Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Kanshi Ram" in English language version.
Kanshiram's family was Telasingh Ravidasia, gotra Chaukri, Ramdasiya Sikh Panth, and came from the once-untouchable Chamar caste. The fifth Sikh guru Ramdas had brought the Chamars into the fold of Sikhism. Despite being Chamars, the family was relatively well off. Unlike in UP, in Punjab the Chamars engaged in agriculture and earned better than they did in the rest of north India. The family owned a fair amount of land, so their main source of income was agriculture. Besides, they had a small tannery, and also took on lease a mango orchard and made money by selling the fruit. Kanshiram's paternal grandfather, Dheloram, was a retired jawan from Lahore who had set up a cottage industry in tanning leather. He had three sons, Hari, Bishan and Rachan, and one daughter, Haro. While Bishan Singh and Rachan Singh joined the army like their father, Hari Singh took up leather tanning. In addition, he farmed on leased land to supplement his income.
Under this vision, Manyavar Kanshi Ram Saheb expressed his desire in 2002 to be initiated into Buddhism along with 6 crore Bahujan people on October 20, 2006. He specifically chose this date because it marked the 50th anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar's Buddhist initiation. This was intended to be a significant cultural act by Manyavar Kanshi Ram, akin to that of Babasaheb Ambedkar, but it remained incomplete due to his untimely death.
