Kanthadai Vaidya Subrahmanya Aiyar (1875 – 7 November 1969) was a Tamil epigraphist and historian.
He is considered to be the first person to conclusively decipher the cave inscriptions of Tamil Nadu as a form of Tamil-Brahmi.
[1][2][3] Subrahmanya Aiyar was born in Avinashi Tirupur in 1875 and was educated in Trichinopoly.
On completion of his education, Aiyar obtained a job at the Coimbatore Collectorate in Ootacamund where his abilities were recognised by Chief Epigraphist V. Venkayya who in 1906, inducted him into his team.
He edited South Indian Inscriptions Volumes VI, VII and VIII and wrote for the Epigraphia Indica.