The gold discovered in Harappa originated from the mines of Karnataka, which forced historians to find connections between Karnataka and the Indus Valley Civilization by 3000 BC.
Before the third century BCE, most of the Carnatic kingdom was under the Nanda dynasty before the Mauryan dynasty came under Emperor Ashoka. The Satavahana dynasty received four centuries of rule in which they ruled large tracts of Karnataka.
With the fall of the rule of Satavahanas, local rulers Kadamb dynasty and West Ganga dynasty emerged. With this, independent political powers came into existence in the region.
The Kadamba dynasty was founded by Mayur Sharma in 345 AD and made his capital at Banavasi; And the Western Ganga dynasty was founded by Kanganivarman Madhav in 350 AD with the capital at Talakad.
The Chola dynasty took over parts of modern Karnataka between 990-1210 AD.
After the defeat of the Chalukya ruler Jaisingh by Rajendra Chola I, the Tungabhadra river was demarcated between the two kingdoms.
The Hoysala dynasty resurfaced in the region as early as the first millennium. At the same time Hoysala literature flourished as well as Anupam Kannada music and Hoysala architectural style temples etc. were built.
The Hoysala Empire merged small parts of modern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu under the expansion of its rule. In the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Rai established the Vijayanagara Empire and settled their capital at Hosanapatta (later Vijayanagar) on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the present Bellary district. This empire prohibited Muslim rulers from expanding into South India in the next two centuries. Checkout this blog- Sad Quotes About Pain And Love In Hindi
Geography of Karnataka
The state of Karnataka has three major divisions: the coastal region of Karvali, the hilly region of Malenadu that covers the Western Ghats, and the third Bayalusimi region where the Deccan Plateau is located.
Most of the area of the state falls in Bayalusimi and its northern region is the largest arid region of India.
The highest point in Karnataka is Mullayanagiri mountain in Chikkamagaluru district. The elevation here is 1,929 meters (6,329 ft) above sea level. Important rivers of Karnataka are Kaveri, Tungabhadra River, Krishna River, Malayaprabha River and Sharavati River.
Of these, the coastal region receives the highest rainfall, which is about 3638.5 mm (143 in) per year, which is much higher than the state annual average of 1,139 mm (45 in).
About 38,724 km2 (14,951 sq mi) of Karnataka (20% of the state’s geographical area) is covered by forests. These forests can be classified into protected, safe, open, rural and private forests.
The forested areas here are less than 23% of the average forest area in India, but are far less than the 33% prescribed by the National Forest Policy.
Districts of Karnataka
There are 30 districts in the state of Karnataka — Bagalkot, Bangalore Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chamarajanagar, Chikballapur, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagiri, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulberg, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramnagar, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Yadgir.
The administration of each district is under a District Magistrate or District Commissioner. These districts are then divided into sub-regions, whose administration is under the Sub-Inspector. The sub-districts are overseen by blocks and panchayats and municipalities.
Economy of Karnataka
About 56% of the population of Karnataka is engaged in agriculture and allied activities.
64.6% of the total land of the state, i.e. 1.23 crore hectares of land is engaged in agricultural works.
The irrigated area is only 26.5% of the total planted area here. Hence, most of the farming here is dependent on the southwest monsoon.
Many large public sector industries of India have been established here, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Earth Movers Limited and Hindustan Machine Tools etc. which are located in Bangalore itself.
There are also several major science and technology research centers of India, such as Indian Space Research Organization, Central Power Research Institute, Bharat Electronics Limited and Central Food Technology Research Institute. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited is an oil refinery located in Mangalore.
Due to all these reasons, Bangalore is being called the Silicon Valley of India.
Karnataka is also a pioneer in the field of biotechnology in India. It is also the center of India’s largest bio-based industry conglomerate.
158 of the country’s 320 biotechnology institutions and companies are located here. It is this state that contributes 75% of the total floral industry in India.
Seven of India’s leading banks, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank, Karnataka Bank, Vaishya Bank and State Bank of Mysore originated from this state.
