varnas: the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. Those belonging to the last named major Varna are properly known as untouchables. Although scholars and historians differ as to the precise origin of this peculiar stratification of the Hindu society, it is generally agreed that in the early Aryan period, the caste system did not exist. It was only later when the system of division of labour came into being among the Aryans that the society was divided into four different castes. But it has to be emphasized that these castes were not based on the accident of birth but on the occupation in which a person was actually engaged.