A state in the south western region, Karnataka was formed in 1956 on 1st November with State Reorganization Act. This state was known as the State of Mysore, originally. It was renamed in 1973 as Karnataka.. This corresponds to the Carnatic region and its capital, Bangalore is the largest city.
Karnataka has Goa to its northwest, Arabian Sea to its west, Maharashtra to its north, Telangana to its northeast, Andhra Pradesh to its east, Tamil Nadu to its southeast and Kerela to its south. This state is known to be the only state having land borders with the other sister states in the South. This state occupies 74,122 sq. mi (191,976 sq. kilometers, this means, 5.83% of India’s geographical area. This makes Karnataka the 6th largest Indian state, area wise, and 8th largest state where the population is concerned. The official language of this state is Kannada, which is one of the languages considered as ‘classical’.
Karnataka is said to be derived from ‘karu’ and ‘nadu’. These are kannada words. This means, ‘elevated land’.
As known, Karnataka is known to be ruled by several empires of the medival period and ancient India. These were powerful empires. The musical bards and philosophers patronized by the empires launched literary and socio-religious movements. These have stayed till present times. Karnataka has contributed to both the forms of music.
Karnataka has an economy that is the 6th largest as compared to any state of India.
History
The history of this state goes back by almost two millennia. There have been many great dynasties and empires that have ruled this state. They have contributed to the history a great deal.
Other parts of India have felt the impact of kingdoms which originated in Karnataka.
In the early modern period and also in the medieval, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire became major powers in this state. The Bahmani managed to disintegrate to form Deccan Sultanates. They defeated the empire of Vijayanagara in 1565.
The East India Company defeated Tipu Sultan’s forces in the Anglo-Mysore Wars and this marked the beginning of the company’s rule in India. Karnataka was divided between the states of Mysore, Bombay and Hyderabad. In 1858, the formal rule under the British started. During this time the modern universities, airways and railways were introduced in Karnataka.
India got its Independence in 1947. Following the States Reorganizing Act of 1956, areas that had Kannada as their official language, like Madras, Hyderabad were unified with the State of Mysore. In 1973 the state was then renamed as Karnataka.
Climate
Karnataka has a sub-tropical climate. The winters are from December to February, summer starts of in the month of March right through May and southwest monsoon from June to September and post-monsoon October through the month of December.
Karnataka has 75.36% literacy rate. As known, Karnataka hold a number of tourist’s spots. There are museums, ancient temples, hill ranges, beaches and forests here. This state is known to have second highest number of monuments that are protected.
