The region was popularly referred to as 'kar nata’ literally meaning black soiled county in Indian history.
In Canto 5 - Chapter 6 of the Bhagavata Purana, Karnata is mentioned while narrating the life of Rishabhadeva.
It is said in the Bhagavata that the Lord in Rishabhadeva's form ended his avatara in the Kutakachala hill in Karnata province.
[citation needed] In the 5th century CE, the term Karnataka was used by the astrologer Varaha Mihira in his work Brihatkatha and the Birur plates of Kadamba Vishnuvarma call Shantivarma The master of the entire Karnataka region.
[9] In the 7th century CE, Rashtrakuta inscriptions refer to the armies of Chalukyas of Badami as Karnatakabala.
[citation needed] The Tamil classic Silappatikaram of the same time period calls the people of present-day Karnataka region as Karunatakars.
[10] In the 9th century CE, the Kannada classic Kavirajamarga hails the entire region between the rivers Kaveri and Godavari as Karnata.
[13] Karnataka's name may have originated from the two words Kabbu Nadu, which means land of sugarcane.
But, this theory might not be very factual as sugarcane production boomed in South Karnataka only after the building of KRS Dam by Sir M. Vishweshwarayya.