The Chutu dynasty (IAST: Cuṭu) ruled parts of the Deccan region of South India between first and third centuries CE, with its capital at Banavasi in present-day Karnataka state.
Except for the edicts of Asoka, the inscriptions of the Chutu dynasty are the oldest documents found in the northern part of Karnataka State, India.
Mitchiner theorizes that "Chutu-kula-nanda-sa" (IAST: Cuṭukaḷānaṃdasa, "son of a queen belonging to the Chutu family") was a common name borne by multiple kings of the dynasty.
[14] Mitchiner notes that according to a Nashik inscription, the Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni issued an order from his "camp of victory" at Vaijayanti (the ancient name of Banavasi).
[16] The Chutukula coins discovered from Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh and the southern part of Telangana proves that Chutus held sway in and around the Srisailam (Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh) or Sriparvata area which proves their title of Sriparvatiyas (the masters of the Sriparvata region) as very apt.
[17] In the medieval times, Srisailam region or the Sriparvata area was known as Kannadu and Kannavisaya which is the contracted form of Satakarninadu and Satakarnivisaya.
Numismatic evidence suggests that the Chutus were surrounded by other Satavahana feudatories: the Kuras of Kolhapur in the north and the Sadakana Maharathis of Chandravalli.
[19] Coins discovered at Chandravalli and Kondapur bear the legend "Maharathi Sadakana Chutu Krishna", which suggests that the Chutus consolidated their power by intermarriage with the other feudatory families.
[15] Numismatic evidence also indicates that by the last quarter of the 2nd century CE, the power of these three feudatory families was eclipsed by the Satavahanas, who appear to have assumed greater control over their territories.
[19] When the Satavahana power declined in the first half of the 3rd century CE, the Chutus retained their authority at Banavasi, unlike the Kuras and the Sadakana Maharathis.
According to an inscription in the town of Malavalli in southern Karnataka, one of their rulers, King Haritiputra Satakarni donated the village of Belgame to a group of Hindu priests.
[29] Banavasi (Vanavasi or Vaijayanti in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka) stone inscription mentions Haritiputra Visnukada Chutukulananda Satakarni who in the 12th year of his reign made a gift of a Nagashilpa, a tank and a Vihara.
Stone inscription on the same pillar of a Kadamba king of 5th century mentions a prior chieftain Manavyasa Gotra Haritiputra Vaijayantipati Sivaskandavarman who also ruled this area.
However, Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya states that it was at a later date, the Chutus held sway over the northern part of Kannada and Malayalam speaking regions.
[30] Haritiputra-Satakarni issued an order to the chief revenue commissioner Mahavallabha-Rajjuka to grant a village of Sahalavati to a certain Kondamana as a Brahmin endowment in 175 CE for the enjoyment of the Mattapatti (Malavalli) god with the exemption of the soldier's entry (abhatappavesam).
[31][32] Another record states that king Satakami had a daughter named Mahabhoja-Nagasri who made a grant of a tank and a Vihara to the Madhukeswara temple.