Timeline of Karnataka
It neighbours Maharashtra and Goa to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Telangana to the northeast, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala to the south.
After Maurya, Shatavahana came to power in the north and Ganga in the south which can roughly be taken as the starting point of Karnataka in modern times.
During their peak period, the empire included Kodaugu, Tumkur, Bangalore, Mysore districts, parts of Andhra and Tamil Nadu.
This is the tallest monolith statue in the world, and is so perfect that the fingers of the hand are cut up slightly as a mark of induced imperfection (Drushti Nevarane in Kannada).
According to legend, the brave man who was born out of god Brahma's Cheluka (a type of vessel) was named Chalukya.
He was having the title of "Satyasherya Parameshwara" and "Dakshina Patheshwarya" because he defeated most of the southern and northern rulers Harshavardhana of Kanouj.
An important event that took place during this period (c. 1150 CE) is the social and religious movement of Basaveshwara who was in the court of Bijjala.
The literature that flourished under Basaveshwara, Allamaprabhu, Channabasavanna and Akkamahadevi during this period gave rise to "Vachanna" in Nadugannada (middle Kannada) which was simple to understand, elegant and effective in reaching the people.
They were constantly at war with Hoysalas and other rulers and fell to Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji and his general Malik Kafur.
The empire was founded by the legendary person "Sala", who hailed from the village of Sosavur (present-day Angadi in Chikkamagalur).
During the 8th Century CE, the famous philosopher Adi Shankaracharya established Dakshinamnaya Sharada Peetha at Sringeri in Chikamagalur and gave impetus to the Vidheka (Hindu) religion.
The famous Hoysala king Bittideva (also called Bittiga) was influenced by Ramanujacharya and got converted to Hindu, changing his name to Vishnuvardhana.
The empire was established during tough times when Kakatiyas of Warangal and King Kampili of Kummatadurga were killed and their dynasties uprooted by the Delhi Sultanate.
The feeble Hoysala emperor Veera Ballala III desperately fought from Tiruvannamalai and finally succumbed in a battle at Madurai.
At such a time, Hakka and Bukka, under the spiritual guidance of Vidyaranya, found a rabbit trying to shoo off hunting dogs.
Hakka assumed the name of Harihara Raya I and due to his work, the empire got firmly established in 1346 CE.
Italian, Portuguese and Persian visitors (Parsee, Kantae, Abdul Razak) described the Vijayanagar capital Hampi as equivalent to Rome in those days.
The empire occupied large chunks of Maharashtra and also parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka (Bijapur, Bidar, Gulbarga area) Muhammad Gawan was the most famous minister under the Bahumans.
Farista who was in the court of Ibrahim II compiled an encyclopedia called "Najumal-Ullum" (star of scientists) which contained much arts of southern style.
The Nayakas of Keladi ruled the Malnad and Karavali (west coast) regions during the Vijayanagar reign.
While sheltering Shivaji's son Rajaram, she employed guerilla warfare and fought with Aurangzeb's forces.
The Yeduraya and Krishnadeva of Yadava clan who came from Dwaraka to Mysore were approached for help to contain Marappanayaka.
Wodeyar is the most famous ruler among them and got the title "Karnataka Chakravarthy" by defeating Nayakas (Ikkeri), Sultans (Madurai) and Shivaji.
The then governor-general of British India Markvis of Wellesley reinstated the Wodeyar in Mysore and administration was given to Dewan Purnaiya because the throne prince was still young.
Around 1824 CE "Rani Channamma" and her general "Sangoli Rayanna" of Kittur started to fight against British and declared independence.
After the Indian independence and partition of the country, the states were reorganised based on the linguistic and other criteria and thus the divided areas of Kannada speaking population came together to form the present day Karnataka under the name of Mysore.
The state choose the city of Bangalore as its capital and gave Kannada the status of an administrative language.
In around c.1537 CE an important event occurred that of establishment of Bengaluru city by Kempegowda who was a chieftain of Yalahanka kingdom.
Kempegowda used the money of the empire to improve the city and to make the foreign traders and local workers settle down there.
He built viewing (watching) towers and his emblems in all the four directions of the city at places like Alasuru, Hebbala, Lalbag, and Kempambudi lake.
