S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar

Diwan Bahadur Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar (15 April 1871 – 26 November 1946) was an Indian historian, academician and Dravidologist. He chaired the Department of Indian History and Archaeology at the University of Madras from 1914 to 1929.

Krishnaswamy Aiyangar was born in a village near Kumbakonam in 1871. He did his education in Madras and worked as a lecturer in Bangalore from 1899 to 1909. In 1914, he was made head of the department of Indian history and archaeology at the University of Madras, and held this post from 1914 to 1929. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar died in 1946 at the age of 76.

Aiyangar was elected a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1908 and was conferred a Diwan Bahadur title in 1928. He is known for the new methods he introduced in interpreting the history of Vijayanagar. His historical methodology is considered to be Indian nationalistic.

Early life and education Krishnaswamy Aiyangar was born in a Tamil brahmin family at village of Sakkottai near Kumbakonam on 15 April 1871. At the age of eleven, he lost his father. He had his schooling in Kumbakonam and graduated in history from the University of Madras in 1897. In 1899, he obtained his M. A. from the University of Madras and taught as a lecturer at the Central College of Bangalore from 1899 to 1909. He was awarded an honorary PhD by the University of Calcutta. At about the same time, Aiyangar took over a struggling periodical called Journal of Indian History which was started by Shafaat Ahmed Khan in 1921. Aiyangar faced financial difficulties in the beginning but rescued the journal by persuading the University of Kerala to take over the magazine.

Methodology Krishnaswamy Aiyangar assisted Robert Sewell in his analyses of the epigraphy and archaeology of South India. His views were echoed by Kannadiga historian B. A. Saletore and Telugu historian N. Venkatramanayya.

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