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Severaletymologies have been suggested for the name of the Indianstate ofKarnataka. The region was popularly referred to as 'kar nata’ literally meaning black soiled county in Indian history. However, historically, the namesKarnatak orCarnatic have been misapplied to refer to the regions in or beyond theWestern Ghats (Kodagu andKerala) as well as to a region in present-dayAndhra Pradesh (Telangana).[1] The other accepted derivative comes from the wordskar andnādu meaningland of black soil, or from the wordskar/karu/kari meaningBlack andNāḍu meaningregion/country in Dravidian languages, referring to the black soil of the area. One more derivative is "Karnad" meaning "land of Black soil"[2] and other derivative is from Dravidian word 'Kari' meaning 'black'[3]
Scholars have tried to interpret Karnataka in various ways. One view is that the original Kannada which was the name of the land, has been sanskritized asKarnata. The author of Kavirajamarga calls this land as Karnata. So does Kannada poet Andayya. The second view is that it is because of two tribes namelyKarna andNata who inhabited the territory that the land came to be so known. According to the third view, people calledKan andKal inhabited. this land and that is why the territory came to be known as Kannada. A popular view is that the land is of black soil (Kari+Nāḍu) and from this is derived 'Karnāḍu.' But the most accepted view is that the word 'Karnata' is derived from karu+nadu, the big land or an elevated land. Major parts of Karnataka are situated in the Deccan Plateau and are therefore an elevated country.[4]
The earliest known references toKarnataka are found in theSabha Parva and theBhishma Parva ofMahabharata, anancient Indianepic.[5][6] TheMatsya Purana,Skanda Purana,Markandeya Purana and theBhagavata Purana also make references to the nameKarnata. The celebrated Kannada folk song of antiquityPunyakoti (Govina Haadu) also refers to the region as "Mereyutiha Karnata Desha" (FlourishingKarnata country), finds a reference inPadma Purana.
In Canto 5 - Chapter 6 of theBhagavata Purana,Karnata is mentioned while narrating the life ofRishabhadeva. It is said in theBhagavata that the Lord inRishabhadeva's form ended hisavatara in theKutakachala hill inKarnata province. Kutakchala is a hill in present-day Karnataka nearKollur in theWestern Ghats.[7][8]
Sanskrit grammarianPāṇini and the ancient Sanskrit workMrichchhakatika (c. 5th century CE) make references toKarnataka.[citation needed] In the 5th century CE, the termKarnataka was used by theastrologerVaraha Mihira in his workBrihatkatha and theBirur plates ofKadambaVishnuvarma callShantivarmaThe master of the entire Karnataka region.[9] In the 7th century CE,Rashtrakuta inscriptions refer to the armies ofChalukyas ofBadami asKarnatakabala.[citation needed] TheTamil classicSilappatikaram of the same time period calls the people of present-day Karnataka region asKarunatakars.[citation needed] The Kalingathu parani, a war poem written by jayangkondar in Tamil Literature calls a people of a region called 'Karunatiyar'.[10] In the 9th century CE, the Kannada classicKavirajamarga hails the entire region between the riversKaveri andGodavari asKarnata.[11]Kathasaritsagara of 11th century CE makes mentions of the name. In the 13th century CE, Kannada poetAndayya's works use the same terminology. In the late 16th century, aTelugu workVasucharitamu refers to Tirumala Deva Raya (1570 CE), the first of the Aravidu (Aravithi) line of rulers of the lateVijayanagar Empire as the reviver of theKarnata Empire.[12] All this clearly shows that the nameKarnataka has been in usage consistently since ancient times.[13]
Karnataka's name may have originated from the two wordsKabbu Nadu, which means land of sugarcane. This etymology might be possible as Karnataka is a huge sugarcane-cultivating land. But, this theory might not be very factual as sugarcane production boomed in South Karnataka only after the building of KRS Dam by Sir M. Vishweshwarayya. Before that the very same region of Karnataka was known for ragi production.[citation needed]
