page_title: Tulu Nadu
section_title: Alupa dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: Tulu Nadu / History / Alupa dynasty
caption_attribution_description: English: This painting showing Lord en:Parasurama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu asking Lord en:Varuna, God of the waters to recede to make land known as Kerala from Kanyakumari to Gokarna for the Brahmins. A number of myths and legends persist concerning the origin of Kerala. One such myth is the creation of Kerala by Parasurama, a warrior sage. The Brahminical myth proclaims that Parasurama, an avatar of Mahavishnu, threw his battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of Kerala arose and was reclaimed from the waters.Parasurama was the incarnation of Maha Vishnu. He was the sixth of the ten avatars (incarnation) of Vishnu. The word Parasu means 'axe' in Sanskrit and therefore the name Parasurama means 'Ram with Axe'. The aim of his birth was to deliver the world from the arrogant oppression of the ruling caste, the Kshatriyas. He killed all the male Kshatriyas on earth and filled five lakes with their blood. After destroying the Kshatriya kings, he approached assembly of learned men to find a way of penitence for his sins. He was advised that, to save his soul from damnation, he must hand over the lands he had conquered to the Brahmins. He did as they advised and sat in meditation at Gokarna. There, Varuna -the God of the Oceans and Bhumidevi - Goddess of Earth blessed him. From Gokarna he reached Kanyakumari and threw his axe northward across the ocean. The place where the axe landed was Kerala. It was 160 katam (an old measure) of land lying between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Puranas say that it was Parasuram who planted the 64 Brahmin families in Kerala, whom he brought down from the north in order to expiate his slaughter of the Kshatriyas. According to the puranas, Kerala is also known as Parasurama Kshetram, ie., 'The Land of Parasurama', as the land was reclaimed from sea by him.
context_page_description: Tulu Nadu, also called as Tulunaad, is a region on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva', speakers of Tulu, a Dravidian language, are the preponderant ethnic group of this region. South Canara, an erstwhile district and a historical area, encompassing the undivided territory of the contemporary Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Kasaragod districts, forms the cultural area of the Tuluver.
  Historically, Tulu Nadu lay between the Gangavali River in the north and the Chandragiri River in the south. Currently, Tulu Nadu consists of the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and the northern parts of the Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the Chandragiri River.
  This region is not an official administrative entity. However, the Tulu Nadu state movement has been gaining momentum since the Indian States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
  Mangalore, the second largest & major city of Karnataka is the chief & largest city of Tulu Nadu. Udupi, Kasaragod and Puttur are the other major cities of this region.
context_section_description: Ptolemy, the 2nd-century geographer identifies the Tulu Nadu region as Olokhoira which is widely believed to be a corruption of the term Alva Kheda, 'the land of the Alvas'. Historically, Tulu Nadu included the two separate lands of Haiva and Tuluva. The longest-ruling and oldest known native dynasty of Tulu Nadu was that of the Alupas (c. 5th - 14th century C. E.). Their kingdom was also known as Alvakheda. They initially ruled independently and later were the feudatories of the prominent dynasties. The Kadamba dynasty of Banavasi was the earliest, under which the Alupas flourished. Later the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, Chalukyas of Badami, Chalukyas of Kalyani, Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra (Halebidu) and Rayas of Vijayanagara were the overlords. The Alupas, however, were independent and their subordination was nominal at best. They ruled until the Vijayanagara Empire took control of Tulu Nadu from 14th to the 17th centuries.
  During the rule of Vijayanagara, Tulu Nadu was administered in two parts – Mangaluru Rajya and Barkuru Rajya. Tulu Nadu was the original homeland of the dynasty that founded the Vijayanagar Empire based in eastern Karnataka. Tulu Nadu was governed by the native feudatories of the Vijayanagara Empire until the 18th century. These feudatories gained power towards the end of the Alupa period.
  Notable among them were the Chowtas of Ullal and Moodabidri (c. 1160-1801 C.E), Ajilas of Venur (c. 1418-1800 C.E), the Savanta or Samantha Rajas of Mulki (c. 1411- 1700), the Bhairarasa Odeyas of Karkala (c. 1240-1650 C.E), the Tolaharas of Suralu (c.1139-1800 C.E), the Bangas of Bangadi (c. 1410-1800 C.E.), the Rajas of Kumbla (c. 12th century - 1800 C.E) and the Rajas of Vitla (c. 1436-1800 C.E).
  The region became extremely prosperous during the Vijayanagara period with Barkur and Mangalore gaining importance. After the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Keladi Nayakas of Ikkeri controlled much of Tulu Nadu. Over the following many centuries, more ethnic groups migrated to the area. Konkanis from Goa arrived by sea, as Mangalore was a major port that served not only the Portuguese but also the Arabs for maritime trades. Jains were already a prominent group and even today are uniquely preserved in Tulu Nadu. Though small in number, the Jains left behind indelible reminders of their glory with temples (bastis) in (Moodabidri) and monolithic statues of Bahubali in Karkala, Venoor and Dharmasthala. In the 16th century, there was a large influx of Catholics to Tulu Nadu from Goa.  The Muslim community of Tulu Nadu were Arab traders who married local women and settled there. Some came from Kerala. They speak the Beary dialect, which is a mix of Tulu and Malayalam, and the others speak Urdu.
  
  Under Portugal, the region was called the Misao do Sul (Mission of the South). In the 18th century, it was conquered by Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore. After the British defeated Haidar's successor Tipu Sultan in 1799, the region was attached to the Madras Presidency before being reverted to the state of Mysore after independence. Mysore has since been renamed Karnataka. At the end of the 18th century, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan controlled the region. Mangalore played a prominent role in Tipu's battles with the British. The British gained full control in 1801, after Tipu's death in 1799. The British ruled the region with Madras (now Chennai) as its headquarters. Tipu conquered the region and the British conquered it from him. Under the British, the region was organised into the districts of North Canara and South Canara respectively.
  When the states were reorganised on linguistic basis in 1956, Tulu Nadu (South Canara) which was earlier a part of Madras Presidency and North Canara which was a part of Bombay Presidency became part of the newly formed Mysore state, which was later renamed as Karnataka. Kasargod became part of the newly formed state of Kerala. The Tuluvas began demanding official language status for Tulu and a separate state named Tulu Nadu for themselves. Organisations like the Tulu Rajya Horata Samiti have taken 
caption: As per Hindu mythology Lord Parshurama commanded Lord Varuna to make the seas recede to make the Tulu Nadu.[14][15]
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