Karnataka (pop. 61,095,297) is a state on the west coast of southern India. It includes the region of Kanara, and the state’s people are called Kanarese. Karnataka is famous for its goldfields and for the sandalwood from its forests.
People and government
People.
Tens of millions of people speak Kannada (also called Kanarese), one of the four major Dravidian languages of India. Many people in the border regions also speak one of the other southern languages, especially Tamil. Hindi is often used for business and trade. On the west coast, especially around Mangalore, Konkani is a widely used language. Many Muslims speak Urdu.
About 85 percent of the population is Hindu. The Muslim community makes up about 12 percent of the population. About 2 percent is Christian. There is also a small number of Jains and Buddhists. The state has some small communities with long-established identities, such as the Coorgis in southwest Karnataka. Most of the tribal people live in the north and west. They include the nomadic Lambanis, who move from place to place.
Three-fifths of the people live in rural areas. But Bengaluru, the state capital, is one of India’s most dynamic and attractive cities. It has become the center of some of India’s most advanced industries and one of the major cosmopolitan centers of the south.
About two-thirds of the population can read and write. There are tens of thousands of primary and secondary schools, and some important centers of further education and training in the state. The University of Mysore has a long-established reputation. Bengaluru has a number of research institutions, including a University of Agricultural Sciences.
Government.
Karnataka has 28 elected members in the Lok Sabha (lower house) and 12 nominated representatives in the Rajya Sabha (upper house) of the Indian national parliament. The governor of Karnataka, appointed by the president of India, is head of state. The state legislature has two houses. The lower house, the state legislative assembly, has 225 members. The upper house, the legislative council, has 75 seats.
Economy
Agriculture.
Most of the people are employed in agriculture. More than half the state is cultivated. Although much of Karnataka has the same kinds of soils, there is great local variety in agriculture. The plains of the west coast are intensively cultivated. Rice is the main food crop. Other food crops are corn, millet, and pulses (beans, chickpeas, or pigeon peas). Sugar cane is the main cash crop. Other cash crops include cardamom, cashew nuts, coconuts, cotton, mulberry, peanuts, pepper, tea, and tobacco. Across much of the drier interior, millet is the staple crop. Vegetables and green fodder are important in local areas such as the Krishna floodplain. The Western Ghats hills in Karnataka are ideally suited to coffee production, especially in the southern parts. Babu Bhudan, a Muslim, introduced coffee beans into India in the 1600’s and planted them in the south of Karnataka. Karnataka produces two-thirds of all the coffee grown in India. European coffee plantations date from 1840. There are some tea plantations on higher hills, but tea growing is relatively unimportant. Farmers grow bananas and oranges on irrigated lands in the east. 
Cattle breeding is important in the far south. The Mysore Prince Hyder Ali bred fast-trotting bullocks for use in warfare at the end of the 1700’s. The tradition of cattle breeding continues. Pastoralism (the herding of animals) is important on the open plateaus the southeast.
Forest products.
Karnataka produces most of the world’s sandalwood. Oil from sandalwood produced in the western forests of the Malnad region is a major export. These forests also yield teak and bamboo. Other forest products include gum, dyes for the tanneries, and lac, the raw material for shellac.
Hydroelectric power.
Karnataka has enormous resources for generating hydroelectric power. In 1887, it became the first Indian state to generate electricity. The first hydroelectric site was at Gokak Falls. The fall of water from the high ranges of the Western Ghats through the plateau created several points where damming the rivers produces more capacity than Karnataka needs. This makes it possible for the state to export electric power to its neighbors. The Shivasamudram Falls, east of Mysore, were developed in the early 1900’s, in the first large-scale hydroelectric development. The falls are 328 feet (100 meters) high. Further upstream, the Krishnarajasagar dam was built in 1927. This dam supplies power for Bengaluru and other cities, and irrigation water.
Manufacturing.
There are iron and steel works at Bhadravati and heavy engineering works in Bengaluru. Cotton milling, sugar processing, and cement and paper manufacture are also major industries. Other industries include manufacture of earth-moving machinery, heavy electrical goods, machine tools, raw silk, and telecommunications equipment. Since the 1970’s, Bengaluru has become the center of a rapidly growing electronics industry. The city’s role as a military base has encouraged a wide range of industries related to telecommunications and aircraft manufacture. It is also the center of India’s fast-growing computer industry.
Mining.
Karnataka’s rocks are extremely rich in minerals such as chromite, copper, iron ore, gold, manganese, and mica. The state also has small amounts of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made. The Kolar goldfields, just east of Bengaluru, produce 85 percent of the country’s gold. The gold mines are 9,840 feet (3,000 meters) deep and are among the deepest mines in the world. Iron ore from the Babu Bhudan Hills is processed in the Bhadravati steel works.
Transportation.
The Western Ghats have long been a barrier for railroads. But the state has 1,650 miles (2,660 kilometers) of railroads. Bengaluru is the main center of the network and connects with Chennai (formerly Madras). A direct rail link from New Delhi to Mangalore involves 45 hours of continuous travel. Mangalore is also the terminus of the railroad line from Kerala. There are 71,500 miles (115,000 kilometers) of road in the state, although only a third of the villages have all-weather road connections. The roads in the western part of the state are often impassable during periods of heavy rain. Bengaluru has direct air connections with all other major Indian cities.
Land and climate
Location and description.
Karnataka is located in southwestern India. On its western flank is a 200–mile (320-kilometer) coastline fringing the Arabian Sea. To its north and northwest are Goa and Maharashtra. It borders Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the east, and Tamil Nadu in the southeast. The state’s southwestern border is with Kerala. Karnataka measures more than 435 miles (700 kilometers) from north to south and 310 miles (500 kilometers) from east to west.
Land features.
The landscape of Karnataka largely consists of plateaus formed of rocks from the ancient peninsula. These range in age from 500 million to 4 billion years and are among the oldest on Earth. The hills of the Western Ghats rise steeply inland from a narrow, fertile coastal plain. Karnataka has a lush green coastline. Inland and parallel with the coast, the Western Ghats are generally lower in the north than in the south. They rise to between 2,495 and 3,000 feet (760 and 915 meters) above sea level. To the east of the ridge of the hills stretches a series of plateaus. These plateaus rise to about 1,970 feet (600 meters) in the north and to over 3,940 feet (1,200 meters) in the south. In the extreme north is a narrow belt of very poor thin soils, resembling a desert. To their south is a strip of volcanic lavas which give rich black soils more typical of Maharashtra to the north.
To the east of the ridges of the Western Ghats, a narrow belt of tropical evergreen forests gives way to deciduous woodland, where the trees lose their leaves in winter. In the south, where the Ghats rise to more than 5900 feet (1,800 meters), the headwaters of rivers such as the Tunga and Bhadra have cut deep valleys. The hills have beautiful forests with waterfalls and wildlife parks. The Jog Falls on the Sharavati River near Shimoga are 820 feet (250 meters) high, and are among the highest in the world. Across central and eastern Karnataka is the rolling parkland of the lower plateaus.
Much of the state’s natural vegetation disappeared as farming was extended. On the wet slopes of the Western Ghats, a narrow strip of dense tropical forest includes a number of hardwoods and many varieties of bamboo. On the more open plains to the east, teak and sandalwood are valuable natural species. Karnataka is famous as the largest coffee-growing state in India. The natural vegetation of much of the interior was once deciduous woodland or savanna.
The forests of the west are rich in wildlife. Wild boar, bears, and occasionally leopards and panthers are found. Elephants are also found in the southwest. The forests are also home to many reptiles, including king cobras. Peacocks are common.
Climate.
The whole of Karnataka has a monsoon season. Most of the rain comes within the five-month period from June to October. But in some areas, especially the west, there are two peaks of rainfall. Early rains come in May and are essential to the flowering of the coffee plants. After these rains there is a drier period in June and July, with a second wet spell in September and October. The altitude helps reduce temperatures over much of the state. Average temperature ranges from 68 F (20 °C) in December to 81 F (27 °C) in May, the hottest month. This comparative coolness makes such cities as Bengaluru and Mysore particularly attractive.
Rivers and lakes.
Three great rivers, the Kaveri, the Tungabhadra, and the Krishna, flow from the Ghats across the plateau to the east. The Kaveri flows southeast into Tamil Nadu, and irrigates the Thanjavur delta. In 1927, the Kaveri was dammed at Krishnarajasagar to create a huge reservoir. The Tungabhadra has also been dammed producing a lake which is used both for generating electricity and for irrigation. The Tungabhadra flows northeast from its source and joins the Krishna on the border between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, northeast of the city of Kurnool.
History
For most of its long history, the area of India now called Karnataka was not a single integrated state. At various times, different parts of it came under the authority of different dynasties. The dry upland border area between the densely forested ridge of the Western Ghats and the arid interior of the region provided the route for both commercial traders and invading armies.
The earliest known rulers of this area of southern India were the Monds. The Maurya, India’s first imperial dynasty, conquered the Monds in the late 300’s B.C. as they expanded their territories southward. According to tradition, Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of all India, embraced the Jain religion, renounced all worldly possessions, and withdrew to Sravanabelagola in the Karnataka region. Archaeologists have located the urban centers that developed during the period of Maurya rule at Chandravalli and Brahmagiri.
After the Maurya, a succession of Hindu dynasties ruled the Karnataka region until the 1500’s. From A.D. 200 to 1000, the Gangas ruled southern Karnataka but were often under pressure from other southern groups, such as the Pallavas. The reign of the Chalukya of Badami in central Karnataka from 535 to 757 saw major architectural developments in the region, as well as a flowering of fine arts and literature. The temples of Badami, Patadakal, and Aihole show the unique architectural style of the period.
The Rashtrakutas overthrew the Chalukyas in about 753. The Rashtrakutas tried to unite the plateau and the coastal areas as a means of capturing the north-south trade route. But they faced constant pressure from the Cholas in the south.
The Hoysala dynasty (1006-1345) also produced excellent art and architecture. The Hoysalas built about 50 temples throughout Karnataka. Some remarkable examples are at Belur, Halebid, and Somnathpur. The temples have panels carved with rows of elephants and depict stories from the Indian epics.
The Vijayanagar Empire controlled the Karnataka region from the 1300’s until well into the 1500’s. For a long time, the Vijayanagar Empire held back the expanding power of the Muslims. But in 1565, the Muslims defeated the forces of the Vijayanagar Empire at the Battle of Talikota and extinguished its power. Petty chieftains arose. Muslims held sway in the north. In the south, the Wadiyar dynasty, a Hindu royal family, ruled Mysore until the 1700’s.
By the mid-1700’s, the power of the Wadiyar dynasty was declining, and military commanders controlled the Mysore area of the Karnataka region. One of these was Hyder Ali, an able army officer who made his bid for power in 1761. He defeated rival chiefs and expanded his territory to nearby areas of southwestern India. Hyder Ali and his son and successor Tipu Sultan led fierce opposition to the British East India Company between 1761 and 1799. They fought four wars against the British.
After the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the British restored part of his kingdom of Mysore to the Wadiyar dynasty and annexed the remainder. The Wadiyar dynasty ruled the state of Mysore until 1947. Under its administration, Mysore developed as a liberal and progressive state. In 1881, it became the first Indian state to set up an elected legislative assembly. In 1916, it became the first state in India to set up a university. It also introduced economic planning, family planning, and vocational education.
During the early 1900’s, a democratic political movement opposed both traditional rule by native monarchs and the control of the area by British administrators. The movement was influenced by the nationalist movement that led to India’s independence in 1947.
At the time of independence, Kannada-speaking peoples occupied parts of Mysore, Hyderabad, Bombay (now Mumbai), and Madras. In 1956, these linguistic areas were brought together into one state, which took the name of Mysore. In 1973, the state was renamed Karnataka. The Congress Party has been the most influential political party in the region since independence.
In 1993, India’s worst earthquake for 50 years struck Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The strongest shock measured 6.5 on the Richter scale. The quake killed 11,000 people.
