Agastya muni has a special place in the history of South India. Itihaasas and puranas describe his travel to South India. It was at his instance that the Vindhyas stopped growing and posing a threat to the majesty of the Himalayas. In different accounts, he is also the source of river Cauvery. Ganesha took the form of a crow and tipped his Kamandalu. The trickling water became river Cauvery. Other accounts also depict his wife Lopamudra as Cauvery.
Tholkappiyam, the earliest Tamil text refers to an earlier called Agattiyam, but that is lost.
Source: Agastya in Tamil Land, Sivaraja Pillai

Parasurama’s father was killed by a Kshatriya. In anger, Parasura vowed to kill all Kshatriyas. He went on a destructive expedition 21 times and killed all Kshatriyas. He gave away all the land to Brahmins and was left without any land for himself. Subhramanya guided him to seek land from Varuna. He could claim from the sea all the area that a throw of his axe covered. He threw his axe and the entire coastal land from Kanyakumari till Gokarna was carved out of the sea.
12th century Kannada inscriptions refer to this, but earlier puranas do not contain this reference.
Source: A History of South India, Nilakanta Sastri

Isampur is a very ancient site in the Yadgir district. It has limestone deposits. An irrigation project in 1983 accidentally revealed the site. The site has been dated to 500,000-600,000 years and also even upto 1.27 million years ago.
The site was a limestone quarry and stone-tool making location. The main tool types were chopping tools, knives, handaxes, cleavers, and scrapers. The site had large unfinished tools and few finished ones. There is also evidence of quarrying and of different stages in tool manufacture. It was also a habitation.
Source: A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, Upinder Singh

Ashokan rock edicts mark the extent of the empire of Ashoka. In Karnataka, Ashokan rock edits are found in Raichur, Bellary, Gulbarga and Chitradurga districts.
Researchers had repeatedly come across the name Devanampiya in rock edicts. They believed it refers to Ashoka. However, the only evidence available for the connection was from Sri Lankan sources. When the Maski edict was discovered in 1915 in Raichur district of Karnakata, it gave conclusive proof. The edict contained the phrase “Devanampiyasa Asokasa.” Devanampiya means “the favoured of the Gods.” Ashoka was also known as Piyadasi, meaning “one who looks with kindness upon everything.”
Source: Asoka, Gaekwad Lectures, Radhakumud Mookerji.

Mayurasarma was from a Brahmin family. He entered a college in Kanchipuram which was ruled by Pallavas. He was insulted by the Pallava guard and had a fierce quarrel. He then gave up the life of a scholar and took up arms. He overpowered the officials of Pallavas in the frontier regions. He continuously harassed the Pallava forces that were sent against him. Eventually Pallavas recognised his sovereignty over the land between the western sea and Prehara (Tungabhadra or Mallaprabha).
Source: A History of South India, Nilakanta Sastri

The Vijayanagara empire had an impressive cavalry. At its peak, it is supposed to have kept an army of 30,000 horses and a million infantry.

The ports of Bhatkal and Honnavar on the west coast were major import centres for Persian horses and pearl. Initially Arabs controlled the trade and eventually it was taken over by Portuguese and the trade moved to Goa. The Portuguese also promised to supply horses to the Vijayangara kingdom and not to the rival Bijapur kingdom. Krishnadevaraya even promised 20,000 pounds a year to the Portuguese for monopoly over horse import.

The import of good quality horses was gradually stopped by the Vijayanagara kings and this is considered as one of the factors that led to the defeat of Ramaraya.

Source: A Forgotten Empire, Robert Swell

Shaji Bhosle, father of Shivaji was serving the Bijapur sultanate. He was given the jagir of Bangalore and surrounding areas by Adil Shah and ruled it like an independent King. He built the Gaurimahal palace. The Jagir was in continuous war with Mysore.

Shahji was imprisoned when Shivaji revolted against the sutanate. Ekoji eventually succeeded Shahji. Shivaji conquered the Bangalore Jagir from Ekoji but later on presented it to Ekoji's wife. After Shivaji's death, his son Sambhaji took over the jagir.

Source: A Concise History of Karnataka, Suryanath Kamath

7th Century inscriptions from Shravanabelagola mention that Chandragupta Maurya abdicated his throne. He came there with his teacher Bhadrabahu, accepted Jainism, became an ascetic and also died there. He stayed at Chadragiiri which has a basti named after him. There are differing opinions about this event.

In any case, Karnataka is a major centre for Jainism. Several Kings were Jains or were patrons of Jainism. Moodibidri is called Dakshina Kashi due to the large number of Jain Basadis in the town. Karkala has the second largest monolithic statue of Gomateeshwara.

Source: A Concise History of Karnataka, Suryanath Kamath

Basaveshara (12th Century) was born in a Brahmin family in Bijapur district and learnt Kannada and Sanskrit. He served in the court of Bijjala as a Chief Treasurer and married the daughter of Bijjala's minister.

Bijjala changed from a feudatory to an imperial power and shifted his capital to Kalyana. Basaveshwara moved with him. He established a socio-religious academy called Anubhava-Mantapa. It was an open forum for spiritual discussions. It attracted hundreds of saints and spiritual aspirants from all over the country.
Basava opposed caste & jati distinctions, child marriage and ill treatment of widows. In these areas, he anticipated the Hindu social reform movements of the 19th century by several centuries.

Kalyan was renamed Basavakalyana in his honour.

Source: Basaveshwara, Sahitya Akademi.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya established four centres in the four corners of the country for the safeguard and propagation of the four Vedas. He appointed each of his prime ascetic disciples as the heads of each centre respectively. Sringeri is the first of these four Peethas. The others are in Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath.

Vidyaranya was one of the Jagadguru of the Math in the 14th century. He helped Harihara establish the Vijayanagara kingdom. The Vidyaranya temple is built over the Samadhi of Vidyaranya by Harihara.

The Vidyashankara temple, the Sharada temple in the same complex, the Sharada Peetham and the Tunga river form a picturesque sight.

Guilds were associations of merchants and artisans who regulated trade and professional conduct. Known as Srenis in ancient texts such as the Arthashastra and Jatakas, they controlled quality, prices, training, and ethical standards. Guilds also provided credit, welfare, and social security.

Ayyavole (Aihole), also called Ainnurruvar (the Five Hundred), is in Bagalkot district. It was one of the largest merchant guilds of medieval India, active in long-distance and overseas trade.

The Ayyavole had close links with various ruling elites and enjoyed royal patronage. The Cholas had a close relationship with this guild. According to tradition, the Pandya kings invited the Nattukottai Chettiars, members of Ayyavole, to migrate from Kaveripattinam to their territory. The Ayyavole had links with other, smaller merchant associations also and probably had some of them as subordinate guilds. An inscription mentioning the Ayyavole was found at Padaviya in Sri Lanka.

Source: IIT Gandhinagar – Guilds in Ancient India, A History of Ancient and Medieval India, Upinder Singh

Scholars have many interpretations of the name. One view is that the original name was Kannada. It is also claimed to be named after tribes, sandalwood fragrance and renowned land.

However, the most accepted view is that the name is derived from karu + nadu, meaning "a big land" or "elevated land." Major parts of Karnataka are situated in the Deccan Plateau. Tamil texts also called it Karunat supporting this view. It was above the ghats for Tamil speaking people.

The Pune edition of Mahabharata also uses the name "Unnathyaka," meaning the same.

Source: A Concise History of Karnataka, Suryanath Kamath.