by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

November first each year heralds a new enthusiasm and jubilation among Kannada speaking people. Old Mysore State ruled by the benevolent Maharajas became the State of Karnataka. The magic word Karnataka has a hoary antiquity going back to the times of epic Mahabharata. Sabha Parva has the word Karnata while the Bhishma Parva has the form Karnataka. Varahamihira’s Brihatsamhite (sixth century AD) also mentions this word. The land of Kannada had become so famous as to attract attention of the Tamilagam. An ancient Tamil work (2-3 century AD) called Silappadikaram refers to the people called Karunadar who obviously inhabited the Kannada land.

Truncated Karnataka

Various ancient and modern writers have interpreted this magic word in a variety of ways. The famous work Kavirajamarga defines Kannada land as a geographical entity between Cauvery and Godavari. This is significant indeed. But what we have today is truncated Karnataka and have to be contented with Cauvery only. On the basis of this and other evidences, Pattadakallu, Dharwad (Lakshmesvara), Belgaum and parts of Nizam’s dominions, Salem, Nilgiri, Coimbatore etc., were considered parts of Karnataka. Unfortunately, due to political reasons, the wide boundaries of Karnataka are being truncated and the British also played their own part in this respect as they did not like to have a strong, powerful and wide area as a province in their empire.

Though northern parts of Karnataka were the kernel of the land of this area, it was not a milking cow for the British as against the Maharajas of Mysore and hence they neglected that area. Fortunately, in spite of this handicap, the northern parts of Karnataka have stood up by hard work and political will and have occupied a prominent place in today’s socio-politico-economic and cultural fields. It only shows that innate strength is more important for cultural growth rather than political patronage. There are many scholars who feel that northern parts of Karnataka have been responsible for providing leadership qualities for the development of Karnataka. But this does not undermine the part played by old Mysore or Maharajas’ Mysore.

Some of the etymological explanations of the word Karnataka may be referred to here briefly. First of all, the very form itself is a matter of controversy among the scholars. The question is whether it is Karn(£Áð) taka or Karn (uÁð)taka and if both are correct which one should be used without confusing the common man. Some scholars feel that it should be written as Karn (uÁð)taka because the word has been derived from the mellifluous and soft sound which touches your ears and then your heart. Hence the ear organ (Karna) plays a significant role here and naturally any word or language is closer to the ear first and then it touches other parts including heart. From this point of view, our State should have been named as KauÁðtaka. But it is officially named and spelt as Ka£Áðtaka which may not be to the liking of the scholars on etymology.

A pure Sanskrit word

Many scholars have argued that Karna(tð)taka is a pure Sanskrit word and it satisfies the rules of grammar and hence that form should be used. Even if it is accepted as na (£À) and because of its combination with ra, it automatically becomes na (t). Perhaps, realising the seriousness of the etymology of the word, the Sahitya Parishat has opted for its name as Kannada Sahitya Parishat. Though all these etymological complications were taking place, the State of Kannada language accepted and adopted the term Karnataka (£À) in 1973 in the Legislatures. This put all the controversies at rest.

Another set of scholars have propounded a different view of the etymology of the word. They divide the word as Karu+nadu. The word karu has been taken to mean black soil. Of course, this land is famous for black cotton soil also and this etymology has been justified. But others point out that red soil is also available in plenty and hence this explanation is not appropriate. However, others give a different meaning to this word: Kar means higher altitude and this is satisfied by the position of Karnataka. Still others give a different meaning to it. It is explained as Kammitunadu, meaning the land of sweet fragrance. Perhaps the sandal wood and fine smelling flowers that grow here might have been responsible for this explanation.

Not satisfied by these explanations, other scholars have propounded another theory. This land was inhabited by some ancient tribes of which two tribes Kara and Nata were more civilised than the others. Because of the superior culture of these two tribes Kara and Nata, the people of the surrounding areas looked upon them with great respect and admiration and called this as the land of Karnata and the name continued in historical times also.

Aryan connections

Father Heras, a great historian of yesteryears has explained the contemporaneity and connection of Kannada speaking people with Indus Valley Civilisation of 2500-3000 BC. One of the seals of the Indus Valley has been explained by him as Kanneer and he takes it to be a Dravidian word and consequently, the Indus civilisation also to be a Dravidian contribution and thus has paved the way for the Dravidian origin of Kannada land. This shows that we are the sons of the soil. The followers of Dravidian movement argued that the word Karnataka denotes Aryan connections with our Dravidian land and forces on us the so-called alien Aryan culture in which Sri Rama is perhaps the most distinguished person. Hence, we should fight for a province called Dravidasthan to which we belong to. Fortunately, better sense of the nationhood prevailed on the population of that time and this idea was rejected by one and all.

Long back our anthropologists have told us that there is nothing like a pure race and an exclusive race. Consequently, there is nothing like pure Dravidian and pure Aryan in our culture. This also applies to racial features. Thus Karnataka is purely neither Dravidian nor Aryan. Actually it is a wonderful synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian culture at their best. Culturally, we have adopted a lot of Dravidian and Aryan cultural traits in our socio-religious life. This has been going on for almost over five thousand years of Indian life and this is found to continue for ever. Thus Karnataka has been a good meeting ground for both the cultures.

Royal dynasties

A large number of invasions took place in India and they have not changed our way of thinking or culture. Karnataka saw a series of royal dynasties which ruled here and they worked for the development of the land and the people. Thus Karnataka became famous in the entire country for the co-existence of people of different faiths and cultures. Of course, some minor skirmishes were always there. Kannadigas are known all over the world as good and affectionate people, always ready to help. This has been considered as their weakness; but actually it is their strength also. It is our duty to come up to this expectation and work hard in building the nation.

Four years ago, I had the good fortune of receiving Kannada Rajyotsava award. I know many persons are lobbying for this coveted award by holding on to the politicians. In fact this has lowered the prestige of the award itself. However, I congratulate the awardees in advance.

Finally, I salute Goddess Bhuvaneshwari and pray to her to shower her blessings on the population of Karnataka. All these can happen only if there is a strong and purposeful Kannada speaking people. After all, Kannada should be supreme in Karnataka. That is our prayer right now.

Jai Karnataka Mate

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Saturday – October 31st, 2015