75. Nitria

Greek reports dating back to the beginning centuries of the Christian era describe a port in the west coast of India named ‘Nitrias’ (in Pliny, ca.23-29 CE), or 'Nitra' (Ptolemy, ca.110 CE). Our historians like Manjeswara Govinda Pai have identified the port of ‘Nitrias’ or 'Nitra' as the port of ancient Mangalore.
The port name ‘Nitria’ has been related with the similar sounding name of River Nethravathy. The name ‘Nitria’ apparently related to the word ‘Nethra’, may have been originated due to eye (‘nethra’) shaped landform near the port of ancient Mangalore.
Possibilty 1
There was a historical town known as Nitria on the bank of River Nile in Egypt. There is a possibility that our historians may have misinterpreted location of Nitria described in the Greek report

Possibility 2
If we consider that the word Nitria was referring to the ancient Mangalore, the ‘Nitria’ does not appear to be a natural Tulu word. Accepting that the Greeks might have distorted the actual word, we may presume that the original native word may be something like ‘Nettara’ or ‘Nettaru’. Since Sanskrit had not taken roots in Karavali during the First or Second century CE, we can rule out the name ‘Nethra’. There are places known as Nettarakere near the River. There are also places pronounced ‘NeTTar’. The place names ‘Nettar’ in Nettara-kere may possibly be the original ancient word from Early Munda languages that gave rise to Nethra in later Sanskrit.
Similarly, the name of the River Nethravathy might not have been exactly like that during the said period. The River might have been renamed/ modified in the Sanskrit style after Fifth Century CE. The former name of the River might have been ‘Nettaral’ or something similar.
Before analyzing further on the word Nitria, it is necessary to verify the original Greek records for the nature of actual reference to the town Nitria
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16.Mangalore: Kudla and Nitria

Mangalore, the sultry and vibrant coastal town of Karnataka, has a long history. It also has several alternate names. Tulu people call it Kudla; Konkani’s prefer it as Kodiala; Malayalam people call it Mangalapuram; Beary people prefer the term Maikala. The Arabian traders preferred the term Maikala for Mangalore, possibly around 6^th century AD. Possibly it was an Arab word. But there is little written history.

In Greek literature of early Christian era, there is said to be reference to an Oloikhera, which has been interpreted as Greek version of the name Aluva Kheda.

We do not find mention of either Mangalur or Kudla in Greek reports. Instead we find the port of Nitria mentioned. Nitria was probably the port located on the estuary of River Netravathy. Nitria must have been derived from an Indian word, possibly something like Netra or Netria. Geological inferences reveal that the near the confluence between the Rivers Netravathy and Gurpur there was an eye shaped island. This eye shaped half-island (small peninsula), Netra (=eye) or Netriya, must have prompted the Greek historians to refer to as Netria. In that case, name of the River Netravathy also must have been derived from the shape of the island. Netra or Netriya If this deduction is correct then the earliest known name of Mangalore appears to be Netra or Netriya.

Mangalore is the anglicized version of the name MangaLooru. Premilla, a queen of Malabar, renounced her kingdom and became a disciple of Matsyendranath of Nath cult. She traveled with her Guru towards Kudla (or Mangalore) but had to settle near Bolar as she fell ill on the way. Eventually she died there and local people built a temple in reverence to her. The temple was renovated subsequently by an Alupa ruler, Kundavarma during the year 968 AD. Thus the town was known as Mangalapura.

The term Mangala also means fort, so a few believe because an ancient fort the name came. Infact,the name Mangalapura is found in the inscriptions earlier to the period of installation of Mangaladevi temple, ie., 968 AD. The Mangaladevi temple in the southern part of the city, reminds us that the city was named after goddess Mangaladevi. Thus Mangalapura later became Mangalooru during the Vijayanagar period. They called it Mangalur Rajya.

The name Kudla is a native geographic term indicating confluence of two rivers. The words KooD or KooDi (joined)+ala(=rivers) have become (1) kooDala > Kudla , and (2) kooDiala > koDiala. In other words, Koodla or Kudla is the Tulu equivalent of the Sanskrit word, sangam.The word Koodala is also there in Kannada. The river confluence of Kudalasangama is quite famous since the time of Basaveswara, the social reformer.Similarly the township at the confluence of Tunga and Bhadra rivers in Shimaoga district is known as Kudli.

A number of significant geographic modifications have taken place in Mangalore area during the historical past. At present, River Nethravathy flows westerly and joins the Arabian Sea, south of Mangalore town and north of Ullal area. And the other River Phalguni (Gurpur) flows westerly up to Tannirbavi, near New Mangalore Port. Near Tannirbavi, very close to the beach, hardly 500 meters from the beach-sea interface, River Phalguni takes an abrupt southerly turn and flows southward till it joins the River Nethravathy north of Ullal.

This geographic situation was much different during the historical past. The rivers Phalguni and Nethravathy were flowing within the present city area of Mangalore and joining the sea near the Alake-Bokkapatna area.