B. R. Ambedkar

Arguably, there is no more important historical figure in contemporary India, after Mahatma Gandhi, than Dr Ambedkar. All political parties seek to lay claim to his legacy. Yet he is not as well known to general readers globally as he deserves to be.

To be born into an ‘untouchable’ family in 1891 would normally have guaranteed a life of neglect, poverty and discrimination. Not only did...