K. A. Nilakanta Sastri
| Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
12 August 1892 Kallidaikurichi, British India |
| Died | 15 June 1975 (aged 82) Madras, India |
| Residence | Nileshwar |
| Alma mater | Madras Christian College |
| Influences | S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar |
| Notable awards | Padma Bhushan (1957) |
| Spouse | Lakshmi Narasammal |
Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and mastery of sources and was a recipient of the third highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Bhushan.
Nilakanta Sastri was born in a poor Brahmin family in Kallidaikurichi near Tirunelveli, on 12 August 1892. He completed his FA in M.D.T Hindu College, Tirunelveli and his college education in Madras Christian College.
Sastri obtained his MA by coming first in the Madras Presidency. He joined the Hindu College as lecturer in 1913 where he taught till 1918. He served as Professor of History, Banaras Hindu University from 1918 to 1920. After that he became the Principal of the (then) newly started Arts College of Annamalai University. In 1929, he was employed as Professor of History at National College, Trichy. The same year, he succeeded Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar as the Professor of History and Archaeology at the Madras University, a post he held till 1946. He was the Professor of Indology (Currently renamed as Department of History and Archaeology) at the University of Mysore from 1952 to 1955. He was appointed as the ex-officio Director of Archaeology for the Mysore State in 1954. He was also the President of the All-India Oriental Conference in the early 1950s. From 1957 to 1972, he served with the UNESCO's Institute of Traditional Cultures of South East Asia, as the Director of the institute. In 1957, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. In the summer of 1959, he was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago where he delivered a series of lectures on South Indian History . Nilakanta Sastri died in 1975.
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