Krishnaswamy Aiyangar was born in thea [[brahmin]] family<ref>{{Cite book|last=Richman|first=Paula|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=XkifYfljHP4C&dq=s+krishnaswami+aiyangar+brahmin&pg=PA188&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=s%20krishnaswami%20aiyangar%20brahmin&f=false|title=Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia|date=1991-08-29|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-07589-4|language=en}}</ref> at village of [[Sakkottai, Thanjavur|Sakkottai]] near [[Kumbakonam]] on 15 April 1871.<ref name="gangadhar_jha">{{cite book | title=The Journal of the Ganganatha Jha Research Institute| last=Ganganatha Jha Research Institute| year=1945| pages=80}}</ref> At the age of eleven, he lost his father.<ref name="historiography">{{cite book|title=Historiography|last=Subrahmanian|first=N.|publisher=Koodal publishers|year=1973|pages=454}}</ref> He had his schooling in Kumbakonam and graduated in history from the [[University of Madras]] in 1897.<ref name="cambridgehistoryofindiap4">{{cite book |title=The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara |first=Burton |last=Stein |authorlink=Burton Stein |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1989 |isbn=9780521266932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpxeaYQbGDMC&pg=PA3 |pages=3–4}}</ref> In 1899, he obtained his M. A. from the University of Madras<ref name="nalanda_whoswho">{{cite book|title=Nalanda Year-book & Who's who in India|year=1947|pages=431}}</ref> and taught as a lecturer at the [[Central College of Bangalore]] from 1899 to 1909.<ref name="cambridgehistoryofindiap4" />
