Sources
Source library
This site is connective tissue, not an archive. The authoritative collections already exist and are maintained by others — we link and credit them here rather than copying them. Public-domain primary sources may be quoted; copyrighted secondary works are listed so you can find them, but never reproduced.
External archives — credited, linked, not copied
The primary record lives here. Spend your time in these.
- Constituent Assembly Debates ↗ Centre for Law & Policy Research (CLPR)
The full CAD, searchable — the primary source for the /making page.
- Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches (BAWS) ↗ Govt. of Maharashtra / archive.org
All 17 volumes, free to read.
- baws.in ↗ Volunteer archive
BAWS volume PDFs, conveniently organised.
- Indian Kanoon ↗ indiankanoon.org
Full text of judgments, including Indra Sawhney (1992) and M. Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das (2019).
- The Constitution of India ↗ Legislative Dept., Govt. of India
Official up-to-date text with amendments.
Public-domain primary sources — quotable
Out of copyright; may be quoted directly on this site.
- The Laws of Manu, tr. G. Bühler (1886) ↗ Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 25
The public-domain translation against which verse numbers are checked before display.
- Tabaqāt-i-Nāsirī, tr. H. G. Raverty ↗ Minhaj-i-Siraj
The primary source cited (and scrutinised) for the Nalanda claim.
- Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi ↗ Publications Division, Govt. of India
For the Gandhi–Ambedkar record, in his own words.
Secondary works — listed, never reproduced
In copyright. We paraphrase briefly and point you to the original; we do not quote these at length.
- Patrick Olivelle — Manu's Code of Law (2005)
Critical edition and translation of the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra.
- Christophe Jaffrelot — Dr Ambedkar and Untouchability (2005)
On Ambedkar's politics and thought.
- Dhananjay Keer — Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission (1954)
The standard biography.
- Ramachandra Guha — India After Gandhi (2007)
On the making of the republic.
- D. N. Jha — works on early Indian history
On the historiography of the period.
Type & credits
Self-hosted fonts (see the build report for the woff2 drop-in step).
- Libre Caslon Display ↗ Pablo Impallari, Rodrigo Fuenzalida (SIL OFL)
Display / titles — the historic legal-document face.
- Spectral ↗ Production Type (SIL OFL)
Body — a serif built for screen reading.
- IBM Plex Mono ↗ IBM (SIL OFL)
Citations & tags — so a legal reference reads like a line of code.
Illustrations & photographs
Every image on the site is public-domain or freely-licensed, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons and self-hosted
so the site makes no external requests. Where a licence requires attribution (CC BY-SA), the author is named
below and the licence linked from the source page. Regenerate with npm run images.
- A 1407 CE Hindu law (Dharmaśāstra) manuscript ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Ms Sarah Welch · via Wikimedia Commons
- A 16th-c. Arthaśāstra manuscript (ORI) ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- A 1931 census population map ↗ Public domain
Mohammad Laeequddin, Census officer of the Mayurbhanj State · via Wikimedia Commons
- A cuneiform tablet from Boğazköy (Hattusa) ↗ CC BY-SA 3.0
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · via Wikimedia Commons
- A folio from Al-Biruni's chronology ↗ Public domain
Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Abū al-Rayḥān al- (0973-1050). Auteur du texte · via Wikimedia Commons
- A group of Indian women, 1875 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar as a barrister, 1922 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar at the Round Table Conference, 1930–31 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar in 1950 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar presenting the final draft, 25 Nov 1949 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar reading ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Ambedkar with the Simon Commission, 1928 ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
via Wikimedia Commons
- B. R. Ambedkar ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Prakash Lokhande · via Wikimedia Commons
- Gandhi at Dandi, 5 April 1930 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Harappan burial remains, Rakhigarhi ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Aadrit28 · via Wikimedia Commons
- Indian women at bead-work, 19th c. ↗ Public domain
William England · via Wikimedia Commons
-
Harry Pot · via Wikimedia Commons
- Jyotirao Phule ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Leaders of the Vaikom Satyagraha ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- Mahatma Gandhi, 1931 ↗ Public domain
Elliott & Fry · via Wikimedia Commons
- Mauryan ruins at Pataliputra (Kumrahar) ↗ Public domain
1912-1913 Archaelogical excavations by ASIEC · via Wikimedia Commons
- Periyar E. V. Ramasamy ↗ Public domain
Lakshmi, Tamil monthly · via Wikimedia Commons
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy, 1833 ↗ Public domain
Rembrandt Peale · via Wikimedia Commons
- Reception committee, Mahad Satyagraha, 1927 ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Not sure. · via Wikimedia Commons
- The 'Priest-King', Mohenjo-daro ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Ganesh Mohan T · via Wikimedia Commons
- The British siege of Delhi, 1857 ↗ Public domain
AnonymousUnknown author · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Buddha's first sermon, Sarnath ↗ Public domain
Daya Ram Sahni (16 December 1879 – 7 March 1939) · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Chavdar tank at Mahad ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- The Constituent Assembly of India, 1950 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- The court of Akbar, from the Akbarnama ↗ Public domain
Basawan · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Delhi Durbar, 1911 ↗ Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons
- The Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro ↗ CC BY-SA 3.0
Saqib Qayyum · via Wikimedia Commons
-
Apurv013 · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Pashupati seal, Mohenjo-daro ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Aadrit28 · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Preamble page of the Constitution ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
http://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india Government of India · via Wikimedia Commons
- The ruins of Nalanda ↗ CC BY 2.0
Prince Roy · via Wikimedia Commons
- The Supreme Court of India ↗ CC BY-SA 4.0
Pinakpani · via Wikimedia Commons
- Voters at a polling booth, 2009 ↗ GODL-India
Election Commission of India · via Wikimedia Commons
- Winston Churchill ↗ Public domain
Yousuf Karsh · via Wikimedia Commons