KRISHNA SASTRY H

KRISHNA SASTRY H., 1870-1928

Hosakote Krishnasastry, (hosakOTe krishNashAstry) (ಹೊಸಕೋಟೆ ಕೃಷ್ಣಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ) was an epigraphist of high repute and he has done some pioneering work in this field with respect to Karnataka. He was born in Hosakote, a small town in Bangalore rural district. He studied at the Central College, Bangalore and acquired a B.A. degree. He joined the Department of Epigraphy, Government of India as an epigraphist. He had the great fortune to assist Dr E. Hultsch the German scholar in his path breaking work in epigraphy. He became as assistant superintendent in the department in 1908 and rose to the position of the Chief Epigraphist, in which capacity he served till his superannuation in 1925.

Krishnasastry was an erudite scholar in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and English. He worked diligently in the fields of Epigraphy and Archaeology. Most of his work is published in the form official documents and reports rather than independent books. His book on South Indian Iconography is very valuable and is treated as an important source book even to this day. It was reprinted recently

He was the editor of many annual reports published by the department of epigraphy pertaining to South Indian Inscriptions. He edited the 17^th 18^th and 19^th volumes of the Epigraphica Indica. Similarly, he was the editor of the third, fourth and fifth volumes of the ‘South Indian Inscriptions’. He has published scholarly articles on the Ashokan rock edicts found in Maski and five Pallava inscriptions found in a Shiva temple at Mahabalipuram.

Krishnasastry presided over the tenth Kannada Literary Conference held at Kolar in 1924. He was conferred the Rao Saheb and Rao Bahaddur titles by the Government of India in 1912 and 1920 respectively.