South Canara was a district under the British empire, located at 13.00°N 75.40°E . It was bifurcated in 1859 from Canara

Kanara

The Kanara or Canara region comprises three coastal districts of Karnataka, namely Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and Kasaragod district of Kerala in southwestern India. Kanara forms the southern part of the Konkan coast...

 district. It was the undivided Dakshina Kannada district. It was renamed as Dakshina Kannada in 1947.

Demographics

The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908 lists South Canara, along with the Thanjavur

Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur.-Geography:...

 and Ganjam

Ganjam District

Ganjam district is a district in the Indian state of Orissa located on the border of Andhra Pradesh. Ganjam's total area is 8,070 km² . Its population is approximately 2,704,056.Ganjam is known for its beaches bordering the Bay of Bengal, the most famous ones being Gopalpur and Dhavaleshwar...

 districts, as the three districts of the Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

 where Brahmins are most numerous.

The people who first settled here were called Tuluvas. Possibly they came in very ancient times from Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. The Brahmins belonged chiefly to the Shivalli, Havik and Kotaha sub-sections. Besides the Bunts

Bunt (community)

Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...

, there were other non-Brahmin castes, such as the Mogaveera (fishermen), Billava

Billava

The Billava, or Ilava people make up one of the largest Hindu communities of the Tulu ethnic group in India. They are also found in the Kannada-speaking Kundapura region of Karnataka and some parts of Kerala, including Kasaragod district...

s (toddy tappers), the artisan castes, the untouchables like Holeyas and Mahars, the hill-tribes (Koragas

Koraga language

Koraga language , also called, Koragar, Koragara, Korangi or Korra Koraga is a Dravidian language spoken by the Koraga tribe, a Scheduled tribe people of Tulu Nadu, region in South West, India, Tulu Nadu comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka State and Kasaragod district...

) .

External links

• South Canara by Vikas Kamat from Kamat.com