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Writings in the Hindu
A Collection of Articles that Professor K.A. Nilakanta Sastri contributed to The Hindu between 1930 an 1961, curated and thematically arranged. These deals with a range of issues in South Indian history and provide insights into the thoughts, views and research methods of this foremost scholar in the field
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2018
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About the author
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri
38 books81 followersKallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (August 12, 1892 – June 15, 1975) was an Indian historian and Dravidologist who is generally regarded as the greatest and most prolific among professional historians of South India
Nilakanta Sastri was born in a poor Brahmin family in Kallidaikurichi near Tirunelveli, on August 12, 1892.[2] He completed his FA in M.D.T Hindu College, Tirunelveli and his college education in Madras Christian College.[3][4]
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.[5][6] He served as Professor of History, Banaras Hindu University from 1918 to 1920.[5] After that he became the Principal of the (then) newly started Arts College of Annamalai University.[7] In 1929, he was employed as Professor of History at National College, Trichy. The same year, he succeeded Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar[8] as the Professor of History and Archaeology at the Madras University,[1] a post he held till 1946.[3] He was the Professor of Indology (Currently renamed as Department of History and Archaeology) at the University of Mysore from 1952 to 1955.[1][3][5] 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.[9] From 1957 to 1972, he served with the UNESCO's Institute of Traditional Cultures of South East Asia, as the Director of the institute.[1][3] 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 .[5] Nilakanta Sastri died in 1975.[1]
Eminent Historian Professor R.S. Sharma writes of him as: "K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, the great historian from South India, was not a revivalist. His "History of South India" is a very dependable book."[10] Tamil historian A R Venkatachalapathy views him as "arguably the most distinguished historian of twentieth-century Tamil Nadu".
In 1915, a Bengali historian Jadunath Sarkar, wrote an essay Confessions of a History Teacher in the Modern Review regretting the lack of acclaimed historical works in vernacular languages and stressed that efforts should be made to write history books and teach history in vernacular languages.[11] Nilakanta Sastri, who was then a young teacher in Thirunelveli, wrote a letter to the newspaper opposing Sarkar's suggestion by saying that "English serves me better as a medium of expression than Tamil - I mean in handling historical subjects. Perhaps the vernacular is not so well off in this part of the country as it should be".[11] Sastri's comments evoked sharp criticism from the nationalist poet Subramanya Bharathi.[11][12] According to Venkatachalapathy, Sastri's Tamil proficiency was not good and he relied on Tamil scholar S. Vaiyapuri Pillai for understanding Tamil literary works. Thus he was not able to analyze the changing meaning of words over time. Venkatachalapathy says, the professional historiography in Tamil Nadu practiced during K. A. Nilakanta Sastri's period there was rarely any interrogation of sources (except in terms of authenticity and chronology.
In all, Nilakanta Sastri authored 25 historical works mostly on the history of South India.[1]
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1929). The Pāṇḍyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century. Luzac.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1932). Studies in Chola history and administration. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1935). The Cholas. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1936). A comprehensive history of India. Orient Longman.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1941). Historical method in relation to problems of South Indian history. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1945). Gleanings on social life from the Avadanas. Indian Research Institute.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1946). Furth
Nilakanta Sastri was born in a poor Brahmin family in Kallidaikurichi near Tirunelveli, on August 12, 1892.[2] He completed his FA in M.D.T Hindu College, Tirunelveli and his college education in Madras Christian College.[3][4]
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.[5][6] He served as Professor of History, Banaras Hindu University from 1918 to 1920.[5] After that he became the Principal of the (then) newly started Arts College of Annamalai University.[7] In 1929, he was employed as Professor of History at National College, Trichy. The same year, he succeeded Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar[8] as the Professor of History and Archaeology at the Madras University,[1] a post he held till 1946.[3] He was the Professor of Indology (Currently renamed as Department of History and Archaeology) at the University of Mysore from 1952 to 1955.[1][3][5] 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.[9] From 1957 to 1972, he served with the UNESCO's Institute of Traditional Cultures of South East Asia, as the Director of the institute.[1][3] 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 .[5] Nilakanta Sastri died in 1975.[1]
Eminent Historian Professor R.S. Sharma writes of him as: "K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, the great historian from South India, was not a revivalist. His "History of South India" is a very dependable book."[10] Tamil historian A R Venkatachalapathy views him as "arguably the most distinguished historian of twentieth-century Tamil Nadu".
In 1915, a Bengali historian Jadunath Sarkar, wrote an essay Confessions of a History Teacher in the Modern Review regretting the lack of acclaimed historical works in vernacular languages and stressed that efforts should be made to write history books and teach history in vernacular languages.[11] Nilakanta Sastri, who was then a young teacher in Thirunelveli, wrote a letter to the newspaper opposing Sarkar's suggestion by saying that "English serves me better as a medium of expression than Tamil - I mean in handling historical subjects. Perhaps the vernacular is not so well off in this part of the country as it should be".[11] Sastri's comments evoked sharp criticism from the nationalist poet Subramanya Bharathi.[11][12] According to Venkatachalapathy, Sastri's Tamil proficiency was not good and he relied on Tamil scholar S. Vaiyapuri Pillai for understanding Tamil literary works. Thus he was not able to analyze the changing meaning of words over time. Venkatachalapathy says, the professional historiography in Tamil Nadu practiced during K. A. Nilakanta Sastri's period there was rarely any interrogation of sources (except in terms of authenticity and chronology.
In all, Nilakanta Sastri authored 25 historical works mostly on the history of South India.[1]
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1929). The Pāṇḍyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century. Luzac.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1932). Studies in Chola history and administration. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1935). The Cholas. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1936). A comprehensive history of India. Orient Longman.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1941). Historical method in relation to problems of South Indian history. University of Madras.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1945). Gleanings on social life from the Avadanas. Indian Research Institute.
Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1946). Furth
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 24, 2020
There was a time when The Hindu used to be an amazing newspaper. The Hindu was fortunate to have the writings of great historian like K.A. Nilakanta Sastri. We now have a little volume of his collected articles. This book is a collection of 34 articles that Sastri contributed to The Hindu between 1930 and 1961. This book is basically divided into 6 parts.
1. Tamil Sangam
2. South Indian History
3. Pallavas
4. History
5. Issues
6. Lecture reports
Most significantly, the book excels by being a bold fact based point of view on many historical figures and happenings. Those were the days when history books were not leaning to any ideology. Now all our history books are stink with left leaning.
I hope more such non leaning history books come forth. Mind you, not fictionalized poor stories or propaganda garbed as a history lessons. We need to discuss our history more, in order to not let any single narrative lead the way.
Excellent reading for everyone interested in Indian history!
1. Tamil Sangam
2. South Indian History
3. Pallavas
4. History
5. Issues
6. Lecture reports
Most significantly, the book excels by being a bold fact based point of view on many historical figures and happenings. Those were the days when history books were not leaning to any ideology. Now all our history books are stink with left leaning.
I hope more such non leaning history books come forth. Mind you, not fictionalized poor stories or propaganda garbed as a history lessons. We need to discuss our history more, in order to not let any single narrative lead the way.
Excellent reading for everyone interested in Indian history!
July 17, 2020
A collection of articles that Sastri contributed to 'The Hindu " newspaper between 1930 ans 1964'
He is i is regarded as the greatest and most prolific among professional historians of South India Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject .. there is no question this book is a exemplified creation from the author.These specialized articles in this book are not suitable for the understanding of general readers.Over the pages Sastri flies over the vast terrain of South Indian history from antiquity and stuns the reader with reference after reference of source material with pithy comments on their merits and veracity.
if you are interested in knowing our past and specially the stories of South India, you must go through this masterpiece;
He is i is regarded as the greatest and most prolific among professional historians of South India Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject .. there is no question this book is a exemplified creation from the author.These specialized articles in this book are not suitable for the understanding of general readers.Over the pages Sastri flies over the vast terrain of South Indian history from antiquity and stuns the reader with reference after reference of source material with pithy comments on their merits and veracity.
if you are interested in knowing our past and specially the stories of South India, you must go through this masterpiece;
November 15, 2020
Wonderful set of articles by Prof. Sastri. This is a very good primer to the history of South India book, with a lot of things abstracted. Some things in the book are outdated, but the broad conclusions and evidences presented stand the test of time.
There is some opinion of a couple of letters being a reaction to various divisive, chauvinistic movements in India of the time, and that is quite true. The mainstream movement was based on slectively biased sources (and generalization from thereon) and sensationalized emotions, and Sastri tries to correct it with ample evidence from multiple point of views. For the academic, dispassionate mind, such things only serve as facets of evidences and inferences, rather than any sort of chest thumping. On the whole, the evidences are considered rigorously, without any seeming prior bias.
Worth a read for anyone interested in history.
There is some opinion of a couple of letters being a reaction to various divisive, chauvinistic movements in India of the time, and that is quite true. The mainstream movement was based on slectively biased sources (and generalization from thereon) and sensationalized emotions, and Sastri tries to correct it with ample evidence from multiple point of views. For the academic, dispassionate mind, such things only serve as facets of evidences and inferences, rather than any sort of chest thumping. On the whole, the evidences are considered rigorously, without any seeming prior bias.
Worth a read for anyone interested in history.
November 16, 2024
Learned a lot about the Sangam Era, Chalukyas, Pallavas and Cholas from a truly authoritative historian of South India. Nilakanta Sastri advanced our understanding of the political history of first millennium South India by moving beyond deciphering unreliable literature to interpreting archeological relics, which put us on firmer ground.
He does have a bias towards Sanskritic sources. I do not know whether this biases his interpretation of history, but I leave that to the experts to comment.
He does have a bias towards Sanskritic sources. I do not know whether this biases his interpretation of history, but I leave that to the experts to comment.
June 18, 2023
A collection of essays by Prof Nilakanta Sastri on South Indian history that came in the Hindu in the 1950-60s. Very informative and doesn’t go into facts and dates as one would expect when writing to a newspaper audience. Super book to get started on reading South Indian history
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews