427. Ancient capitals of Tulunadu

Recently there is a Tulu quiz questionnaire on history making rounds in Whatsapp groups, presumably meant for shedding lockdown blues and the boredom. The first question was:

Which was the capital of ancient Tulunadu?

The most popular answer was: Bārkūru.

Yes, Bārkūru  (Bārakūru) is the most popular choice because of reasonably well preserved monuments and relics that remind you the glory of the bygone history of the land.

However, the popular answer also belied the fact that most Tulu people are not aware of the fact that Tulu kings known as Alupas had about four to five capitals during different periods of the past history. Some of these capitals were older than Bārkūru, but generally ignored because of absence of visible relics of monuments. And it should be remembered that Bārkūru was ruled not only by Alupas but also by Kannada rulers of Hoysala and Vijayanagara dynasties. Thus, many of the monuments we see at Bārkūru were possibly built by Vijayanagar rulers.

1. Historical Alupa capitals in Tulunadu.

The capitals (administrative centers) of Alupa dynasty in Tulunadu, chronologically are as follows:

Alape (Eastern Mangaluru):  ca. 700 BC – ca 300 CE

Mangāra (Pāndeshwara, Western Mangaluru): ca. 400 CE -700 CE

Udyavara: ca. 700 CE- 1155 CE

Bārkūru: ca. 1155 - 1370 CE  

Manjeshwara: ca 1321- 1346 CE                 

Mūdabidre: ca. 1355 - 1410 CE

The Barkur as well as the Mangaluru was further occupied by the governors of Vijayanagara kings in the year ca. 1348 onwards, though they apparently permitted the Alupas to utilize their hereditary rights.

Mangaluru (Mangalapura) appears to have continued as their headquarters/capital till the beginning of 15^th century, possibly managed by members of Alupa family, even during they had additional capitals at Udyāvara, Bārkūru, Manjeshwara or Mūdabidre. Some members of their dynasty also established themselves for certain durations at Banavasi (with Kadambas) and Badami (with Chalukyas) in mainland of Karnataka.

2. Ancient places of Mangaluru significant in the Alupa history

Alape in eastern part of Mangaluru is the original village that gave the dynastic surname to the Alupa rulers. The location of administrative center/palace was to different locations within Mangaluru during the prolonged span of their rule over Tulunadu. In the early periods they named their capital/palace areas as Alake or Alaka, named after the capital of Kubera, the lord of wealth. There are at least two places known as Alake in Mangaluru even today, even though the ancient relics of the historical monuments of those days may not have survived the vagaries of time. One Alake is located within Padavu (old village limits), near Bikarnakatte; the other Alake is near Kudroli in Western Mangaluru.

King of Mangāra and hill of Mangara has been cited in certain Tulu paḍdanas. The Mangara is the western part of present Mangala devi area, where a Būta shrine exists even now carrying the locality name of Mangāra. Kulashekara area on Mangaluru-Mudabidre road is named after one of the Alupa ruler of the same name.

Many of the points relating to the analysis of these historical aspects have been discussed earlier in our previous posts in this blog. (Note: The chronological dates mentioned could be approximate, subject to validations based on further studies.)