Why “Dakshina Kannada”?
There was a moment of curiosity when I realized why the district of Dakshina Kannada was named as such. This was uncommon because, in Karnataka and India as a whole, most districts are named after the prominent city within itself. For instance, in Karnataka, we have Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Dharwad, all named after the cities themselves. In a similar sense, it should have been called the “Mangaluru” district. So, it struck me: “Where is this place called Dakshina Kannada? Moreover, how did the district come to carry this unusual name?” Dakshina Kannada is neither a taluk nor a village. Furthermore, the district is in the Tulunadu region, where the lingua franca is Tulu. Historically, the region has been referred to as Tulunadu.
Now, delving into the origins of Dakshina Kannada’s name, one common assumption is that when foreigners, mainly Portuguese, arrived in Mangalore, they found it challenging to pronounce Kannada correctly, so they expressed to it as Kanara/Canara. On the other hand, there is a less-known theory regarding the name. During Haider Ali and Tippu Sultan’s control over Mangalore and the surrounding region from 1763 to 1799, the area was named “Kinara” by them, which means “the coast”. Thereupon, the name was taken up by the British as Kanara/Canara. Though both theories could be debatable.
When the British gained complete control over the region in 1799, the area from Trikaripura in Kasaragod to Gokarna in the north was called the Canara district and administered under the Madras Presidency. During Francis Buchanan’s visit to Canara and Malabar in 1807, he describes in his book that the country on the north of the Chandragiri fort and river is called by Hindus as Tuluva, the Tulu Country. However, in 1859, for better management, the British divided the Canara district into two parts: North Canara, which became part of the Bombay Presidency, and South Canara, which remained in the Madras Presidency. This structure persisted until India gained independence from British rule in 1947, and states were reorganized in 1956. Although there were calls for a separate state for Tulu-speaking people, these efforts were largely unsuccessful. A portion of South Canara, from the south to Talapady in Mangalore, was ceded to the Kannur district of Kerala, while the remaining northern parts became part of the Mysore State in the State Reorganization Act of 1956.
In 1972, the Mysore State was renamed Karnataka. The following year, “South Canara” was changed to “Dakshina Kannada.” Furthermore, the Karnataka government carved out a significant portion of the northern area, forming it into the Udupi district in 1997. On November 1st, 2014, the Karnataka government changed several cities’ names, with Mangalore being renamed as Mangaluru. However, Dakshina Kannada remained the same as it is!!!
— Pradyoth Hegde
