Ambedkar read the Poona Pact through Rome’s patrician-plebeian caste split

Evidence

Ambedkar reflects on this conundrum in Annihilation of Caste by comparing the Communal Award with the republican constitution of Rome, where he argues that the patricians and the plebeians “formed two distinct castes”. The plebeians “never could get a plebeian consul who could be said to be a strong man, and who could act independently of the patrician consul”. Ambedkar likens the manner in which the plebeians lose their rights to how Untouchables lose out in the Poona Pact—the caste Hindus and patricians offer some concessions but retain a final say in the lives of Untouchables and plebeians respectively. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1318

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Ambedkar’s argumentation style and the Rome comparison within Annihilation of Caste itself — the doubled-caste scheme recurs across his work.