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The Kadambas (345–540
CE) were an ancient royal family of Karnataka, India, that
ruled northern Karnataka and the Konkan from Banavasi
in present-day Uttara Kannada district. The
kingdom was founded by Mayurasharma in c. 345, and at later times
showed the potential of developing into imperial proportions. An indication
of their imperial ambitions is provided by the titles and epithets assumed by
its rulers, and the marital relations they kept with other kingdoms and
empires, such as the Vakatakas and Guptas of northern
India. Mayurasharma defeated the armies of the Pallavas
of Kanchi possibly with the help of some native tribes and claimed sovereignty.
The Kadamba power reached its peak during the rule of Kakusthavarma. The Kadambas were contemporaries of the Western
Ganga Dynasty and together they formed the earliest native kingdoms to rule
the land with autonomy. From the mid-6th century the
dynasty continued to rule as a vassal of larger Kannada empires, the Chalukya
and the Rashtrakuta empires for over five hundred years during
which time they branched into minor dynasties. Notable among these are the Kadambas
of Goa, the Kadambas of Halasi and the Kadambas
of Hangal. During the pre-Kadamba era the ruling families that
controlled the Karnataka region, the Mauryas and
later the Satavahanas, were not natives of the region and
therefore the nucleus of power resided outside present-day Karnataka. The
Kadambas were the first indigenous dynasty to use Kannada, the
language of the soil, at an administrative level. In the History
of Karnataka, this era serves as a broad-based historical starting point
in the study of the development of the region as an enduring geo-political
entity and Kannada as an important regional language. |
c500 AD |
