This paper addresses two primary topics, South Asian epistemology and intellectual history. It focuses on the epistemological theory of intrinsic validity (svataḥ prāmāṇya) of cognition presented by the 7 th century South Asian philosopher Kumārila Bhaṭṭa and presents an intellectual historical account of some developments in the history of pre-modern South Asian epistemology. It attempts to present a historical account of this theory in relation to its own intellectual milieu-i.e. in relation

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... o the tradition to which Kumārila belonged-as well as in relation to its opponents-i.e. to the 10 th century Kashmirian philosopher Jayanta Bhaṭṭa. Additionally, this paper is committed to the presupposition that innovation does not occur in a vacuum and that only by paying close attention to texts and textual traditions can we gain a more nuanced understanding of the developments in pre-modern South Asian thought and philosophical traditions in particular. iii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Nils Seiler received a B.A. in Religious Studies and a minor in History from the University of New Mexico in December 2014.