Many of us identify Karnataka Bank with the state of Karnataka. But many of us may not know that Karnataka state was born five decades after the bank was set up.

It was group of nine persons from Mangalore that set up Karnataka Bank in 1924.

Then have you ever wondered how the Mangalore-based bank got the name Karnataka Bank? Before that let us know a bit on Canara region.

The coastal belt of the present Karnataka state during British rule was called as Canara region.

South Canara (presently Dakshina Kannada district) region extended from Kasaragod (presently in Kerala) in the south to Baindoor in the north, and it was under the jurisdiction of Madras Presidency then.

North Canara region extended from Bhatkal in the south to Goa border in the north, and it was administered by Bombay province.

Quoting late K. Sooryanarayana Adiga *, former Chairman of Karnataka Bank, the present Chairman, Ananthakrishna, says that the founders had a wider horizon beyond the Canara region, and they decided to encompass all Kannada-speaking people.

The first ever Kannada-English dictionary by Rev F. Kittel published in 1894 gives the meaning of ‘Karnata’ as the place where Kannada-speaking people are living. (Karnata is pronouced as ‘Karna’ in Mahabharat.)

According to Kittel’s dictionary, ‘Karnataka is ‘from Karnata country’, he adds.

That is how Karnataka, meaning a wider horizon beyond Canara, was given to the bank by the founders, he adds.

B.R. Vyasaraya Achar was the first Chairman of Karnataka Bank. The founder directors of the board included Nellikai Venkata Rao, Pejavar Narayanaacharya, K. Laxminarayana Rao, Pangal Subba Rao, Udupi Venkat Rao, Shesha Bhat Bhide, Naricombu Rama Rao and Kakkunje Sadashiva Adiga.

* The Booker prize winner Aravind Adiga is the grandson of late K. Sooryanarayana Adiga.

vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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