Aiyappan was born into the
Thiyya community. He obtained an MA in economics from the
University of Madras in 1927, and in 1929 he joined the
Government Museum, Madras. He continued to study, taking a PhD in 1937 after being a student of
Raymond Firth at the
London School of Economics. He became head of the museum in 1940 and continued there until 1958, whilst also being a visiting professor at
Cornell University during 1954–1956. He became professor and head of the Department of Anthropology at
Utkal University in 1958, and filled the same role at
Andhra University in 1966–1967. In 1969 he was appointed vice-chancellor of Kerala University, a post in which he stayed for either 18 months or dependent on the source selected. In 1970 he became a sponsoring founder and first chairman of the
Centre for Development Studies. ==Works==