Karnataka in History



For those who have not heard about Karnataka,
1) Karnataka is a state in south part of India,
2) it is much bigger than many European countries, and
3) its capital is Bangalore, which is now a days famous for software industries.



Source of below content:
Whatever is written below is based on reading a few chapters of a cheap 70/- book containing more than 300 pages. The book is 'A concise history of Karnataka' by Dr. S. U. Kamath, a former reader in department of history, Bangalore University.



Mention of Karnataka in Old RecordsFrom reading the first chapter of this book, one come to understand that scholars have tried hard to find words in old Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and other literatures that can be correlated with Karnataka.


~Comment: It illustrates the human nature that finds pride in things that are old enough; and we call such old things heritage. More the mention to Karnataka is old, more the pride it will create in its current citizens.~



In page 1, one read that Mahabharata has many editions (that is, variations depending on publisher); and in some editions like Pune one and Kumbhak-onam, there is mention of Karnataka in a sentence of Bhishma Parva section. A word in the same single sentence is subject to change from edition to edition: word becomes Karnataka, Kunthala or Unnathayaka.



~Comment: Existence of these editions is not strange. Any publication of a literature requires human touch: somebody collects the material, he sees whether collected material makes sense, he may even add or delete something according to his own political or social philosophy and likings-dislikings.~





~Comment: Interestingly, there is wikipedia page on origin of name of Karnataka. Editors of this page are well aware of this book and have cited it as one of references. However, these editors have only include part of the fact which they liked and have conveniently not mentioned part of the fact which they disliked. This is another example of mis-representation or covenient quotation of facts by various editors. The wiki page talks about mention of Karnataka in Mahabharata, but does not say that this mention was in a few (namely two) editions of Mahabharata. The wiki page talks about supposed mention of Karnataka in work of Panini, but forgets to tell that supposed mention was not to Karanataka as a region but to a Gotra.~

~Comment: By the way, I knew about existence of incompatible editions of Sanskrit works from earlier readings of history books. Mahabharata as we know today is supposed to be result of collection of materials or stories in times of Gupta emperors of India. These materials or stories were the mythologies or folk-tales prevalent across various tribes and regions of India those days. Without the great job of Gupta age editors of Mahabharata, who interweaved these oral stories with the main story - which was story of battle between Kauravs and Pandava, part of an earlier very short literature named Jay  -, these stories would have become extinct just as folk-tales of various regions of India have become extinct today with the wave of modernization.~



Back to the main point, Kamath's book says that ancient Tamil works (Tolkappiyam and Shilappadikaram) are supposed to refer to people of kanataka region as Karunadars or Karunatakars. In Shilappadikaram , a 7th century Tamil work, Cheran Senguttuvan, a celebrated Tamil king, witnessed a dance of Karunatakars when on visit to Nilgiris.



~Comment: When one reads names in above paragraph, name of Karuna_nidhi, DMK party chief, should also flash in his mind :)  ~



Karnata, Karunat: Old Names of Karnataka



Book says that:
1) An inscription of 11th century Java (Indonesia) mentions trade with countries including Karnata which Karnataka scholars assume refering to Karnataka.

2) The army of Chalukyas of Vathapi was called karnatabala in inscriptions of Rashtrakuta.

Therefore, supposedly Karnata is the ancient name of current karnataka region.

3) Karnata is supposed to be derived from Karu+Nadu which means 'big land' or 'elevated land' in Dravidian languages. A professor Mugali is the biggest proponent of this theory.

Other than Karu-nadu derivation, the book mentions some 6 more alternative derivations but not with wide acceptance.



Kannada Speaking Area in the Past





According to the book, Kannada was spoken in almost whole of the territory where Marathi is spoken today. A civic address presented to Governer Elphinston by citizens of Bombay in 1818 was in Kannada. Place names like Kalwa, Dombivli, Devlali, Shivaneri (birth-place of Shivaji) and so on in Maharashtra are of Kannada origin according to the book.



~Comment: Probably, above is a controversial claim. Dravidian influence to Marathi or the region under administrative (and hence naming) control of Kannada king can also account for such names of these towns. The kannada civic address of 1818 may be by Kannada settlers in Bombay. ~



According to the book, Skanadapurna states that a 'karnata Rakshasa' was active in central India (probably means Madhya-Pradesh) and was driven to the South. Author of the book supposes this to indicate that Kannada language was popular beyond Godavari in olden days.


~Comment: By the way, the region around Bhopal, capital of Madhya-Pradesh, was surrounded and ruled by Dravidian Koitor speaking Gond tribals till end of 19th century. ~




Kannada: Antiquity



Book says that Kannada is oldest after Tamil in group of 20 languages of Dravidian root.

Book mentions attempts to interpret various words (eg a word Isila in one of Asoka's inscriptions, town names in The Geography by Ptolemy) of Kannada origin and hence to prove antiquity of Kannada language. Author of the book says that Kannada language is at least 2000 years old as proved by names mentioned by Ptolemy.


~Comment:  However, it is not clear how the author is so sure to assume that language features leading to derivation of those names are unique to Kannada language (and not shared by other Dravidian languages).~




Halmidi record of Kadambas - 6th century AD - in Kannada language - in Kannada script
Badami record of Mangalesh - 578 AD - in Kannada language
Kappe Arabhatta's record at Badami - 700 AD - first Kannada poem
Kavirajamarga - 9th century AD - a book on poetics



Dynasties of Kannada Origin outside of Karnataka
According to book:

Sena Dynasty - in Bengal
Karnata Dtynasty - in Mithila (Bihar)
Chindaka Naga - in Central India
Ganga Dynasty - in Kalinga (Orissa)
Chalukya - in Gujarat

are of Kannada origin.



Sources for Study of Karnataka History: Inscriptions

Asoka's 13 inscriptions - stone records - in Prakrit language - in Brahmi script
(found in Bellary, Chitradurga and Raichur districts)

Satavahana's Records - in Prakrit language - in Brahmi script
(numerous in Maharashtra)

Aihole record of Pulakeshin II - in Sanskrit language - in Kannada script

Records of the Ganga emperor- copper plates - majority in Sanskrit

Halmidi Record - 5th century AD - stone records - in kannada
Badami Cave Record - 6th century AD - stone record - in Kannada

Numerous records of Vikram VI of Chalukya of Kalyana - 1100 AD

Records of Sevuna - 1000 AD - mostly in Kannada

300 copper plates of Vijaynagar period - mostly in Sanskrit - mostly in Nandi script
7000 stone inscriptions of Vijaynagar period - mostly in regional languages - a half in Kannada

Stone and copper records - of Odeyars of Mysore and Rulers of Keladi

A dozen or so stone records of Maratha rulers of Bangalore - 17th century AD - except one, all others in Kannada

Shaka Era - in majority of records from Karnataka
Chalukya Vikram Era - initiated by Vikram VI of Kalyan - popular for a century





Karnataka - Pre-Historic Period

Hand-axe culture in Karnataka - Sohan culture in North India


~Comment:  These are culture of ancestors of we modern humans, who were between monkeys without tails and modern humans in terms of features ~



first discovery - by Primrose - in 1842 - of a hand-axe - in Lingasugur in Raichur district

Robert Bruce Foote - worked at large scale - on pre-historic culture of south India



Neo-lithic period was 9000 BC to 800 BC in Karnataka


~Comment: neolithic refers to tools made of stones which were used by our ancestors for farming
and home use.~


Iron after 1200 BC


~Comment: if book's claim of iron in 1200BC in Karnataka is true, then it means human settlers in Karnataka came to know about iron many centuries earlier than human settlers in North India. ~



in iron age, men were no longer mere gatherers of food, but raised crops and tamed animals, settled down in places.

Ragi, paddy - found at Hallur
Horse gram - found at Tekkalakota

wheat also.



Domesticated animals : cows, dogs, goats, sheep and fowl. (their bones were found in abundance)

A bone of Horse - at Sanganakallu
Fossilated bone of Buffalo - at Narsipur


Thatched huts - floors beaten and made hard by spreading of pebbles - walls were twig fencing smeared with mud
(at Hallur, Tekkalakota, Brahmagiri and Sanganakallu)

Pottery - hand made (not wheel turned)
Large pots - used also for burial


Motifs in pots - fish, stork, dog, peacock, deer, etc

Burial - small children buried in pots - various belongings buried with the dead




Paintings done in Red soil:
Men mounted on horse, men assembled in group forming a circle with hands held together, long horned bulls, hunting scenes



Karnataka : Nanda and Maurya Empires



Nandas who ruled from Pataliputra ruled over parts of Karnataka.

Mauryas, successor of Nandas, inherited Karanaka from Nandas and ruled until rise of Satavahanas.

Advent of Jainism and Buddhism into Karnataka during this period.



Karnataka: Satavahanas

After 30 BC.

Also called 'Andhrajateeya' and 'Andhrabhritya'

First ruler: Simukh
his capital - modern Paithan in Maharashtra

Encroachment of Shakas for a period of about a century.