Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
1. Academic Background (focusing on his economic and legal theses at Columbia University and LSE) Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) pursued advanced studies in economics and law during two extended periods abroad, first at Columbia University (1913–1916) and subsequently at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Gray’s Inn. At Columbia, under the mentorship of economist Edwin R.A. Seligman, he completed a Master of Arts degree in 1915 with a thesis titled *The Administration and Finance of the East India Company*. An earlier draft on *Ancient Indian Commerce* is also attributed to this period. He began doctoral research on Indian public finance but departed in 1916; the manuscript of an initial thesis draft was lost when the steamer carrying him to India was torpedoed in 1917. Ambedkar later reworked and submitted *The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India: A Study in the Provincial Decentralization of Imperial Finance*, which was published in 1923 (with a forewo...