K.A. Nilakanta Sastri

K.A. Nilakanta Sastri Biography

K.A. Nilakanta Sastri was an Indian historian who was considered as the greatest historian of South India. He was born on 12^th August 1892 in Kallidaikurichi near Tirunelveli. He belonged to a poor Brahmin family and his father was Aiyah.

He studied at M. D. T. Hindu College and completed his F. A. He continued his education in Madras Christian College and got his M. A. degree from Madras Presidency. He started his career as a lecturer in 1913 in Hindu College and taught there for five years until 1918. Then he joined as a Professor of History at Banaras Hindu University in 1918 and served there till 1920.

He was appointed as the Principal of the Arts College of Annamalai University. He became the Professor of History at National College at Trichy in 1929. He joined as the Professor of History and Archaeology at the Madras University and served there till 1946. He was the professor of Indology at University of Mysore.

He served as the Director of Archaeology for Mysore state in 1954 and as the President of All India Oriental Conference. He worked as the director of the Institute of Traditional Cultures of South East Asia of UNESCO from 1957 to 1972. He went to the University of Chicago in 1957 as a visiting professor.

He married Lakshmi Narasammal. He preferred English language to write his historical works than the vernacular language. This evoked criticism from the poet Subramanya Bharathi. Some of his works include The Pandyan Kindom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century, The Cholas, Studies in Chola History and Administration, The Tamil Kingdoms of South India, Further Sources of Vijayanagara History, Age of the Nandas and Mauryas, An Advanced History of India, Life and Culture of the Indian People, The Culture and History of the Tamils, etc. He died on 15^th June 1975. 

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Updated: January 04, 2012