200px|right|thumb|The Talagunda pillar Sanskrit Inscription of crown prince Santivarma ()
thumb|right|The [[Halmidi inscription at Halmidi village, usually dated 450 CE. is the earliest Kannada inscription issued by the Kadamba dynasty]]
The Kadamba dynasty were an ancient royal family from modern Karnataka, India, that ruled northern Karnataka and the Konkan from Banavasi in present-day Uttara Kannada district in India. The kingdom was founded by Mayurasharma in , 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 language.
History
Origin
thumb|right|Old Kannada inscriptions of Kadamba king Kamadeva of the Hangal branch () and Hoysala king Veera Ballala II () in the open mantapa of the Tarakeshwara temple at Hangal
There are several legends regarding the origin of the Kadambas. According to legend tale, Mayurasharma was born to the sister of a Jain Muni under a Kadamba tree. It appears that all these legends evolved so as to present the founder of the kingdom as a demi-god. According to Vedic legend tries to simplify it by claiming Mayurasharma himself was born to Shiva and Bhudevi (goddess of the earth). Other legends tie them without any substance to the Nagas, and the Nandas of northern India. An inscription of claims that Kadamba Rudra, the founder of the kingdom, was born in a forest of Kadamba trees. As he had "peacock feather"-like reflections on his limbs, he was called Mayuravarman. From the Talagunda inscription, one more legend informs that the founding king of the dynasty, Mayurasharma was anointed by "the six-faced god of war Skanda".
Historians are divided on the issue of the geographical origin of the Kadambas, whether they were of local origin or earlier immigrants from northern India. The social order (caste) of the Kadamba family is also an issue of debate, whether the founders of the kingdom belonged to the Jain Brahmin<nowiki/> or Brahman caste of Hinduism as described by the Talagunda inscription. Historians Chopra et al. claim the Kadambas were none other than the Kadambu tribe who were in conflict with the Chera kingdom (of modern Kerala) during the Sangam era. The Kadambas find mention in the Sangam literature as totemic worshipers of the Kadambu tree and the Hindu god Subramanya. According to R.N. Nandi, since the inscription states the family got its name by tending to the totem tree that bore the beautiful Kadamba flowers, it is an indication of their tribal origin. However the historians Sastri and Kamath claim the family belonged to the Brahmin caste, believed in the Vedas and performed Vedic sacrifices. According to the Talagunda and the Gudnapur inscriptions, they belonged to the Manavya Gotra and were Haritiputrās ("descendants of Hariti lineage"), which connected them to the native Chutus of Banavasi, a vassal of the Satavahana empire and the Chalukyas who succeeded them. According to Rao and Minahan, being native Kannadigas, the Kadambas promptly gave administrative and political importance to their language Kannada after coming to power.
Birth of kingdom
One of their earliest inscriptions, the Talagunda inscription of crown prince Santivarma () gives what may be the most possible cause for the emergence of the Kadamba kingdom. It states that Mayurasharma was a native of Talagunda, (in present-day Shimoga district of Karnataka state) and his family got its name from the Kadamba tree that grew near his home. The inscription narrates how Mayurasharma proceeded to Kanchi in along with his guru and grandfather Veerasharma to pursue his Vedic studies at a Ghatika ("school"). There, owing to some misunderstanding between him and a Pallava guard or at an Ashvasanstha ("horse sacrifice"), a quarrel arose in which Mayurasharma was humiliated. Enraged, the Brahmin discontinued his studies, left Kanchi swearing vengeance on the Pallavas and took to arms. He collected a faithful group of followers, routed the Pallava armies and Antarapalas (frontier guards) and firmly rooted himself in the dense forests of the modern Srisailam (Sriparvata) region. After a prolonged period of low intensity warfare against the Pallavas and other smaller kings such as the Brihad-Banas of Kolar region, he was able to levy tributes from the Banas and other kingdoms and finally proclaimed independence. According to Indologist Lorenz Franz Kielhorn who deciphered the Talagunda inscription, unable to contain Mayurasharma the Pallavas under king Skandavarman had to accept his sovereignty between the Arabian Sea (known as Amara or Amarawa) to Premara or Prehara which could be interpreted as either ancient Malwa in central India or the Tungabhadra or Malaprabha region in central Karnataka. According to the historian and epigraphist M. H. Krishna Iyengar a fragmentary inscription of Mayurasharma at Chandravalli which pertains to a water reservoir contained the names of Abhiras and Punnatas, two contemporary kingdoms who ruled as the northern and southern neighbors of Mayurasharma's Kadamba kingdom. The Talagunda inscription also confirms Mayurasharma was the progenitor of the kingdom. The inscription gives a graphic description of the happenings after the Kanchi incident: