When a German torpedo sank Ambedkar's PhD thesis

When a German torpedo sank Ambedkar's PhD thesis

Besides sending the whole world into chaos, Germans had an unlikely victim in BR Ambedkar during the First World War.

In 1917, aboard the ship, SS Salcette, the young academic had sent on their way a draft of his PhD dissertation and a vast collection of books.

A German torpedo sent the works sinking to the bottom of the English Channel.

The incident, part of the folklore featuring the herculean academic efforts of Ambedkar, has now been given new currency in the book 'Becoming Babasaheb: The Life and Times of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Volume 1)' by Aakash Singh Rathore, published by HarperCollins India.

As it happened, the sinking was hardly enough to throw off stride Ambedkar, who doubled down in his pursuits and went on to win at least two doctorates, and several other honorary ones.

In the summer of 1917, Ambedkar was forced to return to India after his Baroda scholarship expired and the state refused to extend his financial support. He departed from London, a city where he had worked tirelessly for over a year.

He had completed coursework for his MSc at the London School of Economics and was well on his way to a PhD at Columbia University.

However, he still had to submit his master's thesis, and his doctoral dissertation too was unfinished. More so, he had only just begun his legal training at Gray's Inn.

Thus forced, he sent his books and papers separately in cargo by the SS Salsette, a British steamer, and travelled onboard the SS Kaisar-i-Hind to India.

On July 20, a German submarine, UB-40, fired a torpedo at the SS Salsette. The attack killed 15 crew members and sank Ambedkar's thesis along with his vast collection of books.

"The SS Salsette sank 45 minutes after the torpedo hit, taking the vast majority of Ambedkar's books and papers, including the first draft of his Columbia University doctoral dissertation ('The National Dividend'), to the bottom of the sea," writes Rathore in his book.

Ambedkar arrived in Bombay on August 21, 1917, and was greeted by members of the Mahar community with fanfare for his academic achievements.

He would eventually return to London to finish his PhD and complete his legal training.

On Monday, across the country, tributes were paid to the main architect of the Indian Constitution on his 135th anniversary.