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Several etymologies have been suggested for the name of the Indian state of Karnataka. The region was popularly referred to as 'kar nata’ literally meaning black soiled county in Indian history. However, historically, the names Karnatak or Carnatic have been misapplied to refer to the regions in or beyond the Western Ghats (Kodagu and Kerala) as well as to a region in present-day Andhra Pradesh (Telangana).[1] The other accepted derivative comes from the words kar and nādu meaning land of black soil, or from the words kar/karu/kari meaning 'Black' in Tamil and Nāḍu meaning region/country in Tamil, referring to the black soil of the area. One more derivative is "Karnad" meaning "land of Black soil" [2] and other derivative is from Tamil word 'Kari' meaning 'black' and Sanskrit 'nataka' (नाटक) meaning dance or acting.[3]
Scholars have tried to interpret Karnataka in various ways. One view is that the original Kannada which was the name of the land, has been sanskritized as Karnata. The author of Kavirajamarga calls this land as Karnata. So does Kannada poet Andayya. The second view is that it is because of two tribes namely Karna and Nata who inhabited the territory that the land came to be so known. According to the third view, people called Kan and Kal inhabited. this land and that is why the territory came to be known as Kannada. A popular view is that the land is of black soil (Kari+Nāḍu) and from this is derived 'Karnāḍu.' But the most accepted view is that the word 'Karnata' is derived from karu+nadu, the big land or an elevated land. Major parts of Karnataka are situated in the Deccan Plateau and are therefore an elevated country.[4]
- ^ Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 9, page 302 - Imperial Gazetteer of India - Digital South Asia Library
- ^ "Karnataka Plateau".
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Lalit Chugh 2016, p. 16.