Dr. A.K Shastry is a historian in the state of Karnataka, India. He's the first scholar to extensively study and research manuscripts called 'Kadata'. He also has studied more than a hundred thousandpalm leaf and paper manuscripts. Kadatas are from the 15th century to the 19th century, and unique in how they are made. Kadata is a long sheet of cloth, seasoned with charcoal paste mixed with tamarind seed powder, dried and folded in the form a book. It opens out like a roll. Soapstone pencils were used to write. The history of Kadata goes back to the 4th century BC. Nearchus, an officer in Alexander The Great's army, mentions about Indians writing on a well-beaten cloth. A large number of Kadatas are preserved at the Sringeri Math in Sringeri, Karnataka. Dr Shastry's research focuses on social, political, economic and religious aspects of Sringeri Dharmasamsthana in particular and Karnataka in general, during this time period. Dr Shastry's major work involves reading, translating/transliterating from "modi kannada" Modi alphabet - an old Kannada script, and generating source material from these manuscripts. He has written several large volumes of source material books that capture these documents verbatim with commentary and analysis. Due to his work on Kadatas, he is fondly known as "Kadata Shastry" in Karnataka's history circles. He has presided over several state and national level history seminars. He was a professor of history at MES's M. M. College of Arts and Science, Sirsi, affiliated to Karnatak University, Dharwad, from 1964 to 1998.
Life and education
Dr Shastry was born on 17 March 1940 in Sirsi. He completed his education in Sirsi and Dharwad
Presented research papers and presided over sessions at the state and national level seminars. Honored as a national level historian and research scholar at the national conference held at Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 2000
Presented the research paper "The Sringeri Matha and the Marathas" at the international seminar at Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 2005
General President of the Karnataka Itihasa Academy's 16th conference in 2002
General President of the Karnataka History Congress, 2006
"Kadamba Seva Ratna", Rajyotsava award, 2010
Honored at All India Kannada Sahitya Conference, Bangalore, 2011
Kannada Sahitya Parishat's Centenary award, 2015
Extracurricular
Sports
First in running broad jump, hop-step and jump, and polevault in Karnataka University's athletic events
Captain of the Karnataka University athletic team to All India Inter-University Athletic Meet, 1961
In 1998, a felicitation volume called 'Itihasa Samshodhaka', edited by Dr. G. M Hegde, was published
In 2015, on the occasion of Dr. Shastry's 75th birthday, a felicitation volume called 'Ananta Krishna Charita', edited by Ganapati Bhat, Vargasar, was published
