Template:Infobox State IN Karnātakā pronunciation^ⓘ (Kannada: ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ) (Template:IPA2) is one of the four southern states of India. The modern state of Karnataka came into existence with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act (1956), with the incorporation of districts under the dominion of Bombay, Hyderabad, Madras State and Coorg within the existing state of Mysore State.

Karnataka's capital, Bengaluru/Bangalore, is the capital city of the state with a population of more than 6 million. Other major cities include Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Davanagere, Bellary, Hassan, Shimoga and Belagavi. Kannada is the official language of the state. Karnataka is the 8th largest Indian state by area and 9th largest by population.

Several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka. One accepted derivative comes from the Kannada words karu and nādu meaning elevated land. During the British Raj, the words Carnatic or Karnatak were used to describe this part of the region in general. Another etymological derivative of the name comes from lear or black — a reference to the black cotton soil of the region.^[1] Historically, the names Karnatak or Carnatic have been misapplied to refer to the regions below the Western Ghats (Coorg and Kerala) as well as regions in present day Andhra Pradesh (Telingana).^[2] Mysore state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.

Karnataka is situated in the Deccan Plateau and is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the east and southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. It is situated at the angle where the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of South India converge into the Nilgiri Hills.

The state has three principal physical zones;

• The coastal strip, between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, which is lowland, with moderate to high rainfall levels. This strip is around 320 km in length and 48-64 km wide.
• The Western Ghats, a mountain range inland from the Arabian Sea, rising to about 900 m average height, and with moderate to high rainfall levels.
• The Deccan Plateau, comprising the main inland region of the state, which is drier and verging on the semi-arid. The humidity in these plains or maidans never exceeds 50%.

Karnataka has one of the highest average elevations of Indian states at 1,500 feet. The highest recorded temperature was 45.6 C (114.08 F) at Raichur on May 23, 1928. The lowest recorded temperature was 2.8 C (37.04 F) at Bidar on December 16, 1918.^[3]

Karnataka has around 20 major cities and hundreds of towns. Usually capital of a district is a city (of Population 100,000 -500,000) and taluq centres are towns (10,000-100,000) though there are exceptions. Major cities are Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Belgaum, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad.

Evidence of Neolithic habitation of areas in modern Karnataka and celts dating back to the 2nd century BCE were first discovered in 1872 CE. There are reports that a polished stone axe was discovered at Lingsugur in the Raichur district; however the authenticity of these reports remains unverifiable.^[4] Megalithic structures and burial grounds were discovered in 1862 CE 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.^[4] 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, the Satavahana dynasty came to power and its rule lasted nearly 3 centuries. The disintegration of the Satavahana dynasty led to the ascent of the first native kingdoms, the Banavasi Kadambas(325-540 CE) from Uttara Kannada region, and the Western Ganga Dynasty (325-550 CE) in southern Karnataka. These were the first kingdoms to give administrative status to Kannada language as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription of 450 CE, attributed to King Kakusthavarma of the Kadamba dynasty. Also, recent discovery of 5th century CE 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.^[5]

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 adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought large parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under their rule.^[6]

In early 14th century the Vijayanagara empire with its capital at Hosapattana (later to be called Vijayanagara) rose to successfully challenge the Muslim invasions into the South. This empire was established by Harihara and Bukka Raya, commanders of the last Hoysala King Veera Ballala III. 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 of Talikota. The Bahamani rulers 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.

The Wodeyars of Mysore, former vassals of the Vijayanagara Empire, leased the state from the Mughal king Aurangzeb in the 15th century CE. With the death of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, Haidar Ali, the Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore Army, assumed control over the region, until the rule of the kingdom was passed to Tippu Sultan, after Haidar Ali's death.

In attempting to contain Europe an expansion in South India, Tippu 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 in 1799 AD.

After Indian independence, the Wodeyar Maharaja acceded to India. In 1950, Mysore became an Indian state, and the former Maharaja became its Rajpramukh, head of state, until 1975 CE.

The Ekikarana movement started in the late 19th century and culminated in the formation of Karnataka state in 1956, nine years after independence. 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. The state of Mysore was formed on November 1 1956 and since then November 1 of every year is celebrated as Kannada Rajyotsava / Karnataka Rajyotsava.

According to Census of India total population is 52,733,958. Of them 26,856,343 (50.93%) are male and 25,877,615 (49.17%) are female. Population density is 275/km^2. 33.98% of the people live in urban areas. Population growth was 17.25% from 1991 to 2001 compared to 21.12% between 1981 to 1991. In total 63.70% are literates. Literacy is 76.29% for males and 57.45% for females. 88% of the population are Hindu, 10% are Muslim, 1.9% are Christian, 0.7% are Buddhist, 0.8% are Jains and remaining belong to other religions. Kannada is the official language of the state and is spoken as a native language by approximately 70% of the people in Karnataka. Other linguistic minorities in the state as of 1991 were Urdu (9.72%), Telugu (8.34%), Marathi (.5%), Tamil (3.82%), Malayalam (1.69%), Tulu (3.38%), Konkani (1.78%), Kodava Takk (?.??%) and Hindi (1.87%).^[7]

Population is from the 2001 Census of India, followed by the percentage increase in population, 1991-2001.

Karnataka state (52,850,562, 17.25%)

• Bangalore Division
  • Bangalore District (6,537,124, 34.80%)
  • Bangalore Rural District (1,881,514, 12.21%)
  • Chitradurga District (1,517,896, 15.05%)
  • Davanagere District (1,790,952, 14.78%)
  • Kolar District (2,536,069, 13.83%)
  • Shimoga District (1,642,545, 12.90%)
  • Tumkur District (2,584,711, 11.87%)

• Belgaum Division
  • Bagalkot District (1,651,892, 18.84%)
  • Belgaum District (4,214,505, 17.40%)
  • Bijapur District (1,806,918, 17.63%)
  • Dharwad District (1,604,253, 16.65%)
  • Gadag District (971,835, 13.14%)
  • Haveri District (1,439,116, 13.29%)
  • Uttara Kannada District (1,353,644, 10.90%)

• Gulbarga Division
  • Bellary District (2,027,140, 22.30%)
  • Bidar District (1,502,373, 19.56%)
  • Gulbarga District (3,130,922, 21.02%)
  • Koppal District (1,196,089, 24.57%)
  • Raichur District (1,669,762, 21.93%)

• Mysore Division
  • Chamarajanagar District (965,462, 9.16%)
  • Chikmagalur District (1,140,905, 11.98%)
  • Dakshina Kannada District (1,897,730, 14.51%)
  • Hassan District (1,721,669, 9.66%)
  • Kodagu District (548,561, 11.64%)
  • Mandya District (1,763,705, 7.14%)
  • Mysore District (2,641,027, 15.04%)
  • Udupi District (1,112,243, 6.88%)

As per Indian constitution there are three branches of governments: executive, legislative and judicial. Karnataka state comprises 27 districts, grouped into four divisions.

A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Karnataka Civil Service and other Karnataka state services.

A Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Police Service and other Karnataka Police officials.

A Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the Forests, environment and wild-life related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Forest Service and other Karnataka Forest officials and Karnataka Wild-Life officials.

Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers belong to the various State Services.

Karnataka Legislature has two houses: upper and lower. Lower house members are elected directly from people. Some of the upper house members are elected by assembly, some are elected by special category of people like teachers and graduates and some are nominated by governor. Each house has a speaker. Chief minister and his cabinet are selected among the members of both houses.

There is a highcourt in bangalore and courts in every district centres and some taluq centres.

Karnataka took its present shape in 1956, when the states of Mysore and Coorg (Kodagu) were merged with the Kannada-speaking districts of the former states of Bombay and Hyderabad, and Madras. Mysore state was made up of ten districts, Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Chikmagalur (Kadur), Shimoga and Chitradurga; Bellary had been transferred from Madras state to Mysore in 1953, when the new state of Andhra Pradesh was created out of Madras' northern districts. Kodagu became a district, and Dakshina Kannada (South Kanara) district was transferred from Madras state, North Kanara, Dharwad, Belgaum District, and Bijapur District from Bombay state, and Bidar District, Gulbarga District, and Raichur District from Hyderabad state.

In 1989 Bangalore Rural district was split from Bangalore. and in 1997 Bagalkot district split from Bijapur, Chamrajnagar district split from Mysore, Gadag district split from Dharwad, Haveri district split from Dharwad, Koppal district split from Raichur, Udupi district split from Dakshina Kannada, and Davanagere district was created from parts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Shimoga.

Karnataka politics is dominated by Congress and Janata Parties (like Janata Dal). Current chief minister is H.D.Kumarasamy, son of former Prime minister H.D.Deve Gowda, from a splinter group of Janata Dal. Bhratiya Janata Party is also part of the government and the deputy chief minister , B.S.Yediyurappa is from this party..

Language was the main basis for the formation of the Indian states after independence and the present day Karnataka was formed by unifying majority Kannada-speaking regions from the many districts of erstwhile Madras State (present day Tamil Nadu), erstwhile Bombay presidency (present day Maharashtra) and the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad (present day Andhra Pradesh) to the former Kingdom of Mysore, known as the Mysore State (post independence) around the years 1950-1957. In 1973, the Mysore State was officially christened as Karnataka. Kannada, Kodava Takk, Konkani and Tulu are written in the Kannada script though Tulu has its own script. There are efforts to promote Tulu script.

The earliest full length Kannada language inscription in Hale Kannada script is the Halmidi Inscription of 450CE.^[8] Kannada has had an unbroken literary tradition of at least 1500 years. Though the earliest extant book on Kannada literature is Kavirajamarga 850 AD, references made in this book refer back to early Kannada literature of 6th century.^[9] The earliest extant poetry in tripadi meter are the Kappe Arabhatta records of 700 AD.^[10] Literature in Kannada has been prolific ever since. Some early extinct works are Chudamani (a 96,000 verse-measures), a commentary on logic Tatwarthamahashastra by Tambuluruacharya of 650 AD, Prabhrita by Syamakundacharya of 650 AD,^[11] Karnateshwara Katha with Pulakesi II as its hero from the 7th century and Gajastaka a work on elephant management by king Shivamara II of Western Ganga Dynasty of the 8th century.^[12] Vachana sahitya and Haridasa sahitya are two unique contributions of Kannada to the world of devotional literature. Modern Kannada in twentieth century has been influenced by many movements. Notable among them are Navodaya, Navya, Dalita/Bandaya. Presently Kannada literature is ahead of all other languages in India with seven Jnanpith awards, the highest literary honour in India. Writers in Kannada have also bagged forty eight Sahitya Academy awards.

Some inscriptions in the Tulu language are found in and around the village of Barkur.The ruins and inscriptions are in need of being preserved.

Karnataka is connected to the rest of the world by air, rail, road and sea networks. The state has six airports, one each at Bengaluru, Mangalore, Hampi, Hubli, Belgaum, Bijapur, and Mysore. Of these, international flights operate from Bengaluru and Managaluru. A new state of the art airport is also coming up at Devanahalli near Bengaluru.

Karnataka also is well connected with the rest of the country by a good network of railroads. The South West Railway zone is headquartered at Hubballi in Karnataka. The Konkan Railway runs along the entire coast of Karnataka.

Of all modes of transportation, bus services form the most prolific network. Buses connect even the most remote villages in the state and a high frequency of buses operate between all the major cities and towns in the state. The KSRTC which was set up in 1961 own over 5400 buses and operates 5000 schedules to serve over 2.2 million people daily. It is the only profit making transport corporation in the country and has won awards for fuel efficiency also. Recently the NWKRTC and the NEKRTC were also formed to better serve the Northern parts of the state

Karnataka also boasts of 20 ports of which the ones at Mangalore and Karwar are the most important ones. While the Karwar port is host to the prestigious Project Seabird of the Indian Navy, the Mangalore port is the 9th busiest in the country in terms of cargo handling.

Usually water supply is provided by the local authorities like municipalities and panchayats. The first hydroelectric plant in the state was built at Sivasamudram Falls on the Kaveri River in 1902.^[13]

Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited is the sole provider of electricity for the state.

Agriculture Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee, raw silk and sandalwood (Santalum album) based products. It accounts for 75% of Indian floriculture, 59% of the country’s coffee production and 47% of the country’s ragi production industry. Over 70% of the work force is engaged in agriculture. The main crops are rice, ragi, jowar, maize, and pulses(Tur and gram) besides oilseeds and number of cash crops. Cashew, coconut, arecanut, cardamom, chilies, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco are among the other crops produced in the state. Maize is grown only in the northern tip of the state in Bidar District. The salubrious weather conditions in coastal areas make cultivation of fruit orchards possible. Cotton is grown in abundance in Gulbarga District and Davangere District is a center of cotton trade and industry. Karnataka accounted for nearly Rs. 2000 crores of horticultural products in 2005. There are many multi-state irrigagion projects being developed, including Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects.

Minerals and Industry Over 90% of India's gold production comes from south Karnataka. Recently there has been a lot of activity in the extraction of manganese ore from the districts of Bellary and Hospet. Raichur is known to be rich in gold deposits. Most of India's Iron ore comes from the Kudremukh area of Chikmagalur District. Over 5% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Karnataka.

Karnataka is one of the most industrialised states in India. Its capital, Bangalore has become a major worldwide hub of the Information Technology industry and is the IT capital of India producing approximately 38% of India's software exports which amounts to about $9 billion in 2006. The other IT hub in Karnataka is Mangalore. Karnataka is host to headquarters of several IT companies including Infosys, which inn 2001 it was rated "Best Employer in India" by Business Today, and in 2002 "India's Most Respected Company".

Bangalore is dubbed as the Silicon Valley of India with more than 50% of all software companies based here. There are about 1,700 companies in all. The software industry is expected to generate US $20 billion by 2010. The Hardware industry is also growing at the same rate as the software industry and presently produces about US $500 million in exports.

Karnataka is also home to 50% (131 companies) of all Biotechnology companies in India and Bengaluru alone accounts for approximately 47% (127 companies) of the total. It generates about 50% of India's total revenues in the sector which is about US $500 million. Recently, the Karnataka government created the first Biotechnology park in India. All three sectors are growing at an average of 35% per year. Also, Bangalore is one of the fast growing cities in the world with more than 6 million people. The IT industry is spreading to other major centres in Karnataka, namely: Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli.

Carnatic

Main article Carnatic Music

The Kannada haridasa movement sowed the seeds of this art in the 13th-15th century AD. With the rise of Vaishnavism and the Haridasa movement came Karnataka composers like Purandaradasa, whose Kannada language works were complex, devotional and philosophical. Other haridasas of medeval times were Kanakadasa, Vyasatirtha, Jayatirtha, Sripadaraya, Vadirajatirtha and others who composed several devara nama. One of the earliest and prominent composers in South India was the saint, and wandering divine singer of yore Purandara Dasa (1480-1564 AD). Purandara Dasa is believed to have composed 475,000 songs in Kannada and was a source of inspiration to the later composers like Tyagaraja. He also invented the tala system of Carnatic music. Owing to his contribution to the Carnatic Music he is referred to as the Father of Carnatic Music or Karnataka Sangeeta Pitaamaha. Later in the 17th and 18th centuries, the haridasa movement would once again contribute to music in Karnataka the form of haridasas like Vijayadasa, Gopaladasa, Jagannathadasa and others.

Hindustani

Karnataka's Hindustani Musicians holds a mirror up to the unparalleled achievement of Karnataka. All in a span of only a hundred years. Before which there was no trace of Hindustani Music in Karnataka. Whereas a music stalwart or two are born in ages in other states, scores of stalwarts are born in Karnataka in just a century. Several of them have bagged Kalidas Samman, Padmavibhushan and Tansen Samman. They have enriched the musical tradition of India.

Karnataka has achieved a prominent place in the world of Hindustani music as well. Some famous performers are puttaraj gawai Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Madhava Rao Nayak, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Basavaraj Rajguru,Sawai Gandharva, Bala Gandharva and Gangubai Hangal.

Karnataka is a unique place where both Hindustani and Carnatic singers flourish. North Karnataka is predominantly famous for Hindustani music and South Karnataka is well known for Carnatic music.

In India, Karnataka has the highest number of educational institutions in the fields of engineering and medical sciences. Notable examples are the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, which is generally considered to be the premier institute for scientific research in India, and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, one of the premier management institutes in India. Some other institutions that are largely involved in undergraduate engineering education are the National Institute of Technology at Surathkal, the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, B.M.S. College of Engineering, Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering (all in Bangalore), Siddaganga Institute of Technology in Tumkur, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering[3] [4] Basaveshwar Enginnering College , Bagalkot Rural Engineering College Hulkoti , JTCE of Gadag and the National Institute of Engineering both at Mysore.

Among the major medical colleges are Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Bangalore Medical College, Mysore Medical College, St. John's Medical College.

Doordarshan is a state-run television broadcaster; of the 19 channels run by Doordarshan, DD9(Chandana) is an exclusive Kannada language channel. Other private-owned television channels operating in Kannada include, TV 9 - Karnataka, Zee Kannada (run by Zee TV), Udaya, ETV Kannada, etc.

The major newspapers in Kannada include Prajavani, Udayavani, Vijaya Karnataka, and Kannada Prabha. Major English newspapers include the Deccan Herald, Times of India, The Hindu and the Indian Express.

Major radio networks include All India Radio, Radio City and the recently launched private-owned radio channels like Radio Mirchi, Radio Indigo, Radio One, Big FM,S FM (Sun TV group), etc

Some 100-150 movies are produced every year in Karnataka. Kannada cinema is a primarily Kannada language film industry, with most movies being produced in studios in Bangalore. Occasionally some movies in Tulu and Kodava are also produced.

Karnataka played a very important role in shaping present day Indian religion and philosophy. Udupi, Sringeri, Gokarna and Melkote are well known places of Sanskrit learning and Vedic learning. Shravanabelagola, Mudabidri, Karkala are famous for Jain history and monuments.

The great saint Madhvacharya (1238-1317 AD), proponent of dvaita philosophy and Raghavendra Swami were born here. Adi Sankara, proponent of advaita found enlightenment in Sringeri which became the first of four mathas he established in India. Fearing persecution from the Tamil CholasRamanujacharya fled Tamil Nadu and came to Karnataka during the rule of the Hoysala dynasty and preached his philosophy from Melkote.^[14] In the 12th century AD, Virashaivism spread from northern Karnataka across the Deccan. Many of its founders, such as Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi came from the region. It was here the Jain religion got a warm welcome and enjoyed a glorious growth during the medieval period. It is also here where the current day Dzogchen Monastery and the Dhondeling Tibetan Refugee camps are setup and the Tibetans are very well absorbed in the Kannadiga culture.

The Empires and Kingdoms that came to rule from Karnataka were prolific builders. The Badami Chalukyas spawned the Vesara style of architecture and experimented with several myriad styles with frequent intermixing of Nagara and Dravida concepts. This period is the beginning of Hindu rock cut architecture, both in stand alone and cave temple idioms, numerous examples of which exist in Pattadakal, Aihole and Badami - (Badami Cave temple). Their successors, the Rashtrakuta created master piece temples further favoring Dravidian concepts. Most of their temples in Karnataka are scattered over northern Karnataka districts. The Ganga Dynasty of Talakad built many Jaina monuments including the monolithic statue of Gomateshwara at Shravanabelagola. The Western Chalukyas used the In-between style, implying a bridge between Chalukya - Rashtrakuta and Hoysala styles, with the best temples of their style located in the central districts of Gadag district, Koppal district and Haveri district. It was during the reign of the Hoysalas that the temple architecture reached its epoch and gained recognition as an independent style called (Henry Ferguson, Percy Brown) owing to its many unique features. Later the Vijayanagar Empire would incorporate all these various styles and create a unique blend called Vijayanagar style, the best examples of which are in the vast open air theater of monuments at Hampi.

Karnataka boasts of the highest elephant and Gaur bison population (greater than 6000 & 8000 respectively) in India. Its forests hold some of the largest remaining populations of the endangered tiger and leopard.

Karnataka by virtue of its varied geography and long history boasts of several spots of interest for tourists. The districts of the western ghats and the southern districts are known for several spots of nature tourism. Several popular beaches dot the coastline including the famous ones at Karwar. Some of the most popular spots for nature tourism include the Jog Falls, India's tallest single-tiered waterfall, the mountain and forest ranges of the western ghats like Kudremukh and the hill station of Madikeri. The waterfalls of Karnataka and Kudremukh National Park are listed as must see places and among the 1001 natural wonders of the world.^[15]

Karnataka also boasts of numerous sites of historical importance. The State Directorate of Archaeology and Museums protects 752 monuments.^[16] Of the 3600 centrally protected monuments, 609 are in Karnataka. In addition, there is an array of ancient sculptured temples, modern cities, scenic hill ranges, unexplored forests and endless beaches.

In addition, Karnataka is home to several places of religious importance. Several Hindu temples including the famous Udupi Krishna temple, the Marikamba temple, Dharmasthala, Sringeri are in the state. Most of the holy sites of Lingayats like Kudalasangama, Basavana Bagewadi are found in the northern parts of the state. The famous Jaina center of Shravanabelagola is also found here.

Broadly, tourism in Karnataka can be divided into four geographical zones. These are North Karnataka, the Hill Stations, Coastal Karnataka and South Karnataka.

• Kannadigas
• List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka
• List of famous people from Karnataka
• List of political parties in the state
• Carnatic (region)
• Kannada Wikipedia
• National parks
• Karnataka literature
• Cuisine of Karnataka
• Karnataka tourism

Karnataka in Mahabhrata <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnata_Kingdom>

• Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat, Concise history of Karnataka, 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002) OCLC: 7796041
• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002) ISBN 0-19-560686-8..
• Dr. Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India From Origins to 1300 A.D., 2003, Penguin, New Delhi, ISBN 0-14-302989-4.
• R. Narasimhacharya, History of Kannada Literature, 1988, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras,1988, ISBN 81-206-0303-6.

• Karnataka Government Information Department
• Official website
• Information about Karnataka