Karnataka (/kərˈnɑːtəkə/; ISO: Karnāṭaka, Kannada:[kɐɾˈnaːʈɐkɐ]), also known colloquially as Karunāḍu, is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, and renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state was part of the Carnatic region in British terminology. Its capital and largest city is Bengaluru (Bangalore).
Though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning "elevated land". Karu Nadu may also be read as karu, meaning "black" and nadu, meaning "region", as a reference to the black cotton soil found in the Bayalu Seeme region of the state. The British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna.[17]
With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions.
^"Figures at a glance"(PDF). 2011 Provisional census data. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ ab"Sub-national HDI – Area Database". Global Data Lab. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
^Huq, Iteshamul, ed. (2015). "Introduction"(PDF). A Handbook of Karnataka (Fifth ed.). Karnataka Gazetteer Department. p. 48. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
^See Lord Macaulay's life of Clive and James Talboys Wheeler: Early History of British India, London (1878) p.98. The principal meaning is the western half of this area, but the rulers there controlled the Coromandel Coast as well.