Political Philosophy

Annihilation of Caste

♡+

B.R. Ambedkar

1936

Annihilation of Caste is the most radical and comprehensive indictment of the caste system ever written. Originally prepared as an address to the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal — a Hindu reformist society that ultimately withdrew its invitation after reading it — the text was published by Ambedkar himself and became a foundational document of the Dalit liberation movement. Ambedkar argues that caste is not a social problem capable of reform but a religious institution grounded in Brahminic Hindu scripture and the Chaturvarna system. Since caste is divinely sanctioned by the Vedas and the Manusmriti, it cannot be destroyed by education, inter-dining, or even intermarriage alone: the scriptures themselves must be rejected. Ambedkar calls on Hindus to abandon the notion of scripture as infallible and to embrace reason, liberty, equality, and fraternity as the foundations of social order. The text includes a detailed exchange with Gandhi — who found it too radical — making it also a record of a historic political rupture within the Indian independence movement.