Santara Dynasty
7th century–18th century
Santara Dynasty of Karnataka
Capital	Humcha &Kalasa
Religion	Jainism
Government	Monarchy
History
• Established	7th century
• Disestablished	18th century
Succeeded by Nayakas of Keladi
Today part of	Karnataka

Santara orBhairarasa^{[Note 1]} was a medieval ruling dynasty ofKarnataka,India.^[1] The area covered by their kingdom included territories in theMalenadu region as well as thecoastal districts of Karnataka.^[2] Their kingdom had two capitals.Karkala in the coastal plains andKalasa in theWestern Ghats. Hence the territory they ruled was also known as theKalasa-Karkala kingdom. The Santaras Dynasty andAlupa royal family both adherents ofJainism, are recorded to have maintained matrimonial alliances.^[2] The Santaras became the feudatories of theVijayanagara Empire after its rise. During this period, the Santara ruler Veera Pandya Bhairarasa erected the monolith ofBahubali inKarkala.^[2] The dynasty passed into oblivion after invasions by theNayakas of Keladi and later byHyder Ali.

Jinadatta Raya orJindutt Rai, a Jain prince fromMathura in Northern India was the supposed founder of the dynasty.^[3] He is said to have migrated to the town ofHumcha with an idol of the Jain deityPadmavati laying the foundation of the kingdom in Humcha. He also built theHumcha Jain temples.

The dynasty founded by Jinadatta appears to have split into two branches by the 12 century C.E. One branch being stationed inKalasa and another in Hosagunda ofShimoga district. Gradually these branches shifted their capitals to Keravashe andKarkala both in the oldSouth Canara district.

The Santaras built a number of Jain monuments and patronised Jainism for nearly a thousand years in theTulu Nadu andMalenadu region of Karnataka.^[1] They donated two villages for maintenance ofJain monks atPanchakuta basadi at Nagar taluq ofShimoga district.^[4]

• 
  Dancing Sculpture, Santara Dynasty art
• 
  Jain Monuments atHumcha
• 
  Santara-period sculpture of a women
• 
  Stone Inscription, Humcha
• 
  Ancient SriParswanatha Basadi, Humcha

• Singh, Ram Bhushan Prasad (2008) [1975],Jainism in Early Medieval Karnataka,Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN 978-81-208-3323-4

• Dynasties of India
• Jain dynasties
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