S.KRISHNANASWAMI AIYANGAR (1871-1953)

His Career

          Bron at Sakkotai,near Kumbakonam,TamilNadu,lost his father when he was young,mirgrated to Banalore with his mother and studied there.He studied Physics (B.Sc),Mathematics(M.Sc.,)and History(M.A).He was appointed Professor of  English in the Central College,Bangalore(1904).Then he joined the University of Madras and worked as Professor of Indian History and Archaeolgy for 15 years (1914-1929).During his career he was chairman,Co-ordinating Committee to work out a comprehensive schem of writing history set up by the Indian History Congress;member of Mysore Educational Service; associated with the Mythic Society of Banalore,collaborated with Hultzchze of Asoka inscriptions fame;Joint Editor of Indian Antiquary;Secretary of All India Oriental Conference;Vice President,South Indian Archaeoloical Society;Gold Medalist of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society;contributed to the Cambridge History of India.The Calcutta University honoured him with a Doctorate(Honoris Causa)Degree

His works

Krishnaswami Aiyangar’s major works are:

1)The Beginnings of South Indian History(1919)

2) South India and her Mohammadan Invadors(1921)

3)Manimekalai in its Historical Setting(1928)

4)Evolution of Hindu Administrative Institutions in South India(1931)

5)A History of Tirupati in 2 volumes.

He also edited the Sources of Vijayanagar History and the Historical Inscriptions of South Indian History in collaboration with Robert Sewell.He contributed  chapters to the Bharatiya Bhavan series on Indian History.He had published about 125 research papers.Above all,he guided and groomed outstanding research scholars like A.Rangaswamy Saraswathy,R.Sathianathiar,R.Gopalan,C.V.Narayana Aiyar and A.Appadurai.

Honest Historiographer

S.K.Aiyangar’s contribution to the promotion development and consolidation of research on South Indian History is phenomenal.His research output is remarkable quantitatively and qualitatively.A honest

Historiographer,he founded a school of history and created a school of thought in the University of Madras.He has been criticized for his orthodoxy,sectarianism,cultural chauvinism and inelegant style.But to say that he is not “the star historian of India” is to belittle his commendable contribution to South Indian Historiography. “As a diligent co-ordinator of data and a fairly honest interpreter,he has few parallels”.