Karnataka

Karnatakastate (2001 provisional pop. 52,733,958), 74,122 sq mi (191,976 sq km), SW India, bordering on the Arabian Sea. It is bordered on the north by the states of Goa and Maharashtra, on the east by Andhra Pradesh, on the south by Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and on the west by the Arabian Sea. The capital is Bangalore. Most of the area is a plateau (alt. 1,000?3,000 ft/305?915 m) traversed by the upper Kaveri, Tunga, and Bhadra rivers, flowing east. These plus its many other rivers are used for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. Coffee is the major crop, but cotton, millet, sugarcane, rice, and fodder are also grown. The state has the most valuable sandalwood forests in India. Karnataka produces nearly all of India's chromite and has considerable deposits of iron ore and manganese. The gold mines at Kolar are now closed, but some gold is still mined near Hutti. There is an excellent road and railway system, and the state manufactures steel and steel products, computer components and software, automobiles, and airplanes. At Karwar is a major modern Indian naval base. The population is largely Hindu and speaks Kannada (Kanarese). The linguistic uniformity of the state and its excellent education system contribute to one of India's highest literacy rates. Karnataka is governed by a chief minister and cabinet responsible to a bicameral legislature (with one elected house) and by a governor appointed by the president of India. The region was part of the empire of the Mauryas (c.325?185 B.C.). From the 3d to the 11th cent. it was ruled by the Gangas and Chalukyas. In 1313 it was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate, but it was soon lost to the Vijayanagar kingdom. The region was the site of the earliest European settlements in India. During the 18th cent. the Carnatic plains became the arena for the struggle between Great Britain and France for supremacy in India. The early European settlers sometimes applied the term Carnatic to all of S India. In the late 18th cent. the Muslim leaders Haidar Ali and his son, Tippoo Sahib, conquered the Hindu rulers of Karnataka, but were defeated in 1799 by the British, who restored the Hindu dynasty and thereafter provided protection. In 1947 the state of Mysore acceded to the Indian Union. For centuries Kannada-speaking peoples had been fragmented by division into different regions; in the 1950s Mysore was granted additional territories, doubling its area and largely consolidating the linguistic group. In 1973 the state was renamed Karnataka.

Evidence of Neolithic habitation of areas in modern Karnataka and celts dating back to the 2nd century BCE were first discovered in 1872. There are reports that a polished stone axe was discovered at Lingsugur in the Raichur district; however the authenticity of these reports remains unverifiable. [3] Megalithic structures and burial grounds were discovered in 1862 in the regions of Kodagu and Moorey Betta hills, while Neolithic sites were discovered in north Karnataka. Scholarly hypothesis postulates of contacts between the Indus Valley city of Harappa in 3000 BCE, citing the discovery of gold found in the Harappan sites that was imported from mines in Karnataka.[3] In the third century BCE, most of Karnataka was part of the Mauryan Empire, ruled by Emperor Ashoka. Rock edicts of Ashoka, written in Prakrit, were discovered in Chitradurga and Raichur. In the 4th century BCE, a local dynasty called Satavahana came to power and its rule lasted nearly 3 centuries. The disintegration of the Satavahana dynasty led to the ascent of the Banavasi Kadambas(325-540 CE) in north Karnataka, and the Ganga Dynasty (325-550 CE) in the south of the region. These were the first kingdoms to give official status to Kannada language as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription of 450 A.D., attributed to King Kakusthavarma of the Kadamba dynasty. Also, recent discovery of 5th century A.D. copper coin in Banavasi, ancient capital of the Kadambas, with Kannada script inscription on it, further proves the usage of Kannada at an official level.[1] They continued their rule as fiduciaries of larger empires such as the Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas for another six hundred years, during which time Kannada literature and a new style of architecture called the vesara style was born and evolved. Eclectic Chalukyan style temples in Pattadakal, Aihole, Badami, Ellora and Gadag were conceived during this time. Nripa Kama established the Hoysala Empire at the turn of the millennium. Art and architecture flourished in the region during the time that resulted in the construction of temples and sculptures in Halebid and Belur. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under their rule. In the 14th century the Vijayanagar Empire was established by Harihara and Bukka Raya, sons of the last Hoysala King Veera Ballala III, with its capital at Hampi. The Vijayanagara Kings fostered traditions and encouraged arts, religion and literature in Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu. The Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga and the Adil Shahi sultans of Bijapur ruled over the region after the defeat and disintegration of the Vijayanagara Empire in battle. The Bahamani rules encouraged Urdu and Persian literature and Islamic architecture. The Gol Gumbaz was constructed during this time. With the defeat of the Bahmani sultans, the entire region came into the dominion of the Mughal Empire. Mysore PalaceThe Wodeyars of Mysore, former vassals of the Vijayanagara Empire, leased the state from the Mughal king Aurangzeb in the 15th century. With the death of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, Haider Ali, the Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore Army, assumed control over the region, until the rule of the kingdom was passed to Tipu Sultan, after Haider Ali's death. In attempting to contain European expansion in South India, Tipu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore fought four significant Anglo-Mysore Wars, the last of which resulted in his death and the incorporation of Mysore into the British Raj. After Indian independence, the Wodeyar Maharaja acceded to India. In 1950, Mysore became an Indian state, and the former Maharaja became its rajpramukh, or governor, until 1975. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 provided for parts of Coorg, Madras, Hyderabad, and Bombay states to be incorporated into the state of Mysore. Mysore state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.