Review Article – K.A. Nilakanta Sastri: Writings in The Hindu

The Hindu History Series: K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Writings in The Hindu, THG Publishing Private Limited, Chennai, 2018, 224 pages, Rs 299.

K.A. Nilakanta Sastri was one of the doyens of south Indian history. Although specialising in pre-colonial history of the region Sastri wrote on a range of issues cutting across historical timeframes. His monographs including The Pandyan Kingdom: From the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century (1929), the magisterial The Cholas (in two volumes, 1935 and 1937), South Indian Influences in the Far East (1949) and A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (1955) are outstanding examples of historical scholarship. Besides academic rigour what is also visible in these monographs is Sastri’s grasp over primary sources as well as his exceptional knowledge of Sanskrit and Tamil languages. It is therefore not surprising that even after significant advances in historical studies of the region, the historical framework that Sastri draws in these works has hardly lost its relevance. In fact R. Champakalakshmi considers many of Nilakanta Sastri’s works including the ‘synthetic’ A History of South India irreplaceable.