Karnataka
Karnataka's pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region.[10] Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also been found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prompting scholars to hypothesise about contacts between ancient Karnataka and the Indus Valley Civilisation ca. 3300 BCE.
Karnataka, formerly (until 1973) Mysore, Keshava temple [Credit: Dinesh Kannambadi]state of India, located on the western coast of the subcontinent. It is bounded by the states of Goa and Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the south and by the Arabian Sea to the west. The state extends for about 420 miles (675 km) from north to south and for about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west. Its coastline stretches for some 200 miles (320 km). The capital is Bengaluru (Bangalore), near the southeastern border.
Before the independence of India in 1947, Mysore was a prosperous and progressive but landlocked princely state, with an area of less than 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km), located on the Karnataka Plateau. The transfer of additional territories to the state in 1953 and 1956 united the Kannada-speaking peoples, gave the state an outlet to the sea, and greatly extended its boundaries. The state took its present name, a Kannada word meaning “lofty land,” in 1973. Area 74,051 square miles (191,791 square km). Pop. (2011) 61,130,704.
While coconut palms line the lagoons of the coastal plain region of Karnataka, monsoon forests cover the Malnad area of the Western Ghats, and scrub forests and scrublands stretch across the drier plains of the Maidan. The monsoon forests are especially rich in wildlife, which includes tigers, elephants, gaurs (wild cattle), and deer. Wild boars, bears, and leopards inhabit the Maidan. Peacocks are among the state’s common birds. Karnataka has many wildlife sanctuaries, including the large Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in the northwest, which abuts the Mahaveer sanctuary in Goa. The state also has several national parks, among the most notable of which are at Bandipur, in the south, near the border with Tamil Nadu, and at Nagarhole, in the southwest, near the border with Kerala.